41 replies to this topic

[richard]

Did ti take that long to realise that Restoration Comedy is one of the ultimate turn offs in the repertoire?!

[Jan Brock]

Did ti take that long to realise that Restoration Comedy is one of the ultimate turn offs in the repertoire?!

Hmmm ... the ultimate turn-off - maybe, but I'd say the "neglected European masterpieces" that Michael Billington would have us all watch come close (as was amply demonstrated by Jonathan Miller's lamentable reign at the Old Vic).

[theatre*fairy]

Why would someone continue to be a let-down? I can understand if you don't admire Henry Goodman as much as others do but if you'd seen him a couple of times and didn't like him, why would you continue to expect fantastic performances out of him. I don't rate Eve Best in the way many critics do but I've got over my disappointment at what I regard as mediocre performances from her so i wasn't surprised at being underwhelmed by Moon for the Misbegotten.

In my personal opioion i thought Eve Best was amazing in 'A Moon for the misbegotten' it was ally a powerful play and i feel she kept very with the character.

[M George]

'Great Expectations' @ the Royal Exchange.  I had, pardon the pun, great expectations for this production and ended up bored silly.  One of the very few times the Royal Ex has let me down.

'Cats' - everyone I know told me if I liked musicals I'd LOVE Cats.  They were wrong.  I hated Cats.  I hated it so much I even gave it a second go to see if I had grown to like it and I hadn't.  I hated it the second time.

[pesa]

My biggest let down in Theatre was WICKED, I'd heard so much hype that the show had a real battle to live up to it and it just didn't, I sat there and wondered if I'd walked into the Twilight Zone because almost everybody around me seemed to be having a great time.
It just failed for me on almost every level and I left being thankful that i'd not paid for my ticket.
Just shows how different we all are because I know that so many adore the show.

[thegills]

For me it has to be The Woman in Black.  I thought this was the most boring show I had ever seen.  I actually nearly fell asleep in the first half, quite an achievement for an insomniac!

[Matthew Winn]

I found The Mousetrap dreadfully disappointing. I went to see it back in the days when I was still naïve enough to believe that if something had been running for decades it must have something good about it. Well, that belief was murdered faster than the victim. Everyone goes on about keeping the big secret of The Mousetrap. Well, I'll tell you what the big secret is. The big secret is that it's rubbish.

[Belle]

I found the tour of Starlight Express incredibly disappointing.  Given the limitations of touring a show like Starlight, I was expecting the scaled-back spectacle, but I was expecting the plot (yes, there should BE one) would have been emphasised to compensate.  But no.  There was even less plot than when it closed in London!  So many opportunities missed in that production, it could be so much better within the touring limitations!

[Hobbittina]

For me the biggest let down was the recent tour of MISS SAIGON- I thought it looked terrible and some of the casting really bad- Jon Partridge as JOHN- awful. Quite upsetting really.

[JWC]

Tsaurus

Henry Goodman in almost everything but particularly 'The Birthday Party' and 'Richard III' - roles that it is almost impossible to make dull, but Henry succeeded.

and Richard
"The worst Henry Goodman performance recently is on the Hallé Orchestra's recording under Mark Elder of the Complete Music for the Wasps by Vaughan Williams (not just the familiar overture). A fascinating musical experience is completely ruined by his quite appalling delivery of the words."

Better not go near the Savoy from the end of May then!