Deal J

Lynette, on 17 May 2013 - 11:35 AM, said:

Is that an admission or an instruction ?

Alexandra, on 13 May 2013 - 10:14 AM, said:

It does exist - Return to the Forbidden Planet.

I actually thought ejector seats would be a great idea, or ones that swallow people up into the floor, like a trapdoor. First warning your seat vibrates, next BAM! down you go

Is anyone as excited about this as I am? I remember being in 3rd class and having this book read to me. Many years later at family occasions and gathers I've seen young adults stop and sit down transfixed by the Gene Wilder film.

As for the lucky 5 kids who win a golden ticket, have you noticed that they go in the order they come? Augustus Gloop is the first kid to get a ticket and is thus the first to go and so on and so forth.

My apologies lesterf, Ticketmaster have now put up £65 tickets (+ almost 8 quids worth of fees). I wonder how much of the place will be at the £65 range though... And a seat in the upper tier at the 02 isn't worth that anyway, she'll be teeny tiny, more like Barbra Streis-ant.

I'll get my coat.

Yes great review in the Guardian.
It was an amazing night from a true legend. The audience reaction was fantastic and just would not let her get off the stage at the end.
I have seen Liza live many times over the years and she is my all time favourite performer.

I did know Clare Teal's work having heard some of her stuff and also seen her at the John Wilson Orchestra concert at the Proms. She has a great voice. You could tell at the beginning that a lot of the audience were not familiar and were only half paying attention but by a couple of songs into her set they started to listen and she got a great reception at the end.

Moan coming up now.
I could not believe the "bad behaviour" my many people in the audience.
Now if this was a pop concert at the 02 I could almost expect it but the RFH at £120 a ticket....................
People constantly talking during the show, lighting up the hall with the glow from their smartphones whilst they took pictures, sent texts etc and a woman near me even on the phone to her babysitter during Liza's set!!!! I must have also been sitting in the weak bladder section as there was a constant flow of people going to the loo.
Am I turning into a Victor Meldrew in my old age or are people getting worse when they go to the theatre?

Deal J, on 02 March 2013 - 02:21 AM, said:

Fantastic review, far more eloquent that I could ever write. I was going to blog about it too, but there's no point because you have done it so beautifully. Thanks so much Deal J.

mallardo, on 13 February 2013 - 07:40 PM, said:

I forgot...

Deal J, on 13 February 2013 - 02:38 PM, said:

at least the costumes are the same. In fact they look like the London ones brought out of storage.

One ... Bladder Full Sensation

I finally got to see it. My first show of the year and I thought it was wonderful. Enjoyed it even more than the Donmar version. The cast alone made it for me. Mark Umbers excelled, covering with great dexterity and depth all phases in Frank's metamorphosis from a dreamy young man to a Faustian cynic. The attention to detail here is impressive. His engagingly charismatic Frank is tactile, always hugging his friends in his many moments of enthusiasm, indicating a loving person at odds with his own ambition. For me it was quite obvious the attraction he exerted on them. Josefina Gabriella as the  vampish star often stole the scenes she was in. I found her specially funny at the end, when we have a glimpse of her more humble beginning, looking around with quick, eager eyes, at one time coy and perceptive, trying to take in as much as possible of the world she's determined to conquer. Jenna Russell, Clare Foster, Damian Humbley and Zizi Strallen also contributed with excellent performances. I'm sure it will be heading my list of highlights for 2013.

jaqs, on 09 January 2013 - 01:43 PM, said:

Rat droppings in the Hairspray makeup sounds a fine tribute to John Waters's earlier work - remember Divine eating dog shit?

Forget all the comments, go with a positive attitude, I thought the same after reading the previews, but thoroughly enjoyed it, there is nothing to dislike!

Merrily is my second favourite musical, after West Side Story. It's so elaborately constructed and, whereas so many musicals just whip up generalised emotion, this one - as with so much Sondheim - pinpoints with real acuity and sincerity the tangles and compromises of real life. I loved it when I first heard it aged 20 and it's only become more poignant as I've found my own life take unexpected paths like those of its protagonists.

It isn't a classic musical in any regard - it mocks itself for this when, late in the second half, a Broadway producer laments the lack of hummable melodies - but then it's trying to do something that most other musicals don't. It's saying the musical can chart ground that might otherwise only be the preserve of the play, or the novel. In essence I think that it, and a few other Sondheims, appeal moreso to people who go mainly to plays not to musicals, and this may explain why it, and his other shows, have found significant favour at the Donmar where people don't go to see Rodgers and Hammerstein, Lerner and Loewe, or Lloyd Webber.

Anyhow, this is the fifth production I've seen of it, and all have had their strengths. All, as it goes, have had good Marys. It seems getting her right is a real anchor for most directors who embark on this show which is so prismatic that you almost can't render the whole thing perfectly. Every director needs to decide whether they're going to go for older actors who then aren't so natural as the years roll back, or younger ones who don't have sufficient gravitas when the story ends at the start. To be honest, you just have to forgive any production whatever choice it makes here. All told, this one strikes a really good balance, across the board, better than most.

I thought the three leads were as good as any leading trio I've seen do it, and yes I loved the benchmark Donmar gang. I can't imagine anyone getting Mary's bittersweet sass better than Samantha Spiro but Jenna Russell's Mary is all the more moving, those big plaintive eyes reminding us how much the show is about longing. Damian Humbley is as gorgeously geeky as you could ever hope Charlie could be, and Mark Umbers really does walk the tightrope between making Frank loathsome and understandable with massive panache. Think of his snake-hipped superficiality in the opening scenes then his goofy exuberance in the revue show and finally up on the roof. For me, he's definitely the best Frank I've yet seen. Josefina Gabrielle is the best Gussie too. A stunning minx, then beautifully demure in her final incarnation.

I have to say I never imagined Maria Friedman would have the chops for it, but the whole thing is rendered beautifully with lots of loving little details which complement the many gorgeous little mirrors and cross-references in Sondheim's lyrics and score. And it's the version of Merrily I prefer - none of the needless 'Hills of Tomorrow', but instead the one that fully charts a distorted and overblown 'Good Thing Going' gradually returning to its original simplicity. I suspect it's always going to be one of the more elusive of Sondheim's shows, because it is tricksy and it 'aint hummable (most of the time), but this production gives it its best shot yet of enjoying wider favour than before, and I'm thrilled they've had a sell-out because they've clearly put so much love and thought into it.