[M George]

Oh My God!!!!!

Can't Smile Without You - The Barry Manilow Musical presented by Bloody Kenwright.

May as well call is Cheese the Musical.

[Michael H]

Well, I took the bus over to Bromley this evening to see Can't Smile Without You.

I've posted my review in the review section. I apologise for the grammar mistakes there, it is late.

I didn't enjoy it. There was some cheese, but it wasn't fast-paced, charismatic cheese. There was a drunk woman at the front who was really getting into it.

[Lyle]

Well, I took the bus over to Bromley this evening to see Can't Smile Without You.

I've posted my review in the review section. I apologise for the grammar mistakes there, it is late.

I didn't enjoy it. There was some cheese, but it wasn't fast-paced, charismatic cheese. There was a drunk woman at the front who was really getting into it.

Reviewing a second preview? Even with my distain for the cheap side of the industry, previews are previews, up until 'Press Night' the show is 'under construction'. If you really must slag a show off, at least have the decency to wait until it's open.

[Ian]

Reviewing a second preview? Even with my distain for the cheap side of the industry, previews are previews, up until 'Press Night' the show is 'under construction'. If you really must slag a show off, at least have the decency to wait until it's open.

My view is that waiting until after press night to review a show went out shortly after husbands thought it was their right for wives to have their dinner on the table when they got home! Times-they-are-a-changin', and that includes the reporting of news and reviews. Just as the advent of television killed off British Movietone News, so the internet is having a major impact on reporting. I am not saying this is good or bad - it just is.

The industry itself is no longer in thrall to the gentlemans agreement of waiting until press night. Many national papers print reviews based on a performance other than the official night. Or even in Sheridan Morleys case performances seen earlier in another country!

The practise of "half-price previews" has largely vanished from the West End - if audiences are being charged full, or near full, price they should expect a finished (or near finished) production. In the case of Can't Smile at Bromley the tickets for the first couple of performances are reduced by a measly £1 on the cheapest seats upto a maximum of £6 on the most expensive - even the best seats have less than a 20% reduction.

Nobody, not least the producers, ever complains when a 5* rave is published based on a preview - it is only when fault is found that they rush to defend the work-in-progress. Yet as we have seen recently (Gone With The Wind / Behind the Iron Mask anyone) there are aspects of some shows that no amount of fine-tuning is going to improve.

Shows have always been tinkered with post press night, but we have also seen in more recent times major productions being closed for a short time to allow for major re-writes many months into the run. Does that process negate every review written from the original press night?

It is beholden on a reviewer to make readers aware that the review is based on a preview, but I can see no valid reason for withholding the review until a certain date of the producers choosing (often nothing to do with when a show is "ready" but when it will not clash with other more newsworthy events).

Mind you - if reviews follows the trend of television news we will shortly be getting reviews starting "Critics are expected to reveal that the show is...." the day before the first preview!!

[Michael H]

Reviewing a second preview? Even with my distain for the cheap side of the industry, previews are previews, up until 'Press Night' the show is 'under construction'. If you really must slag a show off, at least have the decency to wait until it's open.

I'm sorry if you thought I was "slagging" it off. I feel I have a right to talk about what I've just paid £21 for - it's no different to what I would have been saying to friends in the pub afterwards. I've been honest about which performance it was I saw, and where there is praise to be made about the quality of the performances, I've made it. The Saturday evening show is up to full price. I don't know when the local newspaper reviewers are going to watch the show.

It's just one person's opinion, and you're very welcome to disagree. In fact, there were very many people in the audience who did.

[Lyle]

My view is that waiting until after press night to review a show went out shortly after husbands thought it was their right for wives to have their dinner on the table when they got home! Times-they-are-a-changin', and that includes the reporting of news and reviews. Just as the advent of television killed off British Movietone News, so the internet is having a major impact on reporting. I am not saying this is good or bad - it just is.

The industry itself is no longer in thrall to the gentlemans agreement of waiting until press night. Many national papers print reviews based on a performance other than the official night. Or even in Sheridan Morleys case performances seen earlier in another country!

The practise of "half-price previews" has largely vanished from the West End - if audiences are being charged full, or near full, price they should expect a finished (or near finished) production. In the case of Can't Smile at Bromley the tickets for the first couple of performances are reduced by a measly £1 on the cheapest seats upto a maximum of £6 on the most expensive - even the best seats have less than a 20% reduction.

Nobody, not least the producers, ever complains when a 5* rave is published based on a preview - it is only when fault is found that they rush to defend the work-in-progress. Yet as we have seen recently (Gone With The Wind / Behind the Iron Mask anyone) there are aspects of some shows that no amount of fine-tuning is going to improve.

Shows have always been tinkered with post press night, but we have also seen in more recent times major productions being closed for a short time to allow for major re-writes many months into the run. Does that process negate every review written from the original press night?

It is beholden on a reviewer to make readers aware that the review is based on a preview, but I can see no valid reason for withholding the review until a certain date of the producers choosing (often nothing to do with when a show is "ready" but when it will not clash with other more newsworthy events).

Mind you - if reviews follows the trend of television news we will shortly be getting reviews starting "Critics are expected to reveal that the show is...." the day before the first preview!!

I was thinking along the lines of consideration for the creatives/actors/technicians involved (Other human beings). Shows of that elk are given an ever decreasing bare minimum amount of time to rehearse, fit-up, tech and open. The people involved are under a huge amount of pressure and by the time they get to a first/second preview are exhausted. I'm sure the last thing they need is to stumble onto this site (as so many do) and find people berating their efforts at such an early stage. But hey, as long as your happy!