[Misplaced]

Anyone see it tonight? (October 12.)

Must admit, I thought it was absolutely marvelous.

Except for: Soundman asleep at the switch? Orchestra much too loud at the beginning, and about right -- but not ezzactly in the dress circle - towards the end. Paul Spicer maybe needed a bit more texture in his voice, if I'm being picky. (But really good nonetheless.) To be fair, orchestra wonderful as well (but I thought throughout too loud - not their fault?).

But gosh, what a terrific performance. I loved it! Please bring on more Julie Atherton, she was outstanding. What a great show! Well done all - fantastic evening!

Edited: some fairness editing.

[art87]

Anyone see it tonight? (October 12.)

Must admit, I thought it was absolutely marvelous.

Except for: Soundman asleep at the switch? Orchestra much too loud at the beginning, and about right -- but not ezzactly in the dress circle - towards the end. Paul Spicer maybe needed a bit more texture in his voice, if I'm being picky. (But really good nonetheless.) To be fair, orchestra wonderful as well (but I thought throughout too loud - not their fault?).

But gosh, what a terrific performance. I loved it! Please bring on more Julie Atherton, she was outstanding. What a great show! Well done all - fantastic evening!

Edited: some fairness editing.

I thought it was ok. Jamie really didn't do it for me (vocally capable, but didn't really believe him - Nobody Needs To Know just didn't work). I thought Cathy's acting was great but her voice was just too small for the really belty stuff. As you say, they were both drowned by a very amplified band.

It did remind me what fab music the show contains, but staging-wise it was a total let down. There was literally no attempt to clarify the chronology and most of the songs had one person stood still acting with their hands. I have honestly seen better staged university productions of this show.

Also, for a song called Movin' Too Fast the tempo was very very slow.

Overall not bad, but definitely a production leaning on superb material rather than showcasing it.

[knifeandfork]

I couldn't agree with art87 anymore! The staging was incredibly boring, and when each song runs at about 7 minutes plus then the whole thing becomes a little tiresome, no matter how good the material is. It became even formulaic the way the other character would come on stage about a minute before the next song was due to start.

To me the only stand out bits were those where they'd tried to be different from the recording.

Orchestra were fantastic although the balance between them and the singers were poor. Hopefully they'll sort this out before next week's performance.

It's such a shame because it could have been incredibly good. Personally it seemed like it struggled at the hands of a director who didn't understand the material... I thought Jamie was Jewish? That didn't come across at all! The characters seemed to have no drive and Jamie's desctruction / Cathy's annoyance didn't really come off.

What a shame. To quote art87: "definitely a production leaning on superb material rather than showcasing it."

[robsangel]

I agree with Misplaced. I love this show and in comparison to the Menier production a couple of years back this production (IMHO) was far superior even bearing in mind it was staged on an other show's set.

Yes the sound balance was off but that aside both vocals were strong. I found the way Jamie and Cathy related to each other even when the other actor wasn't on the stage was very touching. I empathised with both characters (at the end of the Menier Production I very much disliked Cathy and understood why Jamie left her).

The audience reaction during and after last night's show was amazing and most I overheard on the way out seemed to have greatly enjoyed the experience. I am really glad that I saw it and would encourage others to see it and make up there own minds.

[Laughingmonsta]

I really enjoyed this last night - Julie was amazing, I thought the show was let down by Paul Spicer though, His voice was very weak and at times even cracked and became flat! yes the sound guy was asleep but the times when he did try to amolify was when Spicer was on stage and feedback became increasingly notcicable (how high was the gain on Pauls mic in the 1st instance?)

I thought the strings in the orchestra were amazing! overall a great show but perhaps feeling a little out of pocket having paid £43 a ticket!