First preview was last night, know it was a preview (but still expensive) but the acting was pretty dire from Josh Hartnett and Mary Stockley, he perked up in the second half but was struggling with lines and very wooden, she had no emotion whatsoever.

Adam Godley was excellant as Raymond.

The play is okay, takes too long to get going and relies on laughs at the autstic. Hopefully it will get slicker.

Well I was there last night and the audience gave it a standing ovation and cheered and cheered. I adored Adam Godley, Josh Hartnett is good, still has a journey to go on and I think is going to be fantastic. I can't wait to see this again in a few weeks. I smell a hit....

Adam Godley is the one who really impressed me in The Pillowman a few years back. I'm very glad to see he's got such a prominent role in the West End.

First night and the atmosphere was bubbling; Godley and Hartnett worked so well together it was hard to believe they've only had 3 weeks to get such chemistry. I'm sure the inexperienced stage actor, Hartnett will only get sharper and wiser as the run progresses and a hit looks assured.

I must admit, at first I was really dubious about this one. The more I hear about it the more I think I might part with a few quid to go see it.

Has anyone heard the stories about Josh Hartnett? search google news....I'm suprised at the good reviews he's had so far...what with all the others things that have been keeping him busy too! oh well I suppose its good press.

are any day seats been released for rainman? any info would be great!

Does anyone know what the staging is like for this production? I note they are offering front row at a slight discount and wonder if they have added an extra stage like in Glengarry Glen Ross which made the front row rather uncomfortable. Thanks.

Tonight's (Tuesday) London Evening Standard reports:

"Hollywood star Josh Hartnett's West End debut has been delayed.
The opening of stage adaptation Rain Man has been put back 10 days to 19th September after a change of directors in early rehearsals."

The front row looked unhindered from where I sat (Row D in the Stalls)... I didn't know they were offering a discount.

anyone know the actual reason they changed directors?

David Grindley pulled out for some sort of 'family reasons'.
Terry Johnson's getting quite good at this takeover-big-productions thing he's got going.


http://theseeingplace.blogspot.com/

Thank you ~ the discount is about £7.50 off the top price which D would've been but that's during the run ~ I'm not sure if previews are discounted for this production. I liked the movie and am keen to see the play ~ I have no idea what Josh Hartnett is like as a stage actor but thought he did a good job in Pearl Harbor.

Thanks.
I thought Hartnett did a great job, he was clearly nervous on the first night but held his own against the excellent Adam Godley. Josh is on stage more or less the whole time and his confidence grew from scene to scene.

how do i get a discount for this. i mean i have already booked stalls tickets for novemeber and wasnt aware of any discounts. darn

blimey i quoted the wrong post sorry. dont know how to edit

You can't edit if you post as a guest, for obvious reasons.

I double-checked with the theatre after getting the previous information I posted from a theatre website which has now been corrected. There is no front row discount therefore what you have is the best you could have got. I hope you enjoy the show in November ~

NOTE: THIS STORY IS CURRENTLY SUBJECT TO LEGAL ACTION. THEREFORE WE'VE BEEN REQUESTED TO REMOVE IT FROM THE BOARD AND REQUEST THAT OTHERS DO NOT REPUBLISH IT.

MANY THANKS,
WHATSONSTAGE.COM


This is from the Daily Mail;
Daily Mail
any idea if that's true?

When did they change? Before or after previews started?

Do those who thought they had non preview tickets that now have preview tickets get to exchange them for later?

My apologies, I had no idea.

Well, they haven't removed your link to the Mail article.

Not sure why, if I could edit I'd do so.

I don't think the link is a problem, it's not WOS publishing that rumour, that'll be the Mail's headache if the people involved wish to sue.

Not sure about that Jenny - I'm not certain but I think anyone disseminating a libel, even if he or she wasn't the original source of it, can be made liable.

Please remove the link if there's any chance it could cause a problem.

I think a link is fine, because it's completely clear that the story is not the claim of anyone who has anything to do with WhatsOnStage.com. But even if you're just copying and pasting text, if someone decided to go to court over this, they could probably have at anyone who has the story written down on their site. A link is safe. The Daily Fail is not.

EDITED TO ADD: am not a lawyer, do not take my word as gospel.

OK thanks!
I don't even know why I posted the link, I hate the Daily Mail.

I was chasing some tickets on ebay for this for Monday 15th September. They were £45 seats and sold for £185 (for 2)! Now those people who bought them are only going to get a face value refund. Glad I pulled out early!

But I guess that is the risk you take when buying tickets from an internet site.

No need for ebay, tickets are on tkts already.

Previews are still taking place until the 19th.

Oops! Meant to say that indeed they are, and I went to see it on Saturday. I can't say I was particularly impressed. The 'growing' that Josh Hartnett's character is supposed to do just never seems to happen. He was pretty much one-note throughout. Adam Godley's character spends much of the time with his head hung down and I was way up in the balcony, but even just watching the top of his head he almost made it all worthwhile. I know it's still in previews, but I can't see how this can be rescued.

I've just seen it and enjoyed it, Godley is playing to the floor as that what his research told him to do.

Still think it'll tank though as only the stalls were open.

Just to clarify, I didn't mean any criticism of Adam Godley in my previous comment (I couldn't get my login to work so posted as 'Guest' before.) The head hung down posture did seem to be right for the character. It was just that I was so high up I had no chance of seeing his facial expression at all from where I was.

The Saturday matinee I saw was a respectably full house. Shame really, as I had hopes of the balcony being closed and being upgraded to Upper Circle!

Is it true that Josh Hartnett failed to do the Wednesday matinee? Is this going to be the case at a matinees? Anyone know?

The matinee was cancelled...i don't know why. Is it me or have there been a lot of performances cancelled for this??

It's you.
Only one performance has been cancelled. That was the matinee this wednesday because Hartnett was ill.

On a related note, I don't recall how the film ended - without giving away any spoilers, does the play end the same?

You can PM me

OR

email
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Thanks!

i am going to see this next week on a school trip i cannot wait

I was at the Saturday matinee and both leads have really grown with the emotional range of their roles since the excellent opening night of previews just over a month ago. Superb, genuine emotion from Hartnett that had me also in tears.

Is Josh still in it?

Yes and his performance is well worth seeing.

* Possible spoiler*

Look away now if you haven't seen the play!




Did the film end at the court case?

I can't remember...
If not, how did it end?

I actually thought the play(previews) I saw ended abruptly...
Pls PM me

was interested in buying the best tickets for this show - which means also most expensive; so i go to Apollo theatre to get some and the person selling them has absolutely no idea as to what i will be able to see from the seat i pick etc etc

so i go again some other day andthere is some other bloke so i ask him the same question and again no clear answer. i mean is it just me or should they be able to tell the customer what they are actually selling especially that the tickets are expensive - 50 quid. i even emailed nimax enquiries to get some feedback and noone ever bothered to reply. i mean thats really shitty.

lets face it - im going there to see josh rather than because i am oh so interested in the play itself and do not want to be in a situation that all i can see is his knees etc as i am too close to the stage and the stage itself is somewhere up there. but i am going to know that once i've paid my 50 quid and not before

discouraged me for ever from spending money there

You can get seats at TKTS most days for 26ish no point in paying 50. As long as youre not too far back its fine and more central is better but its a narrow theatre so dont stress too much.

i went to see this last week.. and loved it .. i mean Josh well.. apart from the obv about his looks.. his acting could have been a lot better.. sitting in the dress circle i think.. we hardly saw his face at all.. he fluffed up his lines a lot.. and the girl who plays his girlfriend i thought was quite bad.. however Adam Gdoly was BRILLIANT.. i absolutley loved him and think what an amazing actor he is.. but overll Josh was good.. and would love to see it again

Agreed, Godley stole the show when I saw it, what a performer! We interviewed him for work the other day, he's a really amazingly nice chap, link to the interview is in the performers section if anyone fancies a look.

Just got back - have to say Harnett isn't great tripping over lines left right and centre but Godley...or me this is one of the best stage performances I have seen! Im in awe! all in all a great production, and although a slight abrupt ending it was a very touching moment would like to have seen the fade out slower though!

I found this tough-going and was generally unimpressed by the whole thing. The rhythms & pacing were terrible, it felt lifeless and low-energy, and apart from the 2 leads some of the other actors seemed to be phoning their performances in - not that they were given much to work with. Godley was okay, but I saw The Pillowman twice with him in, and his Raymond felt like too much of a reprise of that. The depiction of his savant abilities came across blandly and after the 1st couple it felt tedious. Hartnett was okay, none of the line-fluffing others have mentioned, but while yes Charlie is supposed to be an arrogant git his portrayal made him so unpleasant to start with it was difficult for me to believe it when he 'turned', although he did his best and I got a glimmer of the better performance it could have been.

Off the top of my head, I can't think of any of the recent film-to-stage transfers that have felt particularly worthwhile to me, and this one hasn't changed that. It's not bad, it just didn't hold my interest or attention.

I've grown to hate the West End. I wouldn't normally go to a lot of West End shows in any given year, but this year I have and it's reminded me why I don't usually like it. It's not so much the productions, there have been some very good ones. But I've never much liked that whole Shaftesbury Ave/Charing X Rd area, the theatres themselves feel cramped and uncomfortable and the ignorant audience behaviour seems to be getting worse. I'm looking forward to more or less abandoning the WE in 2009.

I agree on the West End - I hardly ever go there any more - the theatres are just so unpleasant (plus you are invited to pay extra to restore them when what they need is demolition). It is such an unpleasant part of London too.