i recently got a demo cd in the post for imagine this and on listening to it became really gripped, has anyone else heard it and if so what do you think? i love the 3 songs i have but am still unsure of the plot of the whole thing can anyone fill me in a bit, and another thing, which theatre is it going to?
sorry for all the questions!
many thanks emma

All I really know is it's set in the Warsaw ghetto (WWII era?) and it's headed for the New London.

There's a synopsis of the show on the official website.

http://www.imaginethisthemusical.com/

I know a few ppl who worked on it, and they told me that it was unexpectedly good.

A nice cheesy little summary of the show for you KateMonster;

Set in 1942 in the hellish surroundings of the Warsaw Ghetto Imagine This tells the moving tale of a troupe of heroic actors. Determined to bring hope to the downtrodden inhabitants of the ghetto, they stage The Martyrs of Masada, a dramatisation of one of the most moving Jewish legends. In the legend, 900 Jewish rebels commit suicide rather than surrender to the legions of Rome. As events unfold and the Nazis continue to persecute the inhabitants of the ghetto the boundaries between the Masada play and reality begin to blur. When a member of the ghetto's Jewish resistance joins the troupe everything changes and among the fear and chaos of Warsaw, love finds a way.

No offence, but if they worked on it, surely they'll tell people it's good!

I've seen the ads for this everywhere, it's on at the New London, I believe.
I'm probably being over-sensitive, but the idea of a musical based on the holocaust seems somewhat tasteless to me.

why?

No one has said it's going to be an all singing all dancing happy clappy spectacular. From what I've heard from the demo tracks the music seems to fit in with the story well. I'm really looking forward to seeing this show next week. :-)

I suppose because, as Gavin implies, I think of musicals being full of cheesy grins and soft shoe shuffles. Daft, I know.
In general, holocaust fiction makes me uncomfortable because it is usually so badly done - sentimental, inaccurate and full of actors who clearly aren't starving and full of lice and disease (not that I'm suggesting actors should be forced down to 4 stones and infected with typhoid to get into character).
Perhaps this will be done well - I don't know anything about it so am in no position to judge.

See, it's a jubject that lies quite close to me, being Jewish and all but I'm willing to give it a chance because I think it's a bold/hard subject to do, and to do it justice is probably a lot harder. Saying that, I have seen some incredible productions/films with the holocaust being the main subject, in recent years. I'll come report back here after I've seen the show.

Of course there are amazing movies which take the Holocaust as background to the theme of love conquers all..or not. And there was a play called Ghetto - who was that by? I saw that and it wasn't awful. But you have be very, very and yet again, very good to do a stage play musical set in this context. I wish it luck and good will.

With the right creative team, you can turn ANYTHING into a musical. I'm sure there were some people back before the '70s absolutely horrified of the idea of musicals based on Jesus, particularly ones that go merrily all the way up to the crucifixion, but these shows worked. (I know there's at least one Anne Frank musical out there as well.) You tailor the music and adapt it; 'Sweeney Todd' wouldn't have worked if it had comprised frothy love songs, cheesy singalongs, and jazzhands, nor would 'Evita' or countless other musicals that worked but when you boil them down to one-line descriptions sound like utterly terrible ideas. It's kinda insulting to the entire medium of musical theatre to assume that it's going to be "full of cheesy grins and soft shoe shuffles", and I'm glad you realise how ridiculous that assumption is.

Um... yeah. "With the right creative team, you can turn ANYTHING into a musical" and "don't knock it until you've tried it". My two most overused mantras when it comes to discussing musical theatre. XD

Another thing that makes me uncomfortable is audience behaviour - when I went to see Hotel Rwanda at the cinema, for eg, a bloke sitting near me munched on his popcorn throughout the scenes of real carnage. The idea of people noshing on maltesers while watching singing Nazis rounding people up just makes me feel... yucky.
I know I'm being daft.

I shouldn't worry too much, I suspect this show will not be around long enough to offend many sensibilities.

That is no reflection on it's cast or standards, just adding together
1) the recession, the media and people tightening belts,
2) the "unuplifting" (not quite the right word, or even possibly a word at all, but you probably get the drift) background of the plight of the Jews in the Ghetto, in financially tight times it is the escapist stuff that sells
3) the unappealing New London Theatre,
4) the high cost of the tickets (between £50 and £60 with a few restricted views at £32-50p)
5) the lack of any (so-called) star name
6) an unknown title or story to the general public
will probably combine to ensure a swift exit from the West End. Sorry to sound negative, I just don't see what this show has to ensure survival. I also feel that Carousel may struggle - the bottom price is simply too high.

LOL! "City on Fire, rats in the grass and the lunatics yelling in the streets, it's the end of the world, oh yeah!"

I should copyright "Singalonga-Sweeney".

Sorry: duplicate post - see below.

It starts previewing tomorrow (ie tonight!),
yet (beyond the officially-announced £10[?] off Previews)
I've not received ANY Reduced-Price Opening Offers -
so maybe it IS selling?

I like Simon Gleeson....

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(I think somewhere in this forum
there is or was a complimentary thread about the out of town tryout
[Plymouth, if I remember rightly].)

OK, but I claim the rights to "Eatalonga-Sweeney".

Ian, I completely agree... You have to feel for the producers in this instance really. After a pretty successful out of town try out last year and reasonably positive word of mouth, they have sat and waited for a theatre, only to be given one at probably the worst timing possible, which will almost certainly kill the show before it even gets going, through no real fault of their own.

The Hairsprays and Greases of this world will do well in the next few months.. when people can spend money on the theatre, they will want to see something uplifting. There is no point paying for some escapism if the place you are going to escape to is even more depressing than real life.

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(I think somewhere in this forum
there is or was a complimentary thread about the out of town tryout
[Plymouth, if I remember rightly].)
[/quote]

http://www.whatsonstage.com/board/index.ph...amp;#entry41572



This is a fantastic new musical, although it is staged during the time of the Holocaust the story is a not driven by this event, the main influence is the traditional story of Masada.

I doubt it. The producers would be the ones making the special offers and I think in this case, being seen to discout too early looks like a sign of weakness to the public.

I love the honest approach they are taking with this, though. The 'news' section of the website is full of links to articles which are open about it being a risky project and casting doubts. I'm looking forward to seeing this and wish it well, even though it will take a stroke of genuis for it to survive.

Is this the Masada of the mass suicide? Mmm - how much more an uplifting thought than the holocaust for a musical.

And it makes one wonder what you're doing on a musical theatre board if that really is all you think a musical is.

Anyone know the Running Time?

I'm seeing it on Thursday so will report back

(Its 1st Preview is NOT at Tkts today, in case anyone's wondering.)
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I've now persevered and scoured that official website again,
& via the link entitled THE SHOW, where I'd already read the promotional info on the left,
I've now found (on the right of the page) a link to a detailed 2-page Synopsis.

NB The promotional info on the left of THE SHOW page describes it as an:

thanks guys very helpful will book tickets soon!