D
Deleted member 26715
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Wouldn't it have been more spooky if you'd put on the Book of Mormon soundtrack
True but it seemed strange to listen to a musical & then get an email about a musical 5 minutes later
The Musicals Thread
- Thread starter icowden
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True but it seemed strange to listen to a musical & then get an email about a musical 5 minutes later
Threevok
Growing old disgracefully
- Location
- South Wales
Sorry, but if it hasn't got Howard Keel in it, it's not a musical
There, I've said it
There, I've said it
matticus
Guru
So why is it so flippin' popular?!? This is my point .. I would rather sit through a half-decent play/film WITH NO MUSIC IN, than something that is interrupted by (typically) 40 minutes of poor/mediocre songs!!!
<sigh ... >
Ah, because popular is not the same as good. ALW is clever. First of all he ensures that you come out singing the tunes by pummelling you with them. Secondly he releases singles and albums of the songs (or at least when he wrote Phantom he did) to garner popularity. He was also one of the first empresarios to realise that if you offered a deal to tour operators you would get regular coach loads of tourists from the shires to fill up your auditorium.
Phantom isn't his worst musical by any shot, but it lacks depth and doesn't *move* you the way a good musical does. It's hard to explain the electric chill that goes through an audience at the end of Cabaret or when Molina is murdered at the end of Kiss of the SpiderWoman. It doesn't have the power of Sweeney Todd's final moments.
With you there 100%
wiggydiggy
Guru
I've just remembered I've got tickets to Miss Saigon in Sheffield in August, feels like ages since I booked them.
Sometimes the unlikely ones are the best ones. I didn't think a musical about the 9/11 terrorist attacks seemed like a good idea but Come From Away was truly excellent. Another one that doesn't sell on the page is Urinetown the musical - an excellent satirical musical set in a world where water is money.
wiggydiggy
Guru
Just booked for I Should Be So Lucky - it's a Stock/Aitken and Waterman show along the lines of Mamma Mia where there is a story, but all the cast sing songs by Kylie, Jason, Rick etc. Sounds fun!
mistyoptic
Vintage
- Location
- A parallel reality
I think any live show is enjoyable, even if I don’t like all of the songs (need to like some of them, obvs). The whole atmosphere of a live show is uplifting to me (we don’t get out much).
Having said that, we’ve just booked to see Back to the Future, the musical. I’ll come back after to report whether I’ve changed my view
Having said that, we’ve just booked to see Back to the Future, the musical. I’ll come back after to report whether I’ve changed my view
The stark difference is likely to be that many Abba songs were written for a musical (the Girl with Golden Hair) and therefore have a narrative, whilst there may not be as much narrative in Stock Aitken and Waterman songs...
I'm sure it'll be fun, and I am interested to see the reviews...
wiggydiggy
Guru
I've booked it for a friend who wanted to see it and wanted someone to go with, I don't think they'll be bothered by a lack of narrative in the songs so long as there are songs and there is singing. I'm looking forward to it.
Well, it's been a while, but I had the opportunity to take my younger daughter to see Moulin Rouge! The Musical at the Piccadilly Theatre last week.
Obviously it's based on the movie of the same name.
TLDR Summary: The set and setting is spectacular, with an immersive feel, and the chorus is excellent but fans of the movie may leave feeling a bit cross...
First the good - some of the numbers are excellent but the production as a whole is a bit disjointed, largely due to some peculiar decisions by the writers and to a degree, the director.
Sitting waiting for the show to start in the Stalls, the cast are on view, walking around the various stage areas, and in the auditorium, staring and seductive. The feeling of immersion is great. It's then completely abandoned for the rest of the show. Matt Rixon as Harold Zidler was superb.
The problem for the rest of the cast is that they are no longer the characters from the film. Ivan de Freitas was great as Santiago (The Argentinian) but the character is no longer narcoleptic and does not get to sing El Tango de Roxanne which is given to Christian instead. Ian Carlyle was similarly very good as Toulouse, the characted was played without the pronounced lisp, the reduced height or indeed any of the comedy from the film. Christian has been reinvented as well. Don Simpson plays a much more worldly wise penniless American songwriter instead of a naive English writer. Ben Richards is more Christian Grey than The Duke. No longer a comedic upper class idiot, but an S&M style, brutal, rich and handsome aristocrat.
The chorus numbers are great - upbeat and fun. But it's the story that falls apart. Sometimes it can be through crowbarring songs in. Tanisha Spring as Satine didn't really come across as the sparkling diamond. They kept referring to Satine as being the oldest of the courtesans, which undermines the idea that she would be the "sparking diamond" that all the patrons are after. Instead of starting on the swing with Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend, the number is extended by starting with "Diamonds are forever" - presumably so she can channel Shirley Bassey and make use of her powerful gospel style voice. For me, she just didn't shine though.
The team of girls were great, although Anthony Cragg as Baby Doll seemed uncomfortable and it felt like a drag artist would have done a better job.
The ultimate problem is telegraphing (we must have been told 4 times that Satine had consumption - everyone knew that by the end of Act1 except for the Duke) and the power balance. In the film, the Duke is a useful idiot and Satine finds ever more creative ways not to sleep with him. In the Musical, there is no "like a virgin" and the Duke is having it away with her by the end of the first Act. Christian is reduced to being some sort of gaslighting incel as the Duke offers her a palace, the theatre for her friends and all for the price of hanging out with a very good looking bloke. Christian on the other hand goes out and buys a gun and threatens to kill himself if she doesn't leave the Duke. Satine is robbed of any choice or agency - it's no longer her decision to make. Further, the Duke just leaves during the "Boehemian Rhapsody" (no more Spectacular Spectacular or Hindi Diamonds), well before Satine breathes her last. And of course there is no rationale for Christian telling the story as he is no longer a writer. So we just get a a megamix instead.
It's worth going to see, but the strongest scenes are probably those between Nini and Santiago as they truly have great chemistry and deliver their roles with passion and aplomb. Much of the comedy is gone, and between that and the character changes the show feels empty and soulless. It isn't apparent why we should care about any of it. No longer do we mourn the loss of true love. It got lots of Tonys but that's because it had no competition.
Don't bother with the premium seats in the bar area at the front - you just miss out on loads of the show. We were on the end of row K and could see everything. 99% of the action is front centre, so the cheap side seats are great.
Obviously it's based on the movie of the same name.
TLDR Summary: The set and setting is spectacular, with an immersive feel, and the chorus is excellent but fans of the movie may leave feeling a bit cross...
First the good - some of the numbers are excellent but the production as a whole is a bit disjointed, largely due to some peculiar decisions by the writers and to a degree, the director.
Sitting waiting for the show to start in the Stalls, the cast are on view, walking around the various stage areas, and in the auditorium, staring and seductive. The feeling of immersion is great. It's then completely abandoned for the rest of the show. Matt Rixon as Harold Zidler was superb.
The problem for the rest of the cast is that they are no longer the characters from the film. Ivan de Freitas was great as Santiago (The Argentinian) but the character is no longer narcoleptic and does not get to sing El Tango de Roxanne which is given to Christian instead. Ian Carlyle was similarly very good as Toulouse, the characted was played without the pronounced lisp, the reduced height or indeed any of the comedy from the film. Christian has been reinvented as well. Don Simpson plays a much more worldly wise penniless American songwriter instead of a naive English writer. Ben Richards is more Christian Grey than The Duke. No longer a comedic upper class idiot, but an S&M style, brutal, rich and handsome aristocrat.
The chorus numbers are great - upbeat and fun. But it's the story that falls apart. Sometimes it can be through crowbarring songs in. Tanisha Spring as Satine didn't really come across as the sparkling diamond. They kept referring to Satine as being the oldest of the courtesans, which undermines the idea that she would be the "sparking diamond" that all the patrons are after. Instead of starting on the swing with Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend, the number is extended by starting with "Diamonds are forever" - presumably so she can channel Shirley Bassey and make use of her powerful gospel style voice. For me, she just didn't shine though.
The team of girls were great, although Anthony Cragg as Baby Doll seemed uncomfortable and it felt like a drag artist would have done a better job.
The ultimate problem is telegraphing (we must have been told 4 times that Satine had consumption - everyone knew that by the end of Act1 except for the Duke) and the power balance. In the film, the Duke is a useful idiot and Satine finds ever more creative ways not to sleep with him. In the Musical, there is no "like a virgin" and the Duke is having it away with her by the end of the first Act. Christian is reduced to being some sort of gaslighting incel as the Duke offers her a palace, the theatre for her friends and all for the price of hanging out with a very good looking bloke. Christian on the other hand goes out and buys a gun and threatens to kill himself if she doesn't leave the Duke. Satine is robbed of any choice or agency - it's no longer her decision to make. Further, the Duke just leaves during the "Boehemian Rhapsody" (no more Spectacular Spectacular or Hindi Diamonds), well before Satine breathes her last. And of course there is no rationale for Christian telling the story as he is no longer a writer. So we just get a a megamix instead.
It's worth going to see, but the strongest scenes are probably those between Nini and Santiago as they truly have great chemistry and deliver their roles with passion and aplomb. Much of the comedy is gone, and between that and the character changes the show feels empty and soulless. It isn't apparent why we should care about any of it. No longer do we mourn the loss of true love. It got lots of Tonys but that's because it had no competition.
Don't bother with the premium seats in the bar area at the front - you just miss out on loads of the show. We were on the end of row K and could see everything. 99% of the action is front centre, so the cheap side seats are great.
matticus
Guru
Well?!?
mistyoptic
Vintage
- Location
- A parallel reality
Oh yeah, sorry for the delay.
Brilliant show, excellent effects. How to make a stationary car appear to race across the stage…
Overall recommend it
cougie uk
Guru
Oh we saw Come From Away last week. Excellent show. Would definitely recommend it if it's near you. Very uplifting production.
