Spirited Away - London Coliseum

[timothyd]

Any chance it will run longer then August?

[blamerobots]

May 8, 2024 18:19:40 GMT timothyd said:

Any chance it will run longer then August?

If it can book out a theatre the same size as the Coliseum!!

ENO are announcing their new season soon. It's been thought this is likely headed on a world tour.

[lonlad]

Purely one for the fans and the obsessives, unlike TOTORO which has a far more overt emotional appeal. This is a big, huge lug of a production and obviously looks great and cost a bomb. But was I viscerally engaged at any point as I was throughout TOTORO? (And why is it an hour longer than the film?)

Alas no.

[parsley1]

It is very long

There are moments of genius

I think for me the main issue is

Children are not going to be able to follow the surtitles

And unless they speak Japanese they will be stuck

I preferred this to Totoro which is below panto for me

But both are quite weird tbh

Better a new piece of work than incessant adaptations

Please 🙏🏽

[lonlad]

Mostly 3 star reviews so far -- The Stage, Times, Telegraph, Standard, Variety (that last one unrated but reads like a 3 star) and then 4 stars from the FT and - yikes - The Guardian.

3 is about right, I think; don't look for this to sweep the Oliviers next year as did Totoro did not long ago.

[peopleplaces]

May 8, 2024 18:19:40 GMT timothyd said:

Any chance it will run longer then August?

After these reviews … unlikely

[parsley1]

May 10, 2024 14:02:14 GMT peopleplaces said:

May 8, 2024 18:19:40 GMT timothyd said:

Any chance it will run longer then August?

After these reviews … unlikely

I didn’t think it was amazing

But your statement is quite ridiculous

And it just shows how people see their own inaccurate view of things only

Independent 5 stars
Upcoming 5 stars
Daily Express 5 stars
Guardian 4 stars
Broadway world 4 stars
iNews 4 stars
FT 4 stars
WOS 4 stars
Jewish Chronicle 4 stars
London theatre 4 stars
The Stage 3 stars
ES 3 stars
Telegraph 3 stars
Time out 3 stars
Country and Townhouse “must see of summer”
NYT “Impressed but not transported”
CityAM “must see spectacular”

[Dave B]

Thankfully visible surtitles and we had Mari Natsuki on. Too long and too faithful to the original but many great moments with Yuya Igarashi as the three heads of Kashira stealing every moment he was on stage. A huge shift put in by Mone Kamishiraishi as Chihiro, constantly on a very busy stage and doing a lot with maybe just a couple of occasions where a double works to allow some faster entrances.

Could we get a poll please BurlyBeaR? Ta!

[BurlyBeaR]

Poll added

[lonlad]

The reviews for this are majorly disappointing to the producers, trust me. Great that the Independent and Upcoming, whatever that may be, gave it 5 stars, thereby allowing for pull quotes and the like, but the meh response from The Stage (industry!), Times (UK), ES, Telegraph and Time Out, plus internationally from the NYT and also Variety, which isn't mentioned above, won't be what those behind the show were expecting.

What's the Japanese for "oh well."

[blamerobots]

まあいいや...

It wasn't gonna run longer than August 'cus of the new ENO season.

Also, if people want to see their cast combination, here is the cast schedule website.

[yokollama]

May 11, 2024 23:15:17 GMT Dave B said:

Thankfully visible surtitles and we had Mari Natsuki on. Too long and too faithful to the original but many great moments with Yuya Igarashi as the three heads of Kashira stealing every moment he was on stage. A huge shift put in by Mone Kamishiraishi as Chihiro, constantly on a very busy stage and doing a lot with maybe just a couple of occasions where a double works to allow some faster entrances.

Could we get a poll please BurlyBeaR ? Ta!

Dave B, do you have the full cast list if you were at yesterday's evening performance? Do you know who was on as Haku?

[Dave B]

May 12, 2024 10:51:33 GMT yokollama said:

May 11, 2024 23:15:17 GMT Dave B said:

Thankfully visible surtitles and we had Mari Natsuki on. Too long and too faithful to the original but many great moments with Yuya Igarashi as the three heads of Kashira stealing every moment he was on stage. A huge shift put in by Mone Kamishiraishi as Chihiro, constantly on a very busy stage and doing a lot with maybe just a couple of occasions where a double works to allow some faster entrances.

Could we get a poll please BurlyBeaR ? Ta!

Dave B, do you have the full cast list if you were at yesterday's evening performance? Do you know who was on as Haku?

I do, Haku was Kotaro Daigo. Here is a picture of the cast board

[yokollama]

Many thanks, Dave B

[c4ndyc4ne]

money talks.... we will rock you was treated like it had poo'd on the critics' beds and ran for years.

if the audience is there and there are free weeks at the coliseum after the run/ company available , of course this will extend.

Reviews are a nice bonus, but I doubt anyone involved on the production minds when they see the box office.

[141920grm]

I must've missed the digital cast board, does anyone have a pic of the names at first preview?

[marob]

Looking at the cast list I should have Mari Natsuki as Yubaba. Quite happy to get the original, but having enjoyed Fullmetal Alchemist I actually wouldn’t mind seeing Romi Park.

[Dave B]

ENO have La bohème confirmed as starting 26 September. With Spirited Away currently due to close 24 August, not much room for any extension more than a couple of weeks...

[coffeecup]

Had a great time with this.

I think all the negatives boil down to just how faithful this adaptation is. Unlike Totoro, which captured the essence of the film whilst being creatively independent from it, this is literally the film performed on stage. Even split-second moments that might seem like mistakes, like Chihiro banging her head or dropping a prop, all happen in the film and are recreated with precision.

Of course, the stage craft needed to pull that off means that the show is a real spectacle, and the narrative definitely still works, but without care being taken to translate the film's emotional beats for the stage, it didn't impact me the way Totoro did and I don't think I'm fussed about catching it again before it closes.

Still, a solid 4 stars.

Wasn't crazy about the merch selection but there's a lot of it, priciest item being a plush for £45. The programme is big and great quality.

[formerusher]

May 15, 2024 10:17:20 GMT Dave B said:

ENO have La bohème confirmed as starting 26 September. With Spirited Away currently due to close 24 August, not much room for any extension more than a couple of weeks...

And before the start of the ENO season, the State Ballet of Georgia is at the Coliseum with Swan Lake (28 Aug - 8 Sep) so no time to extend further unfortunately.

[annette]

I have never experienced theatre quite like this production. The level of artistry in every department is mind-blowing and completely magical. Right from the moment I walked into The Coliseum foyer bedecked in pink cherry blossom,until the end of the show, I felt completely transported.

I was already familiar with the story,but for those who are not,the subtitling is very good and well situated so it’s not necessary to constantly be looking above the stage.

This production is in a different league to My Neighbour Totoro. The story is far more complex,ingenuity with the puppetry is off the scale and the pace never feels laboured. I never felt fully immersed in Totoro but in Spirited Away I was fully there from the get go. The music/orchestra is utterly divine too.

In my opinion,this is definitely not a show for young children. I had one behind me riffling through a huge box of popcorn (why do The Coliseum sell this stuff?) and asking his parents what was going on right the way through the first act. Mercifully they left in the interval. I do think there are images in the show that could be quite traumatising for a kid actually.

The only downside of a show with the highest production values,expansive cast and full orchestra is the price of the tickets which seem to have increased since I bought mine when the show was first announced.
I do hope the production is filmed so it can be seen by a wide audience.

Congratulations to John Caird and everyone involved in creating this masterpiece and of course to Studio Ghibli for creating the legendary film that the show is based on.

[marob]

May 20, 2024 12:07:27 GMT annette said:

I do hope the production is filmed so it can be seen by a wide audience.

It’s not this current UK production, but it has been filmed twice, with two alternate casts. Both released as a set in US. gkids.com/films/spirited-away-live-on-stage/

Hopefully we’ll get them over here at some point.

[ladidah]

Desperate to go to this, but it's so expensive!

[thistimetomorrow]

Finally bit the bullet and grabbed a pair of tickets in the upper circle for july. The price was horrific and there was an extra £4 booking fee per ticket?!!?

[marob]

Loved this. Very different tone to Totoro, but just as spellbinding. (Also just a little bit too long like Totoro.)

Sat front row, always usual preference, bit of a mistake here though. With the surtitles being on either side of the stage, I had to have my head slightly turned to the right and was continually having to side-eye the dialogue. Didn’t miss anything huge, just little bits of business, but would have been nice to be slightly further back.

Surprised to see they sold out of programmes. Bit of a schoolboy error that with three months to go. And did my eyes deceive me, or did I see “microfibre cloth” on the merch list? 🤔