|
|
Post by SuttonPeron on Sept 7, 2023 23:10:08 GMT
God, that looks cheap!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Post by Oobi on Sept 7, 2023 23:31:58 GMT
I don't think I've ever heard of a successful english adaption of a well known musical. Correct me if I'm wrong. I guess in many ways it is much easier to translate an english musical to another language than vice versa. Les Mis. Originally French. |
|
|
|
Post by alittlebrainsalittletalent on Sept 8, 2023 7:46:35 GMT
ooby alittlebrainsalittletalent Thank you both for your reviews. I hope I may ask you a few questions in follow up to your entertaining and informative reviews? I have a bit of a love for underdog “famously bad” musical productions. How does this rank alongside “Too Close to the Sun”, “Behind the Iron Mask”, “Gone With the Wind”, “Imagine This” and the like - all of which I saw?(!!!) Tempted to see this for the collection, but is it so bad it’s good or just plain bad? I wouldn't really say it's the same as those shows. I've seen many a flop as well as all those you list. The problem here is the material is actually okay. The production in Vienna is excellent. Yes, it's sort of old fashioned and very 1980s, but the aesthetic leans into that and you get a giant mega-musical, well produced. This has just been produced horrendously by Charing Cross. As the video above shows, it's mainly the production that lets it down. I ended up being sad / angry rather than finding it to be so bad to be good... mainly as it's actually pretty expensive and a wasted opportunity. I saw a lot of the Vienna team in the audience - they must have been quite shell shocked. Lots of Americans near me left in the interval and were very confused by the 'status' of the Charing X asking if it was amateur theatre / off West End / fringe as their marketing suggests otherwise. There was a sh*t ton of merchandise. More has been spent on the programme than has been spent on the entire set. It's hard to tell if Bialystock and Bloom are happy with the production they've created or are watching in horror, or are even open to changes. If you are - a coat of paint would honestly lift things. Get someone in to sort out the messy direction. For the love of god change the bed. It's salvageable to some extent - please throw the cast a life line and help them out. |
|
|
|
Post by max on Sept 8, 2023 7:56:58 GMT
The white curtain is literally what the songs are performed in front of. When the bows start is the Manderlay set. The Manderlay set is a masterpiece in comparison to the set for the hotel in Monte. Perhaps this should be in the 'Bad Behaviour At A Show' thread, but.... Are you allowed to take a pig into the auditorium at Charing Cross Theatre? When Mrs Danvers comes out at 1'07" the pig seems to go completely wild, or is perhaps being ritually slaughtered. |
|
1,244 posts
Member is Online
|
Post by ladidah on Sept 8, 2023 9:15:39 GMT
They couldn't even afford to put some railing on that metre high grand staircase!  Wow, that is awful. |
|
1,379 posts
|
Post by BVM on Sept 8, 2023 10:04:53 GMT
The white curtain is literally what the songs are performed in front of. When the bows start is the Manderlay set. The Manderlay set is a masterpiece in comparison to the set for the hotel in Monte. Perhaps this should be in the 'Bad Behaviour At A Show' thread, but.... Are you allowed to take a pig into the auditorium at Charing Cross Theatre? When Mrs Danvers comes out at 1'07" the pig seems to go completely wild, or is perhaps being ritually slaughtered. Oh that made me laugh! Have to say for a show that’s allegedly terrible the audience in that clip seen to be witnessing the second coming. Curiouser and curiouser. |
|
|
|
Post by toomasj on Sept 8, 2023 11:26:18 GMT
The white curtain is literally what the songs are performed in front of. When the bows start is the Manderlay set. The Manderlay set is a masterpiece in comparison to the set for the hotel in Monte. Good Lord, that looks sub-amdram |
|
689 posts
Member is Online
|
Post by thistimetomorrow on Sept 8, 2023 11:45:41 GMT
Waiting for amateur rights for this to come through and mountview or artsed to put on a sublime production tbh
|
|
5,139 posts
|
Post by Being Alive on Sept 8, 2023 11:51:50 GMT
I've seen better am dram sets in village halls...this is really really bad
|
|
|
|
5,139 posts
|
Post by Being Alive on Sept 8, 2023 14:11:45 GMT
waaaaaaaay too late - they're not gonna build another set, this is it
|
|
|
|
5,795 posts
|
Post by mrbarnaby on Sept 8, 2023 17:19:59 GMT
What baffles me most is how bare those walls are. They could have popped into Ikea and brought a couple frames and printed some pictures. Manderley is grand and opulent isn't it? Where are all the paintings and decorations. Really how much extra would it have costed them? A hundred pounds at most?? I'm a set designer and the level of laziness here offends so much lol It’s so bizarre. Some frames from a charity shop would have cost pennies 🤣 |
|
1,379 posts
|
Post by BVM on Sept 8, 2023 17:24:53 GMT
Who’s the set designer?
Have they ever designed anything else?!
|
|
193 posts
|
Post by demelza on Sept 8, 2023 17:35:00 GMT
I was holding off on booking for this until we started to get some reviews on here and I'm glad I am now! Factoring in travel it would cost over £100 for my mum and I and from the looks of it it's very much not worth it. Such a shame — Rebecca's a favourite novel of ours and we'd both been tentatively excited for this to be finally opening. Oh well, there's always the Jeremy Brett/Joanna David version to rewatch on youtube! This isn't selling particularly well, is it? I wonder if they'll end up doing some heavy discounts... I feel dreadfully sorry for the cast and backstage crew, doing their best with what they've been dealt.
|
|
5,795 posts
|
Post by mrbarnaby on Sept 8, 2023 17:39:44 GMT
Who’s the set designer? Have they ever designed anything else?! Maybe Kunze designed it? |
|
|
|
Post by Oobi on Sept 9, 2023 9:14:30 GMT
Who’s the set designer? Have they ever designed anything else?! The production designer (presumably costumes and sets) is Nicky Shaw. Her website has a ton of pictures of her other productions, and while the sets are sometimes a bit abstract, there's nothing that looks nearly as amateurish as this. I can only assume this production was heavily impacted by budgetary issues. But for God's sake, the set is single-handedly going to drive down review scores by a star or two; surely, however tight money is, some extra investment would justify itself? |
|
1,379 posts
|
Post by BVM on Sept 9, 2023 10:14:12 GMT
Ironically more could have been achieved by a bare stage - perhaps a central spiral staircase and atmospheric lighting rather than this 1950s "village hall" set. Especially when the Charing Cross has such limited stage space. Unless that's what the designer was going for but it's the first time Mrs Danvers had the right idea by burning it all down. Amen to this. I am a MASSIVE advocate that no set is better than cheap set. Cheap ugly sets are an assault (in a bad way) on the senses and make it harder to immerse yourself. At least with no set you can let your imagination do the work. |
|
1,379 posts
|
Post by BVM on Sept 9, 2023 10:17:07 GMT
Who’s the set designer? Have they ever designed anything else?! The production designer (presumably costumes and sets) is Nicky Shaw. Her website has a ton of pictures of her other productions, and while the sets are sometimes a bit abstract, there's nothing that looks nearly as amateurish as this. I can only assume this production was heavily impacted by budgetary issues. But for God's sake, the set is single-handedly going to drive down review scores by a star or two; surely, however tight money is, some extra investment would justify itself?I have still not been so am reserving judgement until seen it with my own eyes - but you are right it is VERY odd. The big fanfare about the big orchestra - yet Charing X doesn't NEED a big orchestra whatever the piece and feel sure they could achieve a sound 99% of the audience wouldn't be able to differentiate for this with an 8-12 piece and pre-programming/synth strings. Also if the sound design is as unremarkable as people say, then literally what is the point. You do need to LOOK at a musical as well as hear it so surely, something should be spent on the set. Hardly dare ask but does the lighting design in any way make up for it? |
|
|
|
Post by max on Sept 9, 2023 10:50:13 GMT
"Hardly dare ask but does the lighting design in any way make up for it?" Doing it in the dark might help. |
|
1,475 posts
|
Post by Steve on Sept 9, 2023 11:48:25 GMT
Have to say for a show that’s allegedly terrible the audience in that clip seen to be witnessing the second coming. That video is from the first night, so the creatives and their friends would have been there cheering. That said, the enthusiasm was still there on Wednesday. If you are a set designer, it is evident you are going to hate this. Even if you aren't, Manderley, which is very much a character in the novel, isn't on stage (bar an atmospheric projection at the beginning), so you still might hate this. But I went in thinking, this is Charing Cross, the absolute bottom of the theatre pecking order. This is where you find the hungry and the desperate. So, expectation management is key. Many of the one star crowd are those who love the show the most. They've seen it staged sumptuously , and they've seen it so often they can recite multiple minute changes. So by comparison, this is terrible for them, because they expect the Drury Lane. For me, going in with low expectations, and not knowing the show, Lauren Jones's performance and arc were so outstanding that I barely noticed the stage. Except the seagulls. That was a travesty.  |
|
1,481 posts
|
Post by steve10086 on Sept 9, 2023 12:45:13 GMT
But I went in thinking, this is Charing Cross, the absolute bottom of the theatre pecking order. This is where you find the hungry and the desperate. I don’t think that is fair at all. Have seen some wonderful productions there - Ragtime and Titanic immediately spring to mind. |
|
1,475 posts
|
Post by Steve on Sept 9, 2023 12:47:16 GMT
I saw those too. I loved them.
I would class them as "hungry." That isn't a pejorative.
Showcasing their play there, in the hope of one day playing bigger houses.
Or showcasing their amazing skills there in the hope of being noticed and getting other opportunities.
But fair dos. Maybe the cheaper production costs can justify runs that are intended as a one-off.
|
|
1,475 posts
|
Post by Steve on Sept 9, 2023 12:53:01 GMT
I mean what's on stage doesn't resemble the Manderley of the novel, though it is set there. I'm saying the cheap staging didn't bother me, cos Lauren Jones's performance conjured the drama of Manderley for me. |
|
