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Post by Snciole on Sept 15, 2018 19:23:07 GMT
I am laughing far too much about the band having a fight. I do think the cast and crew's patience must be wearing thin because there are still major production issues like having to scream over the band to be heard. John Dagliesh's role seemed to be mostly working out what to do with the folder between scenes with Sylvia and Keir because it is such a short run and all preview nobody is going to tell Maria to give it a go and leave the script in the sidelines even though I feel she is nearly ready (She was in the quite large role of Ada so not just a swing). If this was bad show *side eye to Knights of the Rose* then it would be funny but it just feels a real shame. I am not sure Prince and Zoo Nation can expect such a commision again.
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Post by Mark on Sept 15, 2018 21:56:27 GMT
Hmmm. I wasn’t keen on act one at all but it did grow on me in the second act. I think the problem is it is trying to tell too many stories. It ran at 3 hrs 5 mins and so could do with losing a good 20 minutes as it just feels too long. They need to focus on Sylvia’s story in more detail and lose some of the surrounding parts.
Very much a work in progress but it was enjoyable. 3 stars from me!
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Post by fishstain on Sept 17, 2018 16:01:45 GMT
Very weird. The Thursday matinee has gone from half full to sold out in the last half hour.
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Post by Dr Tom on Sept 17, 2018 16:12:39 GMT
Very weird. The Thursday matinee has gone from half full to sold out in the last half hour. The tickets may well have been allocated to be distributed through one of the services we don’t discuss - as may have happened at a previous matinee which wasn’t selling so well. |
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Post by showgirl on Sept 17, 2018 18:23:02 GMT
As a ticket-holder for the Thursday matinee I seriously hope not as hours later I've heard nothing from the theatre and have already bought my train ticket and made other plans to fit in with that trip. If there is an issue those with bookings should be contacted asap. |
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Post by zahidf on Sept 17, 2018 18:38:03 GMT
Tonight (press night) cancelled AGAIN due to cast illness
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Post by stageyninja83 on Sept 17, 2018 18:53:44 GMT
Apparently they are going ahead with a scaled down concert version tonight. They've had such bad luck!
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Post by alforshort on Sept 17, 2018 19:10:54 GMT
As a ticket-holder for the Thursday matinee I seriously hope not Me too, for your sake. May be worth checking with them, though? It's still on sale, it's just that the stalls were half sold with lots of £45 seats left earlier, whereas now there's only a handful of seats in the circle available. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2018 20:18:48 GMT
OK so if they can do it concert style, why didn't they do the ending concert style for all those performances where they stopped before the end?
And if they're offering refunds for this, why didn't they offer refunds for the curtailed performances?
As Oscar Wilde didn't say, "‘To lose one press night may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose two looks like carelessness.’
And reading the replies to that tweet, sounds like it wasn't handled very well.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Sept 17, 2018 20:20:08 GMT
Ever get the feeling that some things just weren’t meant to be?
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Post by nash16 on Sept 17, 2018 23:08:17 GMT
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Post by showgirl on Sept 18, 2018 3:40:35 GMT
Me too, for your sake. May be worth checking with them, though? It's still on sale, it's just that the stalls were half sold with lots of £45 seats left earlier, whereas now there's only a handful of seats in the circle available. Thank you both. I did check after fishtain's post but when I looked, there was nothing available, which certainly looked suspicious; plus then I saw the tweet about last night's performance being concert-style. And I would gladly contact the theatre, but how without ringing the premium number they list? Will have to look for an email address. |
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Post by firefingers on Sept 18, 2018 7:07:37 GMT
Glad I didn't decide to fork out for a second visit. The fact they are now doing the whole show but in concert makes me feel very bitter about the missing half hour of show. No refund for me, though I have been offered two drinks vouchers for my next Old Vic trip which is something I suppose.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2018 9:00:11 GMT
Seems to me that as soon as the "work in progress" nature of the current production was clear they should have said "OK, all tickets are £20, have a refund if you paid more than that (or credit to use when it returns, or something)"
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2018 9:11:03 GMT
I don't usually like buying a ticket for near the end of a run, in case I really love a show but don't have an opportunity to return. But in this case, I'm glad I've got the very very last performance, I feel like they'll probably do what they can to make sure they at least go out with a bang. (Though maybe I should get an emergency back-up ticket to something else that evening (with a later start time) just in case...)
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2018 9:14:03 GMT
And I would gladly contact the theatre, but how without ringing the premium number they list? Will have to look for an email address. I've usually got responses from box.office@oldvictheatre.com, you could start there. Or if you have a Twitter account, last time I complained about them on there, I got a DM asking for my number so they could give me a call and resolve my problem (which they did, promptly and *beautifully*). |
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Post by nash16 on Sept 18, 2018 10:00:44 GMT
According to twitter audiences last night, in the pre show announcement, the audience were told that the show will be returning to the Old Vic in 2019 in a "full" production.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Sept 18, 2018 10:04:56 GMT
Some of it is luck yes, and illness cannot be foreseen. But that doesn’t account for lack of preparedness in other respects, or for bad decision making in how the situation is handled. Sure, there’s obviously more than a kernel of promise in this, judging from the reports so far. And the subject matter and casting are going to engender more support than usual perhaps. But really, if all of this had happened with your bog standard new musical people here would be baying for blood by now.
Maybe one day folks will sit round dinner tables in Hampstead having seen Sylvia in the West End the night before with their £225 tickets and say “wasn’t it absolutely marvellous darling? And do you remember seeing it at the old vic when it was a shambles? Hardly even finished!”
I honestly don’t think this situation would happen with a producing theatre outside of London. People wouldn’t stand for a trunkated show or a concert version, twenty quid or not.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2018 10:16:11 GMT
I feel like they'll probably do what they can to make sure they at least go out with a bang By the sound of it, there's a possibility that could be literal, going by their luck so far... I did think that too. At this point they're one exploding set short of 'everything that can go wrong...' |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2018 10:34:07 GMT
What a shambles! Thank the Lord that this bunch are only putting on a play (or not as the case may be) and weren't really a part of the suffragette movement or else women still wouldn't have a sniff of a vote! Très chaotique!
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Post by zahidf on Sept 18, 2018 10:53:13 GMT
According to twitter audiences last night, in the pre show announcement, the audience were told that the show will be returning to the Old Vic in 2019 in a "full" production.
Time out review says the same, and that the faff was because it changed from a dance show to a full blown musical
www.timeout.com/london/theatre/sylvia-review
'Early last week, Old Vic boss Matthew Warchus sent a very frank email to reviewers attending the already rescheduled press performance of ‘Sylvia’, Kate Prince’s new hip hop musical about the life of suffragette Sylvia Pankhurst.
He said he’d reclassified the entire run as work-in-progress – ie effectively previews – partly due to delays caused by cast illness, largely down to the fact that what he’d programmed as a dance show from Prince’s ZooNation company had morphed into a full blown musical, necessitating far more development time than was available.
It will apparently return ‘properly’ next year, but for now this is a review of a work-in-progress, albeit one Warchus has enough faith in to allow press to see.'
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Post by dani on Sept 18, 2018 10:53:27 GMT
What I don't really understand, given that the press night last night was only a concert performance, as cast illness prevented a full staging, is how there are reviews of the full version in today's Times, Telegraph and Guardian, as well as Time Out.
They went to see it over the weekend? I thought the whole point was that the first time it would be ready for critical scrutiny was yesterday.
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Post by charmedjean on Sept 18, 2018 10:55:38 GMT
Just got an email to say tonight's performance is also a Concert version due to cast illnesses.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2018 11:24:14 GMT
I think if i'd seen one of the curtailed performances and not been offered a refund I'd be getting in touch as well!
So did people who'd paid to see it get this "very frank" email too? |
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Post by zahidf on Sept 18, 2018 11:28:05 GMT
I think if i'd seen one of the curtailed performances and not been offered a refund I'd be getting in touch as well! [/p] Time out review says the same, and that the faff was because it changed from a dance show to a full blown musical
www.timeout.com/london/theatre/sylvia-review
'Early last week, Old Vic boss Matthew Warchus sent a very frank email to reviewers attending the already rescheduled press performance of ‘Sylvia’, Kate Prince’s new hip hop musical about the life of suffragette Sylvia Pankhurst.
He said he’d reclassified the entire run as work-in-progress – ie effectively previews – partly due to delays caused by cast illness, largely down to the fact that what he’d programmed as a dance show from Prince’s ZooNation company had morphed into a full blown musical, necessitating far more development time than was available.
It will apparently return ‘properly’ next year, but for now this is a review of a work-in-progress, albeit one Warchus has enough faith in to allow press to see.'
[/quote] So did people who'd paid to see it get this "very frank" email too?[/quote][/p]
Nope, just the reviewers!
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