Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder-Fringe / Tour / Ambassadors

[ladidah]

Maybe it's because I don't like any of the 3 characters. Everytime they come out, I would rather have more Kathy and Stella

[winonaforever]

Jul 23, 2024 6:39:55 GMT ladidah said:

No one who has seen the show seems to like the Felicia role, or how it's played.

By the third character they play, people seemed confused.

I think it depends who's on. I loved Felicia as played by Sorelle Marsh, but I agree that the extra characters could easily be a bit confusing if you're seeing the show for the first time.

[andrew]

Better than most things the British musical theatre scene has tried to put on in the last few years. Diction and sound design not amazing as others have said, I went to a captioned performance accidentally but it was quite helpful to glance at the surtitles when I'd missed a key line. Reasonably funny, quite sweet, engaging idea and plot. A few good songs, I especially liked "If I didn't have you". I always find myself comparing slightly campy Fringey things like this to Heathers though, which has the same sort of tone but a blisteringly good score. I've gone for 4 stars.

[unseaworthy]

I got a £15 ticket for this afternoon, mainly for the air conditioning! It was a perfectly enjoyable show. We had the understudy Kathy (who was great). To echo the previous points, the stage is stupidly high. There is no way I would choose to sit in the front, it must be physically painful. Also, for people who are light sensitive, it is worth noting that the lights flash in almost every number.

[sf]

Saw it this evening.

Often very funny. Brilliant cast. Terrible sound design. Four stars.

[colelarson]

Saw this a 2nd time on Saturday afternoon with a friend who enjoys murder podcasts and she said it was very funny and she enjoyed the little nods to podcasts with friends and tbose ones where they manipulate evidence etc! She particularly liked Imelda Warren-Green and Hannah Jane Fox's voices and enjoyed the twists when she thought she had worked out who the killer was.

Chelsea Hall was Stella for my 2nd visit and I thought she was a great laugh as Stella and the chemistry of the best friend relationship between her and Kathy (Bronté Barbé) was still sweet and touching like my first visit. During the 2nd act when they do the flash back song she flung herself on the sofa a bit harder than expected and the girls did get the giggles!

Sorelle Marsh played the Detective Sue Shaw and she was different to my previous visit where Elliotte Williams-N'Dure was playing Sue, Sorelle slipped into the cast perfectly as they all played the various roles.

I sat further back in Row H and the view was better and I think the sound was clearer too. I enjoyed it again and it is different to anything else on the West End with dark comedy and heartwarming moments too.

[partytentdown]

Sorry if I've missed it, but how long is this show?

[amyja89]

Aug 30, 2024 14:20:23 GMT partytentdown said:

Sorry if I've missed it, but how long is this show?

2 hrs 20 mins with interval I think.

[matty]

Made a repeat visit tonight thanks to a great deal from TodayTix (as a Gold member, I managed to get an upgrade on my tickets).

Still really enjoyed this. Sound seemed OK for the most part, but there were still bits I missed. Would love a full cast recording, even if just to hear the songs fully.

[westendgirls]

Went last night and had not read this thread before going. Did think it was my hearing that was out when I really struggled to get the dialogue at some points so glad that others have experience the same. Shame that it’s two weeks out from closing and they still have not fixed what is a pretty major thing

Had a look at their website to find out more about the cast and was really disappointed to see that the alternates/understudies don’t have a bio, just a picture. So much for respecting that alts/USs are what keeps the west end moving

We had Sorelle on last night and wasn’t familiar with her so was keen to see what else she had been in

[Mark]

Let me say that the sound was much better last night than when I’d gone at the start of the run! Still not ideal but better

[partytentdown]

Overall I enjoyed this but struggled with a couple of things... The character of the author (and others) just didn't seem to land for me. The actress was certainly giving it her all but I can imagine someone with real comedy chops making this the highlight of the show. To me the characterisation was just a bit strange rather than funny.

Secondly, the legroom in the circle. Bloody hell. I'm only 6'1 but my knees were crushed against the seat in front until they went numb... I know I only paid £35 but I don't think I deserve to be maimed for the privilege!

[ladidah]

I think if it ever came back, it would need the whole author part revised. It doesn't work at all.

[Being Alive]

Saw this on Monday having seen both of it's Fringe iterations and this show is a prime example of not everything needing to be a full length show.

At 75 minutes, this was perfect.
At 90 minutes, it was really good.
At 2 hrs and 20 minutes, this was a bit of a slog.

Bex and Bronte are so good in this that they carry it really well and make all of the totally unnecessary additions to the material just about work.
The piece really misses Jodie Jacobs though - as Hannah Jane Fox is vocally all over the shop, and isn't funny enough to make it land (I understand the splitting up of Felicia and Sue Shaw but when Jodie played them both it was just FUNNY)
Sound design is also atrocious and most of act 1 was kinda inaudible...

3 stars just for me, but the two leads are so charismatic that if you've never seen a version of it before, you'll have a great time.

[ladidah]

I agree, cut the part of the author/aliases as much as possible and get it back to 75m.

[partytentdown]

Sept 4, 2024 10:50:28 GMT Being Alive said:

Saw this on Monday having seen both of it's Fringe iterations and this show is a prime example of not everything needing to be a full length show.

At 75 minutes, this was perfect.
At 90 minutes, it was really good.
At 2 hrs and 20 minutes, this was a bit of a slog.

Bex and Bronte are so good in this that they carry it really well and make all of the totally unnecessary additions to the material just about work.
The piece really misses Jodie Jacobs though - as Hannah Jane Fox is vocally all over the shop, and isn't funny enough to make it land (I understand the splitting up of Felicia and Sue Shaw but when Jodie played them both it was just FUNNY)
Sound design is also atrocious and most of act 1 was kinda inaudible...

3 stars just for me, but the two leads are so charismatic that if you've never seen a version of it before, you'll have a great time.

Would be really interested to know which bits have been added since the original. I was trying to make my guesses in the pub afterwards

[westendwhistledown]

We had a cover on for Erica this week and it really felt like there was a hole in the show!

[ladidah]

She is AMAZING

[westendwhistledown]

I love Jen's Sue but no one can match Imelda's Erica