254 posts
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Post by lolalou on Jun 17, 2024 19:38:50 GMT
The LW tickets website. Its the pink single seats dotted across the days. Some cracking singles on Friday night! Edit: doesn’t seem to be at the weekend though. The odds are £44.50 then. Fantastic thank you! Loving this solo theatre goers era. |
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Post by Jon on Jun 17, 2024 19:57:47 GMT
Taylor Swift is playing her first London dates this weekend so I would avoid going then unless you want a packed journey home!
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Post by Dr Tom on Jun 17, 2024 20:08:28 GMT
Thanks, booked again for Friday. I’m a creature of habit (and also dithered too long on another seat choice), so back in the same section, but on the skater aisle side.
I think this will be over long before Taylor Swift ends, but thankfully I can walk home in an hour (or walk to the bus, but it’s not much faster).
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Post by ceebee on Jun 17, 2024 20:09:41 GMT
Why are they still trying to shoehorn in jokes about the “British engine”, when there are no national engines at all now, let alone a British one?! Don't know but lots of people laughed at the jokes both of the times I've seen it. |
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Post by 141920grm on Jun 17, 2024 21:00:12 GMT
Put me in the 'loved it' camp! haha, 'camp' ! |
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Post by danb on Jun 17, 2024 21:07:43 GMT
Thanks, booked again for Friday. I’m a creature of habit (and also dithered too long on another seat choice), so back in the same section, but on the skater aisle side. I think this will be over long before Taylor Swift ends, but thankfully I can walk home in an hour (or walk to the bus, but it’s not much faster). Taylor plays til nearly eleven I think so I’m reassured. |
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Post by mrbarnaby on Jun 17, 2024 21:58:02 GMT
Julian Clary- I mean Electra what do you mean by that? Have you seen it? If you had- you’d get it. |
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Post by forfivemoreminutes on Jun 17, 2024 22:43:10 GMT
what do you mean by that? Have you seen it? If you had- you’d get it. I have. other than them both being tall blond(ish) and queer coded i don’t really see the resemblance 🤷 |
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Post by mrbarnaby on Jun 17, 2024 23:02:08 GMT
Have you seen it? If you had- you’d get it. I have. other than them both being tall blond(ish) and queer coded i don’t really see the resemblance 🤷 🤣 |
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Post by dan on Jun 18, 2024 5:23:26 GMT
This thread had been feeling so positive and joyful which I was loving as it doesn’t often feel that way in this house. It’s obviously fine people have criticism and don’t enjoy everything, until opinion seems to be presented as fact. Maybe I’m guilty of that too with the joy as fact 😂 I was just so enjoying sharing in the joy, nostalgia, and shared experiences of a show that seems to have been others’ entry point into musical theatre too. Without this show who knows what might’ve captured my little boy imagination as a 12 year old and made me fall in love with (& become addicted to) musical theatre. I will always be grateful for that, and since seeing the first preview of this new production I’ve been listening to it constantly, playing it all on my piano, and feeling a lot of love and gratitude for a show about toy trains! When I see it again I might just move my head back and forth at the races to conjure up a speed illusion! So really thank you for everybody sharing in this and I sincerely hope this new production does for some little kids what the original did for me and hooks them in! With my favourite shows being Parade / Rent / Next to Normal… I’m glad to have this slice of joyful fun in there too.
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Post by ceebee on Jun 18, 2024 6:04:47 GMT
I agree dan - this has largely been a happy thread. Sadly there are always one or two who want to pee on the bonfire. It's a great show which audiences have loved both times aive been. The box office advance tells the real story. |
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Post by mrbarnaby on Jun 18, 2024 7:32:58 GMT
So this is above criticism because the advance sales are good and people liked the original as a kid? The ‘real story’ being that it’s amazing and anyone who disagrees is wrong? Got it!
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Post by TheOneOnTheLeft on Jun 18, 2024 7:49:29 GMT
For me, as for so many other around here, “Starlight Express” was also the ‘gateway drug’ to musicals (in fact to theatre in general) as a teenager and as a result I have since chosen a career in theatre administration. Although my cultural tastes have evolved since, the piece holds a special place in my heart.
I saw this last Thursday and had a fun night out but actually there was as much frustration as exhilaration for me in this new production, due to missed opportunities and (in mind) poor conceptual choices. I think the ‘negativity’ here has more to do with disappointment than with a hostile view in regards to the material or the production.
What worked for me in this new version was the orchestrations, sound, lightning and general aesthetics of the set design. But my main concern with the set is that it just offers too little space to skate around, all those tight corners don’t make any sense at all and I think the front left and right first class sections should have made way for a wider stage. I get that they wanted as many seats “immersed” in the action as possible, but when more seats means less action and less speed then this is just not the way to go.
I think this is exactly what a ‘creative dramaturg’ who has overseen many, many international productions should have pointed out in the first place.
I thought that the theatre itself also somehow felt much smaller than for “Newsies”.
I was also massively put off by the costume design which for me looked like “Six” on accid (and make no sense within the concept of toy trains brought to life). In this respect, the inflatable arrows of Electra and entourage were the icing on the cake for me (they make no sense, are a distraction and even restrict the movement of the actors). Also, sometimes I had difficulty in differentiating the characters (e.g. Greaseball and Slick since they are both basically yellow).
The costume designer points out in the brochure that she was about the only one in the team who had never seen “Starlight Express” and I think it shows…
Although for me these are no massive improvements, I had no problem with the new/changed songs, revised lyrics and gender swaps. The show has been in constant change since the beginning, after all.
I do miss „A lotta locomotion”, it is one of my favourite songs, but I get that the lyrics are not suitable to today’s sensibilities (“Come and bite my burgers, I'm hot and cheap and quick”…).
I thought the cast was good, if not outstanding (with a few exceptions such as the actors playing Hydra/Hydrogen and Graseball, both of whom I think did a great job).
I have revisited the Bochum version two months ago in preparation for this and as others have said, the new production just does not hold up very well in comparison. (Although as a German it is very hard for me to listen to the German lyrics there as the translation is really, really bad and most of the cast have a heavy accent on top - so for me it was a joy to hear the English version at the Troubadour).
I have given this version 3 stars. Parts of the production were 4 stars for me, other parts 1 star.
I wish the production well (and if it turns a new generation to theatre lovers than all is accomplished!), I am glad to have seen it, but will most likely not go back to see it again.
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Post by danb on Jun 18, 2024 7:50:13 GMT
Yes, critical thought doesn’t matter if the ‘majority’ of people enjoyed it 🙄
How many people got home and realised that they’d just watched a steaming pile of ‘take-away’ theatre? “Great fun while you’re watching it but leaves you hollow & empty afterwards”. Lets not get back to the days of assuming people share our viewpoint just because they appeared to enjoy themselves.
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Post by d'James on Jun 18, 2024 7:57:19 GMT
A Lotta Locomotion has a lot of different versions to introduce the carriages.
This version would work well (with added, updated intros):
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Post by andypandy on Jun 18, 2024 8:03:44 GMT
A Lotta Locomotion has a lot of different versions to introduce the carriages. This version would work well (with added, updated intros): I adore this song!! Question - why was this not in the 1992 cast recording? It was in the show! |
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Post by d'James on Jun 18, 2024 8:14:38 GMT
A Lotta Locomotion has a lot of different versions to introduce the carriages. This version would work well (with added, updated intros): I adore this song!! Question - why was this not in the 1992 cast recording? It was in the show! I know. I was always disappointed about that. It’s in the Megamix. |
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Post by ceebee on Jun 18, 2024 9:15:20 GMT
So this is above criticism because the advance sales are good and people liked the original as a kid? The ‘real story’ being that it’s amazing and anyone who disagrees is wrong? Got it! Yup, pretty much so (for this show). |
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Post by ceebee on Jun 18, 2024 9:18:01 GMT
Yes, critical thought doesn’t matter if the ‘majority’ of people enjoyed it 🙄 How many people got home and realised that they’d just watched a steaming pile of ‘take-away’ theatre? “Great fun while you’re watching it but leaves you hollow & empty afterwards”. Lets not get back to the days of assuming people share our viewpoint just because they appeared to enjoy themselves. I'm happy to see a show now and then that is just great fun, and seeing my teenage daughters loving this reimagined version left me as far from hollow and empty as one can be. Of course, others are free to moan to their heart's content about what leaves them hollow and empty. |
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Post by Dr Tom on Jun 18, 2024 18:22:20 GMT
Discounted singles are now available for the weekend, plus for some dates next week, if anyone is still looking.
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Post by alece10 on Jun 18, 2024 19:12:09 GMT
Discounted singles are now available for the weekend, plus for some dates next week, if anyone is still looking. I know I can look it up but I'm being lazy. Anyone know when Ms Swift is at Wembley as I wouldn't want to travel there on a concert day. |
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Post by maug on Jun 18, 2024 20:04:45 GMT
Hi everyone! Been following this thread eagerly over the past couple weeks and I'm absolutely ecstatic to see the show Thursday night. Thanks to everyone who's shared their impressions so far!
I'm coming direct from seeing the show in Bochum for the very first time since becoming a major fan in my teens, so I hope you'll all enjoy the dispatch from a very excited fan experiencing the two one after the other 😁
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Post by alece10 on Jun 18, 2024 21:32:04 GMT
Took advantage of the £29.50 single seats offer and have got a seat for next Wednesday matinee in the 1st Class Carriage section. I have a booking for mid July as it was the earliest I could get a decent seat when they went on sale but this offer was too good to miss so will see it again.
I initially tried on the LW Theatres site and got a seat in the platform but when I went to pay it had disappeared so tried the Starlight Express website and they also had the single seat offer so got a better seat which will give me a different view to my other visit.
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Post by ceebee on Jun 18, 2024 22:32:28 GMT
Yup, pretty much so (for this show). Oh please. £29.50 will get you a nice single seat at the weekend if you fancy treating yourself. |
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Post by Being Alive on Jun 18, 2024 22:34:22 GMT
£29.50 enabled me to see this was bobbins 😂 but it will absolutely be critic proof in the same way We Will Rock You was.
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