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Post by howard on May 2, 2023 3:54:30 GMT
Has anyone seen Glory Ride at the Charing Cross Theatre? Recommendations?
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Post by Mark on May 2, 2023 7:59:13 GMT
I went last night (Glory Ride).
I thought it was pretty good. An interesting and easy to follow story, music was ok if fairly generic but there was some nice vocals and performances, and a viewpoint into another pocket of history I did not know about.
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Post by joem on May 2, 2023 8:28:41 GMT
I concur with above. I was also there last night. Not many plays about cycling (Ventoux at the Vaults is the only one I can remember) let alone musicals.
This kind of grew on me, it's a good (true) story in its essentials about a sports star engaging in acts of real heroism as opposed to sporting acts of "heroism". The music is fairly generic and think some of the vocals need polishing a bit but the book sheds light on a detail of the war in Italy which deserves wider knowledge.
Mods might change name of the thread? It's "Glory Ride" as has been pointed out.
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Post by capybara on May 4, 2023 9:48:14 GMT
Went to see Glory Ride last night. I was fascinated by the plot but wasn’t totally convinced by its merits as a musical.
None of the songs stick in my mind the next day and, I don’t know, the book itself felt pretty safe and basic.
However, the strength here is the story itself. Josh St Clair made for a great Gino and Amy Di Bartolomeo sang brilliantly as Adriana. My god, I wish she had been given more opportunities to use that lush voice of hers.
Overall, three stars feel about right. Glad I saw it but not rushing back.
Worth noting it was pretty sparsely populated. I bought a premium seat for £15 using an offer on Charing Cross Theatre website but everyone was invited to move forward five minutes before curtain up.
Don’t bother buying expensive tickets, just check the seating plan ahead of the night you go.
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Post by mattnyc on May 26, 2023 0:48:36 GMT
I want to see this but every performance looks like maybe 15 seats are sold, so I’m not even sure if they go ahead with performances with that few people in the audience.
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Post by FrontroverPaul on May 26, 2023 10:02:04 GMT
I want to see this but every performance looks like maybe 15 seats are sold, so I’m not even sure if they go ahead with performances with that few people in the audience. There's regular heavy discounting and seat filling for shows at Charing Cross Theatre, and occasional cancellations due to ilnness in the casts, but I doubt if a performance would be cancelled due to low ticket sales. |
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Post by Mr Snow on Jun 5, 2023 21:11:22 GMT
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Post by andypandy on Jun 16, 2023 8:03:02 GMT
This was wonderful - such an incredible original show and story with excellent performances and great lesson in history.
Sadly let down by a bad average forgettable score and no stand out songs
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Post by schuttep on Jun 16, 2023 8:52:38 GMT
I went to yesterday's matinee and agree with the comments made.
The story was interesting and very moving in places. Josh St Clair as Gino Bartali was astonishing - great voice and good looking to boot. I won't say anything about his tight fitting shorts...
I'm pleased I made the effort to go.
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Post by fizzym on Jun 16, 2023 12:29:26 GMT
Saw this a few weeks ago and concur with others’ thoughts. Really fascinating story, a great cast doing their best with the material but some pretty facile lyrics. Still an enjoyable evening overall, good value with the discounts, and would happily look to catch some of the cast in other things.
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Post by longinthetooth on Jun 16, 2023 13:13:53 GMT
I thought this was a great little show, and I was totally immersed in the story. I do agree, though, that the songs were not that memorable, even though at the time they seemed ok.
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Post by andypandy on Jun 16, 2023 23:16:56 GMT
I actually thought through watching this - imagine if Pasak and Paul or Mr. A Lloyd Webber wrote this score.  ) |
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Post by colelarson on Jul 1, 2023 21:38:52 GMT
Saw this today for the Matinee show, Peter Watts was on as Gino Bartali, he was doing a great job and suited the role well.
The cast work nicely together and it is emotional at times. It had a decently developing story with some strong lead performances but songs were not memorable but every character does get a chance to shine, maybe some more work on the book is needed.
Glad I saw it and now reading more on Gino, such a fascinating and extraordinary man, his story would make a great film as well.
Additional note: during the first bike race the onlookers on stage were waving Progress Pride Flags and for the curtain call Niall Sheehy (Cardinal Dalla Costa) wore some coloured beads) as it was Pride day in London.
2nd note....how terrible are the seats in the theatre some of them need a complete overhaul with fabric hanging off!
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sjb
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Post by sjb on Jul 13, 2023 12:09:31 GMT
Admittedly I haven’t seen Glory Ride, but there seems to be some very strange activity on the show’s Show-Score page ( www.show-score.com/uk/london/off-west-end-shows/glory-ride ) – critical reception for the show has been fairly mixed, but the 120+ reviews for the show on the website are nearly all unanimously positive. However, on looking at the profiles of the majority of these reviewers leaving scores of 95 and above, the pattern is exactly the same – they’ve all left their reviews the same day their account is created, with a very high score (95 plus) for both Glory Ride and Jersey Boys and then a random smattering of scores and vague reviews on 5-7 other West End/Off-West end shows. This cycle is then repeated, with new accounts being created each day, and then leaving all of their reviews for multiple shows on that same day. In addition to inflating Glory Ride’s score, they are also reviewing other new musicals negatively – for example, all but one of the negative reviews for Operation Mincemeat and Now and Next seem to be from these accounts. |
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Post by jarnew on Jul 22, 2023 5:05:16 GMT
Caught a weekday matinee of this earlier this month on my London trip. Was very excited as I'm really into Italian history and culture. Sadly enough I have to say it must be one of the worst shows ive ever seen.
For some pretty serious source material, there are way too many attempts at light hearted little jokes in the script, that all fell flat for me. Speaking of the script, I feel like it is oversimplified making the piece entirely too black and white, making it lack any depth it could have. The protagonist is just a hero who only does the right thing, thats his whole characterization. Nothing more there. The love interest might be even worse in this regard, who's literally just there to be his wife (and also do some good together with the hero main character).
The music is very forgettable and most songs seem to be there to fill time to make this a 2 act show. Because there is so little happening. I saw a review on a poster saying something in the vein of "full of twists and turns", and I couldnt disagree more. This is the most boring, straightforward, sugarcoated retelling of a historical happening u could imagine.
The cast was alright, nothing badly to say about them. One of the few lightpoints infact was Amy di Bartolomeo's solo. Too bad its somewhere in the middle of this at times boring, other times really frustrating and corny show. Oh, and I really liked how the set looked, that was done well I guess. Not much was done with it unfortunately.
Overall I looked forward to this and was really, really dissapointed.
Oh and yes the fake Italian accents that seemed to come and go where as annoying as u'd expect, either do a show in italian or english, not this for godsake.
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Post by max on Jul 22, 2023 7:56:12 GMT
Admittedly I haven’t seen Glory Ride, but there seems to be some very strange activity on the show’s Show-Score page ( www.show-score.com/uk/london/off-west-end-shows/glory-ride ) – critical reception for the show has been fairly mixed, but the 120+ reviews for the show on the website are nearly all unanimously positive. However, on looking at the profiles of the majority of these reviewers leaving scores of 95 and above, the pattern is exactly the same – they’ve all left their reviews the same day their account is created, with a very high score (95 plus) for both Glory Ride and Jersey Boys and then a random smattering of scores and vague reviews on 5-7 other West End/Off-West end shows. This cycle is then repeated, with new accounts being created each day, and then leaving all of their reviews for multiple shows on that same day. In addition to inflating Glory Ride’s score, they are also reviewing other new musicals negatively – for example, all but one of the negative reviews for Operation Mincemeat and Now and Next seem to be from these accounts. Agree, these reviews on SHOWSCORE are extremely dodgy. Great detective work. In an attempt to look genuine they review other shows, but the pattern of comments is suspicious - so many uses of the word "banal" and "improv" in reviews to slam 'Operation Mincemeat'. Where the contributor has a profile pic I did some image searches, and one of them is definitely a stock image as other uses are findable elsewhere (though it's possible a genuine contributor could use a stock image). It could of course be a wild fan of the show determined to stand up for their favourite (but slamming other shows deviously). However it should be brought to the attention of SHOWSCORE. Am I right that some ticket sales sites take their reviews as a bolt-on feed? I couldn't trust them now. |
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Post by tmesis on Jul 22, 2023 18:47:37 GMT
Amazed this is still running. Saw it over 2 months ago and found it one of the most stultifyingly dull musicals I’ve ever seen. Audience response was also extremely muted. I thought the set was terrible too - a bit like what you might find in an amdram panto.
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Post by jarnew on Jul 22, 2023 22:12:57 GMT
Amazed this is still running. Saw it over 2 months ago and found it one of the most stultifyingly dull musicals I’ve ever seen. Audience response was also extremely muted. I thought the set was terrible too - a bit like what you might find in an amdram panto. Ur not gonna believe me but this got a standing ovation somehow at my thursday matinee. Was the only one who stayed in my seat I think. |
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Post by Someone in a tree on Jul 23, 2023 7:34:23 GMT
Amazed this is still running. Saw it over 2 months ago and found it one of the most stultifyingly dull musicals I’ve ever seen. Audience response was also extremely muted. I thought the set was terrible too - a bit like what you might find in an amdram panto. Ur not gonna believe me but this got a standing ovation somehow at my thursday matinee. Was the only one who stayed in my seat I think. Well doping in cycling is now quite prolific... |
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sjb
Auditioning
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Post by sjb on Jul 27, 2023 10:25:29 GMT
Admittedly I haven’t seen Glory Ride, but there seems to be some very strange activity on the show’s Show-Score page ( www.show-score.com/uk/london/off-west-end-shows/glory-ride ) – critical reception for the show has been fairly mixed, but the 120+ reviews for the show on the website are nearly all unanimously positive. However, on looking at the profiles of the majority of these reviewers leaving scores of 95 and above, the pattern is exactly the same – they’ve all left their reviews the same day their account is created, with a very high score (95 plus) for both Glory Ride and Jersey Boys and then a random smattering of scores and vague reviews on 5-7 other West End/Off-West end shows. This cycle is then repeated, with new accounts being created each day, and then leaving all of their reviews for multiple shows on that same day. In addition to inflating Glory Ride’s score, they are also reviewing other new musicals negatively – for example, all but one of the negative reviews for Operation Mincemeat and Now and Next seem to be from these accounts. Agree, these reviews on SHOWSCORE are extremely dodgy. Great detective work. In an attempt to look genuine they review other shows, but the pattern of comments is suspicious - so many uses of the word "banal" and "improv" in reviews to slam 'Operation Mincemeat'. Where the contributor has a profile pic I did some image searches, and one of them is definitely a stock image as other uses are findable elsewhere (though it's possible a genuine contributor could use a stock image). It could of course be a wild fan of the show determined to stand up for their favourite (but slamming other shows deviously). However it should be brought to the attention of SHOWSCORE. Am I right that some ticket sales sites take their reviews as a bolt-on feed? I couldn't trust them now. Yeah, so odd about the exact same language being used in each negative mincemeat review - all written in the vaguest possible terms! Unfortunately a few ticket sites do use the Show-Score ratings on their sites (one of the most prominent is TodayTix, as they also own Show-Score), so it is a real shame that these reviews are seemingly gaming the system. I did get in touch with Show-Score directly to flag, but unfortunately they replied saying that they weren't able to ascertain a pattern of suspicious reviewing. |
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Post by max on Jul 28, 2023 9:26:48 GMT
I saw yesterday's matinee. Good that they've got full houses to play to in these last shows; the cast deserve it. Josh St Clair was great as Gino and Amy Di Bartolomeo also superb as Adriana. Terrific singing and acting from both - I'd love to see them as Eva and Che in Evita.
By placing the staging on a set that was mainly attempting naturalism (fake ivy never works), but had a vanishing point of more representationally painted buildings, and also archive projections, I absolutely couldn't get into the production choices and aesthetics. It often looked like a show playing in front of the set for another show. There's one song that steps out of the overwrought balladry and anthems with hints of burlesque and gospel in a more comic number - it works and the audience want it, but the whole look of the show is wrong for it. If the writers want to go in that fluid ecletic direction they'd be freed up by jettisoning the elements of old-fashioned and naturalistic set, and let us be more aware it's a story being made in front of our eyes (which is much more 'now' for current successful musicals). That freedom could then inform the writing style.
Very strange use of a revolve - only used once, during a cycling sequence. However, rather than helping it look like Gino was taking a bend while riding, he was always surrounded by people talking to him when it turned. So the revolve was used for the moments on his bike ride when Gino was ....stationary! - What? Lol
This production would have benefitted from the Charing Cross Theatre still being in its traverse configuration, which would have forced more staging invention out of that sparsity of design, and just looked more cool.
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Post by mattnyc on Apr 24, 2024 13:53:32 GMT
Is this possibly transferring to WE? This morning all of a sudden I started seeing ads pop up about it and I went to their website where it says “…the journey continues as GLORY RIDE races into its next phase. Exciting news about GLORY RIDE is on the horizon”.
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Post by Being Alive on Apr 24, 2024 14:34:54 GMT
This literally was on filler for every single show of it's run and got terrible reviews - surely not 😂
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Post by marob on Apr 24, 2024 14:52:41 GMT
I never saw it, and didn’t follow the show, but I’ve been having it pop up on Instagram ever since it closed. They seem to post new trailers nearly every week.
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Post by punxsutawney on Apr 24, 2024 15:33:17 GMT
Is this possibly transferring to WE? This morning all of a sudden I started seeing ads pop up about it and I went to their website where it says “…the journey continues as GLORY RIDE races into its next phase. Exciting news about GLORY RIDE is on the horizon”. They've been paying for these ads since it closed, I think it's just a desperate producer hoping to find some publicity from somewhere. |
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