Sunset Boulevard – Savoy Theatre 2023/24

[alece10]

Oct 21, 2023 7:57:23 GMT jackstage said:

So I know lots of people probably will have asked the best place to sit, but trying my best to avoid spoilers in this thread. I have been looking at the best seats for a December date, under £100.
Has anyone sat around Row M of the stalls, or Row G of the dress circle? How raked are they both?
Thank you

I sat in the dress circle but further forward. The DC is very well raked. No so sure about the stalls.

[jm25]

Oct 21, 2023 7:57:23 GMT jackstage said:

So I know lots of people probably will have asked the best place to sit, but trying my best to avoid spoilers in this thread. I have been looking at the best seats for a December date, under £100.
Has anyone sat around Row M of the stalls, or Row G of the dress circle? How raked are they both?
Thank you

I’ve sat in Row G of the dress circle - it’s definitely a good place to sit because there is a walkway directly in front. So although you’ll have lots of people walking in front of you before the show starts, the big gap between Row F and Row G means you don’t need to worry about any heads in front of you during the show itself.

[harry]

Oct 21, 2023 7:57:23 GMT jackstage said:

So I know lots of people probably will have asked the best place to sit, but trying my best to avoid spoilers in this thread. I have been looking at the best seats for a December date, under £100.
Has anyone sat around Row M of the stalls, or Row G of the dress circle? How raked are they both?
Thank you

Stalls rake is good from I think about row G. Seats offset well too. I don’t think it’s much of a spoiler at this stage to say the set features a large screen which is used a lot throughout. It is always angled down towards the stalls (I.e. the bottom of it is further from the auditorium from the top) so I would imagine the higher you go the more oblique the viewing angle, but maybe someone who has seen it from both could confirm if this is a consideration or not.

More generally theatremonkey is an excellent resource if you want a well-informed opinion on seats in different parts of any auditorium in the west end. I always check it when deciding whether a seat is good value or not.

[interval99]

The leg room seems to be a possible issue on the dress circle on row g according to seatplan and theatre monkey reviews. There is an aisle seat g5 which in theory should be a great view but seems have very mixed reviews and is avaliable on most performances. With front stalls mainly booked seatplan reviews keep warning of risk of heads blocking views as you get further back. In the past have been fairly pleased with seats at the savoy but it does seem more haphazard what view you will have on the night than it should be considering the high cost involved.

[jm25]

Didn’t have an issue with the legroom in Row G myself (though I’m 5’7” so not especially tall). There is a railing structure in front of you and I found it quite comfortable resting my feet on the bottom part.

[richey]

I was in row J of the dress circle and didn't have any issues with legroom or view of the stage. Pretty good value for the £37 (full price) ticket price.

[matildaswinton]

This production is superb. Every element. Utterly modern and everyone working at such a high level of focus at all times. The music is thrilling and the movement is perfect. It all just works. And Scherzinger is a star. I’m excited to revisit with Tucker. Jamie Lloyd is doing something really exciting here. This show feels like an important moment, and I makes me excited again for the future of commercial musical theatre.

I hope it goes to New York and is this good.

[alison]

I sat the end of row K stalls and could not see centre stage at all because of the tall person in front, and I've had that problem before at Pretty Woman with mid stalls seats too. The rake in the stalls is generally pretty poor at the Savoy, in my experience.

[danb]

Stunning, in every way. Any negatives I would put down to the soapiness of the actual piece rather than the interpretation. True you have to lean into the madness but by god it delivers if you do. All 4 leads did great work.

Extended interval due to it coinciding with a march down the Strand which would’ve been a logistical nightmare if Tom took his camera out then.

[mrbarnaby]

Oct 21, 2023 13:45:46 GMT matildaswinton said:

This production is superb. Every element. Utterly modern and everyone working at such a high level of focus at all times. The music is thrilling and the movement is perfect. It all just works. And Scherzinger is a star. I’m excited to revisit with Tucker. Jamie Lloyd is doing something really exciting here. This show feels like an important moment, and I makes me excited again for the future of commercial musical theatre.

I hope it goes to New York and is this good.

It IS going to NYC!

[BurlyBeaR]

Is this the highest rated musical in the history of TheatreBoard polls?

[BVM]

Oct 21, 2023 17:58:34 GMT BurlyBeaR said:

Is this the highest rated musical in the history of TheatreBoard polls?

Haha, do the mods not have a spreadsheet?!

It deserves to be! Next level #iconic.

[BurlyBeaR]

Not to mention that mrbarnaby and parsley1 both loved it #unheardof

[punxsutawney]

Not to be a contrarian, but this one is not for me. I enjoyed a lot of it, but think there were weaknesses in a lot of places (potentially not helped by a personal indifference to the book and parts of the score). Tom Francis is by far and away the stand-out and if anybody deserves to collect awards for this production, it is without a doubt him. This should launch him to a series of big roles, you would hope.

Scherzinger's voice is absolutely sublime, however I could not help but feel like her acting was lacking, especially given that the use of cameras in this production put so much focus on her facial expressions etc. She struggled to toe the line between Norma being unintentionally humorous and an outright comedic character at times, almost playing up jokes as if she was in a pantomime, which led to a number of untimely laughs in the audience at moments intended to be deadly serious.

Lloyd's direction was very hit and miss, I think the cameras work exceptionally well but it's over-used to a point where the effect wears thin by the end - significantly less impactful than Oklahoma! for example. I think the minimalism leaves some of the thinner moments and weaker songs too exposed, it struggled to keep my attention at times as a result. That said, I think it is still visually striking throughout and very effective, but not sure Sunset Boulevard was the perfect show to get this treatment.

Won tickets in the lottery, which were middle of row K in dress circle for anybody's reference.

Overall, I've opted for 3 stars. There are parts I enjoyed more than that, parts I enjoyed less, but the sum of its parts comes out to a 3 for me.

[Deleted]

I don't see this for a few more weeks, but every excerpt I've heard of Norma's big numbers features a v e r y slow tempo. Seems like this must be intentional, so for those who have seen it, does it somehow support or align with the overall concept in ways that the more typical faster tempos would not?

[Fleance]

Oct 21, 2023 17:58:34 GMT BurlyBeaR said:

Is this the highest rated musical in the history of TheatreBoard polls?

Tied with Guys and Dolls at the moment, each with 66 five-star votes. (Not sure if they represent the highest-rated, though.)

[theatreian]

Oct 21, 2023 17:58:34 GMT BurlyBeaR said:

Is this the highest rated musical in the history of TheatreBoard polls?

Have you seen it? Just wondered as I remember you really love the show I think and you had doubts about this production. I love the show too and had seen it many times before but this production really blew me away.Tom and Nicole were outstanding. That's my two penneth!!

[alece10]

Oct 21, 2023 21:17:50 GMT Fleance said:

Oct 21, 2023 17:58:34 GMT BurlyBeaR said:

Is this the highest rated musical in the history of TheatreBoard polls?

Tied with Guys and Dolls at the moment, each with 66 five-star votes. (Not sure if they represent the highest-rated, though.)

Operation Mincemeat has 76 5 star votes

And Cabaret has 116 but, of course, that's been on longer.

[BurlyBeaR]

Oct 21, 2023 21:24:42 GMT theatreian said:

Oct 21, 2023 17:58:34 GMT BurlyBeaR said:

Is this the highest rated musical in the history of TheatreBoard polls?

Have you seen it? Just wondered as I remember you really love the show I think and you had doubts about this production. I love the show too and had seen it many times before but this production really blew me away.Tom and Nicole were outstanding. That's my two penneth!!

Next month, circumstances permitting! 

[musicbox]

I seen this tonight and really there isn't much else I can add about the show that others have already said - It's really brilliant and I can't recommended it more.

I'll be completely honest, I went into this through intrigue and didn't actually have a lot of hope that I would like it. I had read about the dark set and Nicole over acting and expected it all to be a bit cringe, but honestly it's nothing of the sort.

Nicole definitely plays Norma very manically to the point where she seems psychopathic in parts, but it really works for the part and is totally believable. I also found her to be genuinely hilarious in the parts where the camera is following her as she poses and twerks, she really conveyed the sense of desperation that Norma has to be relevant and wanted.

Tom Francis was also brilliant and I was so impressed by the start of act 2! I was convinced that it was pre-recorded, but by the end felt it was live. If it really was fully live then it's genuinely one of the most impressive things I've ever seen on the west end. One thing that I'll be completely honest about though was that I found it really hilarious at the end when Tom does the bows in his pants whilst everyone else is dressed! I get that it's supposed symbolise Norma stripping him of everything he has, but I thought it was really silly and it made me laugh more than it should've.



One other thing I was particularly excited about tonight was going to the Savoy for the first time, as for some reason other shows in there have always passed me by and I've never been inside. As others have said though, I think it's probably my least favourite theatre I've ever been in. Without going into detail, I have an illness that affects my mobility but could be classed as an invisible disability, so the constant stairs were a nightmare. Add in the extremely narrow corridors that struggle to support even single file walking and it's all just really stressful.

The strict no re-entry rule is also ridiculous in my opinion. My illness also means I have quite a weak bladder, so the fact that there was absolutely no way I could've gotten out in an emergency moment really stressed me out. This rule is so incredibly discriminatory to people with disabilities or illnesses in my opinion, not everyone who needs to go to the loo is just pissed!

I was in dress circle row G, seat 1, which was right next to the exit door, and witnessed a pregnant woman being refused to leave. She asked if she was exempt due to the circumstances and the really young FOH said 'Nope, you can leave if you want but you won't be coming back in". Not only did I find this disgusting, but it prompted the lady to ask to speak to a manager who eventually let her out and in, and made me miss about 5 minutes of dialogue whilst it was happening right next to me.

All in all, I really loved this show, but it's just a shame that the theatre seems to be stuck in last century.

[andypandy]

Was at the show tonight - NICOLE IS A TRUIMPH. Wowww

I didn’t really understand why Joe Gillis wasn’t as hot as Norma though. It completely changed the dynamic, or was that the point? Why would a penniless writer turn her down when she’s a hot millionaire. The show made less sense if I’m honest.

Also it clearly wasn’t set in the 1940’s with the clothes they wore, the social demographic of the cast and the “snap Ru Paul type” diva personification of Nicole’s Norma.

Still that all aside - it was bold and subversive and sounded gorgeous. What a score.

9/10 from me. Ok 5 stars

[ceebee]

Oct 21, 2023 22:56:53 GMT musicbox said:

I seen this tonight and really there isn't much else I can add about the show that others have already said - It's really brilliant and I can't recommended it more.

I'll be completely honest, I went into this through intrigue and didn't actually have a lot of hope that I would like it. I had read about the dark set and Nicole over acting and expected it all to be a bit cringe, but honestly it's nothing of the sort.

Nicole definitely plays Norma very manically to the point where she seems psychopathic in parts, but it really works for the part and is totally believable. I also found her to be genuinely hilarious in the parts where the camera is following her as she poses and twerks, she really conveyed the sense of desperation that Norma has to be relevant and wanted.

Tom Francis was also brilliant and I was so impressed by the start of act 2! I was convinced that it was pre-recorded, but by the end felt it was live. If it really was fully live then it's genuinely one of the most impressive things I've ever seen on the west end. One thing that I'll be completely honest about though was that I found it really hilarious at the end when Tom does the bows in his pants whilst everyone else is dressed! I get that it's supposed symbolise Norma stripping him of everything he has, but I thought it was really silly and it made me laugh more than it should've.

Great review - promise you that the Act 2 opener is 100% live video and audio every show, confirmed by Nathan Amzi (responsible for videography).

[141920grm]

Oct 21, 2023 20:56:25 GMT @stevea said:

I don't see this for a few more weeks, but every excerpt I've heard of Norma's big numbers features a v e r y slow tempo. Seems like this must be intentional, so for those who have seen it, does it somehow support or align with the overall concept in ways that the more typical faster tempos would not?

Norma's solos didn't feel that slowed down in person (and if it was Rachel's debut you heard then that was hopefully not the usual, that show did feel a little too slow at points). IMO the modified tempo works: The lack of set, the use of choreo/blocking to define scene changes, makes you *really* focus on the actors' every single expression or movement- and the principals remain onstage a LOT, looming, brooding; so when they finally step out for their big number, what they had to say felt that much more personal, the scene intimate. Nicole's gorgeous floating tone plus the slower tempo added to that recitative feel- I was mesmerised. Now the OLC/OBC recordings' tempo for her solos feels too rushed for me!

[apubleed]

Oct 22, 2023 0:17:37 GMT andypandy said:

Was at the show tonight - NICOLE IS A TRUIMPH. Wowww

I didn’t really understand why Joe Gillis wasn’t as hot as Norma though. It completely changed the dynamic, or was that the point? Why would a penniless writer turn her down when she’s a hot millionaire. The show made less sense if I’m honest.

Also it clearly wasn’t set in the 1940’s with the clothes they wore, the social demographic of the cast and the “snap Ru Paul type” diva personification of Nicole’s Norma.

Still that all aside - it was bold and subversive and sounded gorgeous. What a score.

9/10 from me. Ok 5 stars

Well, I for one think the Joe IS as hot as Norma hehe. And I’d say the chemistry between them is definitely different than in previous sunsets. For example, with Glenn Close and Michael Xavier Glenn almost seemed like a borderline rapist. It was shocking and powerful. In this case, it’s clear the Joe IS attracted to Nicole’s norma but might be conflicted about it for other reasons (eg he prefers younger, has his eye on Betty, doesn’t want to get caught up in drama etc).

[alece10]

Without wanting to lower the tone Tom is most definately hot.