Halls - Turbine Theatre (7th - 30th July)

[darreno]

Didn't see a thread for this, apologies if I missed it.

Went to this on Saturday afternoon. It's still in development but feels very much like the finished product. On at the Turbine for the month. Had a nice introduction from the director Andy Fickman (Heathers etc) which was helpful to get the audience excited.

It's about a group of 8 students from different backgrounds who come together in a student flat for their first year.

Cast is really, really good. May Tether is just fantastic in anything she does so anything she is in is worth a pop. Also worth going just for Kelly Sweeney performing 'A little hard work', which is really the emotional high point of the show.

Exciting to see something in the last stage of development and the Turbine is always a great visit. Will hopefully make another performance by the end of the month. Highly recommended to all.

[jamb0r]

Thanks for the review darreno. Might check this out tomorrow. I can’t see a running time listed anywhere, can you share how long it was? Thanks!

[FrontroverPaul]

It's two hours including interval. Not sure how I know this but I wrote it in my diary when I booked my ticket so outside chance it has changed.

I also like the Turbine. Pleasant 10-15 minute walk from Victoria, nice location, friendly staff, but does struggle to get a decent audience for some of the shows. I've enjoyed several new musicals there.

[TallPaul]

I enjoyed the song Elaine Paige played a couple of Sundays ago.

[stevej678]

Jul 10, 2023 22:24:07 GMT jamb0r said:

Thanks for the review darreno . Might check this out tomorrow. I can’t see a running time listed anywhere, can you share how long it was? Thanks!

The Turbine are saying on social media that it's two hours 15 minutes including the interval. 

[jamb0r]

Really enjoyed this last night. Some really catchy songs and the cast were all excellent and bursting with energy. Nothing particularly groundbreaking but a fun and nostalgic evening.

Even though it’s 18 years since I stayed in halls of residence (yikes!) I recognised every character and every plot point mirrored my uni experience almost exactly.

We were out at 10pm, though it did start a few minutes late.

The staff at this theatre are also always delightful and make it a pleasure to visit.

[darreno]

Jul 12, 2023 9:48:17 GMT jamb0r said:

Really enjoyed this last night. Some really catchy songs and the cast were all excellent and bursting with energy. Nothing particularly groundbreaking but a fun and nostalgic evening.

Even though it’s 18 years since I stayed in halls of residence (yikes!) I recognised every character and every plot point mirrored my uni experience almost exactly.

We were out at 10pm, though it did start a few minutes late.

The staff at this theatre are also always delightful and make it a pleasure to visit.

Totally agree about the Turbine staff, genuinely adds so much to the overall experience. Can't be easy dealing with the general public all day but they always manage a great welcome.

[bonnotonno]

I loved watching this show - what a strong amazing cast and great material for them to work with. The show has so much energy and you could tell how enthusiastic and engaged the audience were. Really excited to see what they do next with it. First visit to the Turbine and will definitely go back - agree with how lovely all of the staff were.

[stevej678]

Jul 16, 2023 16:05:11 GMT bonnotonno said:

I loved watching this show - what a strong amazing cast and great material for them to work with. The show has so much energy and you could tell how enthusiastic and engaged the audience were. Really excited to see what they do next with it. First visit to the Turbine and will definitely go back - agree with how lovely all of the staff were.

I was there this afternoon and found it hard to believe this is a work in progress. It ticks all the boxes already.

A terrific cast, relatable characters, a score to die for, scenes that are frequently laugh-out-loud funny but also surprisingly touching at times too.

This surely isn't the last we'll be seeing of Halls. If they could just sort a cast recording along with a transfer or tour!

[FJ]

Loved this tonight! Echo everything that's been said above.

Didn't know what to expect but felt really welt put together, the songs were brilliant, a really talented cast. May Tether was hilarious, really had me laughing.

I definitely see a future for this show, and I'll try and make it back at least once more over the next couple of weeks before it finishes the run.

[danb]

Whats the run time of this pls?

[FJ]

Jul 16, 2023 20:38:39 GMT danb said:

Whats the run time of this pls?

I was at the 6pm tonight and we were out just before 8.20pm I think.

[showgirl]

Am interested but the running time means yet another matinee, which is a shame; also, though people here are obviously very keen, the only song clips I've found online ("I'm Sorry", sung by Jacob Dachler and something sung by Kelly Sweeney, the title of which I don't know) sound ghastly to my ear, so could anyone who has seen it please advise how typical these are? I'll be kicking myself if I book, only to find I've let myself in for 2 hours plus of aural torture.

[stevej678]

Jul 17, 2023 3:47:30 GMT showgirl said:

Am interested but the running time means yet another matinee, which is a shame; also, though people here are obviously very keen, the only song clips I've found online ("I'm Sorry", sung by Jacob Dachler and something sung by Kelly Sweeney, the title of which I don't know) sound ghastly to my ear, so could anyone who has seen it please advise how typical these are? I'll be kicking myself if I book, only to find I've let myself in for 2 hours plus of aural torture.

This is the opening number from the show (as performed by Olivia Moore, Grace Mouat, Millie O'Connell and others in 2020). I'd say that's a good representation of the score.



If you enjoy the music from shows like Heathers, Eugenius, Loserville and Be More Chill, then I'd imagine Halls will appeal too. 

[showgirl]

Thank you very much, stevej678; that's really helpful. I've listened to the clip and so far as the comparable shows you suggest are concerned, I've only seen the whole of Heathers and can't recall a thing about the music. Eugenius I think I left at the interval and Loserville and Be More Chill I certainly didn't see, so I think you've resolved this for me.

[capybara]

Heathers I loved, Eugenius! was pretty naff with some catchy songs but the two numbers I’ve heard of this don’t sound much like either to my untrained ear.

Anyway, I’ve picked up at ticket for a fiver next week so will be interested to see if it lives up to the modestly positive feedback it has received on here.

[Dr Tom]

I saw the early matinee yesterday (Sunday). Thanks to the Turbine staff for finding me an excellent seat too.

I think this is very good, catchy songs, perhaps not as rewatchable as some of the other shows in the genre.

May Tether is the star here really, excellent stage presence, but that will come as no surprise to anyone who's seen her before. I hadn't paid too much attention to the cast, so it was a very pleasant surprise to see Matteo Johnson, who frankly has all the best lines (including getting to do his Cher impression, plus one of the most memorable lines from Heathers). All the cast are great.

This is still listed as developmental, but it seemed very polished to me. My main comment, speaking as someone who has spent his career working in universities, is this feels rather more like a university setting from 10 to 15 years ago than today (even with references to things like Tinder added in). I'm also impressed that they found a group of students who know what formative assessment means!

This is very much one of those musicals where the character types come first and drive the narrative. It's a year in the life of young people. There are no massive twists or anything like that, but it's performed with enthusiasm. Hopefully this has a future life and I would see this again.

[max]

Jul 24, 2023 8:39:09 GMT Dr Tom said:

I think this is very good, catchy songs, perhaps not as rewatchable as some of the other shows in the genre.

What would you say is the genre, and the other shows in that same genre?

I'm putting together something on current trends in musical theatre writing which I'll make a thread on.

[properjob]

I liked it but I couldn't hum any of the tunes now. It did feel like a finished product although a bigger theatre would allow them to do more with the staging. I don't think I ever got the logic of internal layout of the flat.
I don't see it running for 25 years in the West End and it isn't going to revolutionise musical theatre but it is a decent show and I hope it gets a run somewhere. Also I bet as soon as they release the amateur rights every student group in the country will put on a production.

[Dr Tom]

By genre, I just meant aimed at the same audience as Heathers, Be More Chill, Eugenius, Cheerleader etc.

[sph]

Jul 24, 2023 21:36:02 GMT Dr Tom said:

By genre, I just meant aimed at the same audience as Heathers, Be More Chill, Eugenius, Cheerleader etc.

All produced by Paul Taylor Mills. The "cult teen musical" seems to be very much his thing.

[capybara]

Enjoyed this at the Turbine tonight.

May Tether shone as the best actor of the group. Some fantastic comedic moments and I look forward to seeing how she gets on in her first play later this year.

Some of the songs were a little glib and the lyrics could do with a bit of a brush up in places. However, Kelly Sweeney’s ‘A Little Hard Work’ received a huge response and rightly so, giving this light hearted piece a sense of genuine heart.

There’s still plenty to do to truly knock it into shape if it gets a full production run any time soon. But, as a foundation to build from, it’s a good start.

Three stars. Worth adding that it was a sell out, which is more than can be said for the recent Eugenius! run at the same theatre.

[Steve]

I absolutely adored this tonight!

While aimed at a similar youthful demographic, this is actually the polar opposite of high concept, broad comedy musicals such as Heathers, Eugenius or Be More Chill.

Instead, this is a low concept (and thus more difficult to market), naturalistic character-based comedy musical, like Millennials, but with a story.

It's a relatable story of Freshers in their first year at University, beautifully realised by it's cast of 8, funny and moving in equal measure.

Some spoilers follow. . .

If you want to imagine the story, just imagine the TV show "Sex Education" stripped of it's "youthful sex educator" high concept, instead just focused on the kids from different backgrounds, meeting each other, and living their lives, away from home for the first time.

Imagine "The Breakfast Club" without the high concept of the Breakfast Club detentions, but still with the bonding of the kids from different backgrounds.

As a fan of low concept masters such as Alexander Zeldin and Annie Baker, I love real and relatable characters in real and relatable situations, but it's hard to market such shows, as it's typically the high concepts that tantalise audiences.

About the highest concepts in this story are that each of the 8 freshers are types, and they all share one room, 15B: the Posh vegan girl with bags of money (May Tether); the working class Scouser who must work 2 jobs (Kelly Sweeney); the acting student (Elena Gyasi); the popular girl (Jen Pandya); the popular macho poser, a sort of teen Guy Ritchie (Lenny Turner, brilliant in the role); the studious geeky mummy's boy (Jacob Dachtler); the out-and-proud gay guy (Matteo Johnson) and the soft-spoken blundering Spaniard (Ivan Gonzalez).

The show, however, goes out of its way to humanise all these "types," so that they easily blend together and just about the biggest conflict in the show is when someone drinks someone else's milk from the communal fridge.

There are, however, great veins of comedy in the way all these multiple types see each other, and also great pathos.

For example, when the poor working-class Scouser with 2 jobs confesses to the rich posh girl that she can't spare the time to go out and sings "A Little Hard Work" (I'm just guessing the names of the songs, of course), Kelly Sweeney effortlessly ripped my heart out with her escalating passion. Like many of the songs in this, the feel is of modern country and western, Dolly Parton style, big-hearted climaxing pop ballads, inflected with Gary Barlow-esque understated lyrics, reflecting very British mundanities.

This same Dolly-Gary music-lyric pattern is also present in one of the strongest songs, when May Tether's posh girl sings "I Want More," about her unrequited affection for someone who is already hooked up with someone else, and Tether blows the roof off, exploding into an absolute pop crescendo with all these frustrated hidden feelings that have nowhere to go.

Other characters get similar songs that explore key worries: the popular girl worries that if she caves into teen Guy Ritchie's desire for her, she will be "Just Another Girl," and Jen Pandya nails every emotion; the gay guy gets to advise another character on how to be "The Real You," and Matteo Johnson crescendos with sensitivity; all the characters together reflect on how easily life can take momentous and potentially dark turns in "Just One Moment."

The universality and mundanity and commonality of the situations reflected in the songs makes the whole show immensely touching.

And the same qualities just as easily produce belly laughs, for example, the way the aforementioned milk-gate produces foreseeable and amusing reactions of everyone trying to get out of responsibility, and the hilarity of how someone who gets caught can be made to take the whole blame, even as other guilty parties watch on silently.

Much comedy comes from recognisable situations: anybody who has ever had a negative first impression of anybody else must surely be amused by "First Impressions," in which all the characters are thinking but not saying something about other characters; anybody who has played "Never Have I Ever" must laugh at the inevitable and predictable humiliations revealed in the "Never Have I Ever" song; anyone who has ever got sick of anyone at one time or another must surely laugh along with the cast as they side-eye each other, singing "Sick of You."

The song "Home" is short, sweet and profound, revealing how the concept of home changes for these young people as they become a "home" to each other.

All in all, this low concept, character -based show is absolutely winning when it comes to reflecting our lives back at us, helping us laugh hysterically about it, and then taking a poignant moment to contemplate it's passage.

I hope this show gets an audience, and I hope many of these cast members get to repeat their performances. 4 and a half stars from me for this show, even at this formative stage.