My Favourite Things: The R&H Concert/Cinema/Sky Arts

[robertb213]

He does have solos, he does Younger Than Springtime in the first act and Ten Minutes Ago in the second.

[interval99]

Act 2 4pm to 5.10 but note the orchestra under simon Lee do a 6/7 min play out you don't want to miss so out 5.20.

Special guest star, non singing but a EGOT winner.

Many highlights to list once more board members have seen the show but Daniel and Maria reunited for their King and I shall we dance really shone with their love for each other and the show.

Magical evening and truly lives up and surpasses expectations

[sondheim1984]

This was good but introducing Aaron Tveit to have him come out and sing JUST 16 BARS of Soliloquy was a crime against musical theatre!

[thistimetomorrow]

Highlight for me was Julian Ovenden singing 'This Nearly Was Mine'. Audra was fabulous and really enjoyed Lucy's numbers too. It was so weird to hear Marisha sing the non Daniel Fish version of 'Caint Say No'.

Totally forgot to add that Joanna Ampil was also wonderful. I think her and Julian were my top performers from the concert.

[BurlyBeaR]

Replacement for Old Friends in the West End at some point?

[BurlyBeaR]

Poll added.

[sophia]

Dec 12, 2023 17:55:49 GMT thistimetomorrow said:

Highlight for me was Julian Ovenden singing 'This Nearly Was Mine'. Audra was fabulous and really enjoyed Lucy's numbers too. It was so weird to hear Marisha sing the non Daniel Fish version of 'Caint Say No'.

Totally forgot to add that Joanna Ampil was also wonderful. I think her and Julian were my top performers from the concert.

Julian Ovenden has such a beautiful voice. When I was walking to the tube afterwards, a group of women behind me were raving about him.

[thistimetomorrow]

Dec 12, 2023 18:28:15 GMT sophia said:

a group of women behind me were raving about him.

as they should!! I'd love to see him do a full production of Carousel or Sweeney Todd

[colelarson]

Wow Wow Wow! So pleased I went, this was magical and beautiful. A stunning, enchanting selection of songs.

So much talent on stage I couldn't pick a highlight as it was all superb!

The special EGOT guest was a real surprise and I imagine their tales will be cut for the broadcast! They got a well deserved standing ovation.

Was surprised by the number of people that left while the orchestra were still playing at the end, definitely stay if you can this evening to listen to their final number.

Throughly enjoyed and could see this working like "Old Friends" as a revue on the West End.

[theatreloverlondon]

Can we have a clue of the EGOT winner?? Male or female??

[theatreloverlondon]

Rita Moreno was at Old Friends the other night 👀

[robertb213]

Bingo!

[theatreloverlondon]

Less than 15 mins to go and still 10 seats in the Dress for £86. I’m 5 mins away and I’m still not buying until they bring them to under 50 🤣

[alece10]

Interval.
This is one classy concert.

[marob]

Dec 12, 2023 20:47:11 GMT alece10 said:

Interval.
This is one classy concert.

It is indeed. Read horror stories on here about dodgy sound and missed cues at a lot of these.

 Only problem with this is some of the pauses for applause, which then doesn’t come.

[Steve]

Good lord, what a concert full of flawless vocals.

Absolutely LOVED Patrick Wilson's "Oh What a Beautiful Morning" intro song, as he not only gave us a flawless vocal, but somehow injected so many different attitudes in to that beautiful morning, whether it be gleeful exuberance or hushed awe.

I love how much humour Marisha Wallace blends in with her passion, on a number of songs, but especially in "The Gentleman is a Dope" from Allegro.

In this lineup, with perfection following perfection, it's only the acting that can make you stand out. . .

And that's why Julian Ovenden's "This Nearly was Mine" was the killer standout of the first half for me, as his beautiful full deep resonant voice swelled up with growing passion, his feet danced sideways under him, his hands clasped the air to grab back his lost love, coming up short, leaving him as still a statue. And then he swelled again to the most rapturous crescendo. Unbelievably moving! I was in tears!

And he even bowled me over with his humility, breathily and nervously admitting how "scared" he was, and telling us how his Grandma's Alzheimers was relieved hy singing along to "The Sound of Music" daily!

Bravo!

(Edited to comment on the second half. . .)

In the second half, we got two EGOTs (Rita Moreno was the big surprise), with Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber also taking to the stage to effuse about how "Some Enchanted Evening " is one of the best songs ever written, while hilariously giving Michael Ball's delivery of it the faint praise treatment.

To be fair to Ball, he explained that this concert was the first time he'd ever sung it, and it was fabulously delivered, just not as coloured and nuanced, as say, Julian Ovenden's more thoroughly rehearsed and acted recent effort at Chichester and Sadlers Wells, which was probably in the Lord's mind.

It was a ginormous privilege of the second half to have all these amazing voices join together on stage to tag team and chorus "Edelweiss." Having Ovenden and Tveit and Wilson et al sing solos and refrain with a 14 strong lineup, including Audra McDonald(!) is what dreams are made of. The only drawback for me is that that song has always felt a little bit "Tomorrow Belongs to me" creepy to me, with it's excessive love of soil and "homeland" lol.

Another second half highlight for me was getting to see Patrick Wilson reprise his Billy Bigelow, from Carousel, for the song "If I Loved You." It brought back memories of seeing him do it a lifetime ago in Los Angeles in 1996, which, come to think of it, may have been my first Rodgers and Hammerstein production. The years melted away and he was the same passionate but tender Billy Bigelow I remembered.

But for me, it was Audra McDonald's operatic "Climb Every Mountain," climbing so carefully and skillfully to that super high soprano crescendo, that took my breath away. There was one minor false note, early on, but it was clearly the product of reaching for originality, living in the moment, a quality that defined every perfectly pitched and modulated subsequent note, in a song that was so charged and uplifting, I found I was in tears again.

This concert was hella special, so memorable, I'm glad it was recorded. I could see the camera operators at either side of Row M of the Stalls, or so (I assume there was also one in the centre somewhere), so at least I know I won't be caught on camera lol.

Maria Friedman's story about her Albert Hall "King and I" dress being big enough to literally (and actually) cover an extra five people, made me laugh, but funniest story of the night went to Rita Moreno, EGOT extraordinaaire, who was in the 1956 movie with Deborah Kerr, and explained that Kerr liked her so much she offered to show her her panties, one pair of which was inscribed "Heavens Above," and another of which was inscribed "Fire Down Below!" LOL. Moreno said Daniel Dae Kim was hot and described herself as a "dirty old lady." LOL again!

All in all, this was my favourite one-off concert of the year by far. I loved the entire ensemble, and felt I was hovering on air from start to finish.

5 stars from me.

[toomasj]

How is the sound generally, plus LX/mic pick-up cues? Is this one rehearsed, basically? Followspots working, etc?

[apubleed]

WOW. That’s how you put on a one night concert. Stunning in every way and I think it might go down in history.

[interval99]

Dec 12, 2023 22:01:43 GMT toomasj said:

How is the sound generally, plus LX/mic pick-up cues? Is this one rehearsed, basically? Followspots working, etc?

At the matinee the only obvious small issues were couple of late mics in act 2 but definitely rehearsed and planned out.
The was also 14 dancers, backing singers who both supported and had their own numbers including a tap routine.
This was done as a tribute first not just a money spin and the love and respect the performers had for the composers and their ground breaking musicals was very clear.
There were even short voice recordings played from Rogers and Hammerstein talking about the creation of songs and their joy when they heard them sung outside the theatre.

[toomasj]

Dec 12, 2023 23:02:59 GMT interval99 said:

Dec 12, 2023 22:01:43 GMT toomasj said:

How is the sound generally, plus LX/mic pick-up cues? Is this one rehearsed, basically? Followspots working, etc?

At the matinee the only obvious small issues were couple of late mics in act 2 but definitely rehearsed and planned out.
The was also 14 dancers, backing singers who both supported and had their own numbers including a tap routine.
This was done as a tribute first not just a money spin and the love and respect the performers had for the composers and their ground breaking musicals was very clear.
There were even short voice recordings played from Rogers and Hammerstein talking about the creation of songs and their joy when they heard them sung outside the theatre.

It sounds fabulous, I’ll definitely see the broadcast version. Wish every concert of this type was of the quality you describe!

[mrbarnaby]

Very glad to hear it was good.

But Aaron T only doing part of one song?! What?

[Steve]

Dec 12, 2023 23:48:42 GMT mrbarnaby said:

Very glad to hear it was good.

But Aaron T only doing part of one song?! What?

He did two full songs (see Robert's post above) and also took part in condensed sequences of songs or "suites," as they called them.

The fact that "Soliloquy" was just a short bit was a shame as he was ruling that song, one of my favourites.

[marob]

Loved the concert for the most part, but felt the second act was weaker than the first. With so much ground to cover I wish they’d skipped the entr’acte of songs they’d already performed from South Pacific. Some of The King and I segment was disappointing, and I can’t believe they pretty much just crammed The Sound of Music into 10 minutes at the end. Though what an end, with Audra McDonald doing Climb Evry Mountain.

I could have done without Michael Ball to be honest. There’s just something terribly cheesy about him and his voice was quite shaky compared to the others (as was Friedman’s to start with, but she got better as she went on.) Not sure why he’d want to remind people of the whole Captain Tom thing by doing You’ll Never Walk Alone. (Maybe they could have followed it with It’s a Scandal, It’s a Outrage.) And I’m gutted they got him to do Some Enchanted Evening, which he noted he’d never performed before, when Julian Ovenden was there.

Which is not to say I didn’t enjoy it. It was great and I saw some incredible performers tonight. Will try and catch it in the cinema and will be buying it if it gets released.

Considering how much Jonny Labey was featured it’s a little bit mean that he’s not even credited.

I loved it when Rita Moreno got an instant standing ovation, and then Andrew Lloyd Webber didn’t.😂 He did have a speech though and looked genuinely moved.

[ruthieh]

It was a wonderful concert! Beautiful. And whilst on the subject…what a star Marisha Wallace is becoming!

[alece10]

Well that wasn't a concert, it was an event and something I will remember for a long time. Classiest thing I have seen this year by far.
And this is the way to stage a concert. It was so well rehearsed and you could tell.

For me there wasn't a duff performance there, it was just one outstanding performance after the other.
It was such an honour so see the Broadway stars on the stage. I have never seen Audra before and only seen Aaron when he was in Assassins at the Menier a few years ago. It was also my introduction to Patrick Wilson who, I have to admit, had never heard of before.

Not fair to say I had a favourite but Julian Ovenden's version of This Nearly Was Mine probably got the loudest applause of the evening closely followed by Audra McDonald singing Climb Evry Mountain at the end.

And Rita bloody Moreno! what a legend. I told my friend that we had seen her before and then realised it was Chita Rivera - it was almost a Forbidden Broadway moment for those who know. I was disappointed that someone felt the need to tell us who the guest was on here before the evening concert had taken place. Maybe also my fault for reading anything about the concert beforehand.
Also really liked the Lords speech.

Orchestra sounded beautiful - did anyone else stay for the exit music? They played for about 6 minutes and got huge applause at the end.

The ensemble of singers and dancers were so good as well and there is a lot of future talent out there.

And lets talk about the frocks!!!!! I don't think any of the female performers wore the same frock twice. There were hundreds of them and they were stunning. You could see that the producers have invested big bucks into this show.

My only minor niggle is that the programme does not list the ensemble performers or the orchestra which is a real shame and I don't understand why. Also it would have been nice if they handed out a song list at the end so we could remember who sung what like they did at the end of the Sondheim Gala last year.

So glad I booked for this as had a wonderful night out.