1,087 posts
|
Post by alicechallice on Mar 21, 2024 14:30:59 GMT
There was zero atmosphere and it wasn't well served being in a typical proscenium arch West End theatre - if the audience had surrounded the action and we'd been in a less traditional space that would have helped a bit for me. This is a good shout - if it had been staged in a non-traditional theatre space I think everything would have worked so much better. You've just reminded me of the time I watched a play starring Toby Jones and Imelda Staunton in a community centre in Haggerston! Circle Mirror Transformation by Annie Baker. That was fabulous. |
|
|
|
Post by mrnutz on Mar 21, 2024 14:31:54 GMT
This is a good shout - if it had been staged in a non-traditional theatre space I think everything would have worked so much better. You've just reminded me of the time I watched a play starring Toby Jones and Imelda Staunton in a community centre in Haggerston! Circle Mirror Transformation by Annie Baker. That was fabulous. A quick search of my emails reveals I only paid £10 for a Monday night ticket as well! |
|
1,087 posts
|
Post by alicechallice on Mar 21, 2024 14:34:49 GMT
Circle Mirror Transformation by Annie Baker. That was fabulous. A quick search of my emails reveals I only paid £10 for a Monday night ticket as well! Cos it was a Royal Court production I assume. |
|
|
|
Post by mrnutz on Mar 21, 2024 14:35:55 GMT
A quick search of my emails reveals I only paid £10 for a Monday night ticket as well! Cos it was a Royal Court production I assume. Correct! |
|
|
|
Post by ix on Mar 21, 2024 17:16:29 GMT
It honestly felt very sixth-formy to me. That's a good way of putting it. There seemed to be far too many people on stage making up the numbers without contributing much to the story, apart from doing vague eye-emoting at the cameras whenever one wobbled past their faces. All a bit second lobster, let alone first lobster. |
|
5,799 posts
|
Post by mrbarnaby on Mar 21, 2024 20:02:34 GMT
Seeing this tomorrow night and cannot wait.
Going in with an open mind / expecting it to be absolute sh*te.
|
|
|
|
Post by theatre2023 on Mar 21, 2024 20:36:08 GMT
What a load of rubbish. This can’t close soon enough. I feel so bad for the cast that they have to endure this night after night.
Someone seems to have forgotten a key requirement for a good show is actually having a story worth telling …
I left at interval. Life is too short.
|
|
4,779 posts
Member is Online
|
Post by Mark on Mar 21, 2024 22:35:37 GMT
This was awful.
Bad music, bad script, bad acting - the lot. Possibly the worst “musical” I’ve seen in the West End.
There was a lot of mic cracks in act two, resulting in a show stop 10 mins from the end. The funniest moment of the night was the scripted scene (in the show) comes and apologises for the delays, just moments after the actual stagehand did the same.
|
|
|
|
Post by Afriley on Mar 21, 2024 23:29:11 GMT
I’m sorry but drunkenly slagging off a show mid show is not au fait. Especially when you’re in the second row of stalls!
I beg people to get some decorum.
|
|
3,533 posts
|
Post by Rory on Mar 21, 2024 23:57:38 GMT
I’m sorry but drunkenly slagging off a show mid show is not au fait. Especially when you’re in the second row of stalls! I beg people to get some decorum. Ah no, the cast don't need that sh*te! |
|
|
|
Post by Afriley on Mar 22, 2024 0:08:43 GMT
Yeah bunch of middle aged, very very drunk women… 😒
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 22, 2024 1:35:51 GMT
I guess if a show does an "out of town" preview it can still get reviewed and you have the logistics and cost of getting the set back to the West End. So sadly now fewer shows tend to open out of the West End compared to 20/25 years ago. Bath and Malvern were popular stops for dramas and nice towns for "star names" to visit without the paps and such in the West End.
|
|
|
|
Post by sph on Mar 22, 2024 2:13:32 GMT
I suppose on paper this had all the ingredients of a sure-fire hit and people expected it wouldn't need an out-of-town try-out.
Putting a show on somewhere else and then picking it up and moving it to London is an added expense.
|
|
|
|
Post by PineappleForYou on Mar 22, 2024 2:32:41 GMT
I guess if a show does an "out of town" preview it can still get reviewed and you have the logistics and cost of getting the set back to the West End. So sadly now fewer shows tend to open out of the West End compared to 20/25 years ago. Bath and Malvern were popular stops for dramas and nice towns for "star names" to visit without the paps and such in the West End. I don't totally agree with this statement. It's quite rare for new musicals (at least) to open straight onto the West End unless a Broadway transfer or a IP cash grab. Most shows are mostly doing regional tryouts, off West End runs or concert versions before making the leap. Examples opening in the next year are Kathy and Stella, Devil Wears Prada and Benjamin Button. I can only think of Opening Night, Little Big Things and Time Traveller's Wife that went to a West End production straight away over the last year. There have also been many yet to make it down like What's New Pussycat or In Dreams. This is not to say Opening Night would have been successful in a regional theatre. I agree it would have isolated a lot of bad word of mouth though. |
|
|
|
Post by PineappleForYou on Mar 22, 2024 2:52:39 GMT
I think ultimately, Sheridan Smith is a massive marketing issue for this show. Her performance doesn't matter really. The show would not exist without a star name like Smith attached to it. However, she brings the baggage of her fans (a good percentage of the current audience) who are expecting a classic musical because that's her usual stage vehicle. Therefore, that percentage goes home disgruntled by the "art house" show they didn't expect and slag it off to their friends.
It's a paradox. The show can't exist without Sheridan Smith but equally it will close because of her involvement.
|
|
1,741 posts
Member is Online
|
Post by FrontroverPaul on Mar 22, 2024 3:03:03 GMT
I guess if a show does an "out of town" preview it can still get reviewed and you have the logistics and cost of getting the set back to the West End. So sadly now fewer shows tend to open out of the West End compared to 20/25 years ago. Bath and Malvern were popular stops for dramas and nice towns for "star names" to visit without the paps and such in the West End. I don't totally agree with this statement. It's quite rare for new musicals (at least) to open straight onto the West End unless a Broadway transfer or a IP cash grab. Most shows are mostly doing regional tryouts, off West End runs or concert versions before making the leap. Examples opening in the next year are Kathy and Stella, Devil Wears Prada and Benjamin Button. I can only think of Opening Night, Little Big Things and Time Traveller's Wife that went to a West End production straight away over the last year. There have also been many yet to make it down like What's New Pussycat or In Dreams. This is not to say Opening Night would have been successful in a regional theatre. I agree it would have isolated a lot of bad word of mouth though. Time Traveller's Wife actually ran successfully at the Storyhouse Theatre in Chester before London. Both What's New Pussycat and In Dreams are deserving of a West End run. ( I also disliked Opening Night intensely but could not award only one star because Sheridan Smith and the whole cast deserve at least four stars for their performances of the material.) |
|
|
|
Post by jac24 on Mar 22, 2024 13:46:24 GMT
I saw this on the 20th. My friend bought the tickets and, as many on this thread have mentioned, the draw for her was Sheridan Smith. I agreed to go as the tickets were well priced and I’ll pretty much go and see anything if it’s not too expensive! Consequently, it’s fair to say I have more eclectic taste but even I felt disappointed by this offering.
I thought at least two of the songs were tonally odd (Magic and the one about Broadway) seeming far too jolly. I really liked ‘Its Over’ though, dramatic, engaging and well sung. The script needs work. I found it quite jarring that Myrtle’s colleagues are supposed to be witnessing her experiencing a psychological breakdown yet are so blasé about it in their dialogue. Consequently, I didn’t feel I cared as much as I should have. I also didn’t have a clear idea of which character was which in the supporting cast and some seemed very underused.
Despite all of that I though the cast did the best with what they have. Would I go again? No, nor would I recommend to others however, I’m glad I experienced it. The person I went with hated it though, I think she’d ask for a refund if she could!
|
|
|
|
Post by indabe on Mar 22, 2024 15:46:28 GMT
Saw it on Monday 18th March. I’ve seen two of Ivo’s productions before, A View From a Bridge and A Little Life, so was not expecting a main stream musical.
Also have seen the original Opening Night film by John Cassavete’s, so knew it was not going to be uplifting!
There was a tremendous amount going on. Nothing was linear. It seemed someone had decided that the more people there were on stage, the less the audience would notice how bad it was. It reminded me of school plays, where everyone in a class of 30 had to have a part, even if it meant just standing there! There was not one outstanding song, all mediocre, Though ‘Magic’ stuck with me as it’s rhyming lyric was Tragic, which is apt!
I thought the cast did a tremendous job vocally, how they sung with conviction, tunes that seemed to have been randomly inserted into scenes, was a feat unto itself!
SS held it together brilliantly.
To give it credit, it’s an interesting piece of theatre with some good parts, however, some parts are risible. Did I find it awful - no! Would I see it again - no! And neither could I recommend it, unless up for seeing something experimental!
|
|
1,478 posts
|
Post by Steve on Mar 22, 2024 17:23:24 GMT
It's a paradox. The show can't exist without Sheridan Smith but equally it will close because of her involvement. I think that's a very perceptive observation. I mean, even the Pulitzer Prize winning "A Strange Loop," with a Broadway run behind it, which is also avant garde rarified material, swerved the West End and opened in the arty Barbican Theatre, where punters know what to expect (subtitles, auteurs, etc). And at least "A Strange Loop" was about the topical issue of "identity." But to open blind in the entertainment oriented West End to an audience of mostly Sheridan Smith fans, with a project about creative navel-gazing and internal psychological breakdown (symbolised by a dead girl), I mean, that is really really risky. But as you say, Sheridan Smith is the only reason we see a project like this in the West End in the first place. Catch 22. Good luck tonight, Mr. Barnaby. I hope you stick it out till the end so you can hate all of it rather than just the first half!  |
|
1,470 posts
|
Post by mkb on Mar 23, 2024 1:51:37 GMT
... Though ‘Magic’ stuck with me as it’s rhyming lyric was Tragic! A cliché of a rhyme sung at many football grounds, as in: <Insert local rivals team name> ARE TRAGIC <Insert home team name> ARE MAGIC LA-LA LA LA LA-LA LA LA to the tune of Let's All Do The Conga. |
|
5,799 posts
|
Post by mrbarnaby on Mar 23, 2024 7:36:51 GMT
I am at a loss as to what to say.
No wait
This is the most appalling show I think I’ve ever seen.
Was it deliberately created to test the audiences patience? (As well as rip them off)
The timeless, witless music and lyrics are the worst I’ve ever heard. If they ever record it (they won’t… can’t… MUST’NT) it could be used to torture people.
Sheridan’s ‘singing ‘ was absolutely painful.
She can’t sing and this exposes her terribly. A load of tuneless screeching. Even Audra McDonald couldn’t sell these songs though to be fair.
What is her character supposed to be? What is the point in all this?
I felt embarrassed for every single person on stage. What on earth must they all be thinking- looking out at the dead eyed audience- slowly losing the will to live? There are some seriously talented people on that stage. None of them deserve this. The audience reaction was bewilderment throughout. The shameless curtain call is perhaps the single most mortifying thing I’ve ever seen on a stage.
No we won’t get up and clap. No it wasn’t good. Stop trying to engineer a standing ovation.
I hated every single moment of this show and I hope it closes the day after reviews come out. I’d rather Thriller Live go into this theatre than this. At least that would give an audience some entertainment and joy.
Ivo Van Hove and Rufus Wainwright should be absolutely ashamed of themselves.
|
|
3,533 posts
|
Post by Rory on Mar 23, 2024 7:44:51 GMT
I am at a loss as to what to say. No wait This is the most appalling show I think I’ve ever seen. Was it deliberately created to test the audiences patience? (As well as rip them off) The timeless, witless music and lyrics are the worst I’ve ever heard. If they ever record it (they won’t… can’t… MUST’NT) it could be used to torture people. Sheridan’s ‘singing ‘ was absolutely painful. She can’t sing and this exposes her terribly. A load of tuneless screeching. Even Audra McDonald couldn’t sell these songs though to be fair. What is her character supposed to be? What is the point in all this? I felt embarrassed for every single person on stage. What on earth must they all be thinking- looking out at the dead eyed audience- slowly losing the will to live? There are some seriously talented people on that stage. None of them deserve this. The audience reaction was bewilderment throughout. The shameless curtain call is perhaps the single most mortifying thing I’ve ever seen on a stage. No we won’t get up and clap. No it wasn’t good. Stop trying to engineer a standing ovation. I hated every single moment of this show and I hope it closes the day after reviews come out. I’d rather Thriller Live go into this theatre than this. At least that would give an audience some entertainment and joy. Ivo Van Hove and Rufus Wainwright should be absolutely ashamed of themselves. But did you like it? Ha, God, I wonder will this last? |
|
|
|
Post by simon on Mar 23, 2024 8:42:47 GMT
The curtain call is very much "let's all sing and dance and try to pretend the last 2hrs never happened" Please tell me there wasn't a standing ovation.
|
|
5,799 posts
|
Post by mrbarnaby on Mar 23, 2024 9:37:04 GMT
The curtain call is very much "let's all sing and dance and try to pretend the last 2hrs never happened" Please tell me there wasn't a standing ovation. A handful of people. I gave all of them a talking to upon leaving and told them to think hard about what they did. |
|
5,140 posts
|
Post by Being Alive on Mar 23, 2024 9:43:25 GMT
I know theatre is subjective and everything, but calling this the worst thing you've ever seen when I know for a fact we've all seen worse shows is...wild to me 😂
|
|
