Regent's Park Open Air Theatre - 2024

[bellatheatre]

Fiddler is definitely happening, has already been cast!

[Nelly]

Jan 19, 2024 0:06:20 GMT bellatheatre said:

Fiddler is definitely happening, has already been cast!

Wonderful news, if true. What a great setting for a production of it.

[BurlyBeaR]

Jan 19, 2024 0:06:20 GMT bellatheatre said:

Fiddler is definitely happening, has already been cast!

Who is in it? 

[zahidf]

[JustJ]

Jan 25, 2024 10:36:21 GMT zahidf said:

meh 🫤 

[Being Alive]

Julia Cheng is a weird choice of choreographer for this - gonna need a good Tevye and Golde to ground this.

[theatrefan62]

With the director I'm guessing it's going to be some sort of modern/different interpretation

[ladidah]

Oooh, really excited!

[oxfordsimon]

So many issues

Why do a new adaptation of The Secret Garden?

I know there is a commitment to new writing but they would sell better with an established adaptation. They have other new writing in the season already.

And the press team clearly don't know Fiddler. It is not a show of joy. And it is not about revolution.

There are moments of joy but that is not how the show feels overall.

And it is a show about the pogroms and anti-Semitism. Not about the Russian Revolution.

[toomasj]

Jan 25, 2024 10:57:50 GMT theatrefan62 said:

With the director I'm guessing it's going to be some sort of modern/different interpretation

It’s the OAT, of course it will. Gender blind casting Tevye or something ludicrous

[Being Alive]

It'll be many things but it won't be gender blind Tevye let's cut them some slack

[zahidf]

Is this the new Directors first season?

[toomasj]

Jan 25, 2024 11:05:36 GMT oxfordsimon said:

So many issues

Why do a new adaptation of The Secret Garden?

I know there is a commitment to new writing but they would sell better with an established adaptation. They have other new writing in the season already.

And the press team clearly don't know Fiddler. It is not a show of joy. And it is not about revolution.

There are moments of joy but that is not how the show feels overall.

And it is a show about the pogroms and anti-Semitism. Not about the Russian Revolution.

Spot on. Whoever wrote that copy wants sacking.

[ceebee]

This uninspiring announcement from OAT is like trying a different takeaway to your regular only to find it's the same old junk in a different wrapper.

[mrnutz]

What a snoozefest

[mrbarnaby]

Well this all saves me some money ! Hoorah!

[imstillhere]

A poor first season.

[danb]

Every year I hope that something will be announced to make me engaged enough to visit what sounds like an exciting and interesting venue. But their programming has been so poor since I’ve been interested that I just haven’t bothered.

[princeton]

It's not a first season - It's actually the final season which Tim Sheader has programmed even though he's no longer Artistic Director. Drew McOnie is responsible for programming the 2025 season and beyond.

I seem to be alone in thinking it's not a bad season at all. A Shakespeare, a new dramatisation of a classic English novel (they've a long tradition of doing those) and a timely revival of a Broadway musical directed by someone who's worked on two of the most exciting recent musical revivals.

Also kudos to them for looking at the pricing structure and making over 33,000 tickets available at £15, and all Monday tickets at £15, £25 and £35.

[theatrefan62]

To be honest it's not even the season. I've just lost faith in the venue. They used to be one of the gold standard for revivals of classics (along with Chichester). But the highs of Into The Woods, Seven Brides, On The Town and JCS seem a long time ago.

[bobbievanhusen]

To do The Secret Garden and not do the Lucy Simon version is a big disappointment. I guess we wont get that version anytime soon now.

[theatreian]

It's years now since I've been to the OAT. Their scheduling in recent years has been very uninspired. This year is no exception. I guess everyone has their own taste but this season certainly isn't mine!

[Being Alive]

I thought La Cage last year was a bonafide hit?

I agree Carousel and Legally Blonde were misfires but every theatre has had at least one misfire a year since reopening (although I guess when you're only open 5 months of the year it's a shorter time to have a misfire)

[ladidah]

I loved La Cage and Legally Blonde

[toomasj]

Jan 25, 2024 13:29:26 GMT theatrefan62 said:

To be honest it's not even the season. I've just lost faith in the venue. They used to be one of the gold standard for revivals of classics (along with Chichester). But the highs of Into The Woods, Seven Brides, On The Town and JCS seem a long time ago.

Whereas Chichester generally smashes it out of the park. The Sound of Music was wonderful, South Pacific superb. Then very strong productions of Crazy For You and Assassins. Prior to that, Mack and Mabel, Half a Sixpence, Oklahoma!… their record is astonishing really. They have the very occasional dud like Me and My Girl, but that was mainly down to some very ill-judged star casting.

Chichester regularly reimagine classic musicals while keeping the heart of the piece intact. No gimmicks or changes for change sake; they respect their audience but also manage to keep shows fresh with (generally) superb casting and new ideas.

Aside from the poor programming, it feels OAT for a handful of years now has been cutting off its nose to spite its face. They recognise the need to produce popular musicals to get the bums on seats, but can’t bring themselves to abandon their over-eager approach. This leads to productions fighting with themselves to find a tone and stick to it.

There’s *always* a gimmick. They can’t stop themselves. Weird new orchestrations. Poor casting decisions. Strange modernist choreography/staging. Every single musical there under his tenure has had at least one to make the production “different”.

What they don’t realise is the theatre itself is the novelty. It’s a lovely venue with so much potential to do brilliant things. Not everything I see there NEEDS to be pretentious - it just is.

That’s OAT out for another year, then. Especially given what they’ll do to poor old Fiddler on the Roof. I wonder what the gimmicks will be this year?