Here You Come Again - Leeds Playhouse / Tour

[djdan14]

Summer 2024 Leeds Playhouse prior to UK tour and west end.

x.com/whatsonstage/status/1732350841237967069?s=46

[gmoneyoutlaw]

Dec 6, 2023 11:24:19 GMT djdan14 said:

Summer 2024 Leeds Playhouse prior to UK tour and west end.

x.com/whatsonstage/status/1732350841237967069?s=46

I saw this in Connecticut a few months ago. Tricia Paoluccio was wonderful with Gabriel Barre directing.  

Also, it was funded with a government arts grant during Covid-19.    

[benny20]

What's The Courtyard theatre like? Only ever been in the big room!

[TallPaul]

Dec 6, 2023 14:27:59 GMT benny20 said:

What's The Courtyard theatre like?

Rectangular and on three levels. Mostly raked seating, with single rows around the sides.  Depending on what rows are sold, the first row, or two, are often below stage level, and have a price to match.



Picture credit: Ian Grundy

[stevej678]

Coming to The Lowry from Tue 29 Oct - Sat 2 Nov 2024. On sale to members now, general sale tomorrow at 10am. It's in the Lyric Theatre at The Lowry which is a bit of a surprise, considering it's in the Courtyard at Leeds Playhouse. 

[benny20]

Yeah..I've got my Lowry 2 for 1 tickets but was surprised it was not in the Quays thatre. Seemed a good fit. A two hander in the Lyric...might struggle unless some patrons will think it is a full blown Dolly musical

[evilmat360]

Now also announced for some ATG venues
www.atgtickets.com/shows/here-you-come-again-the-new-dolly-parton-musical/

[evilmat360]

https://www.instagram.com/p/C4fYzxJtAoW

Steven Webb appears to have been announced to play Kevin.

[erik24601]

Surprised that the board is so quiet about this one. Anybody there for the first performance on Saturday?

[anniel]

This is the Leeds Jury reporting…

Saw this tonight. If you like Dolly and all of her hits you will love this. An astonishingly good Dolly performance from Tricia Paoluccio who sings brilliantly.
Set during 2020 and the pandemic, Dolly is a guardian angel for the vulnerable Kevin (Stevie Webb), acting as a friend, life coach and general all round inspiration.
It has some touching moments and is quite funny (although having seen Jonathan Harvey’s A Thong for Europe in Liverpool last year it is neither as funny nor rude as that. I am still blushing now.)
Obviously the songs are great and it is a cheerful and positive night out. As with In Dreams last year in Leeds, the performances are better than the material.

[TallPaul]

I can't be only the second TB member to see this, surely?

It's very brave to set a musical during the pandemic, a time I'm trying very hard to forget. A very slight story, even by jukebox standards!

Kevin is a most unlikely leading man. Perhaps that's the point. Tricia Paoluccio IS Dolly.

A cast of just four in total, with the same number of musicians, three of whom look like they'd rather be elsewhere. Only the drummer gives the impression of enjoying himself.

I knew it would be a 'lively' crowd when I arrived to find many of the overwhelmingly female audience wearing pink hats. If I'm honest, I don't know every song in Dolly's back catalogue. Fortunately, the group of women next to me did...as did the group in front...and the group behind. The secret, I decided early on, was to just go with the flow!

If you don't like eye contact, this isn't the show for you. The fourth wall is well and truly smashed. No intentional audience participation, except someone giving a helping hand at the start of Act II.

You'll be seeing the this on tour, won't you, our david? The ending has your name all over it. Front and centre is the place to book.

[david]

I'm booked in for the Lowry TallPaul. Though really guttering is the fact that a few days after booking it popped up on the Liverpool Empire ATG page and with my ATG card, I could have seen it for half the cost! If it is any good, I'll book for Liverpool as well! By the sound of our post, this one looks right up my street. As long as it's fun with plenty of laughs, I'm sure I will have a great time.

[BurlyBeaR]

Those pink cowboy hats get recycled for absolutely allsorts and I’m sure Madonna is the person to blame.

[lou105]

Jun 1, 2024 17:30:38 GMT david said:

As long as it's fun with plenty of laughs,

It was exactly that, I thought. Slight plot, plenty of lines to get responses of empathy or recognition of pandemic cliches. Some great singing, not too much drowned out by the audience when I went, but I can see it could be an issue! No pretense to be anything other than a fun, feel good night

[showgirl]

I saw yestrday's nearly sold out matinee and it was fine, but didn't really pull me in or win me over as I'd hoped; my mind was half elsewhere, missing the fantastic walking weather I'd foregone by having to book back in December. So I suppose that opting for a matinee (longish running time of 2 h 20 plus the need to get a train back afterwards) meant the audience was quieter than might have been the case in the evening, but they were nevertheless very enthusiastic and clearly Dolly fans. I thought this made too little use of the other cast members (I counted 6 in total, but only realised at the end as all 3 male musicians wore glasses and looked quite alike, though this may have been deliberate) and was altogether a bit too slow and demanding of indulgence, but then the plot is pretty slight and you know the ending will at least be upbeat if not exactly happy. Bizarrely the set-up seemed sppokily (& perhaps unhelpfully) similar to the play I'd seen in the same space exactly a year before, the revival of Kay Mellor's a Passionate Woman. That was set largely on a rooftop and had a small cast with one main character whereas this was set in a attic though there were instead two main characters. Both however too slow and insubstantial to satisfy someone hoping to be fully engaged and to escape for a couple of hours.

[thedrowsychaperone]

Interesting that yesterday Dolly has finally announced her own jukebox musical is finally opening on Broadway, makes me assume that this show may quietly disappear after this tour

[PhantomNcl]

I saw this on Saturday - went in with pretty low expectations but absolutely fell in love with it. The set was great - on first glance just an attic with various bits of accumulated junk, but on closer inspection there were things there which I know for a fact are in my own parents' attic - Fisher Price stacking rings, various board games, a scooter, a Big Yellow Teapot, boxes of tinsel, and of course the boxed artificial Christmas tree with years of sellotape around it.

It also hides a few little secrets which enable a couple of illusions through the show, which was an unexpected and nice touch.

I wasn't sure about Kevin breaking the 4th wall at first when he arrives in the room, but it did really work, and brought the audience closer in to the action. He was such a sweet character, and it was great to hear the audience cheering him on in act 2.

Tricia really is Dolly. Her voice and mannerisms are all spot on, and her singing is perfection.

The audience were very well behaved - despite a few cowboy hat-bedecked hen parties in attendance the singing was left (mostly) to the cast, and everyone was invited to join in the megamix at the end.

I would definitely watch it again if the opportunity arose :-)

[colelarson]

Saw the show this afternoon in Canterbury and I was pleasantly surprised! I thought it might be poor and a lame tribute to Dolly with songs squeezed in and a bad Dolly impression, but actually it was full of life and laughter and the songs chosen worked well with the storyline.

The cast of two and musicians were fab and Tricia is top notch as Dolly, I was stunned! I thought she might be miming, but no she has Dolly's tone down to a tee!

There were a few moments too that were potentially off script as Tricia and Steven got the giggles and it seemed like it was natural. It was a fun afternoon and a standing ovation was well deserved.

The audience had no cowboy hats in sight and were reasonably behaved, but definitely a few had been on the wines before, during and after!

You know I love merch! Mug, tote, magnet, tee, pull over and WWDD (What Would Dolly Do) bracelets on sale.

Overall I think the show had a nice message and we all need a bit of Dolly in our lives!

[drowseychap]

Saw this in Malvern tonight didn’t read up or see any clips before wasn’t expecting too much like others have said but came out loving it .
Clearly wasn’t what most of the women in flashing pink hats were expecting …. It’s certainly not a dolly sing along show … well not until the curtain call … luckily the manager asked them to take them off … the theatre was almost sold out and the whole week is the same .
Reading up and watching clips after I didn’t realise this started off at Florida studio theatre Sarasota well over a year or so ago with 2 less songs and set in Texas ….. Jonathan Harvey was bought in to add a re write parts for British audience .
And you can tell at one point 85 year old Ethel next to me almost choked on her werthers ! (Dating app joke )

Tricia is a dolly impersonator and is fabulous stunning voice too costumes a great much better than the original USA run from front row sadly I could see the wigs were looking a bit worse for wear 🤨

We had the understudy on as Kevin who was excellent if you didn’t buy a programme your wouldn’t have known . Definitely one ad lib responding to audience call out … which he handled with ease

Like wise if you didn’t watch you tube you wouldn’t realise the set

SPOILER: Click to show

should pull apart for curtain call and have huge dolly sign and see the band …. Sadly Malvern stage is quite small 🥴

Like others have said really good quality set with some nice unexpected illusions and upgrades form the original incarnation advertised as prior to the west end so must be hoping it does well on tour and so far appears to be
And it has dollys blessing

A good ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 from me. Would have been more if it had made me feel a bit more emotion but a real tongue firmly in cheek camp gay / queer night out you gotta go with it

[darreno]

I saw this here in Malvern on Wednesday night and really enjoyed it.

I'd usually swerve a jukebox musical but the appeal of Dolly and Stevie Webb was too much to ignore, plus it's on my doorstep.

We had a hilarious mishap after the interval. 'Dolly's' dress wouldn't close at the back, so she sang I will always love you, with one hand behind her back holding it closed and the other hand holding her boobs in!! They dropped character several times to point out the absurdity of it all and played the crowd brilliantly. The ad libs very much in the style of Dolly herself of course.

It was great to see Malvern full-ish and, as per post above, that seems to be all week.

Stevie Webb is magic and I'd see him in anything, but the show flows well, voices are good, musicians are great, all round fun, touring, quality show!

[partytentdown]

Really enjoyed this in Richmond tonight. Very high production values considering it's touring and two excellent performances. I was surprised to read afterwards that it was originally set in the US and has been adapted by Jonathan Harvey for this British production - it felt like British humour through and through with lots of little in-jokes and references (particularly some of the deranged stuff we all did during lockdown such as banging pans for the NHS...). Looking at photos, I think we got the 'cut down' finale described further up as there was no giant Dolly sign or open stage!

A few slightly merry groups of ladies enjoying a prosecco or two but nothing too distracting and the cast take it in their stride.

[ploverlover]

Just back from the rather remarkable matinee at Richmond. Remarkable because I don’t think anyone in the audience (including us) had any idea that the performer playing ‘Kerry’ was actually supposed to be an actor playing ‘Kevin’. Tricia Paoluccio announced just before the final number that the show very nearly didn’t happen because both Steven Webb and the understudy Kevin were unable to perform today. Charlotte Elisabeth Yorke stepped in at the 11th hour and did an absolutely sterling job. Full respect to her, she pulled it off brilliantly and I’m so glad she got the ovation that she fully deserved. A huge well done to everyone in the cast - what an achievement. 

Enjoyed the show and thought Dolly/Tricia was superb - fabulous voice and had the DP mannerisms to a T. Glad I took a chance on this one. A light, fun afternoon at the theatre. 

Oh, and loved the little bits of magic too! 

[erik24601]

Stevie is really struggling through illness at the moment and it’s quite sad to see especially as he returned this week after such a long absence.

Bravo to the whole team tonight - but wish him well in returning as soon as he is able.

[Steve]

Sept 25, 2024 17:31:45 GMT ploverlover said:

Just back from the rather remarkable matinee at Richmond. Remarkable because I don’t think anyone in the audience (including us) had any idea that the performer playing ‘Kerry’ was actually supposed to be an actor playing ‘Kevin’. Tricia Paoluccio announced just before the final number that the show very nearly didn’t happen because both Steven Webb and the understudy Kevin were unable to perform today. Charlotte Elisabeth Yorke stepped in at the 11th hour and did an absolutely sterling job. Full respect to her, she pulled it off brilliantly ! 

Also saw today's matinee, and agree with all of the above, except I thought she was the understudy as I knew she wasn't Steven Webb, who I was expecting in the lead role.

The fact that Charlotte Yorke wasn't the understudy for Kevin, but the understudy for Dolly, and that she got only two hours notice that if she didn't go on as Kevin, the show would be cancelled, is utterly remarkable as she was SO great in the role, which she must have picked up rehearsing for Dolly. This might also explain why two endless queues outside in the drizzle were stalled from entering the auditorium for ages.

As for the show, I imagine some of the bigger humourous moments were lost having a woman instead of a man in the role, since Jonathan Harvey would have tailored the humour to a gay man's platonic hysterical adulation of the iconic Dolly, rather than a gay woman, who potentially might fancy Dolly, and who, in Yorke's characterisation was a muted and lovable loser approaching Dolly with some trepidation rather than hysteria.

That said, Yorke's Kerry was SO adorable, her geeky gawkiness over her lost love and her enforced lonely isolation, by her parents in a COVID attic with all her pictures of Dolly, driving her to conjure Dolly up like the Tom Hanks character in "Castaway" conjures up Wilson.

The first half, where Dolly was all excitable and Kerry was all muted and sad, was the weaker half for me. Having seen the real Parton at the O2 Arena in 2008, I felt Tricia Paoluccio set herself as an impossible task as nobody can out-cheese, out-dress, out-effuse the real Dolly, who is SO much larger than life.

The show came into it's own in the second half where Paoluccio's Dolly got sweet and sad, and where Yorke's Kerry got excited and enlivened. In this half, sad songs ripe for parody, like "God's Colouring Book" and "Me and Little Andy" allowed for affectionate hilarious comedy at Dolly's expense, satirising the extreme OTT nature of Dolly's sad songs, while simultaneously achieving significant pathos, breaking our hearts with tales of Dolly being unable to have kids. The bond developed between the two in the second half is leagues above the superficiality of the first half.

For me, the first half was average, the second half great fun. Overall, I give this 3 and a half stars.

[matttom0901]

Saw this in Richmond tonight and I must say I quite enjoyed it. Tricia was amazing as Dolly! And Steven was as funny as usual! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️