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Post by stevej678 on Dec 13, 2023 10:00:08 GMT
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19,855 posts
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Aug 17, 2024 15:35:00 GMT
 6th Dec - 4th Jan |
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Post by marob on Aug 17, 2024 20:56:29 GMT
Am I right in thinking this is the first Hope Mill show that’s not at the Hope Mill? Proper fully staged show I mean, not counting the Gypsy fundraiser.
According to google Hope Mill has 145 seats, Quays Theatre 440. They always seem to be struggling, so hopefully a month long run with nearly 300 extra seats to sell will be the beginning of them turning things around. If they can’t sell A Christmas Carol at Christmas there’s something badly wrong…
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Post by david on Aug 17, 2024 21:06:41 GMT
marob I think you are right about it being their first show staged outside of HM. I’ve got this and HOME’s “Miracle on 34th Street” booked in for a double show day and a nice pre-Christmas trip to Manchester.
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Post by unseaworthy on Aug 17, 2024 21:08:36 GMT
This looks great, a lovely show at a great theatre
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Post by oxfordsimon on Aug 17, 2024 21:22:13 GMT
It is a good score
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Post by benny20 on Aug 17, 2024 22:28:00 GMT
Got my tickets. Love Hope Mill so will support them over at The Lowry. Wonder if they will have any "names" in it to sell tickets...hope so as long as they can sing..
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Post by thedrowsychaperone on Sept 11, 2024 10:12:49 GMT
Just announced Claire Moore as Scrooge! Very interested to see how a female Scrooge affects the story (if at all)
Also fun that she appeared in the TV Movie version of this musical adaptation as Mrs Fezziwig!
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5,030 posts
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Post by Someone in a tree on Sept 11, 2024 10:28:04 GMT
Great bit of casting.
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19,855 posts
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Sept 11, 2024 10:46:41 GMT
Merged
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3,331 posts
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Post by david on Dec 8, 2024 16:58:16 GMT
A few thoughts from yesterday's matinee 2nd preview viewing. Firstly as HM's first fully staged musical outside of their venue, I will say I thought it was both a really good and fun show with a great cast and along with the resources of the Lowry, it certainly had a better visual look than some of their last few musical offerings staged at HM and worked well on the Quay theatre stage.
As a second preview, I thought it was in great shape (and well paced) and we got through the whole show without any issues as far as I could tell. The runtime was around the 110 minute mark (WITHOUT INTERVAL) and I am just glad with this one that we sat in the comfort of the Quay theatre seating rather than the HM seating.
Taking this classic story to the stage as a musical, I was interested to see how a female Scrooge (Evelina Scrooge) would work as I will say that Claire Moore nails the character brilliantly from the cruel heartless miser we first meet to the final redeemed one by the end and with her wonderful vocals makes for a wonderful watch The rest of the cast (around 34 people) all play their part well in the production with assured acting, singing and dancing for such an early preview.
For the 3 ghosts, the ghost of Christmas Present will be one I think may be a marmite one. Played as a pantomime dame by James Hume is a really fun and larger than life character. It worked for me in this show bringing a lot of comedy to the role though.
For the staging, there is good use of projections to help set the scenes (e.g. the appearance of Marley's face at Scrooges door) along with some on stage props to pad out the stage. I felt the stage was well used and with such a big cast, particularly with some of the dance scenes, it neither felt cramped or empty for the show. The period costume designs and the lighting design looked nice.
The score from Lynn Aherns (lyrics) and Alan Menkin (music) served to move the story along nicely (it is a mainly sing through show) though I didn't feel that there was a big number in there that grabbed me and as a score it really hasn't stuck with me 24 hours later. The music is provided by an 8 piece band (keys x2, woodwind x2, trombone, drums, trumpet and cello). From my row F stalls seat, I didn't have any issues with sound mixing and both vocals and band clearly audible for the entire show.
Overall, I would say that it was definitely worth a watch. Rating - 4 stars
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