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Post by ceebee on Jul 13, 2024 22:52:35 GMT
Exceptionally frustrating first visit to CFT this evening. An 'issue' with no other details provided leading to a just over 15 minute late start meant it impossible to see the show and make the carefully timed last train back to London.   I think it would be worth contacting the Box Office to see if you can get an alternative date. Sorry for your bad luck. |
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Post by FrontrowverPaul on Jul 14, 2024 0:19:22 GMT
Exceptionally frustrating first visit to CFT this evening. An 'issue' with no other details provided leading to a just over 15 minute late start meant it impossible to see the show and make the carefully timed last train back to London. I feel your pain. I've had to leave a late running show before the end a couple of times in similar circumstances. I assume you mean impossible to see ALL the show and still catch the the 22.41 service ? Allowing for a 20 minute delay and a 15 minute walk to the station you would have seen most of it. |
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Post by Dave B on Jul 14, 2024 7:59:15 GMT
I assume you mean impossible to see ALL the show and still catch the the 22.41 service ? Allowing for a 20 minute delay and a 15 minute walk to the station you would have seen most of it. Yeah we left at the interval. Considered leaving a few minutes early towards the end but we were middle of a row, the exits were all at the front of the stage and at least during the first half cast are also coming in and out of them and onto the stage. I could not see a way we could get out without being fairly noticeably disruptive. |
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Post by fiyero on Jul 14, 2024 11:32:51 GMT
How creatives ignore the sides of the Festival theatre is onE of my bugbears That's annoying as when done right it is one of the joys of the theatre. I feel like the transfer wasn't known when I booked and chose my seats? Shame if it has been designed for London. |
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Post by meister on Jul 14, 2024 14:07:46 GMT
How creatives ignore the sides of the Festival theatre is onE of my bugbears That's annoying as when done right it is one of the joys of the theatre. I feel like the transfer wasn't known when I booked and chose my seats? Shame if it has been designed for London. It has!!! From my side seat you couldn’t see the projections at all!!! |
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Post by bimse on Jul 14, 2024 17:36:07 GMT
Glad to hear this doesn't go for anything 'panto-y'. Have ghastly memories of Omid Djalili ruining what would have otherwise been a great performance as Fagin at Drury Lane by dropping in a handful of wink wink fourth wall break topical jokes to the audience. Neil Morrissey did it when it toured. Including inserting “Bob The Builder” references. I left at the interval. At the Palladium, during “reviewing the situation” Barry Humphries, as Fagin, produced a pair of diamanté spectacles from his treasure chest, and declared them to be his Aunt Edna’s. It got a good laugh, but somewhat interrupted the show, however briefly . |
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Post by meister on Jul 19, 2024 8:53:26 GMT
Saw this again last night and it struck me how poor the ending is. It just sort of……..stops and Fagin and Dodger walk off. The end! The score is full of bangers but I feel it needs one more number to round it off. Thoughts?
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Post by theatrenerd on Jul 19, 2024 9:43:00 GMT
Saw this again last night and it struck me how poor the ending is. It just sort of……..stops and Fagin and Dodger walk off. The end! The score is full of bangers but I feel it needs one more number to round it off. Thoughts? In the previous production Dodger gets arrested as they leave the den and it ends with Fagin walking off on his own. Have they added the Reviewing the Situation duet reprise at the end from the movie? |
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Post by barrowside on Jul 19, 2024 17:27:57 GMT
I saw a replica of the original Peter Coe production years ago and it had a splendid ending. Fagin sang a reprise of Reviewing The Situation alone at the pinnacle of the Sean Kenny set. As he sang he went through all the jewels and he placed a crown from the jewel box on his head and the lights went down.
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Post by frankubelik on Jul 25, 2024 8:45:25 GMT
It was really rather good. Very impressed with the kids (usually anathema to me) and cast overall although thought Bill Sikes was poor. I think it actually benefits from NOT having star casting as Fagin and Mr Lipkin delivers well with his faux ballet moves and Oscar C-M is a fine Bumble. Shanay Holmes delivers the high belt pretty effortlessly (although is no Georgia Brown). It's clearly been directed for the Gielgud and some audience members might be disappointed with Chichester's sightlines. Can't beat a bit of Dickensian misery with cock-er-ny knees up can you? All creatives around on Tuesday.
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Post by alicechallice on Jul 25, 2024 10:59:39 GMT
It's clearly been directed for the Gielgud and some audience members might be disappointed with Chichester's sightlines. This topic seems to come up so regularly, it's getting a bit irritating. The thrust stage is not an in-the-round situation. Everything there is directed to the front of the auditorium. There is no intention for you to have a perfect view of all the action from the sides, that's why the seats cost there cost £22 and not the £72 you'd pay for the best ones. |
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Post by fiyero on Jul 25, 2024 11:23:00 GMT
It's clearly been directed for the Gielgud and some audience members might be disappointed with Chichester's sightlines. This topic seems to come up so regularly, it's getting a bit irritating. The thrust stage is not an in-the-round situation. Everything there is directed to the front of the auditorium. There is no intention for you to have a perfect view of all the action from the sides, that's why the seats cost there cost £22 and not the £72 you'd pay for the best ones. Not all of the seats are that cheap. With front row for £15 you have to take what you get I think but further back are higher prices. I haven't seen the show yet but can see there are seats more or less level with mine but further back for £41. |
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Post by alicechallice on Jul 25, 2024 11:33:08 GMT
This topic seems to come up so regularly, it's getting a bit irritating. The thrust stage is not an in-the-round situation. Everything there is directed to the front of the auditorium. There is no intention for you to have a perfect view of all the action from the sides, that's why the seats cost there cost £22 and not the £72 you'd pay for the best ones. Not all of the seats are that cheap. With front row for £15 you have to take what you get I think but further back are higher prices. I haven't seen the show yet but can see there are seats more or less level with mine but further back for £41. First two price brackets you get a perfect view, it's just the top ones are closer to the action. The third most expensive, you're off to the side but above the action in the "circle". Therefore you don't get a forward-facing view but you're not hindered by actors blocking your sightlines of the other actors. I usually buy the second to cheapest seats but as close to the centre point of the seating as possible and it's a great view. |
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Post by Arcana on Jul 25, 2024 16:10:22 GMT
I'm going on Monday.
Having never seen any previous productions, I'm looking forward to my first viewing.
I've booked some of the first seats on row N. Hopefully view is ok from there? I presume the more restricted view is purely at the far sides?
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Post by alicechallice on Jul 25, 2024 16:35:58 GMT
I'm going on Monday. Having never seen any previous productions, I'm looking forward to my first viewing. I've booked some of the first seats on row N. Hopefully view is ok from there? I presume the more restricted view is purely at the far sides? That'll be perfect, that's practically where I sat. |
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Post by capybara on Jul 29, 2024 0:07:22 GMT
I should start by saying I don’t  Oliver. I never got to see the Palladium production, I never knowingly watched the film growing up, I’ve never even read the novel. As is the case for most though, Lionel Bart’s score - or at least its most prominent numbers - is weaved into my consciousness. There are positives and negatives to this. On the plus side, I went into this hotly-anticipated (and already West End transferred) revival safe in the knowledge there is a blatantly well-crafted score in place. However, having heard these songs so often over the years, their impact was somewhat lessened. First thing’s first, it’s a solid production. I mean that it is the kind of fare you would expect from a show like Oliver. Lots of marching, ash-smudged faces and caricatured cockney accents. The set makes good use of the space but this is clearly directed for its upcoming transfer and makes little use of Chichester’s thrust stage. In fact, I would strongly advise not sitting in the side stalls as a lot is missed unfortunately (this is not advised during ticket sales). The set uses a revolve but it is positioned quite far out into the stage. While it does add to the production, it wastes the depth of Chichester’s full space. The cast is overall impressive. Katy Secombe and Oscar Conlon-Morrey bounce off each other (in some moments, quite literally) as Bumble and his lady friend. Shanay Holmes is captivating as Nancy, with her ‘As Long As He Needs Me’ delivering the show’s knockout blow. Aaron Sidwell is menacing as Bill Sikes, while Billy Jenkins makes for a playful Dodger. But the standout performance is clearly Simon Lipkin as Fagin. He toes the line expertly between pathos and slapstick and really is a joy to watch in the role. I saw Raphael Korniets on as Oliver Twist. He was unassuming but gave a strong performance. I do wish I’d seen Cian Eagle-Service though, who have such an impressive turn as Gustave in last year’s Love Never Does concert. But, in truth, Oliver doesn’t quite do it for me. It never gives me a reason to care about Nancy (what’s the back story with Bill? Why does she love him so deeply?) or even Oliver himself. It’s a messy patchwork of a story, constantly shifting in tone and location. As impressive as ensemble numbers like ‘Food, Glorious Food’ and ‘Oom-Pah-Pah’ are, the score somehow always seems to lack any real substance in relation to the story. The ending also feels rushed and flat. But based on the cast’s performance, the set design (notwithstanding the neglect of half the seats in the auditorium) and the spectacle this show clearly is able to capture, I’d give it 3.5 stars. Yet it is Lipkin’s memorable performance that has me rounding up, rather than down, in this case - despite my reservations for the overall piece. Perhaps I’m being a little generous here but; four stars. |
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Post by Arcana on Jul 30, 2024 14:09:39 GMT
I saw this last night.
Can't really add anything that wasn't said in the previous reply, but I'll give my short opinion anyway.
Simon lipkin as Fagin is clearly the stand out here - the whole audience seemed to love him, and he got the biggest ovation by a mile.
Overall it's a solid production. It's perhaps not quite as modern as I would have liked as some jokes seems rather dated, but as it's based on old material I can let that slide. 4* from me.
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Post by blamerobots on Jul 30, 2024 14:34:24 GMT
the score somehow always seems to lack any real substance in relation to the story. It's hard to describe what Oliver is to me; it feels like music is first and foremost when carrying the show's emotional core while the book is a complete wash and simply serves to connect songs together. It's a score of what feels like songs inspired by the book Oliver Twist rather than adapting Oliver Twist. If it'd been made possibly 10 years later, maybe Lionel Bart would've produced a concept album and it'd have been a sung-through score, much like Les Mis (which was created after Boublil watched Oliver!)
I suppose it's why earlier in the thread I asked if they did the score justice; too many productions I've seen just have many actors mumble through the score and it's horrifically boring. When the songs are THIS fantastic and serve so much to develop characters, you have to use it!
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Post by theatrenerd on Jul 31, 2024 12:55:54 GMT
New trailer released
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Post by alece10 on Jul 31, 2024 13:03:34 GMT
Looking forward to seeing this in London mainly for Simon Lipkin. I've loved him in everything he has been in, such a talented guy and one of our best MT comedy performers. He can also do scary well as in Assassins some years ago. He was in a little known musical at The Other Palce called Miss Atomic Bomb and was hilarious.
Last time I saw Oliver in London Fagin was played by Omid Djalili, the least said about that performance the better.
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Post by mrmushnik on Jul 31, 2024 22:59:30 GMT
Took Mrs M to the CFT tonight. We really enjoyed the production. The kids were great, although casting a young adult as Dodger definitely denies the character of the cute factor. At 16/17 you can’t quite get away with what you might have if you were 11/12.
The design is stunning and Lez Brothertson has excelled himself.
Wish I could say the same for Matthew Bourne. Whilst the choreography is as inventive as it was 30years ago - but don’t expect too much of it, btw, a lot of the direction is very poor. It has definitely been staged with the Gielgud in mind and if you are not sitting centrally, you miss a lot.
Simon Lipkin is doing a one man show within the show and we both hated his constant breaking the fourth wall. We were watching an actor throwing everything including the kitchen sink into the show. He completed flatlines, there is no pathos or vulnerability and as a consequence you don’t care what happens to him at the end. Yes, he is talented but it all needs to be reigned in/directed.
Shanay Holmes is fab as Nancy. Honest, heartfelt and with a belter of a voice. Terrific. Although we didn’t warm to Bill Sikes at first, he had a stillness and menace which was really effective. The woman in front of us thought he sounded like Joe Pasquale! Katy Secombe is a shrill and authentic Widow Corney. I liked Oscar Morrey as Mr Bumble but thought he was too hammy. Philip Franks was a genuinely warm Mr Brownlow and Stephen Matthews a Helpmanesque Mr Sowerberry. Thought Mrs bedwin was way too young.
The band was terrific and sounded way more than 12. It needs fine tunning for sure, but it’s by far the best musical revival me and Mrs M have seen this year. Comes down at 10.10 if that helps with planning a visit. 4*
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Post by blamerobots on Jul 31, 2024 23:08:34 GMT
I liked Oscar Morrey as Mr Bumble but thought he was too hammy. How on earth can someone out-ham Mr Bumble?! Mr Bumble is the role that literally requires the whole ham! |
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Post by Being Alive on Aug 1, 2024 7:32:20 GMT
I liked Oscar Morrey as Mr Bumble but thought he was too hammy. How on earth can someone out-ham Mr Bumble?! Mr Bumble is the role that literally requires the whole ham! If anyone could out ham I'm fairly sure it would be Oscar tbh |
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Post by showtoones on Aug 1, 2024 18:36:23 GMT
Approximately what time is the interval currently? Is it around 8:45?
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Post by ceebee on Aug 2, 2024 19:17:40 GMT
To be honest I wasn't fussed about seeing ANOTHER Oliver! but the new trailer with it's shades of Les Mis does look rather good so may review the situation when it transfers although I will be looking out for discounted tickets after Christmas as it's currently a bit too expensive unless I pick a pocket or two. It'll be better in London than Chichester - it's good, not exceptional. |
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Oliver. I never got to see the Palladium production, I never knowingly watched the film growing up, I’ve never even read the novel. As is the case for most though, Lionel Bart’s score - or at least its most prominent numbers - is weaved into my consciousness.
