Your Lie In April - Concert / Harold Pinter

[sophia]

Jun 28, 2024 23:07:28 GMT stagedoorfan said:

Was also in tonight after previously seeing the concert. Thoroughly enjoyed and really felt like they’d embellished a concept that had been built upon at Drury Lane. Few tweaks/cuts to make but a really gorgeous evening.

Missed the football song which has been cut down to a reprise!

What is the ‘football song’? I don’t remember seeing this in the show tonight at all, so it may have been cut completely…

[Steve]

Saw this tonight and LOVED it.

I haven't seen the manga or the anime, so I came to it cold.

Its a classic love story.

An AI could have written it (in a good way lol, in that it's very satisfying) if you plugged in all the classic love story tropes.

In Mia Kobayashi, as Kaori, a star is born, for me.

Some spoilers follow. . .

Let's start with Harry Potter, whose tropes JK Rowling later chose to subvert: Bespectacled mistreated boy with special aptitudes and a dead mother meets a very feisty, pushy, know-it-all girl who also has great aptitudes: Check, check, check, check, check.

Lets look at classic Love Story Operas like La Boheme or La Traviata, in which a bloke meets a feisty inspiring girl prone to fainting (uh oh): check check check.

Lets look at Charlie Brown, where a bespectacled wallflower yearns for a feisty girl who pushes him around constantly: check check check.

Lets go back to basics and look at 1970's "Love Story," (or the musical based on it) in which a student meets and is inspired by a feisty manic pixie musical prodigy who calls him "Preppy:" check check check check, but, wait, she doesn't call him "Preppy," so that's variety.

Lets look at "The Greatest Showman," whose iconic song is "A Million Dreams" and which features a love triangle: well, yes, but here the AI has decided on magnifying the number of dreams and calling them stars, so we get "One Hundred Thousand Million Stars."

Lets look at "Once," in which two musicians share a fragile moment in time while singing "Falling Slowly" together to commemorate the preciousness of their connection: well check, check, check, check, but here the connection is commemorated by a reprise of "Perfect," which the thick, honeyed, country-and-western tinged, delicate, gorgeous, sweet voice of Mia Kobayashi has introduced and reprised a number of times already, so we already love it by the time a duet kicks in.

Anyhow, look, what I'm saying is not intended as a critique. Its intended to show that the manga/anime aspects are totally irrelevant to this story connecting to a Western audience because it already contains every single Western love story trope that works, and that's obviously intentional.

And work it does:

The sad family backstory of the central character is crueler than Dickens (this mother is Mommie Dearest/evil stage mama to the nth degree!) and bonds us as powerfully to the bespectacled geeky central character as much as any number of Dursleys stuffing Harry Potter under the stairs;

The manic pixie dream girl Hermione/Lucy/Jenny from Love Story/etc feistiness (our heroine physically hits our hero on first meeting) is amusing and endearing in Mia Kobayashi's ultra-enthusiastic, ever-manic, but utterly likeable performance, helpfully ameliorated by her sweet and soulful singing voice. The La Boheme/La Traviata style fainting spells have suitably touching story complications; and

The Best friend comedically competing for the same girl, ala Harry Potter's Ron, is wonderfully realised in Dean John-Wilson's Watari (John-Wilson is somewhat sidelined here, unlike his toweringly comedic and centrally involving turn as "L" in "Death Note", but he's great value as a sidekick nonetheless);

And "Perfect" and "One Hundred Thousand Million Stars" hit home runs.

So, all in all, I recognised a lot of influences in the story, but they all worked symbiotically in the most successful, heartbreaking mainstream way possible.

I'm glad human beings created this show before AI did, cos it really was just a matter of time.

That said all the actors are great, with Mia Kobayashi the standout for me.

I loved it to the tune of 4 stars!

PS: There were, ominously, whole rows of the stalls unsold at the back (Row S back), even at £25 for every seat on the night before press night. This will need mighty reviews to succeed, and if you want to see it, I'd go earlier rather than later.

[zahidf]

Really enjoyed this last night. Great songs!

[blamerobots]

Heading to tomorrow's matinee; just impulse booked!

Special thanks to mattnyc who had put a photo on Seatplan of where I booked when he saw Prima Facie 😜

[mattnyc]

Ha! Amazing! I guess those photos really DO matter!!! :-)

[blamerobots]

Could we get a poll on this?

[marob]

I had a gap in my schedule, and a few shows I wanted to see, but no particular standout. I’m not familiar with the manga or anime, and I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t the front row being in sale for £15 that swung it. But what a pleasant surprise this was.

Zheng Xi Yong is great, and looking at his credits I’m once again annoyed at missing the Almeida’s Spring Awakening, and as Steve said above Mia Kobayashi is a star in the making, especially as this is her first professional show and she she hasn’t even graduated yet. I think he's a bit cheesy online but I always like seeing Dean John-Wilson in a show, though some on here might be triggered by a 35 year old playing a high schooler. 😂

I heard someone criticising the role of the female lead in the story, which is kinda valid but as stated above it’s not unique in that respect. Overall it’s just a lovely big hearted show. Fifteen quid well spent.

[greenandbrownandblue]

Jul 7, 2024 9:08:20 GMT marob said:

I had a gap in my schedule, and a few shows I wanted to see, but no particular standout. I’m not familiar with the manga or anime, and I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t the front row being in sale for £15 that swung it. But what a pleasant surprise this was.

Zheng Xi Yong is great, and looking at his credits I’m once again annoyed at missing the Almeida’s Spring Awakening, and as Steve said above Mia Kobayashi is a star in the making, especially as this is her first professional show and she she hasn’t even graduated yet. I think he's a bit cheesy online but I always like seeing Dean John-Wilson in a show, though some on here might be triggered by a 35 year old playing a high schooler. 😂

I heard someone criticising the role of the female lead in the story, which is kinda valid but as stated above it’s not unique in that respect. Overall it’s just a lovely big hearted show. Fifteen quid well spent.

I've noticed they're releasing the front row on the day - but seems easy enough to get tickets. Sorry for the age-old question, but what's the view like?

[marob]

greenandbrownandblue Quite a high stage, but the set at the back is on a higher level with steps up, so I don’t feel like you miss anything. Better to sit centrally though as the cast appear in the circle at times, but nothing is said, so again you don’t miss anything important. Lights are a little dazzling at times though.

[BurlyBeaR]

Poll added.

Please tag either me or TallPaul if you want us to set up a poll. If you just request it in a post we’re not guaranteed to see it.
To tag me it’s @ admin (without the space)
For Paul it’s @ pdc1 (without the space)

[thistimetomorrow]

Does anyone have a list of the classical pieces that were played?

[lolalou]

.[/quote]I've noticed they're releasing the front row on the day - but seems easy enough to get tickets. Sorry for the age-old question, but what's the view like?[/quote]


It’s a high stage and the centre has a grand piano. Some of the action takes place on platforms but ensemble numbers are played right at the front so you’ll get a crick. A couple of scenes have characters watching from boxes over the audience which places them behind you, but not integral to plot.
There is a LOT of dry ice which completely engulfed the first couple rows at times.

[Dr Tom]

The biggest problem with the front row is some dazzling lights, which I don’t remember from the first preview, but were there by the second time I saw this. The kind where, unless you shield your eyes in time, you can’t see anything for a few seconds after. Worse in the first half.

Otherwise, yes the stage is high, but if you’re tall enough and sit up straight, you can see everything important. It’s not a dance show, so feet etc don’t matter too much.

[blamerobots]

Jul 7, 2024 20:37:40 GMT thistimetomorrow said:

Does anyone have a list of the classical pieces that were played?

It is in the programme I believe; I'll have a look in a second and post them here.

Edit: Nevermind it's not in there I remember one of them being Liebeslied, as that's the one the mother played.

[marob]

My knowledge of classical is practically non-existent. Only one I recognised was Clair de Lune.

[Oleanna]

The big solo piece in Act II is Rachmaninov’s Prelude in G Minor (Op. 23 No. 5).

[blamerobots]

Beethoven – Piano Sonata No. 14 (Moonlight Sonata) (3rd Movement)
Beethoven – Violin Sonata No. 9 (Kreutzer Sonata) (1st Movement)
Mozart – Twelve Variations on Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (1st Variation)
Saint-Saëns – Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso
Chopin – Etude Op. 25, No. 5 (Wrong Note)
Chopin – Etude Op. 10, No. 4 (Torrent)
Chopin – Etude Op. 25, No. 11 (Winter Wind)
Kreisler – Old Viennese Melodies – Love’s Sorrow
Rachmaninoff – Love’s Sorrow (for piano)
Debussy – Suite bergamasque (3rd Movement) (Clare de lune)
Tchaikovsky – Waltz from “The Sleeping Beauty”
Chopin – Etude Op. 10, No. 12 (Revolutionary Etude)
Chopin – Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23


These are all the pieces performed in the anime adaptation and AFAIK the show lifts the pieces performed pretty much from the original source material. So here they are. I think most of these except 3 are used in the show because some are cut for time.

Edit: Plus Rachmaninov’s Prelude in G Minor (Op. 23 No. 5) as said above.

[thistimetomorrow]

Amazing thank you everyone!!!

[blamerobots]

Belated mini-review; definitely go see it, good story and an INCREDIBLY TALENTED CAST. The leads both deserve long and lengthy West End careers because they are giving it 100% constantly throughout. I liked the use of screens and projections in this production. They enhanced the set and direction rather than replacing it, which is use of screens I prefer.

Unfortunately, sound was really hit and miss. Really iffy drum mixing with every kick drum sending what felt like tremors through the Harold Pinter, which was risking a migraine! Vocals definitely need to be bumped up a notch. It doesn't matter too much if vocals are too loud; it really matters if they're too quiet. I think the sound guy bumped them up about 10 minutes after the start because I suddenly went from catching a quarter of the lyrics to a lot more!

I am hoping these are just growing issues with its opening so I still give it 4*. Give it a watch!

[aneild]

I quite enjoyed this. I knew nothing about the source material, but I have a soft spot for Wildhorn, regardless of his flaws, and it mostly lived up to expectations: a charming show with strong leads. I agree with others' sound comments; too loud at times and I lost some words.

I didn't pay much, and there were lots of empty seats. Looking at what's available even for the next few days, it looks a bit bleak. Will they even make it to the end of the run?

[dlevi]

Having virtually no experience with Manga in any form I am clearly not the audience for this show - but a very cheap ticket and my theatrical curiosity found me inside the Pinter Theatre last night and what I saw was at times,watchable but certainly not of any sort of a West End standard. With the exception of Zheng XI Yong ( in the first act) and Rachel Clare Chan the performances were all of a first year drama school level. The set design was cluttered and confusing, the video design distracting and the sound mix was muddled. And I haven't even mentioned the script and score. Mr Wildhorn's music much like any of his other scores could be in any of his other shows -one generic ballad after another and he continues to find lyricists who have nothing to say beyond the first two lines of a song. The only rule they seem to follow is to build to a really really big note so that the two guys behind me could WHOOP at the slightest provocation. There were swaths of empty seats throughout the theatre I don't see how this show can last.

[nancycunard]

This has some of the worst ticket sales I’ve seen for anything in a while. Looks like they’ve closed the balcony.

[blamerobots]

Jul 12, 2024 8:35:13 GMT nancycunard said:

This has some of the worst ticket sales I’ve seen for anything in a while. Looks like they’ve closed the balcony.

Yes, it's not been doing well. Noticed a lot of the higher priced seats are just never selling and what is typically happening is everyone is moving to them in the interval. I think they're gonna have to rethink the pricing bands for this if they're gonna finish the run.

A shame, because I like this show.

[sandeep]

I love Frank Wildhorn's work, but this felt too much too soon... some great talent on stage - Mia Kobayashi is definitely one to watch. But overall the book seems rushed and totally detached. But once I understood it was an exact transfer of the Anime to the Stage I enjoyed it more. The stage design is beautiful, though agree with some of the comments on it feeling cramped on stage.

[Theo]

I don't know if it has been mentioned here before but on planning my next theatre trip to London I noticed all tickets for the 6pm Sunday performances are £27.50 (plus £3.95 transaction fee)

Booked my ticket, fingers crossed it is still on by then.