Fabulist - Charing Cross Theatre

[Talisman]

Based on opera, described as musical
Huge reduction on entire run on London Theatre Direct

[osdtdg]

I'm fascinated by this, but yeah not willing to pay full price when its near 50 quid!

[Talisman]

Entire run at £16 or £26

[Sean]

Any update on casting for this?

[Oleanna]

What are they thinking with this? Most dates have sold only a handful of tickets with many dates not a single ticket sold.

[winonaforever]

Jun 28, 2024 11:47:07 GMT osdtdg said:

I'm fascinated by this, but yeah not willing to pay full price when its near 50 quid!

I always wait until shows at this theatre appear on the seat filler sites, which they always seem to! NO reflection on the quality of the shows at all incidentally, it just seems to be a regular occurrence.

[jackstage]

A question was raised on the cast a couple weeks ago, attaching a link which full cast and synopsis. I booked this evening, interesting that the front of the stalls have been cut to row K.
charingcrosstheatre.co.uk/theatre/the-fabulist

[unseaworthy]

What is it about Charing Cross? Why do so many shows struggle there?

[jackstage]

Jul 31, 2024 23:00:12 GMT unseaworthy said:

What is it about Charing Cross? Why do so many shows struggle there?

It feels like a mix of everything. The theatre itself is pretty hidden and out of view, not overly popular. Marketing struggles, and they tend to produce new shows. Which I think is a brilliant program, it just doesn't appeal to tourists in any way.

[Talisman]

They seem to take a lot of risks. Much of what they offer sounds very interesting but I am often quite unsure of if it is worth spending the time or money. When I have been it has usually been a pleasant, if not outstanding production. They are very brave in their repertoire but I can’t help wondering if they should do something more mainstream occasionally.

I have found the back rows acceptable, if far from ideal, as they are cheap and view is fine.

The place is certainly looking rather tatty and some of the seating needs refurbishment.

I find the small downstairs stalls foyer can be rather crowded

Given their imaginative approach to choice of material, it deserves to do well but certainly their marketing needs to improve. They seem to have to rely too much on dropping prices.



I

[ladidah]

I'm always in that area, but have no idea where the theatre is.

[unseaworthy]

It's in a tunnel round the corner from the Playhouse... They have a really fun piano bar

[Steve]

Saw this tonight and it's a real curio, a comic opera by sidelined composer, Paisiello, given an extensive new libretto and modernised book by Global Security expert, James P. Farwell.

I enjoyed the first half well enough, but felt the opera derailed itself somewhat plotwise in the second half.

Some spoilers follow. . .

By way of context, Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro" was a sequel to Paisiello's "The Barber of Seville," adopting and improving on Paisiello's sound, but history has pretty much forgotten Paisiello's work because Rossini later wrote a vastly superior score for the same opera.

Given the above history, it's no surprise the music in this comic opera actually sounds a lot like Mozart, but not quite as memorable.

The plot resembles a Shakespeare comedy (with 2 friends amorously pursuing two sisters, adopting disguises while dodging evil authorities) but not as tonally consistent or as funny.

The modernisation drags in Mussolini, Fascism and the Catholic Church as villains, but mainly sticks to the light comic tone of Paisiello's original opera regardless. The modernisation also amends the original book, which was about philosophers, to be about magicians and filmmakers instead.

The actors' singing is generally top notch, with Hungarian Soprano, Reka Jonas, and James Patterson (who originated the role of Don Attilio in "Phantom" and stood in for Michael Crawford as the Phantom when Crawford was indisposed) particularly good.

Dan Smith, as the magician lead, "The Fabulist," is excellent at magic, and passable in his comic performance, but he lacks the comic timing and attitudinal bravura of a zany John Hopkins type (which the bonkers plot calls for), to really make the humour pop.

All in all, I enjoyed the first half of this comic opera with an extensive book to the tune of 3 and a half stars, but the meandering 2 star second half pushed my rating down to a generous 3 stars.

PS: One of my companions thought this was good fun, the other thought this was a total disaster. The latter had expected a traditional musical, so the overarching operatic nature of this was a hard no for her, and the hit and miss Shakespearian humour didn't help.

This show was extensively papered, and if this completes its run, I can't imagine that will change, as it's such an odd curio. For the the very niche class of Paisiello fans, this will rate much higher. In all my years of attending operas, I have never before seen an opera by him, although he wrote more than 90. This must also be interesting for fans of Mozart, who was influenced by him.

PPS: Tonight's running time was 2 hours, 25 minutes (including one interval).

[Someone in a tree]

Great review Steve and I agree with what you say.

I like the theatre in this format as it has a lovley level of intimacy

More interesting programming for this venue. The piece would sit well in the Grimebourne repertoire, which coincidentally is going on at the mo.

Label alert! How it's presented here, the work does not feel like an opera (or musical) to me. Due to its lightness of tone, dialogue and comic plot it's definitely in the operetta camp.

[Talisman]

What is the format?

[Someone in a tree]

They've just used half the seating, rows K to X. the stage is now where the front stalls normally are.

[Talisman]

Perhaps they have surrendered to likelihood of low attendance.

It would seem to appeal to a limited number of theatre goers.
I am only taking the risk as there were low prices.

[Talisman]

Reduction to £35 on top prices but seen elsewhere even cheaper

Try Central tickets