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Post by d'James on Nov 14, 2016 16:24:10 GMT
I've always wanted to see Marti Webb on stage, I really like her voice. However, as some of the post above, I really don't want to see John Partridge.
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Post by groupbooker on Nov 15, 2016 1:17:15 GMT
Lets hope Marti Webb dose not do what she has done a number of times at Plymouth - not appear!!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2016 23:53:36 GMT
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Post by wickedgrin on Dec 20, 2016 0:03:18 GMT
A company of 18 - BK must be having palpitations!
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Post by drfootlights on Dec 20, 2016 0:08:09 GMT
YouTube trailer released also...looks promising John Partridge posted this photo of the set  |
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Post by theatremadness on Dec 20, 2016 0:13:02 GMT
You know I'm actually getting my hopes up for this a little bit now!!!
Looks and sounds rather promising and, dare I say.....glamorous?!
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Post by Being Alive on Dec 20, 2016 0:20:33 GMT
I was so quick to say this was gonna be a car crash. But you know what, John Partridge actually sounds fine. He doesn't sound like he's having a nightmare singing it, much better than Chicago.
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Post by drfootlights on Dec 20, 2016 0:22:43 GMT
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Post by daniel on Dec 20, 2016 1:00:06 GMT
I'm genuinely shocked...a Kenwright show that doesn't look cheap as chips?! 😮 Whatever next...
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Post by wickedgrin on Dec 20, 2016 1:17:22 GMT
As I said BK must be having palpitations! He has probably gone off to a darkened room to lie down!!
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Post by d'James on Dec 20, 2016 16:13:17 GMT
There's one bit in the trailer where he seems to be doing Northern accent. Also I thought those shorts were illegal.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Dec 20, 2016 17:01:02 GMT
Partridge looking very comfortable in a wig and heels...
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Post by Deleted on Dec 21, 2016 9:36:22 GMT
So contrary to news reports this week, Zsa Zsa Gabor didn't in fact die but is instead schlepping around the provinces giving it her 'I Am What I Am'.
And a message to Time. You have NOT been kind to Adrian Zmed. Not kind at all. You brute.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Jan 4, 2017 21:34:57 GMT
Anyone going to see it this week in Oxford?
Papering appears to be happening already!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2017 22:18:33 GMT
I'll be in attendance tomorrow - trying to keep an open mind...
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2017 0:26:54 GMT
I'm just back home after a bit of a late one seeing La Cage in Oxford. The performance was delayed by thirty minutes due to Adrian Zmed apparently being unwell, but Bill Kenwright addressed this on stage before curtain up and assured the audience that Adrian would still perform.
Strengths
+ Marti Webb is an absolute joy. It's only a shame that Jacqueline doesn't really come into her own as a character until the later half of the show.
+ John Partridge is undoubtedly the star here. He plays Zsa Zsa/Albin brilliantly, and is the perfect lead - despite my reservations.
+ The tucks! They were eye watering!
Not so Strong
- The sets are generally very wobbly, it put me very much in mind of Prisoner Cell Block H.
- There were a few wardrobe and wig issues, but I'm sure with time, like the tightness of dance numbers will improve.
- Adrian Zmed. I was disappointed, he didn't seem to know his lines very well, and I really didn't rate his acting ability. He seemed to be delivering each line for the audience, rather than the characters he was apparently in dialogue with.
I always assumed that the lead characters were French (from their names) but here Georges had an American accent and Albin a strong Mancunian/Northern?! As this was the first production of La Cage I've seen I wasn't sure if this was usual or simply a strange directing choice?
Overall though, considering this was the first night out on tour, it's already in a pretty decent shape. I'd like to revisit it again in six months' time when it's bound to have improved even more.
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Post by theatremadness on Jan 6, 2017 0:38:34 GMT
I always assumed that the lead characters were French (from their names) but here Georges had an American accent and Albin a strong Mancunian/Northern?! As this was the first production of La Cage I've seen I wasn't sure if this was usual or simply a strange directing choice? Thanks for the review! Interesting, hope Adrian feels better soon, which may also have affected his acting! In regards to accents, yes it's set in Saint-Tropez in France but in the most recent London revival I believe they all used British accents (if my memory serves me well), as Les Mis do to depict France, unless it was an American actor (i.e John Barrowman, then I think he stayed American for Albin - again if I remember correctly!). On Broadway, Kelsey Grammer stayed American/transatlantic for Georges (gives an air of class and respect I guess) whilst Douglas Hodge stayed British. The rest of the cast on Broadway stayed American, though I think they gave Jacob a French accent. George Hear when he originated Albin definitely had an American/transatlantic thing going on, not that I was around to see it but there are enough recordings. It's probably better and much cleaner that way than an entire cast of affected French accents. As for John Partridge being Northern, well it's a strange choice but one that a few picked up from that promo video. Only idea I take from that is, again, from Les Mis, in the Tom Hooper film (and the 25th Anniversary Tour a couple of years before, to some extent), they had all poor people in France affect a Northern accent to convey class. They tried this for Hugh Jackman but he didn't quite get there, leaving his Soliloquy a strange hybrid of Australian/Northern. So maybe they're trying to establish Albin as slightly lower-class (for whatever reason? Not so sure) by giving him a Northern accent to convey lower-class French. Even as I'm typing that I'm shaking my head. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2017 10:14:42 GMT
Accent-blind? Actors using their own accents?
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Post by danielwhit on Jan 6, 2017 17:44:17 GMT
I was in Oxford last night too for the first preview. Started at 7.51pm (house was only opening at 7.25pm). Kenwright put this down to Zmed being unwell, but I can't see how that delayed us getting in, meanwhile FoH just didn't know what was going on with the delay. Anyhow.
The first half is fine but limp, lacking energy in bits and feels very tacky in parts. The second half is much stronger, presumably as the book is and there's some much needed comic relief in addition to plot.
John Partridge is definitely the best thing about the show - however I didn't buy his forced talk to the audience near the end of Act 1. It came across as desperate and didn't get the reaction desired (which, for an evening presumably packed with family and friends of the production, is slightly concerning). He's definitely got the lungs for the part and has strong presence.
The set itself has more moving parts (both intentionally and unintentionally) than Kenwright's re-imagining of Ghost. Plenty of slight wobbles going on at the moment. I'd put part of this down to the flats themselves being at the wrong height (which would surprise me, TBH) and partially due to people knocking into them. The one intentionally moving part is a moving staircase.
The one peculiar sight I had from mid stalls SL was the access to see, via the reflective tab, into one of the quick change areas. I suspect they need to fix this, as not everyone wants to be distracted by Zmed stripping down to change into a suit.
Lighting is good - and sound is passable, but the New Theatre is notoriously bad for their acoustics so I'll attribute that to the venue rather than the show team.
Curious fact - last night was being filmed. Presumably to provide footage for an EPK?
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Post by anthony40 on Jan 6, 2017 17:51:04 GMT
EPK?
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Post by theatremadness on Jan 6, 2017 17:56:11 GMT
Electronic Press Kit - basically a trailer for a show!  |
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Post by anthony40 on Jan 6, 2017 17:58:42 GMT
Ah, thanks mate!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2017 18:40:24 GMT
danielwhit I felt completely the same about the first half. It was very vanilla and Zmed very bland. I also cared very little for Anne throughout. Whether it was the actress or the character though I'm not sure. Zsa Zsa's skit to the audience at the beginning of the title number did fall very flat... but I wondered whether that was partly due to the miffed audience members who were unhappy it started late. He managed to have many back on side though by the end of the number. I also think that some people just don't know how to react when the fourth wall is broken, and they go stiff.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Jan 6, 2017 20:14:16 GMT
I expect this to be perfect by The time I'm seeing it.... in June  . Either that, or the whole lot of them will be bored out of their brains and at each others throats. I hope they keep the costumes nice and it's not fishnets with holes in *cough* Priscilla *cough*. Seriously, these long tours. Doing the same thing with the same people every night of the week but making it look fresh for the audience (hopefully). I do admire them. Do these actors have any kind of social or family life? I think I would KILL somebody. Yep, I know actors in WE shows carry on for months or even years but I'm sure touring must be even harder. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2017 20:34:25 GMT
I'm sure it will be. It was in a much better shape on day one than some other touring productions have been further along in their runs. Particularly the dire Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
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. Either that, or the whole lot of them will be bored out of their brains and at each others throats. I hope they keep the costumes nice and it's not fishnets with holes in *cough* Priscilla *cough*. 
