Buyer and Cellar - King’s Head

[ladidah]

I've seen a few ads for this, the new show for Rob Madge.

Has anyone seen it yet?

[alece10]

Also saw it with Michael Urie, its a very, very good one man play. Michael was excellent, can't speak for Rob though.
I have a lovely signed poster from the Menier run in my wall.

[ladidah]

Ah okay. Quite tempted to get a previews ticket

[lt]

I absolutely loved this when I saw it at the Menier Chocolate Factory, so if this is half as good it will be worth seeing.

[mrbarnaby]

It was fantastic at the Choc Factory.

[sph]

Michael Urie did a livestream of this play during the first Covid lockdown - I believe just from his own apartment/house. It was brilliant and I regret not seeing him do it on stage.

I'll definitely be checking it out. I think Above the Stag did a production around Covid times as well with Aaron Sidwell? Unusual casting choice but I missed that one too!

[greatauntedna]

I saw it last night, Rob is great. I found it outstayed its welcome a little bit. I’m not a big Streisand fan though.

[ladidah]

Saw this today, I agree that it runs a little long near the end. Nearly 2 hours with only 1 performer is a long time without am interval

I think Rob was good, it was a hard part with the accents and impressions

[OnTheMarquee]

The show felt incredibly dull, dragging on far too long it was like listening to a rambling grandparent. It really needs to be cut down to 60 minutes.

Very few shows sell out at the King's Head, and this one seems to be struggling, given the number of free tickets floating around. On top of that, the seating is far too cramped. I ended up practically hugging the person next to me for the entire performance.

[ladidah]

I think it could lose a lot from the beginning, much like the character, you are just waiting for Barbra.

The venue is mad! I was lucky that it was very quiet so I had lots of chairs next to me free.

[lt]

Shame this seems to be getting a somewhat muted response, I don't know if it has changed a lot from when I saw it at the Menier, when it didn't feel a minute too long and I was complete entertained throughout.

[sph]

I'm not a huge Streisand fan or expert, but enjoyed getting to revisit this play. It really is quite a nice, entertaining piece of theatrical fluff. Pure comedy almost throughout. I found Madge took a little time to warm up, but once going was very good. It isn't a nuanced performance in any way, but it's well delivered, even if a little meta at times.

[ladidah]

Interesting mix of reviews/comments, mostly ****

I do think this is a very American show, and does have mostly American pop-culture references, I'm sure a lot of them went over my head.

[Someone in a tree]

Sept 27, 2024 6:59:46 GMT ladidah said:

Interesting mix of reviews/comments, mostly ****

I do think this is a very American show, and does have mostly American pop-culture references, I'm sure a lot of them went over my head.

Pop culture in an uncomfortable venue equals a hard pass for me

[aloysius]

Just on the new King's Head - I saw Turning The Screw, an early production there after it opened, which was nice enough. But unless there's something in that theatre that sounds like it'll blow me away I'm avoiding that place. The seating is unnecessarily cramped, not least given the proportion of tix it'll usually sell, in a way that makes the experience quite uncomfortable and takes you out of whatever you're there to see. Above the Stag in Vauxhall was the same. I get the desire to recoup the outlay on new theatres asap - and that leads to the temptation to cram in as many seats as possible - but there's a crossover point where they pack 'em in too tight and people will actively avoid an uncomfortable experience. For me, the King's Head has crossed that point - I would strongly beseech the theatre managers to remove a few seats and a row or two and make it a much more pleasurable venue to visit.