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Post by ceebee on Sept 11, 2023 7:43:39 GMT
At an absolute push some small scale theatre like the Other Palace but the show has been reinvented as a smaller scale affair so it won’t go to the West End I wouldn’t have thought. It’s already booked outside of London - the concern would be, as you say, finding the right space for it in London after that. I would imagine after the initial booking this would be a dead cert for a few weeks at Regent's Park next summer. |
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Post by ceebee on Sept 11, 2023 8:36:00 GMT
Looking at the Watermill website this show is now completely sold out for the remainder of its run, which is great news for the Watermill and vindicates their price strategy and gamble on this show and the larger cast. Feel sorry for people who suffered one of the cancelled performances as it looks unlikely that they will be able to see the show during this run now. Still think the Watermill could pop an additional performance in on the final Sunday to cover the cancellations, if they shifted the current performance to the evening and put an additional matinee in. This show could also perhaps be a celebration of the covers/understudies who have covered Arwen, Galadriel and Gandalf across the run.
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Post by JustJ on Sept 11, 2023 9:12:41 GMT
Can anyone disclose where they think this might be transferring to next year?
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Post by c4ndyc4ne on Sept 11, 2023 15:03:37 GMT
It’s already booked outside of London - the concern would be, as you say, finding the right space for it in London after that. I would imagine after the initial booking this would be a dead cert for a few weeks at Regent's Park next summer. the space is too big for this production... it needs somewhere cosier (do any london venues have greenery outside?) |
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Post by danb on Sept 11, 2023 15:08:09 GMT
There was that pub that did Pippin during Covid…
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Post by c4ndyc4ne on Sept 11, 2023 19:16:06 GMT
There was that pub that did Pippin during Covid… 😂 |
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3,426 posts
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Post by ceebee on Sept 11, 2023 19:28:42 GMT
I would imagine after the initial booking this would be a dead cert for a few weeks at Regent's Park next summer. the space is too big for this production... it needs somewhere cosier (do any london venues have greenery outside?) The Bridge Theatre for a short run? Old Vic has four trees out the front... I still think Regent's Park would be perfect if it could be scaled up. I've seen it too without the outside intro/close and it works just as well indoors. As much as I love this show and the twinkling lights outdoors, I don't think they're fundamental to the show as a whole. |
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Post by c4ndyc4ne on Sept 11, 2023 19:49:34 GMT
the space is too big for this production... it needs somewhere cosier (do any london venues have greenery outside?) The Bridge Theatre for a short run? Old Vic has four trees out the front... I still think Regent's Park would be perfect if it could be scaled up. I've seen it too without the outside intro/close and it works just as well indoors. As much as I love this show and the twinkling lights outdoors, I don't think they're fundamental to the show as a whole. It feels as though we're getting ahead of ourselves debating possible London venues if it's already earmarked for a regional space – though the question is, which one! |
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Post by westendboy on Sept 11, 2023 21:23:41 GMT
The Bridge Theatre for a short run? Old Vic has four trees out the front... I still think Regent's Park would be perfect if it could be scaled up. I've seen it too without the outside intro/close and it works just as well indoors. As much as I love this show and the twinkling lights outdoors, I don't think they're fundamental to the show as a whole. It feels as though we're getting ahead of ourselves debating possible London venues if it's already earmarked for a regional space – though the question is, which one! Hoping it's at least not too far away from London! |
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Post by jarnew on Sept 12, 2023 12:39:07 GMT
From everything I've seen I could see this done at the Lavender Theatre in Epsom.
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3,426 posts
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Post by ceebee on Sept 12, 2023 12:56:38 GMT
Tonight's performance is cancelled (for anybody who is due to be going tonight). Extensive illness in the company.
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Post by highonahill on Sept 13, 2023 10:33:15 GMT
Going ahead today. So glad, my trip today was rebooked from one of the previous cancellations. Hope everyone who's poorly feels 100% very soon.  |
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3,426 posts
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Post by ceebee on Sept 14, 2023 1:21:32 GMT
Rare showstop Weds night - the revolve needed a metal floor plate screwing down... The curse of the revolve coming back to haunt LOTR? Lovely to see a cover Bilbo tonight (by the cover Gandalf), and I'll reiterate that every one of this cast and crew are smashing it out the park every performance. Running out of superlatives.
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Post by NeilVHughes on Sept 14, 2023 10:01:32 GMT
Discussed the ill luck illness with a FOH member at the weekend.
The issue is exacerbated by most of the cast living together because of the remoteness of the location, one down all down is a common occurrence.
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1,736 posts
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Post by fiyero on Sept 14, 2023 10:22:15 GMT
Last night as the opening dance kicked off outside, I was stage left/audience right and saw him (Gandalf) standing at the top of the stairs leading to the dressing rooms/backstage - it was surreal and ethereal, and actually made me choke up. It was like a cross between character and actor, as overseer of events unfolding below. It was a profound moment - I'm not sure if he does this every night but I desperately wish I could have taken a photo to frame the moment. We had cover Gandalf but spotted him there and thought it was fab. Him watching from afar.  |
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Post by ceebee on Sept 14, 2023 10:44:11 GMT
Last night as the opening dance kicked off outside, I was stage left/audience right and saw him (Gandalf) standing at the top of the stairs leading to the dressing rooms/backstage - it was surreal and ethereal, and actually made me choke up. It was like a cross between character and actor, as overseer of events unfolding below. It was a profound moment - I'm not sure if he does this every night but I desperately wish I could have taken a photo to frame the moment. We had cover Gandalf but spotted him there and thought it was fab. Him watching from afar. Aaaah, THANKS! I've seen this several times yet last night was the first time I spotted Gandalf watching on high and I thought it was absolutely magical and the perfect bridge between outdoors and indoors. Really appreciate you sharing this photo! Oh, and it seemed the gods were listening as the Old Vic just announced the cast for A Christmas Carol this morning and Geraint Downing is indeed in the cast once again - great news. |
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Post by Deal J on Sept 14, 2023 12:16:15 GMT
Last night as the opening dance kicked off outside, I was stage left/audience right and saw him (Gandalf) standing at the top of the stairs leading to the dressing rooms/backstage - it was surreal and ethereal, and actually made me choke up. It was like a cross between character and actor, as overseer of events unfolding below. It was a profound moment - I'm not sure if he does this every night but I desperately wish I could have taken a photo to frame the moment. We had cover Gandalf but spotted him there and thought it was fab. Him watching from afar. [...] That's lovely, I didn't spot him when I was there. Great photo. A shame about the door sticker though - unless it reads "Fire door: YOU SHALL NOT PASS!!" I went a few weekends ago, and am still collecting my thoughts. I'm really glad I got to see such an inventive production, but I didn't really gel with the musical itself. Wonderful performances, great staging and lighting, and the use of outdoor space was quite magical. It helped that the night I was there was the night of the blue moon, the lighting assistant was Mother Nature herself! I've been to the Watermill before, it's so beautiful inside, but I was very disappointed with my seats this time around. We were just off-centre in the 3rd row of the Circle (row L), and missed pretty much everything that was done with that versatile knot of wood (due to the overhang of the roof/lighting rig), even when I crouched my head down I could barely make out the bottom half of it, so they were effectively a pair of £50 "restricted view" seats. Still, it did mean we got to enjoy Gollum's arrival in full. I found it a bit dull in places, but that's more my issue as I'm not a huge fan of the source material, and I don't remember any of the songs, but I'm really grateful I got to see (most of) it in this amazing setting. I give it 2/5 for the musical itself, but 4/5 for this imaginative production. |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Sept 14, 2023 16:56:34 GMT
Posts speculating about personal matters in relation to cast members removed. Please remind yourself of our rules in particular rule 5 in this case. |
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Post by ceebee on Sept 15, 2023 20:19:32 GMT
One single (decent) stalls seat has cropped up for tomorrow evening on the Watermill site for anybody who fancies it, along with a couple for the matinee.
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3,426 posts
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Post by ceebee on Sept 18, 2023 18:58:25 GMT
Looking at the Watermill website this show is now completely sold out for the remainder of its run, which is great news for the Watermill and vindicates their price strategy and gamble on this show and the larger cast. Feel sorry for people who suffered one of the cancelled performances as it looks unlikely that they will be able to see the show during this run now. Still think the Watermill could pop an additional performance in on the final Sunday to cover the cancellations, if they shifted the current performance to the evening and put an additional matinee in. This show could also perhaps be a celebration of the covers/understudies who have covered Arwen, Galadriel and Gandalf across the run. Hmmmmm.... *Adds "prophet" to existing skillset* |
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Post by theatrekiwi on Sept 18, 2023 19:59:07 GMT
Two tickets currently available for Wednesday and Friday evening on the website. Just managed to get two for Friday  |
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Post by ruthieh on Sept 20, 2023 21:32:41 GMT
Watermill have announced that Sioned Saunders will be playing the role of Galadriel for the remaining performances of The Lord of the Rings and Zara Naeem is joining the ensemble. Sadly, for personal reasons, Georgia Louise has had to withdraw from the production.
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3,426 posts
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Post by ceebee on Sept 21, 2023 12:56:15 GMT
Have people seen the additional Sunday evening performance that has been put in for 8 October? There are a couple of tickets left if interested. Presume this is to make up for cancellations. EDIT: there are two circle slip seats left now.
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Post by kz on Oct 15, 2023 9:18:42 GMT
I saw this last night and I think it's one of the most special nights I've ever had at a theatre. The Watermill Theatre is the perfect setting. The outdoor section at the beginning created a wonderful, magical atmosphere and set a joyful tone for the evening. The transition to the theatre was fairly swift and I loved that we were very much on the journey with them.
Great performances from the cast but particularly from Matthew Bugg playing Gollum/Smeagol. The portrayal of both parts of the character, the perfect accent/voice, violin/fiddle playing and the ability to sing while holding himself upside down was really quite impressive. I rooted for the rest of the cast too, especially the hobbits.
With fitting such an epic story into the length of a musical, bits were lost and there wasn't the same focus on other members of the fellowship, but that's to be expected. It finished around 10.50pm so it really squeezed in everything possible. The battles had some nice choreography but weren't particularly impactful, and were the only time the actor/musician approach felt jarring- the Black Rider appearing while someone played a French Horn at the back of the stage for instance. The rest of the time it felt very natural to have instruments on stage and interwoven. It reinforced how multi-talented the whole cast are.
The puppetry for the appearance of Shelob got a collective gasp from the audience and I also loved the creative use of the whole theatre for the conversation with the Ents. The staging overall was extremely impressive for such a small, what could be restrictive space.
Finishing back outside and helping to repair The Shire continued the magic and some of the cast looked genuinely emotional at the end (perhaps lovely acting or with it being the penultimate show of the run). Such a lovely evening and well worth the weekend trip.
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Post by ceebee on Oct 15, 2023 10:04:23 GMT
Great review kz - thanks. I'm there today for the final show which I think will be a wonderful but emotional occasion. |
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