1,064 posts
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Post by David J on Aug 10, 2023 14:36:06 GMT
Saw this tonight from slip seats above the stage. What a wonderful theatrical experience from a very strong cast and crew. A proper treat. I was so impressed at what was achieved in this intimate space and while I rather liked the Drury Lane version, this was more powerful for me. Ok, I felt the balrog effect was a bit weak so that scene fell a bit flat, but there was so much else to applaud (Shelob: wow). And the glorious ensemble singing: I don't think I could ever tire of "Lothlorien". I really look forward to returning. I’ve booked the slips for October 15, can you expand on the view from these please? Was it a good view? Could you see everything from where you were? You can. Most of the action takes place on the stage and the slips are used particularly at the start of the second half. Its only at the end, if they do it inside, where some characters stand under the slips and speak some lines but it's not an issue. |
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Post by ceebee on Aug 10, 2023 15:04:44 GMT
I am going to see this on the weekend! Any recommendations on where to stand/ sit for the outside part of the show? It's a circular outdoor stage with picnic benches and seating arcing around the edge of it plus gazebos at the back. If raining, you might want to grab a gazebo, but if you "hide" at teh back you might get more attention from those pesky hobbits... A picnic bench to the side is a safe spot and good for viewing - I find it nicer to watch laterally across the front of the stage rather than face-on. If getting back in quickly matters to you, choose a seat near the main path in. |
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214 posts
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Post by BoOverall on Aug 10, 2023 15:43:59 GMT
Saw this tonight from slip seats above the stage. What a wonderful theatrical experience from a very strong cast and crew. A proper treat. I was so impressed at what was achieved in this intimate space and while I rather liked the Drury Lane version, this was more powerful for me. Ok, I felt the balrog effect was a bit weak so that scene fell a bit flat, but there was so much else to applaud (Shelob: wow). And the glorious ensemble singing: I don't think I could ever tire of "Lothlorien". I really look forward to returning. I’ve booked the slips for October 15, can you expand on the view from these please? Was it a good view? Could you see everything from where you were? The view was fine for what is essentially a cheaper seat. There was a lot of looking at the top of the actors’ heads when they were at our part of the stage and I didn’t see some the action but I could see most things and felt part of it. |
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Post by JustJ on Aug 13, 2023 17:28:20 GMT
Wow, wow...WOW!
That was absolutely incredible. What a talented cast!! Theatre at its best for me.
The venue, sound/ score, set design, musical arrangements - just everything was perfect.
This deserves a transfer, but only if they can keep the magic of the Watermill Theatre alive.
5*
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Post by theatrefan572 on Aug 20, 2023 11:25:01 GMT
Got down to the Watermill for today’s matinee and the show has been cancelled because of cast illness. I hope everyone is OK, but obviously so gutted. Was really looking forward to it! Hopefully we can swap tickets for a different show :-(
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111 posts
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Post by highonahill on Aug 20, 2023 19:41:17 GMT
Got down to the Watermill for today’s matinee and the show has been cancelled because of cast illness. I hope everyone is OK, but obviously so gutted. Was really looking forward to it! Hopefully we can swap tickets for a different show :-( Me too 😢, drove from Sussex with family and a friend, missed the call and the email from the theatre 🤦🏻♀️ but really hoping I can get the 5 of us together to rebook. Hope everyone is better very soon. |
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Post by toomasj on Aug 21, 2023 19:53:27 GMT
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Post by ceebee on Aug 21, 2023 19:58:43 GMT
This brought tears to my eyes - genuinely. Somebody out there needs to look at this beautiful company of fine actor-musicians and keep them together for as long as possible. This is such a special production which deserves to continue somewhere, somehow. They are a true company - this production continues to defy belief and expectation. All credit to the director, producers, cast, crew and the Watermill as a whole. |
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Post by raiseitup on Aug 26, 2023 12:07:39 GMT
Saw this last night and thoroughly enjoyed it, what a special experience they've created! We sat in the very back row (row R) for £15 and were very pleasantly surprised with the overall view. These are high seats with a bar to rest your feet, they got quite uncomfortable towards the end of each act. The booking warning is basically 'you'll have a good view of the stage but will miss any elevated scenes' and that's true and amounts to a few minutes in total – Galadriel's entrance in Lothlorien and the peak of Mount Doom was left entirely to our imagination, for instance. I think we did benefit from having some kids in front of us, meaning our view was even better. If there were adults in the row in front, you might be doing a bit of leaning to see things more clearly. The one thing I would say is that the show did feel quiet and could have benefited from some amplification in the circle section.
Starting the show outdoors was wonderful and really set the mood. Any 'audience participation' pre-show is so friendly and gentle, there's nothing to worry about. I played a game of whack the rat with Legolas, which was fun! I was impressed at how quickly the audience was moved indoors too. I didn't think ending the show outdoors was entirely necessary but it was really sweet nonetheless. Miraculously it poured with rain before the show but stopped at about 6:45 AND as the final notes of the music played out, it began to rain again, so we were very lucky.
I was bowled over by what they've been able to achieve in that tiny space with some ingenious lighting and sound choices. The talent and versatility of the cast is incredible too. And that music is just gorgeous!
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2,423 posts
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Post by robertb213 on Aug 31, 2023 12:44:58 GMT
Has anyone sat in the front row for this? How "compromised" are the elevated scenes? Thanks!
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Post by actorsinger on Aug 31, 2023 19:32:04 GMT
Has anyone sat in the front row for this? How "compromised" are the elevated scenes? Thanks! The front row will be absolutely fine. Great seats. |
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Post by robertb213 on Aug 31, 2023 22:28:22 GMT
Has anyone sat in the front row for this? How "compromised" are the elevated scenes? Thanks! The front row will be absolutely fine. Great seats. Thank you 😁 |
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Post by ceebee on Sept 1, 2023 0:40:51 GMT
This show just gets better and better. Saw Thursday evening's performance and loved it. This cast is on fire - grab the remaining tickets while you can.
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258 posts
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Post by notmymuse on Sept 1, 2023 7:00:54 GMT
I'm going soon and have a quick question, does the show start at the start time or does the cast start milling about with the punters at the start time? If so, when's the actual kick off?
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Post by ceebee on Sept 1, 2023 10:03:49 GMT
I'm going soon and have a quick question, does the show start at the start time or does the cast start milling about with the punters at the start time? If so, when's the actual kick off? The show starts at the alloted time (e.g. 7.30pm) but around 15 mins before the cast come out and play games, music with the audience (and in the case of Fatty Bolger, nicks crisps, chips and haribo tangfastics from the audience - he has a voracious appetite). You want to be seated on a bench around 20 mins before it starts but there's no problem if you just rock up as it starts. |
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Post by notmymuse on Sept 3, 2023 20:59:46 GMT
Thanks for all the advice on this one ceebee. I went to the matinee today and it was blessed with the kind of weather they likely had in mind when designing the outside bits (which worked pretty well I thought overall). I saw the original 4 times at Drury Lane and have listened to the OCR many, many times so it was really interesting to see what they've done with it. I'm almost sure I said years ago (maybe on the old forum, or I may have dreamed it) that they should do an actor-musican version of this. Overall, it works really well and a solid 4 stars from me. It passes pretty quickly for the most part despite the long running time. It allows the score to shine, which I'm really glad about as it seemed a bit forgotten in the Drury Lane version, and it's very different. I was impressed by the standard of acting/singing/playing - we had an understudy on for Galadriel, but I wouldn't have guessed it. Particularly lovely singing from the actor who played Arwen, which I'm really glad about as that was the role that introduced me in the original to Rosalie Craig, who must have one of the West End's loveliest voices. It was interesting to see which bits worked and which less so compared with the original. Generally, things worked and worked really well. The start is less clunky and gets you into the world of LOTR far better. I didn't immediately take to Gandalf, but playing him less RSC Shakespeare-style worked very well indeed I thought. He could be a bit jarring in the original. The Shelob was as good, if not better, than the West End version (helped by great lighting design - the puppets in general were great and manipulated really well), but I was less impressed by the Balrog and the river rising which didn't really conjure up for me what they were supposed to and would have left me a bit confused had I not known what was going to happen. I'm not sure about the Mount Doom bit either and some of the people around me had to ask their friend what happened. Gollum is as good, if not better, than the original and some interesting acting choices for him changed the character a bit. The battles worked, but the epic scale of Drury Lane probably made them work a bit better there. Song for Moria, which I always thought was a bit dull and could be cut in the original, takes on a far greater meaning here and worked way better, and the themes of different races coming together etc. and their old emnities came out stronger. Overall the whole piece now feels more like an ensemble piece and less about Sam/Frodo which the original seemed more focussed on. Lewis Maskell has such a lovely voice and it's only today I realised how little Frodo gets to sing. In the original Sauron always seemed quite near and scary and ever-watchful, but less so here. Maybe a clearer "eye" projection would help. I had a good seat but the layout of the seats/theatre didn't do the design many favours - maybe the stage needs to be a bit higher as heads covered much of the detail down low, comparing what I saw to the brochure which looked really nice and evocative. The singing was often thrilling, just like the original, and I loved the arrangements - they worked really well. I doubt a new cast recording will appear, but I'd love to hear one. Lothloroien seemed a bit underwhelming, maybe just because the orignal was pretty spectacular, but it still works. On the other hand, Rivendell (and Arwen playing the harp) worked better for me. There are some minor changes to some lyrics and I think parts of the script, but nothing huge. Overall, it's a stunning achievement and such a bold choice for a theatre that can only sit about 220 people and for a long run. Reconceiving it for such a small space, making it actor-musician and re-orchestrating, and keeping the sense of wonder is really something remarkable. I'm so glad this piece has been revived and hasn't been lost to time as I was scared years ago it would. Hopefully this will see life again after the run here. |
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Post by ceebee on Sept 3, 2023 21:44:52 GMT
Great review notmymuse - thanks. Does anybody know what the score is with the role of Galadriel? I saw Georgia Louise in preview and she was sensational as Galadriel. I've seen the show twice since and both times the role was played by Sioned Saunders (the on stage MD). The first time she was reading from the script and did an excellent job and then last Thursday evening she was doing the role again, yet confusingly Georgia Louise seemed to be part of the ensemble. I'm booked in to see this a couple more times and hope that Georgia returns to the role as she was fantastic - I think you might have preferred her interpretation, notmymuse . |
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Post by notmymuse on Sept 3, 2023 22:27:31 GMT
The programme has just 2 roles with listed standbys, so I'm guessing maybe some planned absences for those 2 roles?
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Post by Deal J on Sept 4, 2023 0:40:34 GMT
Great review notmymuse - thanks. Does anybody know what the score is with the role of Galadriel? I saw Georgia Louise in preview and she was sensational as Galadriel. I've seen the show twice since and both times the role was played by Sioned Saunders (the on stage MD). The first time she was reading from the script and did an excellent job and then last Thursday evening she was doing the role again, yet confusingly Georgia Louise seemed to be part of the ensemble. I'm booked in to see this a couple more times and hope that Georgia returns to the role as she was fantastic - I think you might have preferred her interpretation, notmymuse . I went to the evening performance last Friday, Sioned was on for Galadriel, and Patrick Bridgman on for Gandalf. |
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Post by toomasj on Sept 7, 2023 17:49:17 GMT
Been told something else is happening with this - but it’s outside of London. Another site-specific.
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Post by sallims on Sept 7, 2023 19:07:16 GMT
Yes I can also confirm been told this has a future life already planned and booked in.
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Post by JustJ on Sept 7, 2023 21:06:11 GMT
Ah, so exciting!
Where and when?
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Post by ceebee on Sept 7, 2023 21:48:26 GMT
This news excites me hugely. I love this show so much and the cast is such a special group of people. Intrigued by where it might go next.
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Post by c4ndyc4ne on Sept 7, 2023 21:56:33 GMT
Been told something else is happening with this - but it’s outside of London. Another site-specific. Could see this doing really well at the Minerva in Chichester, Bristol Old Vic or Clwyd. |
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Post by ceebee on Sept 8, 2023 14:34:03 GMT
Tonight's performance cancelled. Seems to be a bug afflicting this cast or perhaps it is simply too exhausting to do the show and the music. Wishing them a speedy recovery.
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