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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2017 21:03:01 GMT
It's sort of too good for a touring show in some aspects But too meagre for the WE Identity crisis It's the annual tour produced by Music & Lyrics Ltd and so should be to a high standard. www.musicandlyricslimited.com/about-us/ |
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Post by danb on May 17, 2017 21:13:56 GMT
i agree Saw this afternoon Won't last 30 days in the WE Material so awful But I liked several of the performances It's sort of too good for a touring show in some aspects But too meagre for the WE Identity crisis I think it has two or three cracking songs, but the script is only really am dram worthy. |
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Post by JJShaw on May 17, 2017 23:14:13 GMT
I sw this today (and was sat in between Mark Shenton and another reviewer!) and agree with most of the previous comments. It seems like this show is still stuck in its out-of-town tryout feel (even though it had its Chicago, Broadway and revised US tour version so its had 3 attempts!)
The show has some good musical moments, but the pacing of the show is all over the place and some characters and relationships are woefully underdeveloped (mainly Pugsley and Wednesday when his actions are a big plot point!) so it's hard to relate or care and get invested. There were moments that were good but then they got lost.
Fester narrating is absolutely pointless. Gomez addresses the audience first thing in the show and then later on its Fester as our narrator?! Also the reason the ancestors are there is so stupid and doesn't even need to be mentioned. Its The Addams Family we can believe that their house is inhabited with ghosts without the corny reason of "they can't return to the grave until love prevails". Really?! Just cut that one line and we're good!
Having said that, the ensemble sticks out like a sore thumb it just doesn't know what it wants to be; one minute they're slinky in the background and the next its full on over the top choreography. I was also a little disappointed with the principals; I don't think it was their fault as they al had moments of quality, but it seemed like the direction restricted them (Mainly Cameron, Samantha and Carrie)
The boy playing Lucas, while attractive, had an awfully shrill and twangy american accent and nasal singing. The guy playing Pugsley also didn't come across very well either. Grandma Addams and Lurch were wonderful as were Alice and Mal.
Had the book been tightened more and the songs properly organised it has potential to be a much slicker show, but the shoehorning of the ensemble and the slow and boring pacing and lack of development on family relationships (don't they say Family First and Family Last?! it was all very one note and borderline panto plot) prevent it from being a 4 star show. So i would give it 3. Perhaps 3 1/2 because the set and lighting was really good and the sound design (especially for Wimbledon!) was excellent.
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2017 13:52:03 GMT
The ITV segment is appallingly lacklustre. Seeing the show tonight, so hopefully it's better onstage?
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2,452 posts
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Post by theatremadness on May 18, 2017 20:37:07 GMT
I've got a question regarding a lyric and as I doubt I'll get to see this tour, I thought I'd appeal to anyone who may have already seen this particular production and has a penchant for remembering lyrics!! It's the punchline to a series of lyrics & I don't want to upset anyone who may not want to see, so I'll put it in a spoiler tag: {Spoiler - click to view}
In 'One Normal Night', Fester has the lyrics 'Was ballet right for Balanchine, was Polio right for the Salk vaccine' and then followed by a punchline, originally on Broadway it was: 'Were you folks right for the mezzanine?', but for places where that would make no sense (i.e the West End where the word 'mezzanine' doesn't really exist) there was an alternative written: 'Was rehab right for Charlie Sheen?".
This seems like quite an out-dated reference now, so I was wondering if anyone who has seen it can remember what line Les Dennis used? For no reason other than my personal wondering. Thanks! |
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Post by Mark on May 18, 2017 21:36:43 GMT
This was good. Much better than the recent Wonderland tour. Quite impressed by the cast and the production values.
The show itself? It was weak in New York and it's still weak now. But watchable....
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Post by cheesy116 on May 18, 2017 22:05:18 GMT
This was good. Much better than the recent Wonderland tour. Quite impressed by the cast and the production values. The show itself? It was weak in New York and it's still weak now. But watchable.... I agree with this opinion, I saw both in Edinburgh and overall preferred The Addams Family but with Natalie McQueen being the clear standout in Wonderland. I wouldn't rush back to see either of them. |
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2017 22:24:42 GMT
Didn't love it, didn't hate it. Some ok performances but the show itself is awful. Samantha Womack is great and Cameron Blakeley tries hard!
Wouldn't last a month in the West End though. Tonight was full of drama students who all knew 'Pulled' off by heart.
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Post by MusicalTalk on May 18, 2017 22:42:49 GMT
Is it still La Cage Aux Fantômes?  The big issue i had with the show is that Wednesday Addams would NEVER change to be with a "normal" guy. The whole gag of the Addams Family is that THEY think they're normal and the rest of the world are the "freaks". Until that's changed - the piece if majorly flawed. I only saw this in New York and it was one of the most disappointing evenings of theatre I'd ever had in my life - which is a massive shame. It's probably why I am in no rush to go and see this at Wimbledon. |
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2017 9:01:50 GMT
Well. It's a fun enough evening. Cameron Blakeley as Gomez owns the show and the cast work hard for the money. Samantha Womack has come a long way since her days representing the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest. She can hold a tune now! And she does get the two best numbers in the show as Morticia; 'Just Around The Corner' and 'Love Before We Die/Tango de Amor'. Rather liked Oliver Ormson as Lucas too.
Second half is a bit soggy and loses momentum but it's really all about Gomez and the show does sag a little when he isn't on.
Lots of people stood up at the end which is all really rather too much. Perhaps they don't get out much in Wimbledon. They certainly don't know how to behave in a theatre that's for sure.
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2017 14:17:30 GMT
Good shot.
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Post by theatrelover123 on May 19, 2017 14:45:07 GMT
I am not throwing away my shot. |
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Post by groupbooker on May 19, 2017 21:51:01 GMT
anyone know the run time for this show please?
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217 posts
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Post by benny20 on May 19, 2017 23:21:56 GMT
anyone know the run time for this show please? First act 70 mins second act 60 mins.... |
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Post by benny20 on May 20, 2017 9:01:09 GMT
I've got a question regarding a lyric and as I doubt I'll get to see this tour, I thought I'd appeal to anyone who may have already seen this particular production and has a penchant for remembering lyrics!! It's the punchline to a series of lyrics & I don't want to upset anyone who may not want to see, so I'll put it in a spoiler tag: {Spoiler - click to view}
In 'One Normal Night', Fester has the lyrics 'Was ballet right for Balanchine, was Polio right for the Salk vaccine' and then followed by a punchline, originally on Broadway it was: 'Were you folks right for the mezzanine?', but for places where that would make no sense (i.e the West End where the word 'mezzanine' doesn't really exist) there was an alternative written: 'Was rehab right for Charlie Sheen?".
This seems like quite an out-dated reference now, so I was wondering if anyone who has seen it can remember what line Les Dennis used? For no reason other than my personal wondering. Thanks! |
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Post by benny20 on May 20, 2017 9:02:47 GMT
Not seeing the show until August but I listen to the soundtrack and I am curious what they do with that line about American theatres!
I think it's a funny line
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362 posts
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Post by JJShaw on May 20, 2017 9:22:02 GMT
I've got a question regarding a lyric and as I doubt I'll get to see this tour, I thought I'd appeal to anyone who may have already seen this particular production and has a penchant for remembering lyrics!! It's the punchline to a series of lyrics & I don't want to upset anyone who may not want to see, so I'll put it in a spoiler tag: {Spoiler - click to view}In 'One Normal Night', Fester has the lyrics 'Was ballet right for Balanchine, was Polio right for the Salk vaccine' and then followed by a punchline, originally on Broadway it was: 'Were you folks right for the mezzanine?', but for places where that would make no sense (i.e the West End where the word 'mezzanine' doesn't really exist) there was an alternative written: 'Was rehab right for Charlie Sheen?".
This seems like quite an out-dated reference now, so I was wondering if anyone who has seen it can remember what line Les Dennis used? For no reason other than my personal wondering. Thanks! ill put it under a spoiler just in case {Spoiler - click to view}
I can't remember it word for word but it was "were you folks okay for the cheapest seats?" and he's looking up at the back of the house.
I can't remember it word for word but it was "were you folks okay for the cheapest seats?" and he's looking up at the back of the house.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on May 20, 2017 22:36:21 GMT
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19,676 posts
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Post by BurlyBeaR on May 20, 2017 22:55:23 GMT
"We've had to stop the show because people are literally rolling in the aisles" - Samantha Womack.
Anyone?
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217 posts
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Post by benny20 on May 20, 2017 23:43:31 GMT
"We've had to stop the show because people are literally rolling in the aisles" - Samantha Womack. Anyone? Not heard that One!, Good try but I doubt it. It's a fun show but not that funny.... |
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Post by groupbooker on May 21, 2017 20:32:00 GMT
Thank you benny20
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Post by Steve on May 21, 2017 22:29:55 GMT
A relentlessly mediocre musical featuring a lot of good one-liners (Marshall Brickman, presumably) and no good songs. Cameron Blakely's Gomez steals it with ease. Samantha Womack's Morticia barely registers. Carrie Hope Fletcher and Oliver Ormson are both good as the young lovers and Charlotte Page makes the most of her few moments as Alice Beineke but the show itself never really happens. I hadn't realized they'd done a rewrite - it didn't work. Saw this Saturday night, the final Wimbledon show, and completely agree with Mallardo's assessment that this is "mediocre." Some spoilers follow. . . The key factor is the lack of drama. Who cares about Wednesday dating some guy? The whole show is fan service, in the sense you can only really care about this if you are already fanatical about "The Addams Family" as a brand, and have some preconceived devastation about her dating a "normal." Nothing I saw made me feel anything about the dramatic set-up. I just didn't care. Drama: 2 stars. Second, there is a lack of comedy, in that nothing that happened made me crack more than a smile, apart from a great moment involving Dickon Gough's Lurch in Act 2. Comedy: 2 stars. Third, the songs too are mediocre for a composer of Lippa's talents, who wrote the varied and terrific "The Wild Party." I did think that the second act's "Just around the Corner" was terrific, and well-delivered by Samantha Womack. Also, "When you're an Addams" and "Full Disclosure" are ear worms, if unexceptional, and "Carzier than you" is punchy and fun, especially when delivered by the show's best singer, Carrie Hope Fletcher. Songs: 3 stars. Fourth, the production values were fullsome, the touring sets looking as dark and gothic as I would hope, and the chorus added immensely to every song, their spooky costumes and choreography proving to be fun. Production value: 4 stars. Fifth, the casting is excellent overall. Carrie Hope Fletcher is a spunky Wednesday, Les Dennis is Les Dennis squared, as his sad clown inside is bolstered in this show by a sad clown outside, and Cameron Blakely is all-round superb, an engine of energy in a plot you can't care less about. Samantha Womack sings well, but she lacks energy, possibly because that's her take on the Morticia character. It's a shame, as a show with so little plot needs more drivers, not less. And Womack was great in that Barbican South Pacific not so long ago, I thought. Cast: 4 stars. It is the lack of drama, the absence of an engaging plot, that is the main problem with this show. The second act (4 stars) I liked much more than the first (2 stars), as it simply gives up on it's flailing plot, and devolves into some very pleasurable episodic Sondheimesque ruminations on the humanity of each of the characters. Overall, the show was so mediocre that I felt I had to jazz up my thoughts by giving the show a million stars for a million disparate things lol. 3 stars overall.  |
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Post by Being Alive on May 26, 2017 10:19:43 GMT
Is this worth it? I'm a bit strapped for cash this month but quite like the idea of it and think it might be fun? Whats the general thoughts?
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Post by duncan on May 26, 2017 12:44:20 GMT
Fun.
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Post by theatremadness on May 26, 2017 13:17:27 GMT
A not-particularly-exciting trailer:
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