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Post by lynette on Jan 7, 2017 21:29:11 GMT
The technical diffs are total breakdown of all revolves. Guy came on at start to explain they have reset the show. So no idea how it was. Does seem a little static but I wouldn't have known really. Good voices, minor characters excellent. I watched the movie over Xmas and spoken script v much the same. If anything needs a bit more dancing and a really top class tune. But only interval so you never know.
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Post by lynette on Jan 7, 2017 21:32:40 GMT
I wouldn't say it is a concert version - George you here? I'm in row G centre aisle.
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Post by alece10 on Jan 7, 2017 21:33:51 GMT
Show went ahead tonight but it was a concert version of the show instead of full show Not totally correct George. They have reworked it with the interior set used and the exterior parts performed at the front of the stage. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2017 22:01:52 GMT
Show went ahead tonight but it was a concert version of the show instead of full show Not totally correct George. They have reworked it with the interior set used and the exterior parts performed at the front of the stage. Oh sorry, I was just going by what a cast member (Luke Fetherston) put on his Instagram which said being reworked into a concert version. Sorry for getting it wrong! And no, lynette, I'm not there tonight - coming in the coming week! Very excited, have a great time!! |
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Post by alece10 on Jan 7, 2017 22:31:31 GMT
No need to apologise George. He prob put it on Instagram b4 it was decided how the show would run.
Shame I didn't know u were tonight Lynette or I would have said hi.
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Post by Dawnstar on Jan 7, 2017 23:23:12 GMT
I wish they'd done that for the matinee. Even a total concert version with the cast standing in a row would have been better than the cancellation we got.
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Post by lynette on Jan 8, 2017 0:16:12 GMT
O what a shame. I didn't know about the cancellation of course. We were told they spent the afternoon redoing the show so I suppose they had to for future performances. They were tired, they dropped a cup in the last scene and it broke. They just stopped from total giggles and one of them made a joke about drinking out of the bottle. And her character did that anyway.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 8, 2017 8:37:59 GMT
So is the show going to be played like it was last night for the rest of the run, reworked? Or will it go back to normal?
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Post by alece10 on Jan 8, 2017 10:53:57 GMT
So is the show going to be played like it was last night for the rest of the run, reworked? Or will it go back to normal? Revolve problems hopefully fixed this morning and then should all be back to normal. |
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Post by Tibidabo on Jan 8, 2017 10:58:18 GMT
Glad to hear that. Got tix for Feb half term.  |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 8, 2017 11:11:17 GMT
So is the show going to be played like it was last night for the rest of the run, reworked? Or will it go back to normal? Revolve problems hopefully fixed this morning and then should all be back to normal. Great! Glad it'll be all sorted for when I visit!  |
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Post by lynette on Jan 8, 2017 11:41:02 GMT
O so I'm sad I missed the full monty show. Don't go to many musicals and had to drag OH to this one and he was underwhelmed.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 13, 2017 20:14:08 GMT
Is there much audience connection in the show? For Funny Girl, there was loads of audience interaction and it would've worked SO well in the Menier as it's so small.
Never been to the theatre before but I love the idea of being right in front of the performers!
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Post by alece10 on Jan 13, 2017 20:19:28 GMT
Is there much audience connection in the show? For Funny Girl, there was loads of audience interaction and it would've worked SO well in the Menier as it's so small. Never been to the theatre before but I love the idea of being right in front of the performers! Not really but some of the action takes place at the front of the stage so those in row A are very close indeed. |
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Post by alece10 on Jan 14, 2017 9:59:19 GMT
Far more detailed than my response. Thanks.
Also high numbers are within touching distance of the lovely Mark Umbers. So tempting...... .
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2017 18:24:34 GMT
Just seen the matinee of this show and it's brilliant! Lovely score with great performances! Katherine Kingsley steals the show for me - her accent is hilarious!! Scarlett Strallen is amazing too - her voice is sublime. Mark Umbers plays his role too really well. Dominic Tighe wasn't on and wasn't a lover of his understudy but atleast he didn't have much stage time. Upset as was looking forward to Dominic and Katherine being on stage together and seeing it. Les Dennis played his part well too! Songs are really good! The set is amazing, loved the revolves!! First time at Menier and would definitely return! It would've been great to have seen Funny Girl in a venue like that! So intimate! 4 Stars |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2017 23:12:35 GMT
Also, I think this must transfer?! It would work SO well in a smaller venue like the Playhouse, Duke of York's, Wyndhams etc. Don't want to loose the intimacy though!
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Post by Mr Snow on Jan 15, 2017 9:26:33 GMT
Had a great time at yesterdays matinee. Left with the same feelings I had after La La Land.
Good music and dancing sends me out with a smile on my face.
But...
I saw the version at the Savoy and I still think there's a great production of this musical to be had. Its a delicate soufflé and very hard to get it all right.
Loved Scarlett in Candide but she didn't quite work for me here. Ice Cream is THE stand out no and I still have fonder memories of Ruth Henshall and Barbara Cook, who performed in concert this well into her 70's. It needs a kind of innocence that SS and the Director eliminated from the role.
Katherine Kingsley was the start turn but she set a tone that didn't quite sit with the rest of the show? She was a purely comic character and there was no real sadness at the way she was treated.
Norman Pace (a revelation) and all the business with the trays was immaculately timed but again pushed the show away from 'the Lubitsch touch' of the original film.
Thought Les Dennis was hopeless with zero warmth - necessary so we see him turn cold and feel for his character.
Kept thinking Mark Umbers is a shoe in if they ever make a film about AA Gill. He's always very good but he lacks a certain star Quality. The rest of the cast are strong.
Makes it sound like I didn’t have a great time. I did, but I've raced back to the box office after previous Menier productions, but not this time. (Reserve the right to change my mind on that!)
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Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2017 9:38:42 GMT
Had a great time at yesterdays matinee. Left with the same feelings I had after La La Land. Good music and dancing sends me out with a smile on my face. But... I saw the version at the Savoy and I still think there's a great production of this musical to be had. Its a delicate soufflé and very hard to get it all right. Loved Scarlett in Candide but she didn't quite work for me here. Ice Cream is THE stand out no and I still have fonder memories of Ruth Henshall and Barbara Cook, who performed in concert this well into her 70's. It needs a kind of innocence that SS and the Director eliminated from the role. Katherine Kingsley was the start turn but she set a tone that didn't quite sit with the rest of the show? She was a purely comic character and there was no real sadness at the way she was treated. Norman Pace (a revelation) and all the business with the trays was immaculately timed but again pushed the show away from 'the Lubitsch touch' of the original film. Thought Les Dennis was hopeless with zero warmth - necessary so we see him turn cold and feel for his character. Kept thinking Mark Umbers is a shoe in if they ever make a film about AA Gill. He's always very good but he lacks a certain star Quality. The rest of the cast are strong. Makes it sound like I didn’t have a great time. I did, but I've raced back to the box office after previous Menier productions, but not this time. (Reserve the right to change my mind on that!) I was at yesterday's matinee too so saw the same show as you but, funnily enough, I disagree with most of what you thought! I LOVED Katherine Kingsley and she stole the show for me. She was hilarious and I loved her accent. Great musical theatre actress all round, in my opinion, and I hope she does more musicals too. Scarlett Strallen was great for me and I loved her voice, she's funny and Ice Cream was amazing!! Les Dennis played his character well, imo, and I didn't think he had no warmth. Mark Umbers has got a good voice. Agree whole ensemble are good, wish there was more Dancing numbers like in the cafe. 12 days to Xmas was brilliant! Only person I didnt like was the actor understudying Dominic Tighe - who I'm upset wasn't on. I agree I probably wouldn't see it again but I still loved it! |
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Post by couldileaveyou on Jan 15, 2017 9:51:26 GMT
Les Dennis has warmth, but no charm, which is essential for the role.
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Post by loureviews on Jan 21, 2017 18:44:16 GMT
Just back from this. Lovely, sweet and I left with a smile on my face. It's a good score, and there are some lovely performances here although Les Dennis will never escape the memory of his Mavis impersonations!
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Post by lonlad on Jan 22, 2017 12:03:10 GMT
Doubt it will transfer since Scarlett has a gig coming up in NY at Encores! and I can't see that they would replace her - also the show almost never been a commercial hit. It's a critics' darling, not a commercial one.
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Post by loureviews on Jan 22, 2017 17:41:37 GMT
My thoughts on this:
A delightful revival of the Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock musical is running on London’s fringe right now, and I heartily recommend it.
You might have come across this story before, in the films ‘The Shop Around The Corner’, ‘In The Good Old Summertime’ or ‘You’ve Got Mail’. You might have seen the versions shown on television in 1978 and on digital live-streaming last year.
Georg Nowack (played at the performance I saw by understudy Peter Dukes, who was rather good, if a little plain) is an awkward bachelor who serves as one of the sales clerks in the perfumery of Mr Maraczek (Les Dennis, whose decision to use a truly awful accent colours his role) in 1930s Budapest. He’s been corresponding with an unknown lady after placing an ad in the lonely hearts column, and he’s going to meet her soon for the first time.
Amalia Balash (a perky Scarlett Strallen, who steals the show with her “Vanilla Ice Cream”) comes to the shop for a job and instantly finds herself at odds with Nowack, and she is also corresponding with a ‘Dear Friend’ which we quickly find out, is her nemesis himself. In the meantime, Ilona Ritter, a vision of bad hair dye and thick make-up (played with scene-stealing effervescence by Katherine Kingsley, who has a whole library of comic expressions and barely disguised malice) is dating smarmy cad and fellow shop-worker Steven Kodaly (Kingsley’s real-life spouse, Dominic Tighe, who is perfectly hissable) and watching her life slowly slip away.
The main cast is rounded out by Ladislav Sipos (Alastair Brookshaw, playing the twitchy family man who ‘never disagrees’, with aplomb) and a new discovery, Callum Howells as delivery boy Arpad Lazslow, whose “Try Me” is an Act 2 delight. Norman Pace has joined the cast as Head Waiter, and he’s lots of fun in the restaurant scene, and surprisingly strong-voiced. I also liked the couple who found romance through reading: “Victor!” “Hugo!”
For a fringe production in a small venue, a lot of thought has gone into the revolving sets and production design, and Paul Farnsworth definitely deserves praise for his sparkles, bright colours, and leaf/snow combination indicators of the change of the seasons. Fine choreography too, and a more-than-decent house band give the fifty-something songs life and breadth (although the repetitive ‘Thank you madam’ refrains could easily be chopped after the first couple of times). If only the wigs had looked a little more realistic, it would have been quite perfect; but this is a fun little confection that certainly raises a smile in this winter season.
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Post by Someone in a tree on Jan 23, 2017 13:00:07 GMT
I was really bored in this. I just didn't care and I wasnt entertained
Strallen for the first time disappointed and why cast Les Denis - he was terrible
Good production and set, liked most of the cast but I could quite happily never see a production of this again
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Post by haz23 on Jan 25, 2017 1:06:14 GMT
Saw it tonight - my first time at the Menier which is such a great little venue! Loved Scarlett Strallen and Katherine Kingsley, the revolving set was genius and I thought the ensemble were very tight and slick. Wasn't too impressed by Les Dennis, he looked rather bored throughout! A lovely feel-good show which left me smiling from start to finish.
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