Roadshow, Union Theatre

[Daca]

We have tickets for this on Feb 20th. Has anyone been to this theatre? I am a little concerned that the seats are apparently not allocated till we get there. Is it done on a "first come, first served basis" on the night or is some other system in place?

[TheatreDust]

I love the Union too and am booking to see this. Biggest problem with the Union (apart from the damp smell, which I think adds to the charm) is the pillars.

Depending on the layout for that particular show, the pillars can be a small irritation - hence the advantage those in the first 20 or so to get in have.

[Deleted]

Hate it when you turn up early enough to get number 1, then 2-10 all arrive in a group and crowd you out so even though you were super-organised, you still don't get your top choice of seat. Still, MILES better than a proper free-for-all, I wish all general admission theatres could do this.

[Deleted]

Love the Union too. we're going on Valentine's day (aaah). Thought they were meant to be moving to their new space about now, must be delayed or I've goy it wrong (again).

[adrianics]

I love the Union, we usually get there half an hour or so beforehand and grab a coffee and bagel from the café

[Deleted]

Jan 27, 2016 16:17:57 GMT adrianics said:

I love the Union, we usually get there half an hour or so beforehand and grab a coffee and bagel from the café

or a drink from the bar

[ncbears]

Love the Union. Well, as long as you use avoid the bathrooms.

[Someone in a tree]

The State of the Union (toilets) is quite special

Despite the loos and pillars I love it. I generally turn up an hour before to get a good baggy on seats

I wonder what the new theatre will be like, I hope they manage to maintain the great atmosphere and shabby chic look

Anyone know the casting for Road Show?

[herrstiefel]

sondheim.org/road-show-casting-announced/

Addison Mizner - Howard Jenkins
Wilson Mizner - Andre Refig
Papa Mizner - Steve Watts
Mama Mizner - Cathryn Sherman
Hollis Bessemer - Joshua LeClaire

Company
Cameron Hay, Amy Perry, Laura Jade Clark
Alexander McMoran, Amy Reitsma, Damian Robinson
Jonny Rust, Phil Sealey, Sam Sugarman
Christina Thornton

[Daca]

Jan 27, 2016 16:38:10 GMT @frontrowdress said:

Jan 27, 2016 16:17:57 GMT adrianics said:

or a drink from the bar

A drink from the bar sounds a much better idea to me.
Thanks to everyone for your very helpful information.

[DebbieDoesDouglas(Hodge)]

Genuinely love the toilets at Union! I'm taking the bf to see this but secretly its to show him loos before they move. EVERYONE should have that experience

[bernadette]

I saw the first showing of this last night. As I said on the previous board, this is the one Sondheim show I really don't get. I find it hard to blieve that there is a Sondheim show I just can't enjoy at all, and I wanted to give this another go after the Menier production left me cold (as do both cast recordings).

First of all, this was really well performed and the direction/design were pretty stylish (aside from the annoying decision to have the actors mime some props and not others). BUT, boy, is it a dull show. There's just no spark to it at all, in my opinion. The songs sound at best like Assassins offcuts or at worst like Sondheim going through the motions (endless patter songs with too many words set to pedestrian accompaniement.) The true-life story is way too episodic to make a strong musical and the characters, who should be fascinating, just never come to life.

I'm well aware this is just my opinion, but what fascinates me is how someone as experienced and brilliant as Sondheim managed to produce this, a show that feels as dried up as a fallen autumn leaf. How does it manage to fall so far from what he usually achieves? Although I don't love every one of his other shows, there isn't one that I don't at least admire and there isn't one without a handful of really sharp, memorable numbers and intriguing ideas running through it. Is it age? Is it tiredness? Was it simply reworked too many times? And is there a single number from this show that stands any chance of becoming a Sondheim standard? I'll be interested to see if anyone else feels the same way!

[Deleted]

I'm going soon. Are you able to confirm a running time please? (How high is the stage, are there any dayseats, are there any offers, etc etc etc?)

[bernadette]

Running time was about 100 minutes with no interval. It's a tiny theatre so there's no raised stage - it's just the flat floor in front of the chairs, which for this production are set up in one block on the lh side as you enter (the Union varies its layout from show to show).

There are no day seats as such - just whatever is left on the night if that evening hasn't sold out in advance. No offers either that I know about - I imagine that the running costs are such that they need to sell out at the advertised price, something which most Sondheim shows there do with little problem.

[Deleted]

Thank you for your thorough answer, and apologies for letting my sense of humour get away with me. 100 minutes sounds good, and the seats all in one block sounds even better for minimising the unsung problem of general admission theatres, where you rush to pick a seat then spend the whole show regretting your choice.

[couldileaveyou]

Just back from the second preview and agree with what you said before. I'm a HUGE Sondheim's fan and yet this one is okay but nothing more. there are some nice, sharp lyrics, but it's not the most exciting show. It's well directed and performed by everyone involved, I'm glad I saw it, I enjoyed it, but it's not a memorable piece of work.

[caa]

Jan 27, 2016 13:55:06 GMT @frontrowdress said:

Thought they were meant to be moving to their new space about now, must be delayed or I've goy it wrong (again).

I think they are moving in to the new theatre in May/June

[mallardo]

Feb 4, 2016 16:34:09 GMT bernadette said:

I saw the first showing of this last night. As I said on the previous board, this is the one Sondheim show I really don't get. I find it hard to blieve that there is a Sondheim show I just can't enjoy at all, and I wanted to give this another go after the Menier production left me cold (as do both cast recordings).

First of all, this was really well performed and the direction/design were pretty stylish (aside from the annoying decision to have the actors mime some props and not others). BUT, boy, is it a dull show. There's just no spark to it at all, in my opinion. The songs sound at best like Assassins offcuts or at worst like Sondheim going through the motions (endless patter songs with too many words set to pedestrian accompaniement.) The true-life story is way too episodic to make a strong musical and the characters, who should be fascinating, just never come to life.

I'm well aware this is just my opinion, but what fascinates me is how someone as experienced and brilliant as Sondheim managed to produce this, a show that feels as dried up as a fallen autumn leaf. How does it manage to fall so far from what he usually achieves? Although I don't love every one of his other shows, there isn't one that I don't at least admire and there isn't one without a handful of really sharp, memorable numbers and intriguing ideas running through it. Is it age? Is it tiredness? Was it simply reworked too many times? And is there a single number from this show that stands any chance of becoming a Sondheim standard? I'll be interested to see if anyone else feels the same way!

"The Best Thing That Ever Has Happened" is already on its way to becoming a Sondheim standard.  I'd put it up there with the best of his love songs.  I think you're being way too hard on the show which worked extremely well (IMO) in the John Doyle production.

[Deleted]

I didn't really like this I'm afraid. It's very well performed and the cast are great, especially the three lead guys. The thing that really annoyed me is that for the most part the character of Addison is rather a nice one (really well performed by Howard Jenkins) but then he has some abrupt about face towards the end that completely ruins it. Plus the characters of Wilson and the mother are so horribly unlikeable that I began to hate every moment they were in it. Songs were OK but I couldn't remember any of them, they sound like stock Sondheim numbers for my money. The end of the show is also a bit sh*t really. Is that how it was supposed to be written?

[bobwordsmith]

LOVED the John Doyle production(saw it at the Public Theatre in New York and at the Choc Factory) - think there are some seriously great songs in the score (Notably THE BEST THING THAT EVER HAS HAPENED, WASTE, ISN'T HE SOMETHING?, GET OUT/GO and the ravishingly beautiful YOU). It may not be Sondheim's best score but any Sondheim score is stronger than pretty much anything else out there. Really looking forward to seeing this new production on March 5 (love the Union - my favourite theatre in London!).

[liverpool54321]

Saw the matinee today and overall impressions were that it is very good. Not the most melodic score in the world and reminded me a lot of Assassins with heavy use of repeated songs during it. Fortunately the repeated bits are good and work well as it helps to reset the scene with a few subtle word changes.

I thought the production side was 5 star. It's a bit of a whirl wind and the 100-105m flew by. The only bit I failed to hear/understand was how Willie actually died so I will need to investigate this one. Strong supporting cast and I agree with the critics that Howard Jenkins and Andre Refig make convincing brothers.

I'm not a big Sondheim fan but glad I got to see this.

Should add that Union Theatre felt a bit like Alaska at times, so worth wrapping up for.

[AddisonMizner]

I too went to yesterday's matinee, and really enjoyed it. It was a very good production of this obscure little gem. However, for me, the John Doyle/Menier production was still far superior. That was just so inventive in its staging, that I find it difficult to separate myself from it. I do not wish to dimish the quality of this production though, as this was still well directed, and I liked so much of it. Go if you can. I can't imagine there will be another production for a while, once this has finished.

[TheatreDust]

I went to see this last night with no particular expectations other than knowing it "was a Sondheim". I was pleasantly surprised - I found the story was engaging and well structured. None of the numbers stuck in my mind as deeply memorable, but I find that's often the case for me with the first listen to Sondheim anyway - but doesn't devalue it in my mind.

That said, I really did enjoy "Addison's Trip" and "The Best Thing That Ever Has Happened". I thought the cast were uniformly very good. I really liked the mirror part of the set - one of the better set elements I've seen in the cramped Union space.

Like @ryan I did find Addison's final treatment of Hollis a bit of a cruelty that was out of character with his earlier behaviour. I know Hollis was an invented character but perhaps there is some basis on fact in how Addison ultimately behaved during this part of his life? However, I thought the things he subsequently said to Hollis were him lashing out at what he saw as his betrayal rather than actually revealing that he'd never really had genuine love for Hollis in the first place (and I totally bought their previous love for each other).

[Someone in a tree]

*** Spoliers ahead ***

As others have said this isn’t Sondheim's finest and some of it does sound like underscore but the score to the second half is really strong, very enjoyable and I do love “The best thing that has ever happened"

The casting and the production is really good with many aspects of production appearing stronger and more coherent than the Menier production. This production does address one of the plot of holes; Addison’s gayness appears to spring from nowhere. Now when he is shagging his way around the world, the second half (Florida) does seem more natural. I always thought in ‘Addison’s trip’ he was just unlucky but now with his many sexual encounters it appears to make sense that his foreign business ventures fail.

The other aspect is how Addy suddenly becomes an architect – I know in real life he had no professional training. But here we have no voyage of how this comes about. Let's bring back the lovely "little house for mamma"
I also feel the reactions to Mamma’s death could be explored more. But hey hum.

I did like the final message of bringing the piece into the modern day. Also the mirror frames the action rather well (see what I did there?!) and the use of the typewriter – all splendid stuff. I'm not sure if Pappa doubling as the older Addy makes sense but I did like Pappa doubling as "Gold" and "land boom" guy - makes perfect sense to double that part.

I would totally recommend this production. Go go go!

I suspect we won’t have a production for a long while.

[musicman]

I saw the original production at the Menier and was left a little underwhelmed so I went along out of curiosity and the fact it was the only show I had not seen with a Sunday matinee. From this second viewing and the clearer uncluttered direction of the new production I think this show actually works surprisingly well. The score is much stronger than I first gave it credit for with a fascinating story. From the rather lack luster audience response at the end I think I may be in the minority, but if you love Sondheim, I can't see how you will not enjoy this production.