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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2017 22:10:10 GMT
Sorry if this makes me either philistine or ignoramus, but I for one was grateful for the interval. I needed a break from that relentless musical style - especially as some songs in the second half tilted over into 'tuneless as Sondheim' territory. Without a few minutes to relax in between, it would have felt like being whacked around the head repeatedly with a jazzy baseball bat.
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Post by showgirl on Feb 20, 2017 4:36:02 GMT
Not at all, jeanhunt - had I gone to this (I was on the point of booking until I listened to the samples online and abandoned my basket in horror) - I'd not only have needed the interval but would have used it to escape. Each to her own, and I do know that some have loved this, but if your striking (!) image of "being whacked around the head repeatedly with a jazzy baseball bat" is how I, too, would have felt, I'd have been driven either to retreat or retaliate.
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Post by d'James on Feb 20, 2017 12:40:53 GMT
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Post by Marwood on Feb 20, 2017 13:56:03 GMT
The £5 offer for The Wild Party must have been a one off, I looked online at previews for the other shows coming up later in the year and the same seat where I sat on Saturday (A4) is priced at £20, don't know if I'd be as enthusiastic to see something at those prices, unless there was an actor or actress in it that I REALLY wanted to see.
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Post by d'James on Feb 20, 2017 14:00:16 GMT
The £5 offer for The Wild Party must have been a one off, I looked online at previews for the other shows coming up later in the year and the same seat where I sat on Saturday (A4) is priced at £20, don't know if I'd be as enthusiastic to see something at those prices, unless there was an actor or actress in it that I REALLY wanted to see. That's exactly how I feel. I remember noticing that when I was looking at other shows before. I wonder if it was a bit of a loss leader as Paul Taylor-Mills was saying about getting people to see other shows in that BBC video. |
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Post by couldileaveyou on Feb 20, 2017 14:04:26 GMT
I think they did only because they expected the stage to be very high, my ticket said that the view might have been restricted due to the height of the stage. Clearly it wasn't the case
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Post by distantcousin on Feb 20, 2017 18:46:14 GMT
Sorry if this makes me either philistine or ignoramus, but I for one was grateful for the interval. I needed a break from that relentless musical style - especially as some songs in the second half tilted over into 'tuneless as Sondheim' territory. Without a few minutes to relax in between, it would have felt like being whacked around the head repeatedly with a jazzy baseball bat. Couldn't agree more! |
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Post by mallardo on Feb 20, 2017 20:29:10 GMT
"Tuneless as Sondheim"... OMG. Are we still back in the MT dark ages? Does every melody have to be bouncy and familiar and right down the middle of the road? Beauty comes in many guises - open your ears to it.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2017 21:01:40 GMT
My ears will be pricked this Saturday...
I'm only hoping I feel everything I'm meant to.
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Post by distantcousin on Feb 20, 2017 22:13:48 GMT
"Tuneless as Sondheim"... OMG. Are we still back in the MT dark ages? Does every melody have to be bouncy and familiar and right down the middle of the road? Beauty comes in many guises - open your ears to it. How very condescending of you. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2017 22:33:18 GMT
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Post by Marwood on Feb 20, 2017 23:02:11 GMT
I have to say that Whatsonstage.com review is pretty much what I thought of this.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2017 23:32:09 GMT
"Tuneless as Sondheim"... OMG. Are we still back in the MT dark ages? Does every melody have to be bouncy and familiar and right down the middle of the road? Beauty comes in many guises - open your ears to it. Ha ha, no of course not, but I'll happily admit to being more of an ALW gal than a Sondheim one. I like to hear lovely voices singing lovely tunes, not screeching away in an agony of over-the-top emoting. Which to me, I'm afraid, is how the majority (though again, I'll happily admit not all) of Sondheim sounds to me. I'd love to be able to open my ears to the beauty you can hear in his music - but I'd have to stop them bleeding first. (Anyhow, don't wish to derail the thread...it was more of an aside really in my original post about how the music in this piece may not be for everyone either. I thought my feelings about Mr S were well known on here!) |
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Post by mallardo on Feb 21, 2017 8:27:42 GMT
jeanhunt, thanks for your good-natured reply. I can think of a dozen Sondheim songs just offhand that I would place among the most beautiful ever written so it touches a nerve when he is used as a touchstone for ugly music. As for Wild Party, it's rhythm heavy, not at all a ballad show, but there are beautiful songs in it... People Like Us is pretty much an MT classic now as the number of YouTube performances demonstrates. It probably helps if you like jazz!
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Post by zahidf on Feb 21, 2017 13:38:28 GMT
This was well worth a fiver ( especially since I sat in a better seat anyway since it was 3/4 full.
Good songs, decent singing and some decent lines. Plot wise was a silly and obvious, but overall worthwhile
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2017 13:47:24 GMT
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Post by Being Alive on Feb 21, 2017 13:48:03 GMT
Can anyone advise how bad the £10 seats are for this? Thats the 1-4 or 25-28 in rows A and B? I might grab a ticket if they're worth it
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Post by d'James on Feb 21, 2017 13:56:35 GMT
Can anyone advise how bad the £10 seats are for this? Thats the 1-4 or 25-28 in rows A and B? I might grab a ticket if they're worth it I sat in C1 (same price) which was really good I thought. I felt lower down you might not see everything because of the bed. Other people have sat there though and would be able to give their opinions. |
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Post by Marwood on Feb 21, 2017 14:20:21 GMT
I sat in A4 on Saturday, the view was fine apart from having to look up and to the right when anyone was at the top of the staircase (and that was only a couple of times), which was no problem for me, but might be if you get a cricked neck easily. You have to remember that the bulk of the show is performed to the main audience, ie front and centre of the stage so there are a couple times when you only see someones back while they're singing but only once or twice, I thought the pricing was a bargain.
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Post by infofreako on Feb 21, 2017 15:20:30 GMT
Going to have to try to fit this one in somehow. Intrigued by the mixed reviews on here. It does sound like the sort of thing I will enjoy.
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Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Feb 21, 2017 22:47:48 GMT
Can anyone advise how bad the £10 seats are for this? Thats the 1-4 or 25-28 in rows A and B? I might grab a ticket if they're worth it The higher up you can be in the cheaper seats, the better. We were in C1 and C2, which are considerably higher than the row in front, which in turn is also considerably higher than Row A. Also, the way the theatre is laid out, you're already much less side-on - C1 is effectively behind B3 which is behind A5. One warning - in any of the £10 seats, you are 'in the light', i.e. the stage lights are partly on you, so you aren't sat in the dark. I didn't have a light in my face, so it wasn't actually bothering me, but it might feel odd to some. |
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Post by d'James on Feb 21, 2017 23:05:51 GMT
Can anyone advise how bad the £10 seats are for this? Thats the 1-4 or 25-28 in rows A and B? I might grab a ticket if they're worth it The higher up you can be in the cheaper seats, the better. We were in C1 and C2, which are considerably higher than the row in front, which in turn is also considerably higher than Row A. Also, the way the theatre is laid out, you're already much less side-on - C1 is effectively behind B3 which is behind A5. One warning - in any of the £10 seats, you are 'in the light', i.e. the stage lights are partly on you, so you aren't sat in the dark. I didn't have a light in my face, so it wasn't actually bothering me, but it might feel odd to some. That's so true. As I said, I was in C1 and I was wearing a white shirt which was probably lit up in that light. Thank goodness it wasn't a UV light. |
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Post by jgblunners on Feb 22, 2017 12:07:15 GMT
Had no idea this was happening, but I'm suddenly very happy that I had to change my ticket from last week to tonight!
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Post by mallardo on Feb 22, 2017 12:14:36 GMT
"I was born to ask, why was I born?" sings Queenie in her Act 1 lament, "Lowdown Down". It's a line any one of the partygoers could claim. They are desperate characters, most of them on the fringes of Vaudeville, with their better days behind them; all of them hiding behind painted faces or phony names or altered life stories or a kind of hysterical happiness that fools no one. It's hard to think of a darker, more intense musical than The Wild Party.
And yet it IS a party and amidst the darkness there is light. The gin flows, the raucous music blares, everyone is dancing and showing off. Old love affairs are being rekindled, new ones being born and a good time is being had by all - for a while. It's a show of many colours and moods but the storm clouds are always hovering and this production captures both the fun and the fatalism perfectly.
This is the 4th production of The Wild Party I've seen and it's by far the busiest; it has the most choreography (perfectly conceived and executed); it pays the most attention to the nuances and subtleties of the plot. For what seems like a loose collection of scenes is in fact a tightly structured drama with themes and motifs planted in Act 1 that return in Act 2 in moments of startling revelation. Drew McOnie, who directed and choreographed, has paid attention to these moments and given the show the shape that it needs. The frenzy is always under control.
The cast is excellent. John Owen-Jones is an amazing Burrs bringing more to the part than I thought was there. He's not just the maniacal brute we're used to - although the violence is always present - but a tormented man who, if we can't sympathize, we can at least understand. His "Wouldn't It Be Nice" routine in Act 1 is outstanding. Donna McKechnie's Dolores is stylish and funny in just the right way and her "When It's Done", near the end, is devastatingly poignant not just because of the way she performs it but because of who she is. VHB is wonderful as Kate, giving us the full sexpot. Her "Black Is a Moocher" in Act 2 is the hottest thing in the show.
Frances Ruffelle is a very good Queenie although she doesn't quite dominate things as she should. I don't think her age is a factor. She's in great shape - her dresses certainly don't hide anything - and she sings and dances well. If anything there's a bit of a discrepancy between her and VHB. They should be the same age and they're clearly not.
Ako Mitchell and Lizzy Connolly are a strong Eddie and Mae and Tiffany Graves is quite fabulous as Madeleine True. Special mention to Steven Serlin and Sebastian Torkia, hilarious as Gold and Goldberg - their heavily hungover "Movin' Uptown Blues" pretty much stopped the show.
I had a quibble with casting two women as the D'Armano Brothers. The ladies themselves were very good - amazing dancers! - but one wants to hear male voices in those roles and something was lost. Dex Lee was also unorthodox casting as Jackie but he nailed the part.
I understand why there are many who simply don't appreciate this show but, to me, it's a brilliant piece of musical theatre - utterly original, utterly compelling, like everything else Michael John LaChiusa has written. This production does it full justice, and then some.
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Post by viserys on Feb 22, 2017 12:17:39 GMT
Thanks for this review. I had started to wonder if I should tear up my ticket. But I like the music (I love jazz) and this makes me look forward to the show now.
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