Company

[mrbarnaby]

This may be a silly question- but is everyone using American accents?

[mrbarnaby]

Sept 26, 2018 22:44:14 GMT andrew said:

Sept 26, 2018 22:30:02 GMT mrbarnaby said:

Can’t wait until Patti let’s rip

She is a lady of a certain age and things of that nature may happen, we just have to accept that and try not to call attention to it.

I can see the Evening Standard headline now

“Broadway Diva Stops the Show”

[theatrefan77]

I really find amusing the posts about LuPone's diva behavior. Met her many moons ago when she was in Sunset Boulevard. I was working front of house at the Adelphi and she was nothing but pleasant to everybody, a really nice lady. I still have her autographed picture.

I'm sure she enjoys playing the diva, but I think deep down she's just a down to earth kind of girl.

[Mr Snow]

How full was the house?

[Someone in a tree]

Sept 27, 2018 7:21:46 GMT Mr Snow said:

How full was the house?

Yes, According to pics I saw on social media

Don’t tickets for first previews often go to friends and family ?

[ali973]

A few more observations:
-Patti has a jawbrato even when singing "emhmmm" with her mouth completely shut
-Patti makes the pre-show phone announcement

Re: American accents, as usual a little bit all over the place but I think Jonathan Bailey nails it (his entire performance was spot on). So does Mel, who has her moment at the beginning of Act I but literally disappears later. I really thought PJ is meant to be Australian, but I seem to be the only person thinking that.

[Someone in a tree]

Can anyone report back of the view the front stalls ? Please and ta

[Deleted]

Sept 27, 2018 9:11:24 GMT Someone in a tree said:

Can anyone report back of the view the front stalls ? Please and ta

And let’s not forget to find out how high the stage is! Anyone? 😂

[MoreLife]

The view from the front row - got lucky at the Rush game yesterday - is amazing.  The stage is lower than average, which means you really don't miss a thing - plus, the show is almost entirely staged very much downstage, so you're really close to the action. 

I have to say I adored it, and yes of course there was that buzzy excited feeling coming with us being the first ones to see it, which added to it, but mostly I was thrilled by how well the show worked, how I enjoyed the consequences of the gender swap and just in general how well written the score and book are, so much so that it felt much fresher than your average 50-year-old show. 

As ali973 mentioned, there was perhaps more than a nod to the recent NT production of 'Angels in America'.  Having found certain choices very effective there, I thought they worked very nicely here, too, but of course they may not be to everybody's taste. 

For a first preview - and one coming after a single dress run - I thought it was pretty sleek and everyone on stage dealt with the few, small glitches very professionally and used them for comedy, which clearly worked with the general mood and energy of the evening. 

The performances were great across the board, and one can only commend the cast for navigating through some of those manic ensemble choreos - I very rapidly lost count of the times chairs, tables and other props were moved on specific syllables - but some just have to be singled out for their sheer brilliance!  Rosalie Craig did a truly amazing job, she sang beautifully throughout and gave life to a richly multi-layered Bobbie... her vulnerability and tears at a number of moments during her solos will sure stay with me for a while.  Patti Lupone was certainly "luponesque" in her take on Joanne, and this was perhaps somehow predictable, but I thought it worked really well (and yes, I can see the Karen-Walker-like bitchiness there, but by bringing it a good, safe pair of octaves lower than the real thing, she gives her a different edge...).  And last but certainly not least, Jonny Bailey did bring the house down, not just because of how successfully he tamed the torrential lyrics of his solo, but because of how effectively he brought Jamie and his hilarious nervous breakdown to life (on a related note: where does one get a pair of those wedding day pink shoes?) 

   

[Someone in a tree]

Thanks for he info - I’ll will now aim for those seats 😄😄😄

[TallPaul]

Sept 27, 2018 11:23:28 GMT MoreLife said:

where does one get a pair of those wedding day pink shoes?

One asks @ryan, of course!

[Deleted]

Sept 27, 2018 12:58:05 GMT TallPaul said:

Sept 27, 2018 11:23:28 GMT MoreLife said:

where does one get a pair of those wedding day pink shoes?

One asks @ryan , of course!

I've not seen them yet to be able to comment but I have a lovely pair of pink shoes which look like this. Are they similar?

[karloscar]

Maybe Karen Walker is the offspring of Joanne rather than the other way round. And Suzanne Pleshette who played Karen's mother would've been been a terrific Joanne in her day.

[oxfordsimon]

I would love to see Megan Mullally play Joanne

[MoreLife]

Sept 27, 2018 13:13:18 GMT @ryan said:

Sept 27, 2018 12:58:05 GMT TallPaul said:

One asks @ryan , of course!

I've not seen them yet to be able to comment but I have a lovely pair of pink shoes which look like this. Are they similar?

I'll wait for your report after you see the show, Ryan!  These shoes are probably the type Paul would wear, I'd say Jamie would go for something slightly less conventional.   

[ryan98]

Went to see it last night from the upper circle was a great view and didn’t a miss a thing, will post a more in-depth review later but just wondering how long the cast took to leave stage door? As wasn’t able to stage door last night but planning too tonight? Thanks for any help.

[couldileaveyou]

Sept 27, 2018 17:31:02 GMT ryan98 said:

Went to see it last night from the upper circle was a great view and didn’t a miss a thing, will post a more in-depth review later but just wondering how long the cast took to leave stage door? As wasn’t able to stage door last night but planning too tonight? Thanks for any help.

Rosalie and Patti took almost 90 minutes, but during previews they get notes, plus they had drinks with Sondheim.

[Deleted]

Sept 27, 2018 20:21:57 GMT couldileaveyou said:

Sept 27, 2018 17:31:02 GMT ryan98 said:

Went to see it last night from the upper circle was a great view and didn’t a miss a thing, will post a more in-depth review later but just wondering how long the cast took to leave stage door? As wasn’t able to stage door last night but planning too tonight? Thanks for any help.

Rosalie and Patti took almost 90 minutes, but during previews they get notes, plus they had drinks with Sondheim.

I will wait for hours if necessary!! (for Patti)

[learfan]

Sept 27, 2018 20:21:57 GMT couldileaveyou said:

Sept 27, 2018 17:31:02 GMT ryan98 said:

Went to see it last night from the upper circle was a great view and didn’t a miss a thing, will post a more in-depth review later but just wondering how long the cast took to leave stage door? As wasn’t able to stage door last night but planning too tonight? Thanks for any help.

Rosalie and Patti took almost 90 minutes, but during previews they get notes, plus they had drinks with Sondheim.

Sounds like a reasonable excuse!

[Deleted]

Saw the second preview yesterday, one of the shows I knew some of the songs to but not very well but was very excited to see this new fresh version. First of all I have to say that the staging was brilliant and loved the use of the moving rooms and Alice in wonderland nods. It felt very cinematic to be watching. Rosalie Craig is bloomin phenomenal as Bobbie and brings great life to the role with a brilliant voice and she is just brilliant. Really liked Johnathan Bailey as Jamie and not getting married is probably one of the highlights of the show and was belly laugh funny with what they did with it. I have to say something that will probably get me a quite a bit of back lash but I really wasn’t much of a fan of Patti in this. I have to say she was my least favourite part of it as her scenes felt very cold and I just wasn’t really blown away by here at all. I would have liked just someone’s else ( was thinking Tracie Bennett could have been quite good) and she was just being Patti and for me slightly phoning it relying that the audience would love her before she stepped onstage . Back to the positives. The comedy momenents were all very funny especially Poor baby and drive a person crazy was also good along with side by side . Took me a while to get into another hundred people but PJ was very funny along with Mel having some very funny expressions. Overall a very solid production that can have some tweaking but very happy that I have seen it finally !

Also Tick Tock wasn’t in it or if it was it was at a very short mo,ent and wasn’t the entire thing or about Bobbies Internal clock ticking as I thought it would be  , maybe this will change over the previews. 

[Deleted]

Sept 28, 2018 15:07:42 GMT @robadog said:

I have to say something that will probably get me a quite a bit of back lash but I really wasn’t much of a fan of Patti in this. I have to say she was my least favourite part of it as her scenes felt very cold and I just wasn’t really blown away by here at all.

Oh no you didn't.

[BurlyBeaR]

Patti Lupone?

“Phoning it”??






#donttellpatti

[crabtree]

My memory may be playing tricks, but do I remember seeing a couple of versions of this played without an interval?

[Deleted]

@ryan's new profile pic?

[Deleted]

Are you gonna use it @ryan? If not, I will! 😂