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Post by ATK on Oct 17, 2018 14:42:56 GMT
Patti will be thriving, she never misses a show so it's great that he can show everyone here in the UK how it's done for an extended period. I agree though, the real test will be for Jonathan in that can he get through that song night after night for six months without passing out, losing his voice or bursting a blood vessel. I singled out Bailey not just because he gives the number everything it needs, but also because he and Lupone (natch) are the only two performers in the show who have found the thin, steely layer of anxiety and despair that underpins the entire show but which English casts in general cannot seem to reach in Sondheim. It’s very much a NY thing. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2018 14:52:55 GMT
the thin, steely layer of anxiety and despair OH. I see we've found a scientific explanation for why I like Sondheim so much. |
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Post by lonlad on Oct 17, 2018 14:55:12 GMT
Gosh, that's a peculiar generalisation about both Sondheim and English casts. As someone who has seen COMPANY in four different American productions, this apparently genteel English one is far and away the most effective and affecting.
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Company
Oct 17, 2018 15:03:47 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2018 15:03:47 GMT
Brilliant! If I come back to London at the beginning of next year to see CFA, I can see this again too!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2018 15:11:38 GMT
Loving that there will be 2 weeks of two Sondheim shows running concurrently in 2019.
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Post by sf on Oct 17, 2018 15:18:11 GMT
Now booking through March on the Delfont website. That's good news - no indication of any cast changes for the extended period so guess they were all committed up front.
I would guess so, and I'm not surprised. It's not exactly The Lion King or 42nd Street, but I thought it looked an awfully expensive set for just a three-month run.
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Post by sf on Oct 17, 2018 15:19:02 GMT
Loving that there will be 2 weeks of two Sondheim shows running concurrently in 2019. ...and I have a matinee ticket for the other one booked and am now seriously considering doing both the same day. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2018 15:20:38 GMT
Loving that there will be 2 weeks of two Sondheim shows running concurrently in 2019. ...and I have a matinee ticket for the other one booked and am now seriously considering doing both the same day. Likewise! I'm thinking Follies matinee, Company evening may be the best order. I wonder if Company will land in the Get Into London Theatre 2019 promo in January... |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2018 15:32:36 GMT
Loving that there will be 2 weeks of two Sondheim shows running concurrently in 2019. And Lloyd Webber has two as well, so the competitiveness will be matched! 😂 |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2018 15:38:46 GMT
It is slightly strange they've extended rather quietly but I guess it's no coincidence that sales have extended around opening night.
I'm guess they'll do a push once opening nights through, 'Now booking until March 2019'..
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2018 15:40:30 GMT
I wonder if they've had some tips as to what reviews they're going to be receiving, so there'll be a big "FIVE STARS, WOW, WHAT A GREAT SHOW, NOW EXTENDED!" announcement later this week.
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Company
Oct 17, 2018 15:40:39 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2018 15:40:39 GMT
It is slightly strange they've extended rather quietly but I guess it's no coincidence that sales have extended around opening night. I'm guess they'll do a push once opening nights through, 'Now booking until March 2019'.. That's exactly what I think will happen. they've opened booking now for the people who will be looking for it, because return visitors will make this show truly thrive. But I suspect, there will be a whole "extended due to rave reviews" press release by Friday. |
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Post by ATK on Oct 17, 2018 15:52:37 GMT
Gosh, that's a peculiar generalisation about both Sondheim and English casts. As someone who has seen COMPANY in four different American productions, this apparently genteel English one is far and away the most effective and affecting. Generalisations always have exceptions, of course, but what I wrote is based on decades of experience watching productions in both NY and London, and is a belief shared by many New Yorkers with a similar history. Try listening to the original cast recording of Company, especially Sorry-Grateful, for a sense of what I meant. |
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Company
Oct 17, 2018 15:58:40 GMT
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Post by happytobehere on Oct 17, 2018 15:58:40 GMT
What are the seats at the back like? My sister just said she wanted to see this show but neither of us can afford particularly expensive tickets right now!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2018 16:02:20 GMT
What are the seats at the back like? My sister just said she wanted to see this show but neither of us can afford particularly expensive tickets right now! Back of the stalls is good, clear view of the stage (you do miss the orchestra who are at the top of the stage) I believe @baemax sat at the back of the upper circle so could help out with that view. But I believe you could see the Fleeshman's 8 pack from there sooooo |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2018 16:02:27 GMT
What are the seats at the back like? My sister just said she wanted to see this show but neither of us can afford particularly expensive tickets right now! I sat in the back row of the Upper for Ferryman. It's a generally fine view, you don't miss anything and the theatre is small. Sit as central as possible but everything in the show is generally played front and centre so I wouldn't imagine you'd miss much. Everyone needs to see this so book!  |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2018 16:08:22 GMT
What danieljohnson14 said about going central; I went sideways for The Ferryman and ended up asking if I could have a standing space instead for the second and third acts. Aaaaand what @emicardiff said about being perfectly able to count each and every Fleeshman abdominal muscle even from that distance.  As with the back of the stalls, you lose the band when you're at the back of the upper circle, but you can hear them just fine, and that's all you miss visually. The best bit of taking the very back row up there is you can lean forward if necessary - the rake's good, but if you're small and get a tall person in front of you, then leaning would be a bonus. |
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Company
Oct 17, 2018 16:20:14 GMT
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Post by happytobehere on Oct 17, 2018 16:20:14 GMT
That’s all so helpful, thank you all! I’ll book towards the back of the stalls then i think.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Oct 17, 2018 16:27:23 GMT
Now booking through March on the Delfont website. SQUEAK! BOOOOKED! for feb when I’m down for All About Eve. Delfint Mackintosh doing very well out of me at the moment 😑 |
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Post by Steve on Oct 17, 2018 16:30:23 GMT
This is a 5 star show all the way. It is an utterly brilliant reinvention of a show, that allows a deeper and more varied exploration of masculinity and femininity than the original incarnation, it contains one showstopping number after another, with Jonathan Bailey particularly phenomenal as the nervy restless Jamie, it has the legendary Patti LuPone being legendary, falling off a cliff edge of despair only to get back up again, and in Rosalie Craig's Bobbie, it has an anchor that completely embodies the complicated confusion of "Being Alive." Spoilers follow. . . Seeing this a second time, I wanted to look beyond the performances of Jonathan Bailey and Patti LuPone that dazzled me at the first preview. So now, I took time to appreciate how fabulous Gavin Spokes and Mel Giedroyc are. The way they allow repressed aggression to gradually bubble through their singing, until Giedroyc is snarling like a tiger, and Spokes has her in a headlock. It's hilarious and true, and Giedroyc's comic timing is perfect, but what is so beautiful about Spokes is his ability to instantly flash from the amusement of petty malice to a heartbreaking tenderness of expression almost instantaneously. I was touched by the immense sensitivity he revealed beneath his character's apparent insensitivity. Richard Fleeshman is a comic wonder in this, as are Jonathan Bailey and Patti LuPone, but it's Rosalie Craig that carries the meaning of the show for me, and in her characterisation and performance, I felt the show became desperately deep. (SPOILERS) The dream she has of how awful motherhood could be, in place of the "Ticking" dance from previous productions, is critical to this new iteration of the show. Without this moment, the question of why a 35 year old woman isn't fretting about her baby clock would be on every audience member's mind. This moment, in which she fantasises in horror as multiple versions of herself suffer the burdens and humiliations of motherhood, define her character as rejecting that biological impulse. This frees her character to look beyond motherhood to discern a reason for "Being Alive," and this personable likeable charming friendly humorous woman just CANNOT find it. It is the utter bewilderment of Rosalie Craig's "Being Alive" that made it so powerful for me. I recalled an acquaintance who suffered from depersonalisation disorder, in which she felt disengaged from everyone and everything. While Rosalie Craig's Bobbie is far too engaging and lively to be suffering from that condition, her bright red dress and Alice in Wonderland alienated strangeness (where she imagines the world around her as either too big or too small, and as a series of passageways that lead essentially nowhere), defines her as marooned from meaning. Without a desire for marriage or babies, she drifts aimlessly through the incidents of her friend's lives, and when she tries to define her meaning in her "Being Alive" finale, she just can't find one. The final image of her is much like Munch's scream, a complete failure to discover a meaning to life, a reflection of the despair LuPone's Joanne sang about earlier when she referred to how the Ladies who Lunch know that everyone will die. This is SO much deeper and more powerful than a belting of "Being Alive" as if to suggest that a great purpose is discovered by the character, suddenly, at the very end. Rosalie Craig may not be able to belt with the best, but she can sing well (certainly much better than Judi Dench in "A Little Night Music") and like Dench, her acting is paramount. When she is with her friends, Craig's Bobbie is the perfect affable companion, the friend noone can get enough of, but when she is alone, and the narcotic amusements of having company dissipate, Craig suggests an absolute lostness that crowns this as one of the most profound productions of the year. 5 stars, without a doubt. |
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Post by viserys on Oct 17, 2018 16:46:59 GMT
What are the seats at the back like? My sister just said she wanted to see this show but neither of us can afford particularly expensive tickets right now! If you book for the extension now, you might be able to get the slip seats in the Dress Circle? I haven't yet seen Company from there, but I sat there for another play some time ago and thought they were fantastic, side view yes, but very close to the stage and the action (and the sixpacks). That said, when I booked for Company eons ago, these seats were 25 pounds and I saw they go for 55 pounds now, so I consider myself very lucky. |
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Company
Oct 17, 2018 17:15:53 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2018 17:15:53 GMT
What are the seats at the back like? My sister just said she wanted to see this show but neither of us can afford particularly expensive tickets right now! If you book for the extension now, you might be able to get the slip seats in the Dress Circle? I haven't yet seen Company from there, but I sat there for another play some time ago and thought they were fantastic, side view yes, but very close to the stage and the action (and the sixpacks). That said, when I booked for Company eons ago, these seats were 25 pounds and I saw they go for 55 pounds now, so I consider myself very lucky. The view is amazing from the Dress slips for this show! Although daniel has looked and told me apparently the slips aren't on sale or if so, are sold out. |
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Company
Oct 17, 2018 17:17:24 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2018 17:17:24 GMT
Well I've picked up a box for my birthday (not 35th, unfortunately) as Delfont Mackintosh wouldn't sell me just one of the seats. I'll either find a friend or just enjoy having a box all to myself, we'll see how I feel in the spring. Monkey, you'd better be spot on about these £19.50 seats being a bargain and losing the edges of the stage not being a problem! |
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Post by sf on Oct 17, 2018 17:22:04 GMT
What are the seats at the back like? My sister just said she wanted to see this show but neither of us can afford particularly expensive tickets right now! If you book for the extension now, you might be able to get the slip seats in the Dress Circle? I haven't yet seen Company from there, but I sat there for another play some time ago and thought they were fantastic, side view yes, but very close to the stage and the action (and the sixpacks). That said, when I booked for Company eons ago, these seats were 25 pounds and I saw they go for 55 pounds now, so I consider myself very lucky.
I sat in one of the dress circle slips seats for Company last week. For £25 they're excellent value; for £55 maybe not such a great buy.
I just did a quick check of possible dates I'm free during the new booking period, and I couldn't find any of those seats available at all.
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Company
Oct 17, 2018 17:29:37 GMT
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Post by welsh_tenor on Oct 17, 2018 17:29:37 GMT
Are we all assuming that Ms LuPone will be extending?!
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As with the back of the stalls, you lose the band when you're at the back of the upper circle, but you can hear them just fine, and that's all you miss visually. The best bit of taking the very back row up there is you can lean forward if necessary - the rake's good, but if you're small and get a tall person in front of you, then leaning would be a bonus.
