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Post by distantcousin on Dec 13, 2018 8:12:05 GMT
Also Patti! She was great with her lines dotted throughout the show but we didn't quite feel her big number. They seem to have chosen to remove her drunkenness from the song and have her almost being calmn and composed. A different take on it but not sure if it works this way. She never really let rip. We want her to haha. I think. Great to see her but I reckon she could do a lot more with that number. Having said that everyone screamed afterwards and clapped for a long time. The end is weird too, after Being Alive. Does she want coupledom or singledom? The outcome of the song says one thing, the scene at the end another. . She definitely played it drunk on Saturday. Perhaps not so much in the actual song but in the before and after dialogue she was slurring. Maybe she’s experimenting a bit while it’s in previews. Agree about the ending being unresolved. The lyrics are a complete cop out for anyone who doesn’t feel the need to be in a couple in order to be “alive” but her actions didn’t give the impression that she’d really succombed to the notion. Thank god.
TOTALLY agree on this - a complete inconsistency. Didn't ring true.
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Post by distantcousin on Dec 13, 2018 8:20:55 GMT
There was an extraordinary amount of champers being quaffed by posh people in that stalls bar when I was there. No shortage of money about. 🥂 🍾 I took a jam butty and a can of warm Panda Cola 🐼
Yeah, I've been to certain shows where you only have to look around and feel like you're surrounded by the monied brigade. Certainly not the usual company I keep!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2018 8:34:43 GMT
Agree completely. Works for me as well. But very different from other interpretations which can sometimes build up to a feeling of anguish/despair.
I felt her performance of it was admirable and well-delivered, but did I feel for her? did I really care? No.
I should have been moved to tears. I wasn't.
Do you think you should have been moved to tears? It's all subjective and down to personal interpretation, but I don't think Company is written to highlight the plight of Bobby per say. This isn't Miss Saigon where the whole 150 minutes leads up to a dramatic conclusion with resulting heartbreak; especially this particular variation of Company. Bobbie throughout is played strong and resilient and to that end I don't think we're supposed to empathise for her to the point of sympathetic outpour. Company - to me - is more a statement of affairs and a comment on the stigma surrounding relationships. If you were in a bar with Bobbie and she told you where she was at, pressures from surrounding friends etc and you started crying for her she'd probably punch you in arm and order another round. |
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Post by distantcousin on Dec 13, 2018 8:43:31 GMT
I felt her performance of it was admirable and well-delivered, but did I feel for her? did I really care? No.
I should have been moved to tears. I wasn't.
Do you think you should have been moved to tears? It's all subjective and down to personal interpretation, but I don't think Company is written to highlight the plight of Bobby per say. This isn't Miss Saigon where the whole 150 minutes leads up to a dramatic conclusion with resulting heartbreak; especially this particular variation of Company. Bobbie throughout is played strong and resilient and to that end I don't think we're supposed to empathise for her to the point of sympathetic outpour. Company - to me - is more a statement of affairs and a comment on the stigma surrounding relationships. If you were in a bar with Bobbie and she told you where she was at, pressures from surrounding friends etc and you started crying for her she'd probably punch you in arm and order another round.
Well, the song "Being Alive" for me is very moving and poignant. I expected, with the investment in a character I'd been present with for the previous 2.5 hours to feel just a little bit more than I did.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2018 8:55:43 GMT
Completely justifiable distantcousin Out of interest, do you think, given its poignancy and meaning to you, the preconception affected your reception of it? (Don't mean that offensively, just intrigued.) |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2018 9:18:46 GMT
In fairness, this has been a pretty common complaint about Bobby/Bobbie's character since the '70s. S/he's kinda cold and doesn't display much personality, cipher is a very valid word for the way the role has been written.
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Post by distantcousin on Dec 13, 2018 10:11:41 GMT
In fairness, this has been a pretty common complaint about Bobby/Bobbie's character since the '70s. S/he's kinda cold and doesn't display much personality, cipher is a very valid word for the way the role has been written. I guess it's an unconventional proposition for a lead role in a musical.
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Post by distantcousin on Dec 13, 2018 10:14:37 GMT
Completely justifiable distantcousin Out of interest, do you think, given its poignancy and meaning to you, the preconception affected your reception of it? (Don't mean that offensively, just intrigued.)
Oh, I'm sure it was. I think the lyrics are so wonderful and they suggest someone who feels very deeply, is exasperated, searching, even desperate somewhat. That just didn't fit in with the character I'd seen and was almost erased by the final scene that followed.
Even though they had less stage time, I felt I understood the other characters far better - or the script told me what I needed to know via a very efficient shorthand.
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Post by distantcousin on Dec 13, 2018 10:26:38 GMT
Bobbie fades into the background for me and I just didn't care about her at all. To be fair, to a greater or lesser extent that has been a problem with every single iteration of this particular show since the beginning (the single exception from the various productions I've seen: Daniel Evans in a revival at the Crucible a few years ago, but that was a much darker interpretation of the show and the role than this one is. Evans's Bobby was more or less on the verge of a breakdown, and the thought of being alone with his own thoughts almost gave him a panic attack). Certainly it was a recurring complaint in the reviews for the original Broadway production. Bobby - or Bobbie - is less colourfully drawn than the characters in the various vignettes; he/she has two or three great songs ('Marry Me a Little', originally written for the 'Being Alive' slot, was shoehorned into the end of the first act in a script revision in the mid-1990s and doesn't sit very well there, although I thought Rosalie Craig made more sense of it than Adrian Lester did; Evans is the only person I've seen make it work completely), but the funniest, most memorable material goes to the various supporting characters, and nearly all of it is a knockout in this production. Craig was perfectly good, I thought, and it worked for her, and she sang very well indeed - but the role was conceived as the show's normative core, and the supporting characters are almost all comic caricatures because the show began as a series of sketches about married couples and George Furth invented Bobby as a device to link the sketches together. These days 'Happily Ever After', the song 'Being Alive' replaced - and which replaced 'Marry Me a Little' when the show was being written - might be less off-putting than it was in 1970. It's certainly a stronger, angrier statement than 'Being Alive'; there's more room for interpretation in it, though, and you with different acting choices it could be taken as either pro-marriage or very, very anti, and they wanted a more affirmative ending. In 1970, 'Being Alive' was probably the correct choice - or at least, the correct choice for a commercial production on Broadway (it was never a sold-out Big Hit but it ran twenty months or so and turned a small profit); now, maybe, you could get away with a song with more of an edge to it, although maybe 'Happily Ever After' is still a step too far: Oooh - dark interpretation - talking my language!!! |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2018 16:02:13 GMT
With big Sondheim songs like Being Alive, there is the surface character connection but then a much deeper connection between the song and the listener. Taken on its own Being Alive is a good summation of Bobby(ie) at that moment in their life. On a wider canvas, however, the similarity or otherwise to the listener's own experience brings a much more profound depth. In essence we are not sorry/grateful for Bobby(ie) but sorry/grateful for ourselves. That's the real emotional hit.
A song of his that really hits home for me is 'Move On' from Sunday in the Park With George. I doubt it's going to be many people's 'go to' Sondheim song but the resonance for me is profound and therefore the emotion somewhat overwhelming.
When people say that Sondheim doesn't write standalone songs I disagree; maybe not in the way that people expect but in a more targeted way.
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Company
Dec 13, 2018 16:06:10 GMT
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Post by alece10 on Dec 13, 2018 16:06:10 GMT
With big Sondheim songs like Being Alive, there is the surface character connection but then a much deeper connection between the song and the listener. Taken on its own Being Alive is a good summation of Bobby(ie) at that moment in their life. On a wider canvas, however, the similarity or otherwise to the listener's own experience brings a much more profound depth. In essence we are not sorry/grateful for Bobby(ie) but sorry/grateful for ourselves. That's the real emotional hit. A song of his that really hits home for me is 'Move On' from Sunday in the Park With George. I doubt it's going to be many people's 'go to' Sondheim song but the resonance for me is profound and therefore the emotion somewhat overwhelming. When people say that Sondheim doesn't write standalone songs I disagree; maybe not in the way that people expect but in a more targeted way. I agree that Sondheim has a lot of standalone songs. You just have to go to ome of.the reviews like Side by Side or Putting it Together or Sondheim by Sondheim to see that so many of.his songs can be listened to in isolation. |
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Post by Someone in a tree on Dec 13, 2018 16:34:24 GMT
Bobby / Boobie I always think it’s similar to the character of Candide in that the s/he is used in a symbolistic way. Not a person you can feel for but perhaps a theory you willl understand towards the ends of the evening
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Post by bramble on Dec 13, 2018 18:30:01 GMT
Second visit. Even better. Such a good piece of musical theatre, Superbly acted and sung, Just magic.
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Post by distantcousin on Dec 14, 2018 8:26:08 GMT
Does Daisy Maywood have only a minor role in this or is she a swing? No one seems to have mentioned her which surprises me because she was great in Promises, Promises at Southwark Playhouse and in the tour of The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk.
Interestingly quite a few actors in it are used to playing leads or THE lead in previous shows, but are willing to take a back seat to be in the one...
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Post by distantcousin on Dec 14, 2018 9:10:43 GMT
Thank you everyone for your replies! It seemed a no-brainer to book a matinee when seats as far forward as Row Q Stalls were reduced to £30 each. To be honest Ms LuPone could punch me right in the face and I'd probably still clap her! "YASS QUEEN DO IT AGAIN" would be most of our responses, probably
Not everyone watches Drag Race.... 
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Post by distantcousin on Dec 14, 2018 10:20:28 GMT
"Unless you’ve got connections, tickets are impossible to come by" ....um, in what world? I know, right. Never let the truth get in way of a good story! |
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Post by distantcousin on Dec 14, 2018 10:27:31 GMT
Oh dear but I see where she is going RC does not look the most feminine in the pics . The stage show consists of her drinking whisky ... we were promised Bridget Jones and Sex in the City and I did not get the ‘girlie approach’ from this production. Although I did not get a man in dress either What does her drinking whisky have to do with gender or her being "girlie"? She's a 35 year old woman, questioning her life in terms of her relationship/un-married status whilst looking at the relationships of her friends, which, in my view at least, is very comparable to Bridget Jones/SITC. What was it about the production or character that made you "not get the girlie approach"? And what do you class as "girlie"? What makes a show have a "girlie approach"?
Well, maybe not girlie but she comes across as distinctly "Alpha Female" to me. (I suspect much of that is a remnant of the original text/Bobby)
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Post by sagiirl on Dec 14, 2018 10:50:11 GMT
Well I'm excited picked up a Rush ticket for tonight. Stalls row P on the isle, couldn't be happier. Really looking forward to this. I never wanted to get married while all my friends were married having children and I was absolutely happy much to everyone's bewilderment. At 45 met the one and now married. Going to be interesting seeing my take on this after reading the last few threads.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 14, 2018 16:58:53 GMT
Sunday, BBC Radio 2, 11am... Patti and Michael Ball will be playing "Ladies Who Lunch" for the first time!  |
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Company
Dec 14, 2018 17:19:20 GMT
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Post by alece10 on Dec 14, 2018 17:19:20 GMT
Do we think the CD will be out before Christmas or is that wishful thinking?
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Post by pauln on Dec 14, 2018 18:02:42 GMT
Hi everyone, does anyone know if Rosalie Craig and Patti LuPone have any scheduled absences in the coming months? I plan on seeing this at the end of February and would prefer to not miss out on seeing them. Thanks!
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Post by sf on Dec 14, 2018 18:34:55 GMT
Do we think the CD will be out before Christmas or is that wishful thinking?
At this point I think there is basically no chance at all that the CD will be out before Christmas. There'd have been some mention of a release date somewhere online by now if it was.
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Post by theatreian on Dec 14, 2018 18:54:36 GMT
When I saw it last week a member of the cast said that Stephen Sondheim was happy with the cast recording. They did not know when it is being released. It will be in the new year though.
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Company
Dec 15, 2018 9:17:54 GMT
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Post by Someone in a tree on Dec 15, 2018 9:17:54 GMT
Cast recording often take several months to be mixed and for the completion of art work. I suspect spring at the earliest
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Company
Dec 15, 2018 11:33:40 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2018 11:33:40 GMT
Any thoughts as to why this is premiering on Michael Ball’s show and not Elaine Page’s Musicals show?
Higher listening figures or do Patti and Page have beef?
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