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Post by HereForTheatre on Jan 16, 2017 21:11:30 GMT
Creating it's own thread outside the Season Launch thread.
Never seen it on stage, will be interesting for me. I sense others aren't quite as intrigued. Btw this is also in partnership with Michael Harrison.
It's not to soon to talk about Christmas. Only 11 months to go.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Jan 16, 2017 21:28:28 GMT
Having seen the touring version with Tommy Steele a few years, it is not a musical that lingers very long in the mind.
It tried to be Oliver! and fell well short. 'Thank You Very Much' is the only song that has found any life - and that is probably more due to having featured in an advert!
It is not an awful piece - but I would much rather have seen a major production of the Menken Christmas Carol - which has many more great musical numbers.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 16, 2017 21:58:16 GMT
Ahh I love Scrooge.
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Post by steve10086 on Jan 16, 2017 22:11:29 GMT
It is not an awful piece - but I would much rather have seen a major production of the Menken Christmas Carol - which has many more great musical numbers. As does the Muppet version! |
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Post by stevej678 on Jan 16, 2017 22:34:58 GMT
Curve did a great job with Grease and Legally Blonde in 2016 so I was looking forward to their new season being announced with a fair amount of anticipation. It's a real anti-climax to hear they're producing Scrooge. Maybe it was the Kenwright treatment that didn't do the show justice in its previous incarnation with Tommy Steele but it was unremarkable at best. Looks like my only visit to Leicester this year will be for What The Butler Saw in a couple of months' time.
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Post by musicallady on Jan 16, 2017 22:40:13 GMT
I saw this with Anthony Newley at Birmingham many years ago. Loved the show, hated Newley. He sounded very drunk to me and I couldn't understand a word he said.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 16, 2017 23:16:54 GMT
Here's a documentary for those interested in the original Anthony Newley when it went to the Dominion after Birmingham. I think the later Tommy Steele/Kenwright version used the same set, but probably scaled down a lot.
I'm actually glad that a new production is being done! I love the Albert Finney film and this has some wonderful Leslie Bricusse tunes. Although it does surprise me to see that Nikolai Foster is directing this himself, having done the Bryony Lavery version (with songs by Jason Carr) at the Birmingham REP and West Yorkshire Playhouse, which was a dark adaption emphasising it being a "ghost story". Seeing that a month after Tommy Steele's was almost chalk and cheese! I wonder who will be cast in the title role?
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Post by drfootlights on Jan 17, 2017 2:13:08 GMT
Here's a documentary for those interested in the original Anthony Newley when it went to the Dominion after Birmingham. I think the later Tommy Steele/Kenwright version used the same set, but probably scaled down a lot. I'm actually glad that a new production is being done! I love the Albert Finney film and this has some wonderful Leslie Bricusse tunes. Although it does surprise me to see that Nikolai Foster is directing this himself, having done the Bryony Lavery version (with songs by Jason Carr) at the Birmingham REP and West Yorkshire Playhouse, which was a dark adaption emphasising it being a "ghost story". Seeing that a month after Tommy Steele's was almost chalk and cheese! I wonder who will be cast in the title role? The tour and palladium production used the same set design, no cuts. Part of the deal of the rights being granted was that it had to be a remount of the original production so the same set design and creative team were used. Kenwright built 2 identical sets for the year it played palladium and toured at the same time in with Shane Ritchie / Tommy Steele |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 17, 2017 9:28:12 GMT
P
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Post by HereForTheatre on Jul 9, 2017 8:40:49 GMT
I noticed yesterday when i was at Curve that the advertising material now includes the creative team and Stephen Mear is choreographing this.
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Post by HereForTheatre on Aug 3, 2017 18:46:17 GMT
Some casting announced at the season launch.
Jasper Britton Scrooge
Anton Stephens - Ghost of Christmas present
Danny Boy Hatchard - Tom Jenkins
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Post by HereForTheatre on Aug 5, 2017 10:44:59 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Nov 21, 2017 20:07:05 GMT
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Post by amadeus on Nov 22, 2017 21:31:04 GMT
I saw this on Monday. The production was really beautiful and there wasn't a weak link in the cast. There was a 20 minute break in Act 2 due to a technical issue, but aside from that you'd never of guessed it was only their second preview...
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Post by HereForTheatre on Dec 7, 2017 15:18:05 GMT
Curve have done really well with this production. The production values are really very good and it's a great set. They seem to be upping their game on these fronts and i'm pleased. I'm not 100% on the show and music itself, but i think Curve and the creative team have done very well with what it is. I only wish the band was a bit bigger to match the scale of the rest of the production.
I wasn't though so keen on the "flying" bits. I don't think it's this production in particular but i generally have an issue with a show where you can so obviously see all the wires and the clunkyness of them being attached and unattached ect. It rather takes away the magic. But i suppose if that was even the case in Mary Poppins, which i'm sure had double if not triple the budget this had, i guess you can't blame these. There was also visable wires for the ghChristmasristmas future gigantic puppet thing , which i had a similar issue with. But maybe it's just me.
The cast were good. I must say though i found Anton ever so slightly OTT/panto but maybe that's what he/they were going for. One thing i really like about Curve is that they often cast people from their community groups or give younger upcoming actors big roles in their main shows and actually two of my standouts from the cast were from that spectrum. The girl playing the Ghost Of Christmas Past and the guy playing Harry/Young Scrooge. The latter was in Grease too and was a standout in that too. I like they give these actors a chance to blossom.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2018 18:50:54 GMT
Apologies if it's been mentioned already (and probably the wrong time to post this as we're now in the New Year!), but a (narrated) recording of the original production with Anthony Newley, Stratford Johns and Barry Howard was broadcast on Christmas Eve on BBC Radio 4 (and available until 23 January) www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09k85pvRecorded at the Palace Theatre, Manchester in 1994 |
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Post by musicallady on Jan 3, 2018 22:14:14 GMT
I saw that version at Birmingham. Never understood a word Anthony Newley said. I loved the music and the show but the huge letdown was Newley.
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Post by Phantom of London on Jan 6, 2018 0:29:06 GMT
Saw this Wednesday matinee and really enjoyed it, as Andy said the production values were high.
Which makes it a shame when all that work goes into making that beautiful set and it ends up in a skip, can the theatre not hire the ser to other theatres for future Productions?
4 Stars.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2018 16:28:42 GMT
Saw this Wednesday matinee and really enjoyed it, as Andy said the production values were high. Which makes it a shame when all that work goes into making that beautiful set and it ends up in a skip, can the theatre not hire the ser to other theatres for future Productions? 4 Stars. It will be touring for Christmas 2018 as Michael Harrisson and David Ian are producing. |
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Post by robertb213 on Jan 6, 2018 16:41:04 GMT
Completely agree with the positive reviews on this one - I saw the NYE performance and thought it displayed some of the strongest production values that I've seen at Curve. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
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