3,325 posts
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Post by Dr Tom on Oct 29, 2022 10:11:44 GMT
The side seats are going to be quite phenomenal and very immersive. Most TB members have now made a mental note not to book the side seats.  Thanks for sharing and good luck with the show. I hope to get a chance to come sometime over the next week. |
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Post by interval99 on Oct 29, 2022 10:45:01 GMT
This is looking better all the time and rail strikes depending hopefully will see on a pre-christmas London trip.
Wos and TKTS have some very good offers for seats across the date range at present.
Judging from the rehearsal clip posted they have a large (and very energetic) cast and 5 piece band which considering the limited run and 265 seat theatre is impressive.
The original had lots of good moments but just seemed to unfocused as a whole to have the emotional hit the story should have.
Will see what other board members post as they see it but first time in ages a re-imagined show is giving positive vibes that it could work.
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Post by Mr Wallacio on Oct 29, 2022 18:11:35 GMT
{Spoiler - click to view}
Well first impressions from the programme, they've cut a lot of songs.
Don'tcha Like Hawaii, You Got The Money, Another Language, Marking Time, Something In Return, More Than America, Maybe, all gone, unless they've been renamed as there are a number of new songs added. The order of the remaining songs has also been mixed up.
Sign on box office states 2 and a half hours, so should be more palatable runtime for those who don't like a 3 hour epic.
I'm intrigued how I'll find it as I came not expecting to see a massive change in setlist.
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Post by Mr Wallacio on Oct 29, 2022 22:29:09 GMT
{Spoiler - click to view}
I'd be interested to hear what others who have seen the original thought about this show.
It's certainly different from the original.
I didn't think the emotion really hit. I wasn't invested in the love story between either Warden and Karen or Prewitt and Lorene.
The performers were good though for the most part. The guy playing Maggio I thought was brilliant and his storyline is pretty much the only thing not changed.
The start of Act 2 was blunt with "Ain't Where I Wanna Be Blues" rather than a big ensemble number.
Most of the new songs I didn't take to, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt for now since it was my first time hearing them.
If you've never seen the show previously you may have thought it was all fine, but as someone who had such love of the original a lot just fell flat to me.
I wish the cast luck and that they pick up momentum and ticket sales with reviews, but I'm currently predicting a slew of 3 stars unfortunately. |
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1,476 posts
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Post by Steve on Oct 29, 2022 23:32:18 GMT
Mr Wallacio's prediction of three star reviews may or may not come to pass, but I LOVED this tonight! If I were to predict, I'd foresee 4 star reviews, but who knows? This is a major reworking, ruthlessly preferring story over song, so expect some marmite reactions, with negative appraisals in particular from folks who aren't too bothered about storytelling, and would prefer a reprise of some gorgeous songs that have now been cut. Personally, I loved the unfocused, melodramatic, multi-story original but I prefer this honed, focused, hard-hitting version! Casting of the principals is spot on, in my opinion! Already taken up an offer to see this again lol! Some spoilers follow. . . 27 songs have been cut to 16, and the book significantly altered and expanded! What used to be a lush but meandering melodrama about multiple protagonists has been condensed and refocused to make Prewitt the lead character, and the opening scene is of him in some distress, before cutting back in time to find out how he got there. As per the original story, the antagonist of the piece is the US Army, and the structures and practices that encourage abuse of power and exploitation of everyone around it (rather than the Japanese), so songs that previously served as pure romance or fantasy have been excised in favour of songs that emphasise the central conflict between the Army Antagonist, and those abused by it, with Prewitt in the role of central A story Protagonist (with Lorene as his love interest and possibility of redemption), Maggio the B story Protagonist, and Warden the character who interacts with both stories, as the one benign figure with any power or influence, essentially a kind of witness and narrator of the whole overarching story, with his own potential love interest in Karen. As you can imagine by the refocusing of storytelling I have described, many excellent dreamy Warden and Karen songs (Another Language, Marking Time, More than America, Maybe) have simply been axed, as they are superfluous to the new principal story intent. Oddly, I felt touched by this, as I like the idea that those songs will always belong to Darius Campbell (such a beautiful singer, with such poise and grace, who was a bit stiff as an actor at the time, but who became truly brilliant subsequently, interacting symbiotically, romantically and hilariously with Sheridan Smith in "Funny Girl") who originated the Warden role and now will own those songs into eternity. The new Warden, Adam Rhys-Charles is a superb actor and singer, and although short-changed of songs, he does get the one A-class new song (I would agree with Mr Wallacio that the other new songs, while successful functionally, are not top class songs), "At Ease." A pun on the military order, Rhys-Charles gets to sing of how ill AT EASE he is with his whole army set-up, and his moment to moment interpretation of the song, his sensitive expression of his discomfort, both melodic and meaningful, is a wonder to behold and listen to. He originates this exceptional song exceptionally! In the original version, which I loved at the Shaftesbury Theatre, I recall how lush the first half was, how my highlights were Siubhan Harrison's rendition of "Run Along Joe" and Robert Lonsdale's version of "Fight the Fight." Harrison was pure yearning and Lonsdale was like a fiercely emotional, wired-up battery-charged, electric-sounding James Blunt! After all that heat, the second half was flat by comparison Here, these two powerhouse numbers are shifted into eleven o'clock positions in the second half, which makes for a show that builds to a climax, rather than one that detonates too early. In their new positions, the songs work better than ever. Jonathan Bentley as Prewitt proves an understated, yet subtly emotive and powerfully truthful actor, whose moment to moment life built and built. His singing is not as wired as Lonsdale, only half being like an electric James Blunt and the rest being full throated tenor. Desmonda Cathabell rendering my favourite song, "Run Along Joe," was equally truthful and melodious, and if she injects even more power and yearning into the song as the run gets going, she looks to be every bit Harrison's equal, which is saying something because Harrison was peerless with this song. Like Mr Wallacio suggested, Jonny Amies is terrific as Maggio, and his second half solo, "I love the Army" got a deserved ovation, featuring complimentary whoops lol. Anyway, suffice to say, I think this first preview portends wonderful things, and I personally had a 4 and a half star experience of it! PS: We got out at 10:10pm, but I expect the running time to contract. PPS: This was the best traverse set-up I have seen at Charing Cross. The stage is raised so that both sides of the traverse are likely to be able to see the actors even if someone tall is sitting in front of them. Further, the side stalls looked to me to be easily able to see the actors' feet even if they have to look up to see their faces lol. All sides seemed to get decent face time with the actors, though I suspect that the traverse side with letters K - X did slightly better than the side with letters A - J, at the first preview, at least. |
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Post by Mr Wallacio on Oct 30, 2022 0:10:43 GMT
To add to Steve above, if the show starts on time then you'll get put at 10pm as we didn't start this evening until 7:40pm due to a delay in opening the auditorium.
I was sat in the back row J on one side and the view was fine, so you should be fine sat wherever, and the side seats did look like a great place to be.
Warden's new song At Ease was the best of the new additions.
I will concede that moving Run Along Joe and Fight The Fight to Act 2 was the correct decision if they were changing the show up a lot.
We'll see where those review star ratings fall 🤔.
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Post by bobbievanhusen on Oct 30, 2022 2:51:58 GMT
Surprised to hear so much of the score has been cut and it still running so long. Have they put new songs in the same place as , or have the old songs were or have new moments been musicalised? I hope they have cut the scenes in the gay bar.
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Post by Mr Wallacio on Oct 30, 2022 8:11:01 GMT
Surprised to hear so much of the score has been cut and it still running so long. Have they put new songs in the same place as , or have the old songs were or have new moments been musicalised? I hope they have cut the scenes in the gay bar. New songs exist, but a number of the existing songs have moved place. Don'tcha Like Hawaii and You Got The Money have been replaced by one new song "I Know What You Want". There's a couple of new songs for Karen (replacing Another Language and Maybe), Marking Time is replaced with At Ease. The gay bar scene still remains as it's crucial to Maggio's and Bloom's plot which as I mentioned has remained pretty much the same as the original. |
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Post by Steve on Oct 30, 2022 9:49:14 GMT
Surprised to hear so much of the score has been cut and it still running so long. Have they put new songs in the same place as , or have the old songs were or have new moments been musicalised? I hope they have cut the scenes in the gay bar. Songs cut, new moments musicalised, and the scene in the gay bar altered so radically that you might like it now. Spoiler warnings will be necessary for this bit: In the novel, Jones was furious they wouldn't publish unless he cut all mentions of homosexuality. His original uncensored novel has now been published and is referenced by the musical.
However, in the original musical version, this material played homophobically, as gay characters appeared as predators.
The new musical version completely reinvents this material. Now, it is clear that the gay characters are victims of army persecution (in concert with the rest of the thrust of the show), and it is army homophobia, and witch-hunting for gays within the army, that causes the downfall of Maggio and Bloom as well.
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Post by annie on Oct 30, 2022 10:34:06 GMT
I didn't go and see it last night. I'm biased of the original I love it. Is it worth seeing the revival?
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270 posts
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Post by stageyninja83 on Oct 30, 2022 10:41:05 GMT
I didn't go and see it last night. I'm biased of the original I love it. Is it worth seeing the revival? It is if you view it as a completely different show. I loved the original and can see why they've made some of the changes but it lost a lot of the relationship development and edge/grit of the original for me. Plus some of the song loses are unforgivable. I did enjoy the new one and the cast are excellent. |
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Post by annie on Oct 30, 2022 10:51:23 GMT
I didn't go and see it last night. I'm biased of the original I love it. Is it worth seeing the revival? It is if you view it as a completely different show. I loved the original and can see why they've made some of the changes but it lost a lot of the relationship development and edge/grit of the original for me. Plus some of the song loses are unforgivable. I did enjoy the new one and the cast are excellent. I appreciate your opinion. That's my worry if they've changed it so much (which it sounds like they have) should it still be called from here to eternity or should it have had a new title and been a completely new show. I'm still undecided whether or not to go. 🤔 |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Oct 30, 2022 10:56:14 GMT
Poll added.
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4,778 posts
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Post by Mark on Oct 30, 2022 12:44:34 GMT
I enjoyed this last night - it's a very different show to what was at the Shaftesbury. And it was very slick for a first preview, aside from a couple of light and mic cues.
The loss of the female ensemble has its positives and negatives. It focuses the story on the the army guys and the story is certainly clearer and tighter. Eve Polycarpou was very good in what, from what I remember, is a new role. What is missed is the fun "Hawaii" numbers, "More Than America", and a distinct lack of female voices in the finale (which has also been trimmed slightly). The two female love interests almost feel like an afterthought in this version, as the story is so focused on the men.
Performances were all really strong, and production values probably the best I've seen at Charing Cross. 4 stars from me.
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Post by theoracle on Nov 1, 2022 22:30:31 GMT
Booked to see this half-expecting to be disappointed but wow was I wrong. At Ease and Ain’t Where I Wanna Be Blues were some of the sexiest numbers I’ve seen in a long time. It’s a going cast on show here but they all more than deliver. I was really impressed by both Adam Rhys Charles and Jonathon Bentley. Desmond’s Cathabel improves each time I watch her perform and her voice has an incredible resonance to it that we really get to see shine in Run Along Joe. Having never seen the show before, I only had the original film (which I love) to compare it to and this stands very firmly on its own two feet. It was a pity to see such a small crowd in tonight though with the applause as the end of each number sounding somewhat weak compared to the emotional rawness that precedes it. The set is kept rather basic but does what it needs to. Ultimately I think people are going to enjoy this - there’s a lot to put a smile and a tear on your face.
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4,020 posts
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Post by Dawnstar on Nov 2, 2022 22:01:16 GMT
After listening to Tim Rice's latest podcast about this I'm thinking of going to see it. However the website has quite the list of trigger warnings.
Most of them are things I can probably cope with but quite how "excessive or gratuitous" is the "violence"? Also, which side of the auditorium is the side with the entrance/exit, just in case?
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Post by cezbear on Nov 2, 2022 23:04:38 GMT
After listening to Tim Rice's latest podcast about this I'm thinking of going to see it. However the website has quite the list of trigger warnings. Most of them are things I can probably cope with but quite how "excessive or gratuitous" is the "violence"? Also, which side of the auditorium is the side with the entrance/exit, just in case? Perhaps someone more sensitive than me will also comment, but I didn't find it excessive or gratuitous. I can mainly think of a scene where someone's getting beaten (trying to be vague here to avoid spoilers) including with the butt of a gun, but it doesn't last for that long and makes sense within the plot. It actually stood out a little as being very obviously fake hits (I know they always are but this particularly stood out, perhaps because it's early days and they're being ultra careful). I forget which seats are on the exit side but I'd keep in mind cast enter through the doors throughout the show so they may restrict entering and exiting. |
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Post by cezbear on Nov 2, 2022 23:15:25 GMT
While I'm here I'll do my little review on this. I've never seen or heard anything from the original so have nothing for comparison, which is as I wanted it. I had very little idea of the plot going in, either.
I thought it was overall very good but with room for some improvements. It wasn't always that clear to me exactly what was going on, partly because we're dropped into the middle of most of the storylines, and partly because some scenes are a little muddled, eg. the gay bar scene. I was sat very close but still found that to be a rushed mess out of nowhere.
I really liked pretty much all the music however, and they use the space so well in there. Cast were all excellent, in particular Maggio (I have forgotten the actors name) and Desmonda as Lorene who was simply luminous.
I hope to catch this again before it closes to see how things have tightened up and performances have grown... Possibly a 3.5 for me but I'll round up to 4 as I really did like it a lot!
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Post by bobbievanhusen on Nov 3, 2022 0:28:10 GMT
I was listening to the OLC score again today and it's really is very good. There's a lot on there to like - I'd forgotten how good 'run along joe' was. What crossed my mind today was that neither Robert Lonsdale (Prewit) or Ryan Sampson (Maggio) have traditional west end voices, but they both nail it in their delivery of the songs, putting character front and centre. I also didn't realise Ryan Sampson was also Grumio in Plebs!
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270 posts
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Post by stageyninja83 on Nov 3, 2022 3:29:59 GMT
After listening to Tim Rice's latest podcast about this I'm thinking of going to see it. However the website has quite the list of trigger warnings. Most of them are things I can probably cope with but quite how "excessive or gratuitous" is the "violence"? Also, which side of the auditorium is the side with the entrance/exit, just in case? Low numbers row K will be closest to the door as row L isn't in use for this production. |
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4,020 posts
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Post by Dawnstar on Nov 3, 2022 13:06:10 GMT
Perhaps someone more sensitive than me will also comment, but I didn't find it excessive or gratuitous. I can mainly think of a scene where someone's getting beaten (trying to be vague here to avoid spoilers) including with the butt of a gun, but it doesn't last for that long and makes sense within the plot. It actually stood out a little as being very obviously fake hits (I know they always are but this particularly stood out, perhaps because it's early days and they're being ultra careful). Oh, I already looked up the plot so I don't mind any spoilers. |
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Post by anita on Nov 3, 2022 14:38:26 GMT
After listening to Tim Rice's latest podcast about this I'm thinking of going to see it. However the website has quite the list of trigger warnings. Most of them are things I can probably cope with but quite how "excessive or gratuitous" is the "violence"? Also, which side of the auditorium is the side with the entrance/exit, just in case? Low numbers row K will be closest to the door as row L isn't in use for this production. I was sitting in row L. |
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Post by theoracle on Nov 3, 2022 15:49:38 GMT
After listening to Tim Rice's latest podcast about this I'm thinking of going to see it. However the website has quite the list of trigger warnings. Most of them are things I can probably cope with but quite how "excessive or gratuitous" is the "violence"? Also, which side of the auditorium is the side with the entrance/exit, just in case? Low numbers row K will be closest to the door as row L isn't in use for this production. K is the front row and 1 is closest to the door. There’s nothing that I found too horrific. The suicide you can’t really avoid unless you’re in the block furthest from the door (row Z) but this is also where the arguably most frightening part happens. Again, there’s nothing here that I found too bad so hopefully youll be ok. |
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Post by stageyninja83 on Nov 3, 2022 18:38:52 GMT
Low numbers row K will be closest to the door as row L isn't in use for this production. I was sitting in row L. Sorry I meant J, the alphabet is obviously not my strong suit 🤦♀️ |
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Post by FrontroverPaul on Nov 4, 2022 9:58:24 GMT
I know the original From Here To Eternity better than most contemporary musicals due to its availability on DVD which I've viewed probably a dozen times over the years.
I did enjoy seeing it on stage last night - and the front rows (I was in A) including the sides make for a very exciting experience - but I missed the songs no longer included just too much. I should mention that I regularly attend concerts like Magic at the Musicals and West End Does... and the storyline in a musical is never of great importance to me compared to the score. So a reduction in musical numbers and a cut in the running time was never going to sit well with me.
If it were a film it would rate no more than a 12A and I wasn't emotionally affected by anything I saw on stage last night. Three stars from me. About 80% full. Out at 10pm.
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