Son of a Preacher Man

[Brian]

She was great in 'Big' the musical.

Will try to catch this when it tours. I wonder if it will be another actor musician production, given Craig's involvement?

[BurlyBeaR]

Bland bland bland.

[theatreian]

Anyone seen this in Bromley this week? I' m going to see it in Birmingham next Wednesday.The cliché that gays love a bit of Dusty holds up I feel!

[Deleted]

Not sure why but I always confuse Diana Vickers and Stacy Solomon. Two grossly different people.

[Deleted]

Massive difference indeed. Hence why I'm a little confused as to my confusion.

[longinthetooth]

Aug 2, 2017 13:48:16 GMT @remark said:

Aug 2, 2017 13:18:12 GMT @thematthew said:

"Cassiopeia Berkeley-Agyepong"

She must hate signing autographs.

Bet she just does her initials. CBA.

Good job she's not a footballer. Imagine getting that lot on the back of her shirt!

[terrylondon79]

Saw this in Bromley... First act dull as takes itself to seriously. But stay for 2nd act as book goes into full 'Too close to the sun' crapness levels.
Cast can sing well seperatly, but sounded bad when singing together.
Set looked like was going to be good, but they ran out of money halfway through making it.
Obigitory megamix at end only got the f&f standing.

[djp]

Worth a look. Misses Vickers and Stepehenson are very good, the ensemble has some good singers, and there was enough Dusty to keep the fans happy - minus a few who left after act one because they seemed to have expected a jukebox. Act two speeds up, even though it ends in a lets end it now ending. Got a good fesponse at the end.

The story is British PC, meets mystical, meets mIlls and Boon - with all sorts of bizarre inventions - notably the cleaner,and the plumber in a kilt with a big spanner. There's some wierd (CRH? ) choregraphy early on - that dear old Len would have called faffing about. Thankfully, this vanishes early on. The actor musicians play very well - though they  are distracting at times - but even Diana, who could sing through the backing,  when others failed, couldn't compete with sounding brass, feet away from her.

It goes down some odd avenues though. The third , male, person seeking love role, seems to require a John Owen Jones range to sing it, and is a struggle without one. The ensemble sing well , but there's a reason why musicals are not usually democratic ,and don't give everyone a solo- it takes attention from the main characters. The allocation of songs was odd - also democratic where it needed to go for the wow factor. Anyone who saw Little Voice, knows Diana vickers can sing Dusty well - but they then gave two  of the biggest songs, we know she can sing really well,  to male characters, who can't make the same impression .   And they ended with the tried and tested Viva Forever formula - of having the whole cast singing some of the big songs as an encore at the end. No folks, stick them in the main show - and end act one on a high with one - Les Mis hasn't lasted this long by keeping all its best songs for the encore.

Worth it for the songs, and Miss Vickers, who is also  looking like a future natural for SCD -  but may be disqualified now ,as CRH taught her . But CRH gets a 6 for direction and sorting out the book.  . 

[richard2711]

Saw it last night. One of the oddest shows I've seen all year. Lots of "meaningful" standing about and then a completely different pace for the last quarter of an hour! Everything brought to a conclusion far too quickly for characters who haven't been given enough depth for the audience to invest in. The actor/musician angle didn't work at all for me with this production and meant the stage was often cluttered and distracted from the action. And whoever did the group choreography for the final numbers needs to take another look at it. Not really awful, just very confusing indeed. Many baffled faces on the way out!

[theatreian]

Saw this tonight and was really disappointed. Hearing others talking in the audience many felt the same. Craig Revel Horwood ought to hang his head in shame.Very poor direction and the worst choreography I have seen in some time. You actually felt sorry for the cast as they had so little to work with.
The book or should I say sentence was non existent.The songs were sung in most part pretty well, although it is an odd show and does not fit together.When I say a bereavement counsellor does a chicken impression , you get the idea!
Well I hope for better on Friday in Follies.

[shady23]

ANOTHER actor/musician piece? Really?

These touring shows are all beginning to sound the same.

[kirstylovesmusicals]

Seeing this tonight. Will report back

[kirstylovesmusicals]

So last night I went to the Sunderland empire and bought a programme for the box office. Cost me £2. Walked into the theatre and was offered the programme for £1. Got a £1 refund. Inside the auditorium even at 5 mins before the show started it was barely half full in the stalls from what I could see and there was only a handful of us in the dress circle. I had booked a side on view for £15 but was able to move front and centre a minute before it began.
Onto the show it's self. It starts off without any introduction really, no pre show announcement, the lights dim and off we go. And it's not the most cheerful of songs to start the show with, the opener is very sad and quite depressing.
Ian Reddington and Debra Stephenson seem to spend a lot of time sitting on the floor in this show. The actors all try to do their best with the material they have but it's very poor quality writing. It takes itself far too seriously whilst trying to shoehorn in as many Dusty songs as possible. I didn't laugh once and there is potential to throw in some comedy moments. The ensemble work their socks off whenever they are on stage. The upbeat numbers are few and far between and when they are in they are cut in half. Debra as Alison is average, Diana is great, Michael Howe is pretty good and so is Ian. Of course everyone is just waitin for the title song which typically comes right at the end but the whole ending feels very anti climactic. I don't know enough of Dusty's music but I feel she either has a limited back catalogue to use or they used the wrong songs. Set design is just one piece in the middle of the stage that opens and closes and other bits are pushed on and off. My favourite thing about it was the Cappucino sisters, they had the stand out wigs and costumes compared to others in the cast. 4/10 from me Mr Revel-Horwood!

[BurlyBeaR]

Sounds like a right turkey.

[TallPaul]

On the plus side, programmes are just £1.

[richey]

Got tickets for this for Manchester next week. Not looking forward to it after reading this now! At least the tickets were half price

[shady23]

Sept 23, 2017 12:48:26 GMT TallPaul said:

On the plus side, programmes are just £1.

Or £2 if you buy them in the box office

[BurlyBeaR]

Got front stalls for £15.
I'm a fool to myself. Hee hee

[theatreian]

It seems you have the same opinion as when I saw it in Birmingham. It doesn't seem to have improved. I'm sure this wont last and the tour will be pulled.

[theatremadness]

God it looks crap

[shady23]

So Sunderland have just had Flash dance, now this then the next "professional" production is the watered-down-even-more Spamalot.

People still wonder why I prefer to travel down to London rather than watch this drivel.

[djp]

Sept 23, 2017 7:52:16 GMT BurlyBeaR said:

Sounds like a right turkey.

I looked at the online reviews. there's a 5 and a 1,some who couldn't think of a number ,  and a 2 1/2 dead in between.

They agree book is poor, and  Diana is very good  - But there's also reports online she's only in it this year - something to check.

[Brian]

The trailer looks really uninspiring. I was quite looking forward to it but it looks quite dull.

Not very promising when it begins and ends with the same song!

I do like Diana, though.

[nash16]

How on earth did they learn that complex choreography?

[horton]

The choreography is hilarious- Clacton panto would do better!