I Capture The Castle

[d'James]

Just back from this at the Watford Palace Theatre. I really liked it. Has anyone else seen it? It kind of reminded me of The Go-Between but I think I preferred this.

I'd love this to have a run in London. There's several roles that could have a star playing them to draw in the punters. It deserves a life after this.

If you have a free evening tomorrow or Saturday, I would highly recommend getting a ticket.

The second half dragged a tiny bit in places but on the whole it was well paced.

The set was very clever in making your imagination work.

The lead 'girl' was really good and I hope she goes far. A gorgeous voice. The whole cast were really good though.

My only problem was the story itself which didn't have the ending I wanted but there's not much they can do about that is there.

(Apologies if there is a thread about this, but I searched and couldn't find one.)

[Deleted]

I'm such a grinch with new musicals, but I didn't like this one half as much as I wanted to. And I promise I really really wanted to, but I just couldn't. The cast were excellent, especially Lowri Izzard, and some of the songs were lovely, but other songs just made me cringe. If they'd just done a play it would've been wonderful, but the less good songs really dragged down the whole show for me.

[showgirl]

So pleased you started this thread, d'James, as I saw this yesterday and hadn't yet had time and look everyone: it turns out that 3 of us have already seen it!

Having booked ahead I was a bit discouraged by reviews rating this only 2 or 3 stars - I'd go with the latter - but I do like to support new musicals and this theatre, so I was happy enough with my trip. It must be well over 50 years since I read the book but you don't need to be familiar with the source material as it's all explained in the show, in fact rather too slowly.

I thought the women's roles were much better than the men's, but I don't know whether that was the fault of the author or the adaptation. I did like the women's costumes, too, once the scene shifted to London - though again the poor men's clothing remained as monochrome as their characters.

I agree that Lowri Izzard was generally a sympathetic heroine though I wasn't entirely sold on her singing - and hers was the best. The music seemed to me quite samey and derivative, so not unpleasant but not memorable either.

I did struggle a bit during the first act (long at 75 mins whereas the second was exactly an hour) and think that the pace picked up notably in the second half. It's more than a work-in-progress but I think it needs considerable tweaking before it's ready to transfer or tour but that said, definitely worth a look.

[d'James]

I love hearing other people's opinions. I did enjoy the music more than the others' who've seen it, it seems. I would cut some of the songs down but there wasn't one I didn't like, having said that, the person I was with didn't like one in the second half.

As you say showgirl, there is definite room for improvement, so I hope they don't give up on it after the next couple of dates.

I would give it a solid 3.5 stars for now.

[stevej678]

I love how Theatre Board brings things like this to my attention that I would otherwise have missed.

Just checked the short tour schedule after seeing this thread and booked to see it in Bolton next weekend. Looks rather charming!

[showgirl]

When I said the show needed work before it went anywhere else, I'd forgotten that it was a co-production with the Octagon, Bolton. I'm sure that when it moves there, it will have benefited from its run at Watford. I'm not sure how to describe the different types of musical (other than large/small-scale or sung-through/not), and this, while on the more modest side, isn't exactly a chamber musical but it's not the song-and-dance type either; there's not really any dancing though it's none the worse for that.

[Deleted]

What key is it in?