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Post by Rory on Sept 2, 2017 9:18:31 GMT
Bill Kenwright has taken out a full page ad, which to be fair looks quite good, in today's Telegraph for the tour which finishes in Sheffield on 28th October. It says "Only dates prior to West End". It seems a missed opportunity not to have already booked the WE house and included that in the advert. Wonder where it will go?
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Post by oldstager on Sept 2, 2017 10:42:44 GMT
Mr.Kenwright is also advertising it as the British Premiere - which it isn't! It was staged originally at the Edinburgh Royal Lyceum Theatre in 1981 with a cast including William Lucas, Jan Harvey, Andrew Crawford and Jane Lowe and directed by Leslie Lawton. Maybe Mr.K means "English" Premiere!!!
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Post by tonyloco on Sept 3, 2017 11:07:55 GMT
I saw the ad in today's Times and have booked a front row seat at Richmond on my ATG Theatre Card. Lots of well-known TV faces all together in one play. I agree it seems odd that the West End theatre is not mentioned in the ad, presumably because it is not settled yet.
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Post by peelee on Sept 3, 2017 11:59:50 GMT
I saw the 1964 film version of The Best Man, the screenplay also written by Gore Vidal the author of the play that premiered in 1960, on a rainy Sunday afternoon decades ago and was surprised I'd never heard of the film before, yet another reminder of what else must lie relatively unseen in the film archives. Henry Fonda and Cliff Robertson starred in the film but the cast generally was good, about a conflict that had been inspired by Vidal's thoughts about the US Democratic Party Convention. Real politicians, whether idealistic, conniving or vicious, had inspired Vidal to write convincing characters and Vidal in any case could write as his various works attest. It is one of those films that suggest it began life as a compelling stage play.
A somewhat similar style of US film is Advise & Consent, that is advertised on the IMBD website page for The Best Man. The former featured Henry Fonda, Walter Pigeon, Gene Tierney and a particularly memorable Charles Laughton, under direction of Otto Preminger. Hollywood made some decent and intelligent films in those days, and in black and white with all those shades of grey.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2017 13:31:35 GMT
I saw the ad in today's Times and have booked a front row seat at Richmond on my ATG Theatre Card. Lots of well-known TV faces all together in one play. I agree it seems odd that the West End theatre is not mentioned in the ad, presumably because it is not settled yet. Lots of shows use that line, including several that name came to fruition. Makes it more appealing to Regional audiences. |
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Post by Rory on Sept 3, 2017 14:28:42 GMT
Lots of shows use that line, including several that name came to fruition. Makes it more appealing to Regional audiences. [/quote] You are right in that much of the time the words "Prior to the West End" mean diddly squat, however if Kenwright tours something with either Jenny Seagrove or Martin Shaw then it's exceptional for it not to land in the West End. |
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Post by TallPaul on Sept 4, 2017 12:48:01 GMT
Incidentally, it Bill's birthday today. He's 72. Can you believe it?
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Post by showgirl on Sept 19, 2017 16:44:04 GMT
I've been keeping an eye on this and have found a couple of good reviews from the first venue (I think), i.e. Windsor - although they're from local papers/sites, which we know tend to be more favourable. I looked at trying to book for Richmond but the prices were eye-watering, even for the midweek matinee - no concessions - and indeed no members'offers for any performance that I could find. So rather than paying about £36 (the lowest price I saw for a reasonable seat), I'll wait and hope this does extend to other venues or go into the West End - it has to be cheaper there!
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Post by lynette on Sept 21, 2017 10:38:21 GMT
I'm assuming this is a play as it is in the plays section. Not a musical. Just sounds like a musical. I'm losing it...
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Post by theatrefan77 on Sept 21, 2017 12:58:40 GMT
I've been keeping an eye on this and have found a couple of good reviews from the first venue (I think), i.e. Windsor - although they're from local papers/sites, which we know tend to be more favourable. I looked at trying to book for Richmond but the prices were eye-watering, even for the midweek matinee - no concessions - and indeed no members'offers for any performance that I could find. So rather than paying about £36 (the lowest price I saw for a reasonable seat), I'll wait and hope this does extend to other venues or go into the West End - it has to be cheaper there! If you have an ATG card you can get best available seats at Richmond from one hour before the performance for £11. I've done it many times and the seats are normally really good |
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Post by showgirl on Sept 21, 2017 13:11:58 GMT
I've been keeping an eye on this and have found a couple of good reviews from the first venue (I think), i.e. Windsor - although they're from local papers/sites, which we know tend to be more favourable. I looked at trying to book for Richmond but the prices were eye-watering, even for the midweek matinee - no concessions - and indeed no members'offers for any performance that I could find. So rather than paying about £36 (the lowest price I saw for a reasonable seat), I'll wait and hope this does extend to other venues or go into the West End - it has to be cheaper there! If you have an ATG card you can get best available seats at Richmond from one hour before the performance for £11. I've done it many times and the seats are normally really good Wow, I've never heard that, theatrefan77, and it's a tremendous concession. Not sure when I could take advantage of it as I need to plan ahead for my 3-train journey each way, but provided the website showed good availability and I could be sure this deal would be available, I'd aim to give it a go. Is it publicised anywhere on ATG's or Richmond Theatre's website, please? Just so I had something to refer to if I did risk it? |
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Post by theatrefan77 on Sept 21, 2017 17:22:39 GMT
It's not publicised because no other ATG theatre does it as far as I know.
Richmond theatre used to have their own membership card before ATG took over. One of the perks was that you could buy up to 2 tickets per card reduced to £11 from one hour before the show starts. When ATG took over the theatre decided to keep that perk for ATG membership card holders, I guess to keep their local patrons happy and to make sure they kept renewing their membership. I've been using my ATG card in Richmond for this discount for about 5 years and I've never been turned away even on busy nights. The worst ticket I got was the last row of the Dress Circle and it was fine as it's not a massive theatre.
Hope this helps!
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Post by showgirl on Sept 21, 2017 19:34:08 GMT
Thank you, theatrefan77; that's really helpful and promising. I'm in Richmond on Saturday (but for the Orange Tree), so will try to remember to call in at Richmond Theatre to ask. Don't fancy my chances for The Best Man as it's already quite booked up and not there for 2 weeks yet, but at least I can get an idea.
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Post by theatrefan77 on Sept 21, 2017 20:43:09 GMT
If you ask at the box office what your chances are, they will of course tell you that there's no guarantee. They have to cover their backs in case they sell out. But as I said before I've always got 2 tickets one hour before the show. We tend to go during the week, as the tickets you get tend to be better, but even the few times we've gone to weekend performances the tickets have always been ok. Good luck!
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Post by showgirl on Oct 4, 2017 16:41:01 GMT
Reviews from Richmond also good, though again, some of the sites are more local and perhaps less critical. I won't get to see it this week, high prices or not, so am still really hoping it does get a transfer. The theme is certainly topical!
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Post by Sotongal on Oct 4, 2017 20:48:11 GMT
Went to see The Best Man in Richmond last night and it looked pretty sold out.
It's got a cracking cast of TV favourites, including the great Jack Shephard(Great on the NT stage many times, too), Honeysuckle Weeks and Anthony Howell (Foyle's War) Gemma Jones (Duchess of Duke Street, anyone?! ) Glynis Barber (Dempsey and Makepeace), Jeff Fahey (Lost) and of course, Martin Shaw, of many TV and stage appearances and who does seem to have a large female fan base!
Enjoyed the play though was slightly distracted at the beginning by having a fan girly moment over the cast!
At one point, someone's phone went went off during an intense conversation between Jack Shepherd and Martin Shaw. They both paused and Martin Shaw asked 'Shall we wait?' before continuing. Well handled and straight back to the script!
Technically, it's a huge set, which looked like it might have caused a bit of bother to fit onto the Richmond stage as it depicts a large, plush hotel room with a bedroom behind it.
The Best Man is a 1960 play by American playwright Gore Vidal. The play premiered on Broadway in 1960 and was nominated for six Tony Awards, including Best Play. Vidal adapted it into a film with the same title in 1964.
Vidal's drama is about two presidential party candidates who are level in the polls for their party's nomination. All that separates an ex-Secretary of State and a populist newcomer is an endorsement from a former President.
Tweet from Monday.
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Post by tonyloco on Oct 4, 2017 22:23:31 GMT
I was there last night as well and enjoyed it a lot, although I wasn't sure whether I was at Wycliff (Jack Shepherd), Foyle's War (Honesuckle Weeks and Anthony Howell) or Judge John Deed and Inspector George Gently (Martin Shaw). That's a joke!
But I was rather confused because although there was only one very solid-looking set, I presumed it was meant to represent two different hotel rooms, namely the one occupied by William Russell, the upright, ethical Presidential candidate and the one occupied by Joe Cantwell, the bigoted, populist candidate.
But it was indeed well attended and I sensed that the audience was gripped by the story, as I was.
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Post by tonyloco on Oct 5, 2017 15:36:19 GMT
But I was rather confused because although there was only one very solid-looking set, I presumed it was meant to represent two different hotel rooms, namely the one occupied by William Russell, the upright, ethical Presidential candidate and the one occupied by Joe Cantwell, the bigoted, populist candidate. There was a time when theatre programmes carried important information about the play regarding the setting and the place. For example: "The action takes place separately in the rooms of Secretary William Russell and Senator Joseph Cantwell in a hotel in Philadelphia in 1960 during the selection of the Presidential candidate by one of the major political parties at a National Convention in the USA." Something like that would have been very welcome to me on Tuesday night at Richmond, without my having to read the long piece about the background to the play. The background piece was of course very informative, but it is not always possible to read such things before the start of the play |
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