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Post by jgblunners on Mar 1, 2018 10:49:14 GMT
I know nothing about the show, but from the photo they've used on the website I expected a relatively young actor to be cast in the lead role (a la Charlie Stemp last year) - is it normal to have someone slightly older in the role?
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Post by oxfordsimon on Mar 1, 2018 10:51:13 GMT
Robert Lindsay was 35 or thereabouts when it was revived in 1984
Gary Wilmot was the same age
So it is not necessarily a young role
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Post by wickedgrin on Mar 1, 2018 10:56:55 GMT
Lucas would have made a better Gerald, or even Sir John or Parchester.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2018 11:04:26 GMT
Oh god, I thought you were joking. I'm out. (For Chichester at least, I'm open to attending a West End transfer if the word of mouth is decent.)
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Post by princeton on Mar 1, 2018 12:43:32 GMT
Daniel Evans has made such smart casting choices in the past that part of me wants to say - let's wait and see. However, the other part is disappointed with this announcement.
I'm very glad that it isn't a very youthful 'smiley' song and dance man. However, having seen the original London production many times with every cast variation, the versions which which worked best were when actor playing Bill had an effortless charm, the comedy was unforced and there was a natural rapport between Bill and Sally. My favourite pairings were Robert Lindsay and Emma Thompson, and Karl Howman and Louise English. I didn't managed to see Gary Wilmot and Jessica Martin together - one of them was always off whenever I visited - but I heard good things about them.
I don't find Matt Lucas particularly charming and he seems a bit self-indulgent as a performer - his comedy has often felt rather leaden and laboured. But people change, and he loves musicals - in past interviews has said that one of his favourite is Me and My Girl - and Evans is a good director. I'm hoping that my concerns are completely misplaced.
I'm still looking forward to seeing this - and interested to hear who else is in the cast (and fingers crossed that Sally is in the Joanna Riding rather than Su Pollard vein - the latter being a performance I have tried my hardest to forget).
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2018 19:18:39 GMT
Well we have an early contender for 2018's weridest casting choice...
Daniel Evans is very smart and likewise I imagine this is part of some clever concept or that he simply knows something we don't about Lucas...but it certainly wouldn't entice me to trek all the way there.
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5,798 posts
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Post by mrbarnaby on Mar 1, 2018 22:54:02 GMT
Wow this is really bad casting. Pretty stunned.
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1,936 posts
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Post by wickedgrin on Mar 1, 2018 23:07:35 GMT
Could this be this years version of casting Marcus Brigstocke in Barnum?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2018 23:15:52 GMT
What worries me about this casting is that if they get it wrong, then we may not see Me and My Girl again for a very long time. It's taken 25 years to get a major production (excluding Sheffield) that might come to London and run again, i just dont want them to screw it up. Unless there is a new UK tour and then hopefully they might cast in a more traditional way. I can only really see Matt Lucas playing the fool, or bumbling sidekick. Neither of which are Bill Snibson. Who knows, he might prove us all wrong... Is it too early to ask if the understudy is scheduled to do any performances?  |
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Post by oxfordsimon on Mar 1, 2018 23:23:57 GMT
The tradition for Me and My Girl in the 80s and 90s was the cast a comic actor from the telly. That is pretty much what is happening again now - just with a very different style of performer.
I am sure that Lucas can do the fish out of water stuff necessary for Bill. He has MT experience (whether or not you liked his Thenardier, he has performed a role on stage - unlike some involved in 'stunt' casting)
I think it is better to hold a watching brief on this one to see how he fits with the production as a whole. Lucas is not obvious casting - but neither was Robert Lindsay in 84.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 2, 2018 7:24:37 GMT
I don’t understand the concerns over this casting. I don’t know the show, but from a quick look at Wikipedia, I can see that it was written back in the 30s for a cockney comic-cum-music-hall performer who’d already played the character of Bill Snibson in another play. Lucas is a larger than life comic who can act and put across a tune as well as anyone else who’s played the role, isn’t he? I trust Daniel Evans, and Chichester certainly knows how to put on a show (and how to sell it. Take note ENO...) We might know Lucas better as George and Marjorie Dawes, but we also thought we knew Michael Crawford better as Frank Spencer. And he turned out to the Phantom every Phantom since has based his performance on for over thirty years...
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1,210 posts
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Post by musicalmarge on Mar 2, 2018 7:26:17 GMT
You are joking?? LUCAS?? Love him but it’s like casting Elaine Paige as Velma! Ugh
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Post by Deleted on Mar 2, 2018 9:44:06 GMT
You are joking?? LUCAS?? Love him but it’s like casting Elaine Paige as Velma! Ugh OMGosh. I would LOVE to see La Paige as Velma Kelly! She'd be sensational. I rather like Matt Lucas. He has a certain sweetness about him that I think would be good for this. J'approve! |
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Post by musicalmarge on Mar 2, 2018 10:56:51 GMT
You are joking?? LUCAS?? Love him but it’s like casting Elaine Paige as Velma! Ugh OMGosh. I would LOVE to see La Paige as Velma Kelly! She'd be sensational. Actually so would I! Hahaha |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 3, 2018 10:05:30 GMT
Booked and looking forward to it. A day out near Chichester with a summer evening at its theatre never disappoints!
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Post by tmesis on Mar 3, 2018 10:12:42 GMT
I've booked too - and I think Lucas will be good as Snibson.
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Post by viserys on Mar 3, 2018 10:13:27 GMT
Also booked... While I'm not keen on Matt Lucas, I've been waiting for Me & My Girl for so long, I won't let that put me off (or rather... give him a chance to convince me he was a good choice). Also finally gives me the opportunity ot visit Chichester and see a new bit of England.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 22, 2018 17:28:04 GMT
Oh if only . . . .
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Post by Being Alive on Mar 22, 2018 21:42:22 GMT
Literally. I’d kill someone for this cast. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 22, 2018 22:50:42 GMT
Personally I don't think Christian Borle has the natural charm needed for Bill. He always comes across as trying too hard, too forced.
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Post by alicechallice on Mar 23, 2018 0:05:45 GMT
And I think good looks and any sort of body hair are overrated in a leading man anyway, so there.
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Post by groupbooker on Mar 24, 2018 1:17:04 GMT
Having seen the show about 3 times on tour and in London, there was always a lot of "mucking about" by Bill when wearing the coronet, cape and climbing a ladder I seem to remember. I have seen 2 comedians ( cant remember names) in the role and last time Gary Willmot hamming it up for more laughs. Perhaps some of you may think of the others that toured with it. I think even Robert Lindsey played it up years ago in London.
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Post by macksennett on Mar 24, 2018 9:22:12 GMT
Distant memories of Andrew O'Connor (whatever happened to him?!) in the 1994 tour, alongside Rebecca Thornhill who I've seen in many shows since. Can't remember how much comic 'business' he did though.
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Post by musicallady on Mar 24, 2018 15:15:52 GMT
Distant memories of Andrew O'Connor (whatever happened to him?!) in the 1994 tour, alongside Rebecca Thornhill who I've seen in many shows since. Can't remember how much comic 'business' he did though. Andrew was a brilliant Bill and did a lot of comic stuff mostly not scripted. Loved this version. Saw it at every venue. |
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Post by theatremadness on Apr 12, 2018 21:42:55 GMT
Alex Young as Sally!
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