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Post by danb on Nov 4, 2018 7:47:46 GMT
Saw this tonight and really enjoyed it! I can see why it was so popular. Ended with half standing ovation. I was sitting in the circle D34 and felt like the view was great. There was only one moment where I saw backstage. I've included spoiler tags just in case. They give out a free cast list. The programme (£4.50) contains the usual stuff plus a guide to characters, interview with the orchestrators, and some mythology discussion. Agree with previous comments, really liked the staging. Creative use of the turntable. Use light to great effect, warning for flashing lights is apt. Particularly effective in doubts come in. Excellent number! I came into this musical completely blind, haven't heard either of the albums, and deliberately didn't listen to them beforehand. I booked on the positive word of mouth. I'm quite interested to see if my opinion changes at all after listening to the recordings. Reeve Carney was a bit meh for me. I really didn't enjoy his voice in the first act and just about warmed to it in the second. I was interested to hear Eva Noblezada live as I had an understudy when I saw les mis. She has a powerful voice, definitely distinctive. Weirdly not sure if I enjoyed her performance - can't quite put my finger on why. I adored Amber Gray and Andre de Silva as Persephone and Hermes respectively. With Amber you could tell she owns this role and has a lot of fun with it. Musically really really good. Particularly enjoyied ensemble stuff. LOVED the fates! Their Acapella song was potentially the highlight of the night for me. Especially shout out to Katie. Also great job from David Neuman on their choreography in particular. Their physicality was great. Didn't notice anything special vocally for Seyi Omooba but she was my favourite dancer right from the beginning. Definitely was poignant and relevant. Particularly obvious with the audience reaction after Why we build the wall (Lyrics included in the programme) Overall definitely glad I booked a ticket for this! Will certainly be checking out more of Anais Mitchell's work as the music was truly wonderful. Thanks for this. Know very little about it but love Carneys voice & Eva of course. Welcome 👋 |
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Post by emj892 on Nov 4, 2018 8:53:36 GMT
You mean Andre De Shields. Oops thank you. Changed that now. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2018 9:58:25 GMT
Saw this last night and like other people here I thought it was very good. Wasn’t a weak link in the cast and they all had very strong performances but I really liked the use of the ensemble and they felt they echoed a Greek chorus throughout and liked all their choreography. Very nice use of the revolve and stage of the Olivier and all of it was just well done. I liked the music and it was a new show to me. As it was a preview I still feel like it could have a few improvements as act 2 dragged a little bit at some points and some of the songs felt just a little bit too long but I don’t know then previous versions so maybe it is always like this. Overall I am glad I saw it and had a good time.
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Post by cartoonman on Nov 4, 2018 14:05:59 GMT
I saw a preview and enjoyed the show but was surprised that it got a standing ovation. Its the first one I've seen at the NT. A friend says that this is very much in the American style. There were some Americans in the audience and I wonder if they stood up others follow. The encore must have been planned as it was a song not previously in the show. I have not previously seen an encore at the NT neither. Has anyone got any views on this?
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Post by ali973 on Nov 4, 2018 14:09:50 GMT
There are standing ovations in London for deserving and non-deserving shows as well, especially musicals. It's pretty much a default, in my experience.
And yes, I would make no assumption that the encore is an improved and impromptu moment.
Looking forward to seeing it next month.
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Post by n1david on Nov 5, 2018 12:04:39 GMT
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Post by firefingers on Nov 5, 2018 14:02:29 GMT
Yes, hopefully it is about a little nip here, and extra verse there etc. If we have another situation like Sylvia... but thankfully I don't think that can be the case given the comments board members have made thus far. |
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Post by greenswan on Nov 5, 2018 14:53:40 GMT
I don’t think there is any need to be concerned. I saw Sylvia quite late in the run and with a full performance, when it was still an(interesting) mess. This is ready. If I had any concerns on Saturday it was that the stage appears a bit small at times for the energetic dancing and the second half drags a bit. But this is complaining at a high level, for me it’s definitely a 4 star production.
I particularly enjoyed the way they play the end of the two acts on both story and meta level. Plus, there’s not only the allusions to Trump but more generally the debate about industrialisation vs nature.
I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend going to see it.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2018 16:42:11 GMT
There are standing ovations in London for deserving and non-deserving shows as well, especially musicals. It's pretty much a default, in my experience. And yes, I would make no assumption that the encore is an improved and impromptu moment. Looking forward to seeing it next month. Oh yes, the great unwashed will stand for anything nowadays. I don't think they get out much. Although, with all of danieljohnson14's favourite shows closing at around the same time next year, I imagine he might be too upset to give an ovation at a show for quite some time so that should bring the average down a little. Oh lovely. Are we allowed to provide feedback during the show? Or in a comments box perhaps? Or do we need to write a letter to Rufus like 'Points of View'? "Why oh why oh why . . . " |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2018 16:51:24 GMT
@ryan... you know me too well. 😂😂😭😭
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Post by ali973 on Nov 5, 2018 17:24:52 GMT
For those of you who have seen it, how is Andre De Shields? He's quite a departure from Toby (!) on the cast album.
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Post by intothewoods on Nov 5, 2018 18:12:33 GMT
So intrigued by the score, the looks and the good word of mouth around here ... will have to try and find a way to fit this into my trip.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2018 18:23:09 GMT
For those of you who have seen it, how is Andre De Shields? He's quite a departure from Toby (!) on the cast album. I really enjoyed his performance, he has a real sense of being an entertainer being very charming, possibly a bit like Sammy Davis Jr. I feel and has the audience on his side straight away. I can't compare his to the previous actor but I thought he was terrific! |
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Post by sherriebythesea on Nov 5, 2018 19:35:21 GMT
I really liked it. IMHO Andre de Shields needs to step it up a bit. Trying to figure how to do spoilers. Wait. He’s listed in credits as Hermès so he’s a god FFS. I think part of the issues with the Orpheus character is that, in the legend, he is the weakest link. {Spoiler - click to view}
And that la di da tune for the one who woke the gods love was lame Also in regards to the comparison to Sammy Davis Jr, his stage presence could only be overtaken by Frank Sinatra, when they were on the same stage. No comparison to this |
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Post by alicechallice on Nov 6, 2018 1:02:47 GMT
Afraid I'm going to buck the trend and say I thought this was distinctly average this evening. The music was good and the staging had its moments but crikey it was pedestrian!
The two young leads were really quite bland, particularly Spider-Man, actually quite whining in parts and rather earnest which didn't help and I felt like it had very little drama pushing it along. Almost felt like an interesting concept in search of a good show.
I think there were lots of fanboys/girls in as they were clapping at every opportunity but I couldn't quite share their enthusiasm.
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Post by Someone in a tree on Nov 6, 2018 6:24:11 GMT
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Post by frankubelik on Nov 6, 2018 8:19:35 GMT
Must agree with "alicechallice" on this. Tedious to a fault. The two leads are incredibly bland although Ms Noblezada fares slightly better than Mr Carney whose voice couldn't cope with the rigours of the interminable dirges he has to deliver. Patrick Page comes across as a bad pantomime villain and although in a potentially flashy role, Amber Gray as Persephone doesn't quite make it. The undoubted star is the charismatic Andre de Shields who effortlessly provides the links. The three "little shop" girls are fine but what is going on with the faux Hamilton choreography and moving damned tables around (this was clumsy enough in Company)? and the over use of the revolve was terribly distracting. With a different director and some judicious cutting this could be an interesting piece but it felt like a very long evening. I remain bemused as to why Every Single Number was received with whoops of delight they did not deserve - is this becoming a London trend?
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Post by theatrefan77 on Nov 6, 2018 8:27:42 GMT
Well, this was an interesting mess.
It's well performed by a very energetic cast and the music is good in general, but this looks pretty much like a work in progress, and nowhere near ready for the critics. I assume they will do lots of changes before the opening night.
The choreography is all over the place and the revolve keeps moving for no reason whatsoever, after a while it gets tiring. Probably somebody thought 'We are doing a show at the National, they have the resources, let's use them'.
I liked Eva Noblezada and Reeve Carney, they sing well and have good chemistry. Andre De Shields is excellent and the rest of the cast do in general a good job, although I wasn't to keen on Patrick Page as the bad guy, too cliché for my liking. Also, when singing he sounded as he was trying to impersonate Lee Marvin in Paint Your Wagon - Wand'rin' Star kept coming to my head -.
Overall I enjoyed it, but wouldn't run back to see it, unless of course they do lots of changes and it becomes a really good show.
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Post by Mark on Nov 6, 2018 8:52:20 GMT
Wow, seems it’s gone way downhill since the first preview then... curiosity will get the better of me on this one but from what I’ve seen on video it looks a little like a cross between Great Comet/Once.
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Post by theatrefan77 on Nov 6, 2018 9:39:47 GMT
Some parts of me reminded me of Once.
I really think it's worth seeing, but it's just a work in progress at the moment.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2018 12:15:22 GMT
On some level, aren't we all works in progress lol?
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Post by alicechallice on Nov 6, 2018 12:18:43 GMT
On some level, aren't we all works in progress lol? Oh yes, definitely dear. We're allowed to be because we're not charging a thousand people money to listen to us for two and a half hours. |
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Post by dlevi on Nov 6, 2018 12:33:51 GMT
I'm alicechallice and frankubelik and theatrefan77. I thought it was ok but at least half an hour too long, I liked the chorus better than the principals ( and when that happens a show is in trouble) I felt that there were a lot of recent musicals which could've been performed on that set: Girl from North Country, Once, Spring Awakening etc. I also felt there was a self-satisfied smugness about the show, the opening where Andre DeShields greets every member of the company - why? Or more realistically - why did it have to take so long? Every song was two to three verses too long as well - I wouldn't have minded but the lyrics were so enigmatic that the songs grew less and less interesting as the went along. Ultimately though I think the failing of the show is that for there failed to be any emotional connection to the characters largely because there were no real characters just archetypes. Also, did anyone notice how the commercial producers involved not only have bios in the programme but there's an e-mail address in case any of us are interested in investing in the future life of the show. Id Rufus turning the NT into a receiving house ?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2018 13:53:14 GMT
It's not the first time the Nash has received and presented a US production in its entirety, and it won't be the last, and it's not even something that's exclusive to Rufus Norris. Granted, we usually get the productions *after* the US run so this is unusual, but it's not unusual for being a production that didn't originate at the NT.
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Post by lonlad on Nov 6, 2018 14:24:39 GMT
The Nash under Rufus thought they had hit paydirt with the ghastly PINOCCHIO (in their dreams), so second time lucky, one hopes. At least this one comes with the imprimatur of a successful Off Bway run. Now I wonder whether they will produce Chavkin's GREAT COMET since that actually IS a show that would fit very well at the Olivier.
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