125 posts
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Post by CBP1 on Sept 7, 2016 14:47:51 GMT
I was there that night too, it was amazing! Also there opening night so going for the 10th was a no-brainer (will be a while before I get to book for closing night I think!) Pun intended given your username?..... |
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529 posts
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Post by jampot on Sept 7, 2016 14:53:40 GMT
jampot . You can see the stage very well from the stalls if you're not too far on the side. Otherwise you'll miss a small part of the stage, I think. You're not too far back so you can still see the facial expressions  Anyone who has seen the show more often than I have, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. [/quote] I am seat L32 so on the inside aisle next to the ctr block...
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2016 15:35:13 GMT
Shake does a brilliant British accent there! I love her singing voice too and she certainly looks amazing! Very pretty lady.
Would like to see her do more in London once she is done with Wicked
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182 posts
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Post by tom on Sept 7, 2016 16:48:42 GMT
There you go guys, easily one of the highlights of the night, truly hilarious! Suzie sounds amazing! I had a listen to No-one Mourns the Wicked too and her Soprano sounds so strong! I was excited to see Rachel at the 10th anniversary but now I think I'm just as excited for Suzie! Liked her popular a lot on the recording. Just listened to her NOMTW and I thought she was actually quite flat on the high notes. Could have been the warbly vibratoness though or just my personal taste. Seeing the show soon with this cast. Hopefully she'll sound more my cup of tea live in the flesh. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2016 18:15:21 GMT
That video of Popular I posted, that may or may not be *hint hint* the account of the person the cast member sat next to me told me about... look at the account, Joshua wasn't wrong either! He records so many of the performances!
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716 posts
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Post by Dan213 on Sept 7, 2016 18:19:43 GMT
That video of Popular I posted, that may or may not be *hint hint* the account of the person the cast member sat next to me told me about... look at the account, Joshua wasn't wrong either! He records so many of the performances! He happens to harass quite a lot of the cast continuously on Twitter if this is who I'm thinking it is... |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2016 18:27:57 GMT
That video of Popular I posted, that may or may not be *hint hint* the account of the person the cast member sat next to me told me about... look at the account, Joshua wasn't wrong either! He records so many of the performances! He happens to harass quite a lot of the cast continuously on Twitter if this is who I'm thinking it is... He does have a couple of videos with him in them so you can see if it is him but yeah, this is the guy I was told about, apparently a lot of the cast are aware of his recording in the theatre. |
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4,369 posts
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Post by Michael on Sept 7, 2016 18:32:59 GMT
He happens to harass quite a lot of the cast continuously on Twitter if this is who I'm thinking it is... He does have a couple of videos with him in them so you can see if it is him but yeah, this is the guy I was told about, apparently a lot of the cast are aware of his recording in the theatre. Why don't they stop him? |
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4,361 posts
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Post by shady23 on Sept 7, 2016 18:37:23 GMT
You'd have to be a bit daft to continually upload "unlawful" recordings to a public forum under your own name.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2016 18:38:27 GMT
He does have a couple of videos with him in them so you can see if it is him but yeah, this is the guy I was told about, apparently a lot of the cast are aware of his recording in the theatre. Why don't they stop him? I didn't ask, but he said that it is not just the recording, it is also the general crazy fan, stage door thing, as mentioned, constantly messaging on Twitter etc. I think with the recording, you look in the description box, it says that he didn't record it, so maybe they don't know for sure if he is the one recording (even though it must be really!).
But there is literally a video of a couple of them standing outside the side of the theatre during a matinee and holding the camera next to the wall to hear the final part of Defying Gravity for the matinee performance, even though they saw the evening show! Mmmm...
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2,452 posts
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Post by theatremadness on Sept 7, 2016 19:02:44 GMT
Saw the matinee this afternoon, having not seen the show for 8 years! It was just wonderful. Was in Row J, the most perfect view you could wish for. Forgot just what a stunning and thrilling moment Defying Gravity really is, surely one of the best theatrical moments ever? Only just realised that today is 10 years since the first preview, too! So that was nice. Only 950 in this afternoon (out of 2,500) and it really felt empty, so the audience response seemed a little dead, though everyone was enjoying it. 1,100 people in tonight.
Rachel was tremendous. Such a solid and assured performance, and she's a wonderful actress who also masters the comedy of Elphaba. Amazing vocal performance - no particular riffs in any of the songs, it was sung pretty straight, and whilst I have no problems with riffing in this show what-so-ever, it was actually quite refreshing to hear the score sung as it was written! And so well, too.
Suzie was just perfection. Again, another wonderful actress and her and Rachel have a very special chemistry. Her comedy timing was spot-on and what a gorgeous voice!
Idriss Kargbo was fine as Boq - nothing outstanding, and to be honest I actually found him quite camp. Didn't really believe he would be after either Nessa or Glinda.
Mark Curry and Anita Dobson are both inspired casting choices. Both wonderful character actors with actually very good voices! It was a joy to watch them on stage and they are both clearly having a lot of fun.
Oliver Savile is the perfect Fiyero. Tonnes of swagger, rugged good looks, the right side of arrogant and a voice I could listen to for days.
And, even though I saw her 10 years ago as Nessa-Rose, I thoroughly enjoyed Katie Rowley Jones. Maybe it's the injection of a fresh, new cast, but she didn't look bored at all. She seemed totally engaged and gave a wonderful performance.
The new ensemble are great, but either the show is very tired or they were giving a matinee performance, what with it being the new ensemble's first matinee - which is really no excuse. Everything seemed SO choreographed, right down to reactions. Felt like no individual choices had been made, that they were literally painting every scene by numbers. The musical staging and choreography of this show is some of the best and most intricate and interesting on the West End, but it felt like they were seriously going through the motions and not giving it the punch that would really make it stand out. Also didn't help that the sound, even from the centre of the stalls, was awful. The songs pack so much punch, the orchestrations are marvelous and the vocal harmonies are to die for, but it was ridiculously quiet that none of these were shown off!!! Only Defying Gravity was the volume that the rest of the show should be at - maybe that's a conscious decision to give it more power, but it makes the rest of the show seem dreadfully under-powered, and maybe that's where my feeling stems from instead. They were all also totally out of breath at the end of Dancing Through Life (and understandably so!!), but it seriously affected their vocals at the end of that song. I admire that there's no click-track, but maybe in this situation it would help.
Anyway, despite all that it's such an incredible show, and still in pretty good shape for the mammoth production that it is. And it 2 hours 50, it really just flew by, I don't think there's a real dull moment, even in the smaller scenes. Hope it's around for a while longer, yet!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2016 19:10:15 GMT
Wicked has had trouble with midweek matinees for a while being quite quiet, especially at the minute as school groups don't tend to go until the Winter/Summer seasons now for trips. It does great business though on the weekends and its Summer has been tremendous from what I have heard so I wouldn't worry about it going anywhere at the minute. At any rate, it will stick around until the film release, as it will no doubt do a Les Mis and boost ticket sales massively!
And I do have to agree, brace yourself people, about Katie. On Monday, she seemed to finally enjoy herself for the first time in ages (in my opinion!) in the performance she gave as Nessarose! She was buzzing at the end of it, waving and smiling at audience members with such enthusiasm at the end of the performance, I was actually quite impressed by how good she was on Monday compared to the past most recent times I have seen her.
Oh, and anyone wondering too, the cast had a party in the Foyer after the show, most of the cast went straight there through the theatre rather than stage door on Monday. The only main cast members to come out to stage door was Rachel, Suzie and Idriss and they walked the length of the stage door signing, taking photos, really lovely and spent time with everyone and then went back up the steps and joined the party. Once Rachel went back in, many people left but a few stayed behind, I assume for Anita but she didn't come out, I think because Brian was with her so she might of wanted to avoid it. Stage door was very respectful and lovely by all accounts, even the party poppers Suzie and Rachel loved and she approached each of the girls and gave the girls hugs and said thank you and even gave me one too! the amount of people were the length of the barriers and up to the stairs of the theatre, but not very deep. I'd say it filled about half the path and then the other half people could still casually walk behind it. I get the feeling Saturday will have a lot of Wicked fans, as I heard a lot of talk of people going to that performance and stage door-ing afterward.
Apologies for the long post, but I know ya'll can be curious haha! |
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24 posts
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Post by paulwat on Sept 7, 2016 19:12:38 GMT
Hi All! greetings from a 'Lurker' of a while. We saw a previous post and HAD to say that we were also at the first UK preview of Wicked. We have had many years of musical theatre visits, but we always remember that night as the most electric we have been lucky to witness. It was electric and we were so surprised that anyone had it on their radar in UK - yet there were loads in costume, despite it new to the UK.
From the reaction from lights down, we have never ever witnessed an audience will on a Company, the way they did that night. The 'Isn't it Good' entry post technical failure reaction was lovely to witness. It must have been a joy for the cast.
We were honoured to see Idina, despite her not flying in the Saturday matinee also. Since then, Rachel Tucker has been the only one for us to come near, on good days.
We wish we could have seen Chenoweth, but are wishing that Hilty and more importantly Jennifer Laura Thompson would grace our shores, PLEASE! (There's a joke there).
The Producers are continuing to keep the show with 'good' casts, but it would be brilliant if they could inject better quality leads, rather than keeping it running. There is a difference.
We would have travelled from Leeds for the 10th if the Producers had wanted to thank their profit generating fans seats in the stalls..
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4,369 posts
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Post by Michael on Sept 7, 2016 19:15:20 GMT
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4,361 posts
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Post by shady23 on Sept 7, 2016 19:18:48 GMT
I didn't ask, but he said that it is not just the recording, it is also the general crazy fan, stage door thing, as mentioned, constantly messaging on Twitter etc. I think with the recording, you look in the description box, it says that he didn't record it, so maybe they don't know for sure if he is the one recording (even though it must be really!).
But there is literally a video of a couple of them standing outside the side of the theatre during a matinee and holding the camera next to the wall to hear the final part of Defying Gravity for the matinee performance, even though they saw the evening show! Mmmm...
I am sure the cast appreciate the support but not when it crosses a certain line and people try to "out-fan" each other. There have always been those kind of fans at Wicked and I suppose there always will. |
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Post by Dawnstar on Sept 7, 2016 19:43:00 GMT
But there is literally a video of a couple of them standing outside the side of the theatre during a matinee and holding the camera next to the wall to hear the final part of Defying Gravity for the matinee performance, even though they saw the evening show! Mmmm...
When I came out of the box office this past Saturday afternoon about 5pm I noticed 2 girls standing by one of the external theatre doors & 1 of them had her ear pressed to the door listening. I don't understand why if you were so keen to hear a performance you wouldn't just buy a ticket for it. Okay some people might not be able to afford good seats for both shows but even a £15 one at the back would be far better than trying to listen from outside. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2016 19:48:13 GMT
I didn't ask, but he said that it is not just the recording, it is also the general crazy fan, stage door thing, as mentioned, constantly messaging on Twitter etc. I think with the recording, you look in the description box, it says that he didn't record it, so maybe they don't know for sure if he is the one recording (even though it must be really!).
But there is literally a video of a couple of them standing outside the side of the theatre during a matinee and holding the camera next to the wall to hear the final part of Defying Gravity for the matinee performance, even though they saw the evening show! Mmmm...
I am sure the cast appreciate the support but not when it crosses a certain line and people try to "out-fan" each other. There have always been those kind of fans at Wicked and I suppose there always will. A good example being I don't think Rachel minded the party poppers as much, because it was fun and she was the one who went in for the hugs and said thank you etc. But there is a line that should'nt be crossed. Like, I don't think people should wait outside the show for the cast before a performance as it is just odd to do that, wait until after when you have seen the show (if you have seen the show). And don't have your ear literally against the building! Also, on that channel, if you listen to Savannah's last No One Mourns the Wicked, at the beginning, there are a few fans literally screaming their lungs out! I am a huge Wicked fan, I am always up for a woop or a cheer at the end of a song or when Rachel came onstage first time etc and I only ever stage door if I fancy it or if a special event at the show and will get an autograph and a photo, but even then if they are in a rush or look flustered, I would just say they were great and let them go. If they want a conversation, like Rachel who seemed to genuinely enjoy having a quick chat with me on Monday and continued the conversation for one or two minutes, but to be screaming in the theatre, and to be around the theatre just to see a performer go in, some on a weekly basis, is a bit much for me! |
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Post by bjorne on Sept 7, 2016 20:01:38 GMT
The guy of the youtube channel... I could be wrong of course (it was late, I was pissed) but I think it's the guy that at a stage door pushed away my daughters to be the first in line at the stage door. I remember me and my husband just move with the children a little bit away from the guy and his friends without saying a word because we didn't want to get into a discussion in front of the girls but I that is not the a decent attitude you should have at a stage door, especially with children. Very disrespectful. And possibly dangerous.
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Post by singularsensation10 on Sept 7, 2016 21:37:42 GMT
Just on way home from show. I'll keep this brief.
Rachel is back and stronger than ever.
Suzie is a joy - stunning performance, my favourite Glinda to date.
Rest of the cast were fresh, even the people who stayed on from previous cast(s).
No weak link.
London has its strongest cast since opening.
Almost 10 years to the day since I first saw it, just one row in front of the seats I sat in, the show is still as magical and mesmerising as the first time (53 times later).
If you haven't booked to see this cast yet... Why not??!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2016 1:01:23 GMT
I saw it tonight (Wednesday 7 September). I got front row seats. It was amazing. This was the best performance I've seen so far.
Rachel Tucker - I've been wanting to see her for years and finally I got the chance to. She did not disappoint. Her vocals were incredible as always. But everyone know that. Let's talk about her acting. People have critisized her for her acting, but this wqs just perfection. Right from the get go she was amazing. She really was a girl desperately trying to make friends and start with a clean slate in Dear Old Shiz. The emotional moments were perfect. I saw tears during I'm not that girl, No Good Deed and For Good. Most importantly: she doesn't stop acting when it's not her line! Some actors do that. She's often been discribed as a great Elphaba vocally, but lacking acting wise. I can tell you, I don't think there's anyone who has ever performed this role better than she did tonight.
Suzie - Just perfection. Lovely, amazing voice and funny.
The entire production is in amazing form. Probably thanks to the new cast. This was way better than when I last saw it February.
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446 posts
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Post by tr252 on Sept 8, 2016 8:08:10 GMT
Does anybody else love it when Rachel holds onto her second 'Bring me down' in DG until she absolutely needs to bring it off? I think hearing her vibrato ring out clearly over the ensemble and echo slightly afterwards adds something to Elphabas desperation/determination.
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1,046 posts
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Post by jgblunners on Sept 8, 2016 8:48:33 GMT
Does anybody else love it when Rachel holds onto her second 'Bring me down' in DG until she absolutely needs to bring it off? I think hearing her vibrato ring out clearly over the ensemble and echo slightly afterwards adds something to Elphabas desperation/determination. Yes! I also love how she turns the last note into a battle cry with all the growl she puts on it - it's such a perfect end to the song. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2016 9:05:57 GMT
I can't remembee the last time a cast at Wicked has had such overwhelmingly positive response from so many! It makes me so, so happy that everybody, even people who almost went off Wicked, are loving this cast so much! And I agree with the comment of that YouTube guy being very disrespectful. From his videos, I do get the impression of trying to be the number one fan and being a bit too obsessive (well, you must be if even the cast are aware of you!) |
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Post by Nelly on Sept 8, 2016 10:09:35 GMT
Who is this guy, I feel like I'm missing out/oblivious! Can someone PM me a link or something to these videos?
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92 posts
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Post by bjorne on Sept 8, 2016 11:37:31 GMT
Very disrespectful. And possibly dangerous. Also, technically, common assault. Let's say that I didn't want to go there. |
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