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Post by Scswp on Feb 11, 2017 9:08:45 GMT
The sound for most of the performers was not great - and I actually knew the songs.
In terms of Kerry struggling, please remember I am a fan of hers. I have seen her several times in concerts and the notes she used to hit (seemingly effortlessly) were fantastic. In more recent concerts, she has changed arrangements of songs and dropped some of the big notes here and there. In Wonderland, she slightly cracked here and there, and it certainly didn't seem effortless like it used to. She still has power, but IMO, her voice is not as 'expansive' as it used to be. I think she might struggle to sing The Mad Hatter's songs nightly, for example.
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Post by shady23 on Feb 11, 2017 9:24:05 GMT
I would love to hear her sing I Will Prevail!
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Post by Scswp on Feb 11, 2017 9:39:02 GMT
I would love to hear her sing I Will Prevail! So would I! And I've no doubt she could sing it! But whether she could sustain it as written for a long run would be my question. Kate Shindle has a very powerful voice and, even in the limited Broadway run, she had the song modulated at the end. Maybe McQueen will have to too. Still a good song though. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2017 10:24:32 GMT
My first experience of Kerry live was Cats. I knew she was this huge powerhouse and loved her voice in Wicked... but was very dissapointed with her in Cats because she was only on for 15 minutes and cracked a couple of times during her big number, and didn't make the big key change in Memory. Was very dissapointed, Nicole Scherzinger was incredible, but Kerrywas crap in comparison. That being said, I loved her in Murder Ballad.  |
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Post by firefingers on Feb 11, 2017 13:14:15 GMT
I don't understand how these sound problems happen. Surely it's immediately apparent if there's something wrong. That's what the soundchecks are for. Why don't issues get picked up and corrected? Does the person running the deck have the ability to change things or are they effectively stuck with what the sound designer came up with? The sound designer (hired at two weeks notice on this show I understand...) is only there for the first venue. After that it falls to the sound team touring the show to try and replicate over venues that will sound vastly different. The amount the operator can change things varies between designers, some designers are so protective that they essentially "lock" the operator out of making even minor changes. I suspect the show may be suffering sonically due to lack of time. The show is closing on a Saturday night and reopening in a new venue on Monday. Crew will be doing the get out Saturday night into the early hours, then traveling on Sunday so realistically they only have Monday daytime to get set up. Most touring shows of this scale would open Tuesday to get themselves more time, so inevitable things slip and sound checks can't happen until they have some quiet to do them in, which if the stage team are trying to build and tweak a set to fit in a venue, you may not get a sound check at all. |
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Post by welsh_tenor on Feb 11, 2017 20:24:20 GMT
Is this is a big sing for Alice and Mad Hatter?! Just wondering why both roles need a formal alternate when clearly Kerry and Natalie have the ability to nail 8 shows a week based on previous roles?!
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Feb 11, 2017 20:39:55 GMT
I don't understand how these sound problems happen. Surely it's immediately apparent if there's something wrong. That's what the soundchecks are for. Why don't issues get picked up and corrected? Does the person running the deck have the ability to change things or are they effectively stuck with what the sound designer came up with? The sound designer (hired at two weeks notice on this show I understand...) is only there for the first venue. Well, that would go some way to explaining. Thanks FF. |
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Post by HereForTheatre on Feb 11, 2017 22:39:45 GMT
There was a technical fault tonight that stopped the show for a good 5 to 10 mins. The looking glass reveal was rather spoiled by it not appearing and them having to stop the show to get it down. Made worse by the fact that then when they tried to lower the safety curtain nobody thought about the big trees that blocked the curtains path and so of course the curtain crashed into the trees and then you had stage hands running on trying to move the trees from under the curtain. Haha. The women next to me asked at this point if her friend had seen The Play That Goes Wrong....
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Post by alison on Feb 11, 2017 23:11:04 GMT
Is this is a big sing for Alice and Mad Hatter?! Just wondering why both roles need a formal alternate when clearly Kerry and Natalie have the ability to nail 8 shows a week based on previous roles?! Alice is offstage for less than 15 minutes in the whole show (one song + scene in each half), has three big solos, three duets and contributions to a couple of ensemble numbers. Having said that, Janet Dacal did all the shows on Broadway, except a couple where her u/s was scheduled to go on. Although when I think about it, I think she had more time off stage, not such a large role in the opening, and This is Who I Am wasn't in. So possibly not quite so demanding. The Hatter has less stage time, but her two solos are both big sings, plus the new duet with Alice. As a random (vaguely related) note, there's a new higher riff been added to the ending (not the crazy belted last note, but just before, on the part that used to be "and heaven knows" in the old lyrics) that Natalie and Michelle both did earlier in the week, which Natalie didn't do this afternoon but did do tonight. Also, that technical hitch was flipping hilarious. Made worse by the fact that the dry ice that comes out of the bottom of the looking glass was working, so it was hanging just in sight at the top of the stage, smoking away. |
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Post by Scswp on Feb 12, 2017 7:29:51 GMT
Tbh, not sure why these roles would need an alternate. The Mad Hatter's songs are both 'belty' at the end, but she has lots of off-stage time.
For Alice, maybe Kerry only wanted to do 6 shows a week. She has enough of a reputation in musical theatre to have some degree of negotiating power. I don't think the role is in the canon of most demanding roles (yes, she is onstage for most of the time, but only as an onlooker/ crowd-member for a certain amount of that time). I think her family-life and the fact that she can negotiate terms may be the reason for her six shows a week contract.
As far as the production itself goes, it may be economically more favourable to have an alternate. I would imagine it's cheaper to pay Kerry for only six shows a week and have an alternate perform the other two (who is obviously on less pay). I would also imagine McQueen gets paid more per show than when the alternate plays her role. Is this the case? Is an alternate only paid for the shows that they perform? Not sure whether it's financially better to have an alternate and limited schedules for the main performers.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2017 7:57:54 GMT
Tbh, not sure why these roles would need an alternate. The Mad Hatter's songs are both 'belty' at the end, but she has lots of off-stage time. For Alice, maybe Kerry only wanted to do 6 shows a week. She has enough of a reputation in musical theatre to have some degree of negotiating power. I don't think the role is in the canon of most demanding roles (yes, she is onstage for most of the time, but only as an onlooker/ crowd-member for a certain amount of that time). I think her family-life and the fact that she can negotiate terms may be the reason for her six shows a week contract. As far as the production itself goes, it may be economically more favourable to have an alternate. I would imagine it's cheaper to pay Kerry for only six shows a week and have an alternate perform the other two (who is obviously on less pay). I would also imagine McQueen gets paid more per show than when the alternate plays her role. Is this the case? Is an alternate only paid for the shows that they perform? Not sure whether it's financially better to have an alternate and limited schedules for the main performers. I think Kerry only does evenings mainly so she can be with her small child as long as possible. And Natalie will have nights off because it's such a huge sing and Kate Shindle wrecked her voice doing 8 shows a week even though it was such a short run. |
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Post by Scswp on Feb 12, 2017 8:11:45 GMT
I'm not sure The Mad Hatter is that big a sing, though. In her first song 'The Mad Hatter' it's only the last chorus where it modulates upwards (which is hard), isn't it?
And it's the same with 'I Will Prevail', isn't it? The final chorus is hard, but the rest is reasonable, I think. I wouldn't consider it a role that needs an alternate. Even Elphaba doesn't have an alternate and I would say that's a much more demanding role.
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Post by ali973 on Feb 12, 2017 10:33:27 GMT
I hope they get to record this. If the UK tour of BIG got a recording, I think this warrants it given that if anything the show offers, it's decent tunes with good singers.
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Post by HereForTheatre on Feb 12, 2017 13:29:28 GMT
So after speaking about the unfortunate technical issues and blunders.....the show itself.
I was really looking forward to the show....and i enjoyed it. But i don't think the production is very good. I feel it could have been a winner if it had some more money behind it and a better set of creatives. The set was embarrassing at times, the choreography just really poor and basically at times the show seemed to have no actual direction behind it. The sound was better than i thought it would be after the reports but still pretty poor. I'm pretty sure that one set of costumes were some white shirts with hearts drawn on in marker pen. I had issues with the ensemble because they all looked straight out of drama school, they just looked and felt too inexperienced and young, it didn't seem right to me. I don't think the book is the strongest, there were some nice jokes and topical references in there, there were things the audience could get behind but it didn't take itself seriously one moment but then did the next and then seemed too cheesy.
However...the main cast were great and really the main positive about the show. This was my first time seeing Kerry and i really liked her. After the reports about her voice i didn't expect to find it as strong as i did. She was great. I really enjoyed the performance of the daughter, can't remember what her name was. I though Natalie Mcqueen was the stand out as Hatter. Great performance and voice, she stole every scene she was in. Again sorry i've forgot his name ut another stand out was the Chesire Cat who was great fun.
To me the second act is a lot stronger than the first, i think it contains the better songs and is tighter and just better all round, visually as well with some different and more interesting sets. After the first i really wasn't sure about the show at all but the 2nd act made me feel a lot more positive. I enjoyed most of the songs. Mostly all of Hatters songs, Through the looking glass, the Hatter/Alice duet that i LOVED, and Finding Wonderland.
I just think to be honest that it's a shame that this isn't a better production of the show as i think actually the show itself is quite good, it's really the creative and technical side of things that let the show down and make it seem poorer than it really could be. I think the on stage talent deserves better really. That said, i did enjoy it overall.
I noticed flicking through the programme last night a lot of the creatives are not the ones initially announced for this. In particular the adaption writer isn't who was initially announced and i'm pretty sure the set designer is different too. What with the mention here the sound designer was only hired at short notice and the mystery surrounding Carolyn Maitland departing the show, it's a show you sense has gone through a lot of troubles and obstacles/changes before getting on stage, which i think you can tell.
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Post by shady23 on Feb 12, 2017 15:24:10 GMT
Rachel Wooding is Alice from tomorrow at Southend, her debut show, and is also doing Oxford, Grimsby and York. Evening shows only.
Kerry is back for the Bromley leg from March 13th.
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Post by andrewriley on Feb 12, 2017 15:59:26 GMT
So after speaking about the unfortunate technical issues and blunders.....the show itself. I was really looking forward to the show....and i enjoyed it. But i don't think the production is very good. I feel it could have been a winner if it had some more money behind it and a better set of creatives. The set was embarrassing at times, the choreography just really poor and basically at times the show seemed to have no actual direction behind it. The sound was better than i thought it would be after the reports but still pretty poor. I'm pretty sure that one set of costumes were some white shirts with hearts drawn on in marker pen. I had issues with the ensemble because they all looked straight out of drama school, they just looked and felt too inexperienced and young, it didn't seem right to me. I don't think the book is the strongest, there were some nice jokes and topical references in there, there were things the audience could get behind but it didn't take itself seriously one moment but then did the next and then seemed too cheesy. However...the main cast were great and really the main positive about the show. This was my first time seeing Kerry and i really liked her. After the reports about her voice i didn't expect to find it as strong as i did. She was great. I really enjoyed the performance of the daughter, can't remember what her name was. I though Natalie Mcqueen was the stand out as Hatter. Great performance and voice, she stole every scene she was in. Again sorry i've forgot his name ut another stand out was the Chesire Cat who was great fun. To me the second act is a lot stronger than the first, i think it contains the better songs and is tighter and just better all round, visually as well with some different and more interesting sets. After the first i really wasn't sure about the show at all but the 2nd act made me feel a lot more positive. I enjoyed most of the songs. Mostly all of Hatters songs, Through the looking glass, the Hatter/Alice duet that i LOVED, and Finding Wonderland. I just think to be honest that it's a shame that this isn't a better production of the show as i think actually the show itself is quite good, it's really the creative and technical side of things that let the show down and make it seem poorer than it really could be. I think the on stage talent deserves better really. That said, i did enjoy it overall. I noticed flicking through the programme last night a lot of the creatives are not the ones initially announced for this. In particular the adaption writer isn't who was initially announced and i'm pretty sure the set designer is different too. What with the mention here the sound designer was only hired at short notice and the mystery surrounding Carolyn Maitland departing the show, it's a show you sense has gone through a lot of troubles and obstacles/changes before getting on stage, which i think you can tell. ..Everyone's a critic! |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Feb 12, 2017 16:10:39 GMT
Yes, that's the point of this forum. To which you are very welcome. If you don't agree with a review you could perhaps tell us why? Especially as if you're the designer you're in a unique position to do that. That's how things tend to work around here. |
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Post by crabtree on Feb 12, 2017 16:30:22 GMT
well this may not be the definitive stage version of the Alice story. Have you seen any excellent ones, that Carroll might recognise? I loved the Birmingham Rep/West Yorkshire one from a few years ago, and a stunning one at the Colchester Mercury in my youth, but my favourite probably goes to the Royal Ballet's current production.
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Post by HereForTheatre on Feb 12, 2017 16:53:08 GMT
So after speaking about the unfortunate technical issues and blunders.....the show itself. I was really looking forward to the show....and i enjoyed it. But i don't think the production is very good. I feel it could have been a winner if it had some more money behind it and a better set of creatives. The set was embarrassing at times, the choreography just really poor and basically at times the show seemed to have no actual direction behind it. The sound was better than i thought it would be after the reports but still pretty poor. I'm pretty sure that one set of costumes were some white shirts with hearts drawn on in marker pen. I had issues with the ensemble because they all looked straight out of drama school, they just looked and felt too inexperienced and young, it didn't seem right to me. I don't think the book is the strongest, there were some nice jokes and topical references in there, there were things the audience could get behind but it didn't take itself seriously one moment but then did the next and then seemed too cheesy. However...the main cast were great and really the main positive about the show. This was my first time seeing Kerry and i really liked her. After the reports about her voice i didn't expect to find it as strong as i did. She was great. I really enjoyed the performance of the daughter, can't remember what her name was. I though Natalie Mcqueen was the stand out as Hatter. Great performance and voice, she stole every scene she was in. Again sorry i've forgot his name ut another stand out was the Chesire Cat who was great fun. To me the second act is a lot stronger than the first, i think it contains the better songs and is tighter and just better all round, visually as well with some different and more interesting sets. After the first i really wasn't sure about the show at all but the 2nd act made me feel a lot more positive. I enjoyed most of the songs. Mostly all of Hatters songs, Through the looking glass, the Hatter/Alice duet that i LOVED, and Finding Wonderland. I just think to be honest that it's a shame that this isn't a better production of the show as i think actually the show itself is quite good, it's really the creative and technical side of things that let the show down and make it seem poorer than it really could be. I think the on stage talent deserves better really. That said, i did enjoy it overall. I noticed flicking through the programme last night a lot of the creatives are not the ones initially announced for this. In particular the adaption writer isn't who was initially announced and i'm pretty sure the set designer is different too. What with the mention here the sound designer was only hired at short notice and the mystery surrounding Carolyn Maitland departing the show, it's a show you sense has gone through a lot of troubles and obstacles/changes before getting on stage, which i think you can tell. ..Everyone's a critic! I'm very sure that one or two of the design choices were imposed through a much less than ideal budget and not a reflection of ones abilities and creativity. I did also say "at times" because i liked your set on the whole, especially the tea party and factory settings as well as the inside of the flat and how that came together. I trust that had you been given the resources you'd probably not ideally choose to just have a curtain with a picture of a block of flats on to represent where Alice lived for example, which was one of the pieces i was talking about. |
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Post by ali973 on Feb 12, 2017 20:02:43 GMT
Listening to a naughty audience capture of this. Oh, it's in an English accent.
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Post by theatremadness on Feb 12, 2017 20:14:32 GMT
Listening to a naughty audience capture of this. Oh, it's in an English accent. This production is set in Britain for whatever reason! |
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Post by ali973 on Feb 12, 2017 20:31:26 GMT
I guess it's adaptable to whatever locale. I guess it makes MORE sense if they were to modernize Alice in Wonderland. I just didn't expect it.
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Post by daniel on Feb 13, 2017 16:01:48 GMT
Rachael Wooding is on as Alice tonight - I must confess I didn't even know she was in the show!
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Post by shady23 on Feb 13, 2017 16:13:39 GMT
Her and Kerry are sharing the role.
She is doing the next few venues of it, although she also isn't doing the matinées. If she was I would have been tempted to have a day trip to York in a few weeks time.
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Post by daniel on Feb 13, 2017 16:16:46 GMT
Her and Kerry are sharing the role. She is doing the next few venues of it, although she also isn't doing the matinées. If she was I would have been tempted to have a day trip to York in a few weeks time. Ahhh! Now that makes much more sense, thanks for clarifying. Yeah that is a shame, I too would be tempted to make a trip somewhere to see her if she was doing matinees. |
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