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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2016 21:36:25 GMT
I am looking forward to Sophie Louise-Dann as I loved her in Made in Dagenham with that phenomenal Act II number. I also loved her in Bend It Like Beckham, she was one of the highlights for me in that. Though she does look like she has had a bit of work done here and there.  Claire Machin also should be great, having seen her in both Memphis and Titanic. I am glad these two ladies are in the show as it does make me more excited but that is just to see these two on stage again.  |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2016 22:55:39 GMT
What i find interesting about this show, and especially because of the casting, is what Dom mentions above, who is the show being sold to? Thankfully there's no stunt casting or even a well known name in there, and i doubt fans of Joanna Riding and Claire Moore could fill the show for a month, so is the show the star? is it Gary Barlow? Is it the now well known story?
On a side note, i think the title is both clever and funny!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2016 1:56:40 GMT
Judging by a naked Gary Barlow in the promotional photos, I'm guessing they're trying to sell it to his fans more than anyone else.
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Post by d'James on Sept 18, 2016 2:12:56 GMT
Judging by a naked Gary Barlow in the promotional photos, I'm guessing they're trying to sell it to his fans more than anyone else. I was more distracted by Tim Firth. If anyone knows him . . . |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2016 9:01:16 GMT
Nice to see the TheatreBoard once again bemoaning creativity.
We moan when they cast celebrities. We moan when they don't.
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Post by steve10086 on Sept 18, 2016 9:11:42 GMT
On a side note, i think the title is both clever and funny! In what way? |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2016 9:32:01 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2016 11:31:59 GMT
I think I hate any and every nickname for breasts haha.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2016 12:23:07 GMT
I think I hate any and every nickname for breasts haha. Despite not naturally "liking" breasts, my favourite is Gok's - Bangers. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2016 12:27:10 GMT
Nice to see the TheatreBoard once again bemoaning creativity. We moan when they cast celebrities. We moan when they don't. I do agree with this. I am usually more keen to see celebrities in shows but I find it so nice how this has been cast with musical theatre stars and people that will do the show justice. The main 6 girls are all known for their roles in theatre so it's nice to see them all in a show together. People may complain at isn't casting but I think it's great and I'm sure people would still complain if the main girls were just ex soap stars |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2016 12:33:13 GMT
Nice to see the TheatreBoard once again bemoaning creativity. We moan when they cast celebrities. We moan when they don't. I do agree with this. I am usually more keen to see celebrities in shows but I find it so nice how this has been cast with musical theatre stars and people that will do the show justice. The main 6 girls are all known for their roles in theatre so it's nice to see them all in a show together. People may complain at isn't casting but I think it's great and I'm sure people would still complain if the main girls were just ex soap stars Hmmm... I mean no offence when I write this George, but that does seem to contradict a large number of your previous posts on this thread and others, re: ex soap actors. Specifically Carley Stenson/Claire Sweeney... |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2016 12:51:14 GMT
Despite not naturally "liking" breasts The quotes around "liking" brought to mind the image of someone clicking on them with a mouse. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2016 13:17:02 GMT
Despite not naturally "liking" breasts The quotes around "liking" brought to mind the image of someone clicking on them with a mouse. Haha! Well it's not that I dislike breasts per say, I just couldn't eat a whole one. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2016 14:19:39 GMT
I do agree with this. I am usually more keen to see celebrities in shows but I find it so nice how this has been cast with musical theatre stars and people that will do the show justice. The main 6 girls are all known for their roles in theatre so it's nice to see them all in a show together. People may complain at isn't casting but I think it's great and I'm sure people would still complain if the main girls were just ex soap stars Hmmm... I mean no offence when I write this George, but that does seem to contradict a large number of your previous posts on this thread and others, re: ex soap actors. Specifically Carley Stenson/Claire Sweeney... Ah when I wrote that I meant that people on this board would complain if this was cast as just soap stars but they complain when it's all MT stars. I personally like seeing celebrities on stage and the vast majority of the shows I've seen with celebs have been celebs who have done shows before or are trained for singing/acting or are just good in the role. There are some shows that work better with celebs than others like hairspray can have some good celebs in it but other shows like Miss Saigon or Les Mis need that powerful voice where you need people who are amazing at MT. Both Claire Sweeney and Carley Stenon have done multiple musicals are are good at singing, acting and performing so it's not like they have just cast somebody from eastenders who can't really even act let alone sing and perform. That's what I meant. It's lovely to see a group of MT stars in this show hence why I am so pleased about it and it means that they have been picked as they are the best of the best |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2016 14:42:23 GMT
I apparently worded my initial post wrong so let me re-phrase...
I don't care about celebrity casting. I would rather watch a good MT performer than a celebrity any day. Some celebrity casting can be good, great even (looking at you Beverley!). With regards to this show, I was not expecting any celebrities to want to get involved so when I made my post about being disappointed, it had nothing to do with any lack of celeb. It was solely because I was disappointed there was no one that excited me in the cast really, even MT wise. Fair, I haven't seen the vast majority live and they may be amazing, but I want/need a reason to see this show as it really has no appeal to me at all but I wanted the casting to push me into seeing it and other than Claire and Sophie, there is no change in my mind about watching it. And that has disappointed me. Not the lack of celebrities, but the lack of anyone that excites me personally.
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Post by ptwest on Sept 18, 2016 15:17:17 GMT
I am delighted that they have cast musical theatre stars rather than celebrities. The presence of Claire Moore and Joanna Riding was almost enough to make me see this in Leeds. But not quite enough.
I suppose the difficulty now for casting and marketing is that going back into the 80s / early 90s you had people like Elaine Paige, Barbara Dixon, Michael Ball who were stars primarily for being in musical theatre. It was a genre of celebrity in its own right, and these were and still are well known. Now I struggle to think of anyone from the world of MT who has become a big celebrity purely because of that. There are plenty who have moved into theatre (or used the internet to promote themselves) from the world of Celebrity and also plenty of stars within the genre, but theatre as a whole doesn't appear to have the same crossover appeal that it once did in terms of creating celebrities. So any producer needs to make the choice of either casting musical theatre actors who can do the job brilliantly but the wider audience might not have heard of, or going down the celebrity route with mixed results.
I realise that is a huge generalisation and there will no doubt be plenty of examples of those who have become huge stars .....
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2016 17:18:32 GMT
Well there seem to be a few legit 'theatre stars' on Broadway but I can't think of any recent ones from the West End. You have Audra McDonald whose unexpected pregnancy single-handedly closed a successful show due to low ticket sales after her absence and Lin-Manuel Miranda whose last performance people paid up to $10,000 to see. Both have done minor TV and film work but ultimately made their name first and foremost in theatre. Of course, there is a world of difference between the two as Audra's status has built up over decades and Lin's has appeared out of nowhere in the past 18 months.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2016 17:33:36 GMT
Well there seem to be a few legit 'theatre stars' on Broadway but I can't think of any recent ones from the West End. You have Audra McDonald whose unexpected pregnancy single-handedly closed a successful show due to low ticket sales after her absence and Lin-Manuel Miranda whose last performance people paid up to $10,000 to see. Both have done minor TV and film work but ultimately made their name first and foremost in theatre. Of course, there is a world of difference between the two as Audra's status has built up over decades and Lin's has appeared out of nowhere in the past 18 months. Does it really matter whether or not West End actors are famous? All that matters is if they're good at their job. Actually I'm glad the West End is different in that regard. At least West End shows don't revolve around one performer. |
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Post by zak97 on Sept 18, 2016 19:38:57 GMT
In some ways I have a split opinion on this. I would love Joanna, Claire and really any other of the fantastic leads of this show to get the 'fame' as a reward for their work; if film actors get it why should actors who primarily work on stage not receive the same treatment. Yet, I equally think the beauty of theatre, for such leads, is that they can entertain, engage and amaze an audience, and at the same time head out of stage door and 10 minutes later not be recognised.
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Post by ptwest on Sept 18, 2016 19:55:40 GMT
.[/quote]Does it really matter whether or not West End actors are famous? All that matters is if they're good at their job. Actually I'm glad the West End is different in that regard. At least West End shows don't revolve around one performer.[/quote]
I completely agree on terms of show quality. My original point was that from a marketing point of view, having a star name (unless the show is the star) must be really helpful. That's why I really admire the casting of this show for going down the quality rather than household name route. Of course those of us on this board would tend to be the people "in the know" and are not reliant on having seen performers on the telly. The wider ticket buying public will probably not know who most of the performers are, and will be drawn in either by the story or Gary Barlow's name!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2016 20:07:41 GMT
Well there seem to be a few legit 'theatre stars' on Broadway but I can't think of any recent ones from the West End. You have Audra McDonald whose unexpected pregnancy single-handedly closed a successful show due to low ticket sales after her absence and Lin-Manuel Miranda whose last performance people paid up to $10,000 to see. Both have done minor TV and film work but ultimately made their name first and foremost in theatre. Of course, there is a world of difference between the two as Audra's status has built up over decades and Lin's has appeared out of nowhere in the past 18 months. Does it really matter whether or not West End actors are famous? All that matters is if they're good at their job. Actually I'm glad the West End is different in that regard. At least West End shows don't revolve around one performer. No, I didn't say it did? I think it's nice for them though, to be able to make a prosperous career out of a job that's notoriously low paid compared to film, TV and music stars and for theatre to be a bigger part of the public consciousness. They're certainly more talented than a lot of the famous non-theatre stars of today. Also, whilst Shuffle Along closed when Audra left, it probably would never have made it to Broadway without her. And it didn't revolve all around her, she wasn't nominated for a Tony whereas her co-stars Brandon Victor Dixon and Adrienne Warren were. Likewise with Lin, he lost the Tony to his co-star and the show is of course still thriving. |
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Post by anniel on Sept 18, 2016 22:14:34 GMT
I'm surprised there is not more excitement on the board about this.
I am so impressed with the producers and their attitude to extortionate booking fees and premium prices.
I was lucky enough to see this in Leeds and it was brilliant. You're sobbing all the way through it - either from laughter or sadness. It managed to sell really well in Leeds and I know loads of friends who went who weren't particularly theatre fans and they really enjoyed it. As a woman on the verge of Middle age, then there are lots of ladies like myself who want to see something about them and their lives.
Take That played 41 dates in the UK on their tour last year - that must be nearly a million people who saw them - so if even a fraction of them come to the theatre then I'm sure it will be a success.
I know Gary Barlow isn't Jason Robert Brown but there are some smashing songs - there's a really funny one called 'Who wants a guy who wants a girl who wants a silent night?' which was my favourite. It does feel very much like a play with songs - even though they are lovely.
I am so glad Claire Machine is in the West End as she stole the show for me. She was really funny. The young people who played the kids were fantastic too and I am glad they are transferring to London. But the whole cast was great.
Phew - sorry I've gone on a bit. I know Burly Bear wasn't keen on the show - and I normally agree with him - but I thought it was a fab show.
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Post by forgetmenot on Sept 19, 2016 6:24:56 GMT
When you put it like that you realise what a cynical affair the whole thing is. Milking the story to the absolute max. I assume the WI raise money for charity out of this circus, I do hope do. When I saw it I hated how they signposted all the "sad" bits so everyone knew that this is a hit where we're now all going to feel sorry about cancer etc. I found it a bit crass. Sorry, but I think you're the one who's being a bit cynical here. I'll openly admit my bias: I raise money for the same charity and I love the Calendar Girls story - what they have achieved is phenomenal: bloodwise.org.uk/page/calendar-girls-storyThe story of the Calendar Girls began in 1998 when John Baker, husband of Angela Baker, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. John sadly passed away after just a few months of treatment, but in the months following their loss, Angela and her friends set about creating the now infamous calendar as something for Angela to focus on during this difficult time.
The group aimed to raise enough for a new sofa for the hospital where John was treated and were amazed when the calendar attracted international press attention. So far, they've raised over £3 million for Bloodwise, creating over seven calendars, establishing their own merchandise line, and giving numerous talks about their experiences.Their inspirational story has been transformed for both stage and screen - and has now been made into a musical!
I agree with anniel on a couple of points: when I saw the show in Manchester the audience reaction was rapturous. I hope it attracts similar audiences in the West End if word of mouth builds. I also thought Claire Machin stole the show, so glad to hear that she's reprising her role! |
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Post by shady23 on Sept 19, 2016 6:48:41 GMT
Tickers will have sold ok so far as the GBArmy were queuing from silly o clock in the morning and buying tickets for multiple dates whilst tweeting him constant twitter updates.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Sept 19, 2016 7:14:44 GMT
When you put it like that you realise what a cynical affair the whole thing is. Milking the story to the absolute max. I assume the WI raise money for charity out of this circus, I do hope do. When I saw it I hated how they signposted all the "sad" bits so everyone knew that this is a hit where we're now all going to feel sorry about cancer etc. I found it a bit crass. Sorry, but I think you're the one who's being a bit cynical here. I'll openly admit my bias: I raise money for the same charity and I love the Calendar Girls story - what they have achieved is phenomenal: No need to apologise. I did say that I hope that the WI are benefiting from the show, but just because there's a charity involved doesn't mean this is above critisism. |
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