The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Southwark/Ambassadors

[mrbarnaby]

Well this was a bitter disappointment.

I fear what was special at Southwark has been diluted. Will be interested to see how it fares critically and commercially.

The cast work their ass off so I can’t fault their effort but this left me cold second time round.

The sound is messy, most lyrics are unintelligible.

Clare Foster grins and pulls faces most of the time. As a result I didn’t care about the central relationship.

John Dalgleish is fine, not the best singing voice but he has a unique quality about him. I did miss Jamie Parker though.

Not sure what else to say really. Good luck to them- people around us clearly enjoyed it a lot more than I did.

2 stars

[ceebee]

I thought Clare Foster was charming and perfect in this. I agree that the sound sometimes drowns the vocals.

[mrbarnaby]

Oct 20, 2024 21:45:05 GMT ceebee said:

I thought Clare Foster was charming and perfect in this. I agree that the sound sometimes drowns the vocals.

She does nothing for me at all.
She improves by the end, but too much grinning and gurning for my liking.

[anita]

Mr Barnaby - so glad you said that about the sound - I thought it was just me.

[blamerobots]

Oct 20, 2024 20:36:31 GMT mrbarnaby said:

The sound is messy, most lyrics are unintelligible.

Might be time to have a word with the Ambassadors sound team as it's been a fair few productions with utterly awful sound.

[mrbarnaby]

I must say (despite being rather down on it) that the company playing instruments whilst singing and dancing was really impressive. Even just remembering all their notes blew my mind- let alone everything else they had to do.

Must be a nightmare when someone goes off

[billy]

Maybe I shouldn’t have read this thread first as I was *really* hyped by this today, especially once finding out that my Circle H seat (bought for £15 well over a month ago during a TodayTix sale) had an astonishing view, and I’m a big fan of the film which I saw as a uni student fifteen years ago…but in this very different version of the story, while there were some bits near the end that were indeed quite emotional and gave some powerful images, it didn’t utterly overwhelm me in the way the film did or indeed Next to Normal did recently. The cast are all obviously very talented but I couldn’t hear half the words of any of the songs when they all sung together, the ending seemed so abrupt that I thought they’d forgotten a bit or turned the lights off too early, and overall it just seemed to miss *something* that would have taken it to five stars. I seem to be the only person who never saw it at the Southwark Playhouse so maybe it was different there, but overall while I’m glad I saw it I don’t feel like immediately rushing to go there again.

[mrbarnaby]

I think it’s a major issue how unintelligible the lyrics are

[sophie92]

I watched tonight’s performance, and I hadn’t seen it previously at Southwark nor have I ever seen the film. I really enjoyed it, and I thought the cast were all exceptionally talented. I was very teary through much of the second act. I didn’t really have many issues with the sound or lyrics being unintelligible but being in the second row may have played a large part in that - it was only the very first couple of lines in the opening that I struggled to hear clearly.

[ceebee]

Oct 21, 2024 21:51:37 GMT mrbarnaby said:

I think it’s a major issue how unintelligible the lyrics are

Do you think it is down to the sound design, the writing, the pace, or actors articulation? I love the show but did experience "word crash" at times. I blamed the writer for trying to be too busy with the lyrics.

[highonahill]

Oct 22, 2024 5:16:35 GMT ceebee said:

Oct 21, 2024 21:51:37 GMT mrbarnaby said:

I think it’s a major issue how unintelligible the lyrics are

Do you think it is down to the sound design, the writing, the pace, or actors articulation? I love the show but did experience "word crash" at times. I blamed the writer for trying to be too busy with the lyrics.

I'm interested too to hear people's thought on this. I personally didn't have any issues, but I was close to the stage and had seen the piece multiple times in its previous iterations so feel I am familiar with the lyrics.

It's interesting that in this interview, Jethro Compton talks about being able to bring *better* acoustics and amplification to a proscenium arch stage, rather than a thrust stage.
www.instagram.com/reel/DA8BnrGoIiI/?igsh=cDI2djB5NmRzd3Fn

So would it be the mixing in previews that still needs to be tweaked? I know nothing about the intricacies of blending all those different instruments and voices in a space like the Ambassadors compared to Southwark.

I can't believe it's because the lyrics are too busy - I suppose "It's All Just a Matter of Time" is the one song where audiences may need to concentrate a bit harder. But there are other musicals (I'm thinking Hamilton!) where I guess the lyrics are a lot harder to follow when hearing them for the first time!

[david]

First time seeing the show (I’ve never watched the film either) this afternoon and wow, I absolutely loved it and an easy 5⭐️ for me.

A fantastic cast of actor-musicians delivering a wonderful and emotional score from Jethro Compton and Darren Clark for 2.5hrs. A show full of laughs and tears that was worth every penny of my ticket. I got a Circle row H (H6) from the TT London theatre week offer and taking my seat, I did have concerns about the sound based on earlier posts and my last visit to see Kathy and Stella. Thankfully, I didn’t have any major issues this afternoon and was able to fully enjoy their beautifully crafted show from the creative team and cast. Though I did find I really had to concentrate to really hear the lyrics. As a score, it would definitely get purchased to have a listen to again.

A wonderful set and lighting design makes full use of the stage and I’m just amazed with the cast with this show. What a brilliant group of people being able to bring this show to the stage. 

Purchasing programme, I did like the idea of instead of having head shots, there were baby photos instead to keep with the theme of the show.

[greatauntedna]

I saw it last night for the first time. I enjoyed it, especially John Dagleish’s performance.

But I thought the songs were samey, three or four stood out, and the minutes and hours stuff bogs it down. I’d get it if Benjamin was obsessed about time like that but he’s not.

[westendgirl]

I liked this at Southwark Playhouse last year but really loved it tonight. Was worried I would miss Jamie Parker but John Dalgleish is excellent. I wasn’t a fan of the ‘chain of events’ ensemble numbers last time, and they are still definitely my least favourite part of the show, but I did find them a lot easier to follow this time. Very enthusiastic response from the audience at the end.

[mrbarnaby]

Oct 22, 2024 15:48:39 GMT greatauntedna said:

I saw it last night for the first time. I enjoyed it, especially John Dagleish’s performance.

But I thought the songs were samey, three or four stood out, and the minutes and hours stuff bogs it down. I’d get it if Benjamin was obsessed about time like that but he’s not.

Every single song sounds the same in this. None are memorable.

[Phantom of London]

Mildly enjoyable show tonight.

I agree that most songs do sound the same, a bit Irish folksy. The sound wasn’t that great, I wonder if it is to do with the acoustics as the Ambassador had a very large overhang, I wonder if the issue was for the people sitting in the stalls under the overhang, as I was? Obviously the cast playing instruments are very talented and has to be recognised, but also have to say that does playing instruments their really belong on stage? I guess I am old fashioned, as I find playing an instrument affects the quality of acting and is very distracting.

The show kind of reminded me of a second rate Come From Away.

3 Stars

[mrbarnaby]

Oct 24, 2024 21:54:36 GMT Phantom of London said:

Mildly enjoyable show tonight.

I agree that most songs do sound the same, a bit Irish folksy. The sound wasn’t that great, I wonder if it is to do with the acoustics as the Ambassador had a very large overhang, I wonder if the issue was for the people sitting in the stalls under the overhang, as I was? Obviously the cast playing instruments are very talented and has to be recognised, but also have to say that does playing instruments their really belong on stage? I guess I am old fashioned, as I find playing an instrument affects the quality of acting and is very distracting.

The show kind of reminded me of a second rate Come From Away.

3 Stars

I was sat in a best seat- Row G centre stalls, not near the overhang, and the sound was bad there.

[matthew90]

I was there this eve in row A of the dress circle. Only sound issues was whenever John Dalgleish had a solo he was barely audible, otherwise the rest of the cast were crystal clear and great at projecting to the audience. Would like to go again if they iron out the sound issue as a lot of the key moments were lost.

[A.Ham]

Just received an email from ATG confirming front row seats have now been released across the run.

I sat there this week (for the preview price of £20) and although the stage is high thought it was a bargain as inevitably felt very involved in the performance.

[rayc]

Saw this earlier this week having enjoyed it at SP. Took a friend who was, as I was originally, very sceptical. However, she was enchanted by it. Hugely enjoyable with a great company rich in talent on various fronts. Definitely recommended - unless you are not a fan of the folky style of music, in which case you may struggle. But I'd be surprised if it wasn't a success. Re the transfer; my brain is not sufficiently laser focused on the minutiae to know what has changed to any great degree. And as for the sound, which has been highlighted by others, we were sat very centrally, Row K Stalls, and didn't experience any real sound issues at all. And the venue , although rather faded nowadays, is very well suited size wise, for this show which has a nicely intimate feel about it.

[A.Ham]

Oct 26, 2024 13:10:59 GMT rayc said:

Saw this earlier this week having enjoyed it at SP. Took a friend who was, as I was originally, very sceptical. However, she was enchanted by it. Hugely enjoyable with a great company rich in talent on various fronts. Definitely recommended - unless you are not a fan of the folky style of music, in which case you may struggle. But I'd be surprised if it wasn't a success. Re the transfer; my brain is not sufficiently laser focused on the minutiae to know what has changed to any great degree. And as for the sound, which has been highlighted by others, we were sat very centrally, Row K Stalls, and didn't experience any real sound issues at all. And the venue , although rather faded nowadays, is very well suited size wise, for this show which has a nicely intimate feel about it.

Very much my take on the show too!  My first time seeing it having missed the SP run.  Thought the cast were incredibly talented and the story, relocated and neatly simplified from the film, was moving and enjoyable in equal measure.  Disappointingly I'm struggling to recall many of the songs a few days later, but I certainly enjoyed them enormously at the time. Wouldn't say there were any noticeable sound issues per se, but it was certainly hard to follow every word in places, although that's true of many shows unfortunately.

It certainly reminded me of Come From Away, but given that's one of my favourite musicals that's high praise.  Would definitely recommend.  And as mentioned above, yes stalls row A is very close, and the stage high, but being up front increased the intimacy of the performance for me.  And even at non-preview prices they're good value vs. elsewhere in the theatre.  

[PineappleForYou]

I saw the matinee of this today having seen the last Southwark run twice. I still love this show and it still works fantastically in the Ambassadors. I personally think that Act Two is stronger than Act One now (which I thought the opposite the last time I saw the show at Southwark). The second act doesn't miss the loss of the faith healer!

I'm not convinced by the 2 new songs in act one. I can see why the new opening song has been added in place of the first "Matter of Time" but I think it fails to introduce the theme of time early on. This is why I think new audiences members are finding it weird why they then start to bang on about timings later on in the show. It is also the most memorable melody of the show and so it's a shame this was cut. The new character work for the dad is a nice edition though.

I don't particularly like the new song in place of "Will you run away with me" (if that's what it was called), the moment where they are leaving home. The new song is just not as strong in my opinion and did seem a bit of a bland replacement compared to a song I can still sing after a year and half.

I have to admit, I loved John Dagleish and think his casting was inspired. As has been said, Clare Foster is very different and I think is better playing the mature version of her character than the younger one. The ensemble remain the backbone of this show and should get all the praise they deserve.

I also agree that the ending should be more. Give us the whole vocal version of "Home" like in the previous version because those voices are beautiful.

I had no trouble hearing my performance but there was a bit of feedback in the audio. That's what previews are for!

I loved it. I'll be back.

[ceebee]

It's rare I see the same show three weeks in a row but I was also at the matinee today and thoroughly enjoyed it once again. I tell you what though, row D of the Dress Circle.... Who the hell decided the legroom was enough? I had a lady to my left who was 5'1" and her knees were touching the seat in front. I had a petite lady to my right, which was a blessing as being 6'00" I had no option but to manspread. I daren't stand up in the interval! Heaven knows how bigger framed people manage in those seats.

[Being Alive]

Oct 26, 2024 22:24:18 GMT ceebee said:

It's rare I see the same show three weeks in a row but I was also at the matinee today and thoroughly enjoyed it once again. I tell you what though, row D of the Dress Circle.... Who the hell decided the legroom was enough? I had a lady to my left who was 5'1" and her knees were touching the seat in front. I had a petite lady to my right, which was a blessing as being 6'00" I had no option but to manspread. I daren't stand up in the interval! Heaven knows how bigger framed people manage in those seats.

We don't.
I simply don't fit in seats in the Ambassadors that aren't on an aisle 😂

[ceebee]

Oct 26, 2024 23:32:00 GMT Being Alive said:

Oct 26, 2024 22:24:18 GMT ceebee said:

It's rare I see the same show three weeks in a row but I was also at the matinee today and thoroughly enjoyed it once again. I tell you what though, row D of the Dress Circle.... Who the hell decided the legroom was enough? I had a lady to my left who was 5'1" and her knees were touching the seat in front. I had a petite lady to my right, which was a blessing as being 6'00" I had no option but to manspread. I daren't stand up in the interval! Heaven knows how bigger framed people manage in those seats.

We don't.
I simply don't fit in seats in the Ambassadors that aren't on an aisle 😂

One guy two rows in front looked so desperately uncomfortable. It's really not very fair to expect people to crush themselves into seats. It's demeaning.