882 posts
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Post by longinthetooth on Apr 11, 2017 20:45:53 GMT
I love Zoe too, and will be interested to see her take on Ellen. They haven't cast John yet, have they? I wondered if they might persuade Hugh Maynard to take on the role again.
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366 posts
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Post by Paul on Apr 11, 2017 21:49:36 GMT
I'm so disappointed that Sooha will be playing Kim. I saw her in London and her acting was fine but her vocals were not powerful at all. I definitely preferred Eva's performance over Sooha's. Now that I think about it, I don't think I actually seen Sooha. I think it was Julia Abueva. Sorry Sooha, I cannot comment on your performance yet. |
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Post by HereForTheatre on Apr 11, 2017 22:57:10 GMT
I love Zoe too, and will be interested to see her take on Ellen. They haven't cast John yet, have they? I wondered if they might persuade Hugh Maynard to take on the role again. I hope not. I found him highly annoying. Though i couldn't tell you why. |
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Post by HereForTheatre on Apr 11, 2017 22:59:34 GMT
I will be interested to see Ashley in this because honestly i had major issues with him in Hairspray and I have reservations he could either act or sing this role so i am waiting with baited breath to be proven wrong and be surprised.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 13, 2017 11:23:52 GMT
Anyone know the date for ATG card priority booking for Manchester and Bristol?!
Cheers.
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223 posts
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Post by Kim_Bahorel on Apr 14, 2017 11:12:38 GMT
When I saw the cast announcement I saw Vinny Coyle had been cast in it. Who is current swing in Les Mis he is amazing performer. Then I looked it was touring at least until Sept 2018 so I wouldn't get to see him on stage for over a year. I found out he is on stage ensemble and also 1st cover Chris.
I don't have a credit or debit card (a very long story) so spontaniously I have booked a coach to Leicester for tomorrow to get two tickets for it in July and the a coach next Saturday for tickets in September & August. Yep. Its the longest I have travelled to get a ticket for anything by far. I doubt if any of my trips he will be on covering but at least he will be on stage. I have never seen the show so decided the first time watching it will be when I go in July.
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3,057 posts
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Post by ali973 on Apr 14, 2017 11:26:46 GMT
Did they announce an alternate Kim?
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378 posts
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Post by ctas on Apr 14, 2017 11:32:04 GMT
Very pleased by the casting of Sooha Kim, she was probably my favourite of the three that I saw in London including one show in the final week of the run where she switched in to cover Eva mid act one. She had some excellent acting choices and worked hard on her English pronounciation and diction throughout the run.
Zoe I've always thought was a very bland performer, but the Ellen songs will suit her voice nicely. Waiting on a John now!
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2,775 posts
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Post by daniel on Apr 14, 2017 11:33:16 GMT
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4,177 posts
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Post by HereForTheatre on Apr 14, 2017 14:03:29 GMT
What about the Gigi?
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449 posts
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Post by SageStageMgr on Apr 15, 2017 22:05:58 GMT
Just some thoughts on the Miss Saigon revival, typed up to kill time while on the train to work.
I saw the 2003 original tour and didn't enjoy the show, which I put down in hindsight to a weak cast (Leo Valdez, Ima Castro, David Shannon), being too inexperienced in theatregoing (although I loved Les Mis/Phantom) to appreciate/understand the show and seeing it from the back of the Southampton Barnflower. I then saw the cheaper 2006 tour with Jon Jon Briones, Ramin Karimloo and I don't remember the Kim. The cast were strong (Ramin in particular) but the show looked small and the projected helicopter was such a disappointment (the helicopter having been the only part of the 2003 tour to leave any impression on me).
Then I filed it away as a bit "meh" in my mind, akin to "Martin Guerre" or "Elisabeth". I simply didn't understand why people liked it or how it ran so long.
I saw the West End revival in the first few weeks as a matter of course and mostly down to the hype, with the show booking out and breaking records. And I "got" it.
I was in floods of tears by the end and absolutely adored everything, every second. Even the set designs, costumes and orchestrations which I think may have been part of the previous tour, which had left me cold. It was just an entirely different experience than the West End. That summer it opened, it really was the tightest, strongest show in town. I had seen them all and Miss Saigon was the one I wanted to see again and again.
I became something of a regular thanks to readily available day seats, regular agency comps and normal paying, going some 15 times in all. As I grew bored with the performances, I started going in order to see covers.
So seeing as I'm on the subject, I might as well rank the casts I saw:
Engineers:
Jon Jon Briones - absolutely brilliant. Gave identical performances every night which is a dream for Cameron Mackintosh. Not a single ad-lib, blown note, flubbed line. Funny, decent singer. Dare I say definitive?
CR Marbella (1st U/S) - very, very different take on the character. Extremely flamboyant, not as sinister. Yet weirdly less likeable. Vocally the weakest. By no means bad, but felt understudyish.
Romeo Salazar (2nd U/S) - brilliant! More like Marbella's take than Briones, but with a lot more nuance and likability. Cracking singer too and looked the part.
Kims:
Tanya Manalang (Alt.) - mind blowing. One of the strongest female lead performances I have ever seen in a musical, alongside Imelda Staunton in Gypsy and Alice Ripley in Next to Normal. Incredible talent. After seeing her first, then seeing the rest in subsequent visits, I made sure to book only on her scheduled days. She is absolutely tiny with a huge voice which seems to come from absolutely nowhere. Her acting is heartbreaking, particularly in "Too Much For One Heart" and the finale. So much energy, passion and technical skill.
Eva Noblezada - personally I really didn't enjoy her performance. She came off like a spoilt, brattish American on stage, screwing up her face when she was sad, like she was about to have a tantrum. Her voice was strong but indistinct. She had a leading lady air about her, but I found her performance "safe.". In fact, she reminded me somewhat of Kerry Ellis. Competent, strong singer who doesn't seem to try (I'm sure they do really, they just mask their effort) but never seem to fully commit to a role acting wise. I subsequently saw her as Eponine and had all the same problems as with her Kim, so I think she's just not my cup of tea. She didn't seem to share great chemistry with the Chris's I saw her with either.
Julia Abueva (1st U/S) - looked extremely young, like a lost child on stage. Admittedly, she was only 17 and I happened to see her first ever performance as Kim. Real deer in headlights time for her, but no horrible mistakes, and considering how little rehearsal she had I think she did okay. Vocally okay, but very nervous.
Sooha Kim (2nd Cast U/S) - terrible diction. Not sure English was her first language. Sweet voice, largely forgettable performance though. Very flat show I saw her perform in, which won't have helped.
Chrisii:
Alastair Brammer - the real surprise package, because my hopes were so low. Yet he was terrific. I had memories of his very weedy voiced, weedy looking Marius. But he has filled out and his voice has improved exponentially. He looked the part, sang and acted convincingly. A brilliant Chris! Just goes to show that the potential was always there!
Genuine chemistry with Tanya Manalang in particular.
Niall Sheehy (1st U/S) - a carbon copy of Brammer, almost a clone. He looked like him, sang like him (but struggled with the higher notes and the Confrontation breakdown both times I saw him, cracking on high notes both visits). Exactly what Cam Mack wants in a cover!
Dale Evans (2nd U/S) - exactly as above! He was at least visually distinguishable. Solid cover, no added touches.
Chris Peluso - oh dear. He was so wooden, had no charm or charisma. A charisma vacuum, in fact. Stiff as a board, a mediocre-at-best voice. A big downgrade on Brammer and certainly, in my eyes, the cast change was the death knell for this production.
Johns:
Hugh Maynard - WHAT a voice in Bui Doi. Show veteran, very solid and consistent. Not a lot to add - strong performer in a supporting role.
Kurt Kansley (1st U/S) - weaker voice than Maynard, his "Bui Doi" was underwhelming. Came off a little... hmmm... camp. Went on for the final two scenes at one show I saw after Maynard injured himself offstage.
Ellens:
Tamsin Carroll - looked far too old opposite Brammer. Didn't really work for me. Good voice and her "Maybe" was nice.
Carolyn Maitland (1st U/S) - much better than Carroll and a better fit with the Chris's.
Siobhan Dillon - not great either. I know it's not the juiciest part, but I struggle to remember anything interesting about her performance.
Gigis:
Rachelle Ann Go - wow, what a find! Vocally incredible, gorgeous on the eyes and performed "Movie in My Mind" with enormous passion and conviction. It was this scene in my first visit which won me over to the show in general! It was like a belting contest with Tanya Manalang, but it totally worked. Subsequently not too wowed by her Fantine, but perhaps it's that expectation thing again.
Marsha Songcome (1st U/S) sounded and looked like a cover. Had that understudy feel about her (this isn't a criticism, just an observation). Not bad vocally, but not in Go's league. Essentially the role is ensemble with one song, so that song has to be extra strong. I liken it to "Another Suitcase in Another Hall" in Evita.
Natalie Mendoza - thought she was great in Here Lies Love, but seemed to really struggle in this. The worst one I saw and the third main part of a very disappointing cast change.
Thuys:
Kwang-Ho Hong - brilliant!!! What a voice, intense acting. Incredible, can't rave enough. Would make an excellent Phantom. Clearly worked very hard on his diction as I believe he spoke little English.
Sangwoong Jo - erm, pretty bad. As with Hong, his English (Engrish) was a bit cringey. If I didn't already know the words, I would've had no idea what he was garbling about. His voice was nothing to shout about. Clearly trying to replicate the original casting, but this one was a failed experiment.
CR Marbella (1st U/S) - as with his Engineer performance, he at least tried to make the role his own. I didn't like it much, but I respect the effort!
Ethan Le Phong - bad, very bad. Couldn't act for toffee and weak voice. Not sure how he got the role!
After the initial buzz and strong advance sales, business and, later, standards really tailed off for this show. The cast change effectively saw several of the best cast members leave, and be replaced by inferior performances. The energy was sapped from the show and towards the end it felt extremely flat and tired.
As for the "new" tour, which I imagine will be the West End show with slightly smaller everything, it doesn't appeal to me as the West End show was so recent and the idea of paying top dollar for a slightly inferior product seems unnecessary to me.
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223 posts
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Post by Kim_Bahorel on Apr 16, 2017 5:27:59 GMT
I am getting my tickets for this in Birmingham. Has anyone been to the Birmingham Hippodrome?? I want to know what rear seats in the rear circle are like. I know its far from the stage just want to know if there is enough of a steep in the chairs that heads of those at the front dont block the stage.
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Post by daniel on Apr 16, 2017 10:57:50 GMT
I am getting my tickets for this in Birmingham. Has anyone been to the Birmingham Hippodrome?? I want to know what rear seats in the rear circle are like. I know its far from the stage just want to know if there is enough of a steep in the chairs that heads of those at the front dont block the stage. I've sat in pretty much every seat in the Circle at the Hipp and I don't think there's a bad seat up there. There's two steps between every row so it's consistently raked. Having just a large Stalls and Circle (with no Upper) the seats at the back feel further away but not especially high (think like the Apollo Victoria) - that said, I was pleasantly surprised how intimate it felt for such a big venue. If you're buying online, have a look at the "View From Your Seat" page - if you're buying in person at the Box Office, they have this printed off as photographs  |
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Post by Kim_Bahorel on Apr 16, 2017 11:15:21 GMT
I am getting my tickets for this in Birmingham. Has anyone been to the Birmingham Hippodrome?? I want to know what rear seats in the rear circle are like. I know its far from the stage just want to know if there is enough of a steep in the chairs that heads of those at the front dont block the stage. I've sat in pretty much every seat in the Circle at the Hipp and I don't think there's a bad seat up there. There's two steps between every row so it's consistently raked. Having just a large Stalls and Circle (with no Upper) the seats at the back feel further away but not especially high (think like the Apollo Victoria) - that said, I was pleasantly surprised how intimate it felt for such a big venue. If you're buying online, have a look at the "View From Your Seat" page - if you're buying in person at the Box Office, they have this printed off as photographs Thank you very much. I looked online at the photographs but you never can tell when it's empty if you're going to see over heads. |
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Post by daniel on Apr 16, 2017 12:43:28 GMT
I've sat in pretty much every seat in the Circle at the Hipp and I don't think there's a bad seat up there. There's two steps between every row so it's consistently raked. Having just a large Stalls and Circle (with no Upper) the seats at the back feel further away but not especially high (think like the Apollo Victoria) - that said, I was pleasantly surprised how intimate it felt for such a big venue. If you're buying online, have a look at the "View From Your Seat" page - if you're buying in person at the Box Office, they have this printed off as photographs Thank you very much. I looked online at the photographs but you never can tell when it's empty if you're going to see over heads. no probs - I think you'll be fine but if it comes down to it, they do have booster cushions which aren't just for kids too |
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Post by daniel on May 17, 2017 12:18:36 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2017 12:21:39 GMT
Ryan O'Gormon? Sold. See you on tour. |
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Post by LaLuPone on May 17, 2017 12:24:07 GMT
I'm hopefully gonna go on Broadway but I think I'll catch it in Bristol next year too, especially with Ryan O'Gormon there.
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Post by westendcub on May 17, 2017 13:05:03 GMT
Ryan is such brilliant casting!!!
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2,775 posts
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Post by daniel on May 17, 2017 13:19:05 GMT
Also now on pre-sale for Manchester Palace next Spring - general sale tomorrow.
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Post by cheesy116 on May 17, 2017 13:24:41 GMT
Very happy with the Gigi and John castings  |
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2017 13:25:57 GMT
Is John a big role, because it is the most exciting part of the casting for me thus far? *I've never seen Miss Saigon, but Ryan has given me the urge, based on talent and looks (yes, I'm shallow).  |
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1,929 posts
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Post by LaLuPone on May 17, 2017 13:30:34 GMT
Is John a big role, because it is the most exciting part of the casting for me thus far? *I've never seen Miss Saigon, but Ryan has given me the urge, based on talent and looks (yes, I'm shallow). It's not a huge role, but he sings a song called "Bui Doi" at the beginning of Act II which is gonna sound f***ng amazing from Ryan 😍 |
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Post by Joseph Buquet on May 17, 2017 13:42:57 GMT
So is Marsha Songcombe only doing a month??
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2017 13:45:08 GMT
I have no idea who Ryan is, but I don't think I have ever seen a white guy play John. Interesting.
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