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Post by tysilio2 on Aug 9, 2017 13:48:13 GMT
Thank you so much for your answers! I will try the student discount. Does anyone know how long the show is including the interval? Running time: Approximately 2 hours and 35 minutes including one interval. - From the Birmingham Hippodrome website. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2017 18:39:07 GMT
I saw it on Saturday night - Joreen was on, I'd heard the main Kim was off so had assumed she'd done both shows. Kim is only supposed to be 17 in 1975 so we could argue that Joreen is the right age for her. But I agree she does look younger and would be the sort of person asked for ID if she ever brought alcohol etc. As she is only 17, she'd technically not be allowed in a pub if the cast went for drinks but in a group she would be less obvious.
The show's running time inside the theatre is shown as 2 hours 50 minutes including interval but it was actually nearer 2 hours 45 mins when I checked the time on leaving but 2 hours 50 mins allows for slight delays in people getting seated, interval loo queues etc, so I'd advise people to work from that in case you are booking transport home etc.
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Post by musicalslive on Aug 11, 2017 9:57:59 GMT
Thank you so much for answers! Will go tomorrow in the afternoon, that is safer with the transport!
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364 posts
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Post by tysilio2 on Aug 11, 2017 10:23:21 GMT
Saw it last night for the first time (other than the dvd). Loved it, visually spectacular, superb singing and convincing portrayal of characters. Joreen was on as Kim. Was very impressed with her. Ryan O'Gorman's Bui Doi was worth the ticket price alone. The orchestra was exceptional as well. Ashley Gilmour, Red Conception and Marsha Songcome all gave excellent performances along with the ensemble.
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Post by Dave25 on Aug 16, 2017 19:06:02 GMT
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Post by Being Alive on Aug 18, 2017 23:26:07 GMT
Just home from Birmingham so I thought I'd share my quick thoughts on tonight.
Full cast with Sooha as Kim.
It's the same production as London as we know, and I thought it was great. I loved the recent revival so I was happy. Some beautiful changes to the orchestrations, particularly the en'tract, which now contains a bit of This Is The Hour.
Didn't 'get' Red Conception as the Engineer. It didn't work for me. The whole thing was played camp. There was no menace like you get with Jon Jon (I know I shouldn't compare but...) got better in Act 2 but his American Dream wasn't the moment it should have been. Sooha is GLORIOUS, with a voice and presence I was not expecting. Enjoyed the rest of the principles apart from Thuy, I thought he was very bland and uninteresting.
I'd give it 4*. Just a notch down from London (which I gave 5 the four times I saw it) but this is still only week 4 or 5 of the tour - I'm happy to give them the benefit that they're still trying things out.
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Post by Dave25 on Aug 22, 2017 13:46:21 GMT
Some beautiful changes to the orchestrations, particularly the en'tract, which now contains a bit of This Is The Hour. That's interesting! Was it like the original version as recorded on the Complete Symphonic recording? Or is is different? I really missed that in the London revival. What other changes have you noticed? |
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Post by Being Alive on Aug 22, 2017 15:20:07 GMT
Some beautiful changes to the orchestrations, particularly the en'tract, which now contains a bit of This Is The Hour. That's interesting! Was it like the original version as recorded on the Complete Symphonic recording? Or is is different? I really missed that in the London revival. What other changes have you noticed? They've re-written the wedding song the girls all sing. It has different words now to the recent london revival. That's the two that stuck out. There was a line here and there which changed which I didn't like. |
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Post by stuartww on Aug 23, 2017 12:15:30 GMT
That's interesting! Was it like the original version as recorded on the Complete Symphonic recording? Or is is different? I really missed that in the London revival. What other changes have you noticed? They've re-written the wedding song the girls all sing. It has different words now to the recent london revival. That's the two that stuck out. There was a line here and there which changed which I didn't like. I think they have rewritten Dui Vui Vay [sp?] as these were not Vietnamese words and were nonsensical when translated - i read this somewhere, maybe on here! I guess they have written real Vietnamese now - and just called the song "The Wedding Ceremony" |
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Post by stuartmcd on Aug 25, 2017 23:03:44 GMT
Saw the show tonight in Birmingham and wow! First time seeing the show properly having only watched the 25th anniversary recording and I'm really glad that I decided to go. So many moments where I got chills starting with Movie in My Mind. The cast were fantastic! Felt like there were a couple of sound issues with it being slightly hard to hear Red at the beginning and there was a moment when Sooha's mic was turned down during the helicopter sequence. But what a great production and there were many people wiping away tears as they left the theatre
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Post by daniel on Aug 28, 2017 15:34:36 GMT
Anybody Midlands-based - I have a spare ticket for tonight's performance. Drop me a message if you'd like to come along.
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Post by tr252 on Sept 3, 2017 19:24:42 GMT
I wish I had seen this with Alistair Brammer, his voice makes me weak at the knees.
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Post by justafan on Sept 6, 2017 16:51:20 GMT
Saw this at a packed matinee this afternoon - blown away by this cast having struggled to feel any emotion for the London cast - Ryan O'Gorman's Bui Doi almost broke my heart - and it was my first viewing of Ashley Gilmour in anything - and he was excellent as were all the cast
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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2017 18:26:49 GMT
Not sure how i feel about this... Its the offical 'music video' for Movie In My Mind.
It sounds like it's trying to be a song from a Bond movie...
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Post by tsxmitw on Sept 15, 2017 15:21:51 GMT
Caved and decided to book a last minute trip to Birmingham to see the matinee tomorrow.
Hopefully it will be decent. I enjoyed the revival and saw it a handful of times, have read good things about the tour cast.
Does anyone know if Sooha and Red do the Saturday matinee?
Thanks
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Post by daniel on Sept 15, 2017 15:40:39 GMT
Caved and decided to book a last minute trip to Birmingham to see the matinee tomorrow. Hopefully it will be decent. I enjoyed the revival and saw it a handful of times, have read good things about the tour cast. Does anyone know if Sooha and Red do the Saturday matinee? Thanks Red should be on. I think I read on Twitter that the 1st understudy will be on Saturday matinee this week. Sooha is away, so the alternate is covering the other shows. |
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Post by tsxmitw on Sept 15, 2017 15:56:32 GMT
Caved and decided to book a last minute trip to Birmingham to see the matinee tomorrow. Hopefully it will be decent. I enjoyed the revival and saw it a handful of times, have read good things about the tour cast. Does anyone know if Sooha and Red do the Saturday matinee? Thanks Red should be on. I think I read on Twitter that the 1st understudy will be on Saturday matinee this week. Sooha is away, so the alternate is covering the other shows. Great - thanks for that. I've already seen Sooha in London (she was great!), so will be nice to see a new understudy. |
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Post by tsxmitw on Sept 16, 2017 21:39:47 GMT
Just in from the matinee in Birmingham and thought I'd post my thoughts.
Overall, great touring production that is largely on par with the London revival - and in some ways better.
As someone pointed out the big ensemble numbers are much clearer, you can hear what Chris, John and the girls are singing. Though I would say the slapping of hands on the steel tables is still a bit too loud.
Few line tweaks here and there. Wedding Ceremony is different, some other random lines... I think these changes were brought in for Broadway.
Orchestra sounded gorgeous - as someone pointed out the Entr'act has been re-scored, it really sounds lovely. I'm guessing the pit has been reduced in size slightly but you really can't tell. The saxophonist went crazy during the Exit Music, was brilliant to hear.
Helicopter looked phenomenal and got an ovation. I think it works much better in the smaller space, I think the effect was somewhat lost in the barn that is the Prince Edward. In fact, I would say this set sits much better in a smaller auditorium like the Birmingham Hippodrome.
Red Concepcion - audience didn't take to him quite as much as Jon Jon, but I thought he was BRILLIANT. He made it his own and he has a tremendous voice. As someone said, it's nice to hear The Engineer parts not speak-spung.
Aynrand Ferrer (u/s Kim) - does anyone know how many shows she's done? Must be one of her first. She has a gorgeous, high, trilly voice that is very unlike any Kim I've heard before. I notice she went for a lot of the high notes that are in the original score but which were avoided by Eva. Her voice is angelic but she also has a cracking belt for when the moment comes. brilliant actress - almost filmic choices.
Ryan O'Gorman - better than Hugh because you could understand him. Worse than Hugh because Bui Doi deserves to be much more of a show stopper - Ryan kind of sung along with the chorus towards the end. I didn't feel enough passion.
Na Young Jeon - played a very sweet, child-like Gigi, the opposite of Rachel Ann Go. Gorgeous vocals during Move Is My Mind, she gave me chills.
Zoe Doano - great actress, nice enough voice. She struggled with the low notes. I think it's nigh-on impossible to get this role right. Still think Maybe is a terrible replacement for Now That I've Seen Her
Ashley Gilmour - decent enough Chris and a nice voice, but nothing revelatory. I think it's quite a dull part in honesty. I also thought he seemed a little too young during the hotel scenes in Act 2. But in Act 1 he had the right amount of naivety.
Rest of the cast pretty decent. I'm glad I went and it's nice to see such a high quality touring production of Saigon. I have no doubt the standard is pretty equivalent to Broadway, I'd expect nothing less from Cam Mack.
A handful of people around me were crying at the end - I think this is no greater compliment to the actors and it always gives me chills to hear tears at the end of Miss Saigon and Les Mis, shows a job well done.
***
Badly behaved audience examples:
I swear there is never a moment of dramatic silence in British theatre that isn't punctuated by someone coughing.
Lady two rows behind decided the best time to gradually open a bag of sweets was over the first verse of I Still Believe. Luckily she got daggers from enough people that she stopped by the time Ellen popped up.
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Post by Dave25 on Sept 16, 2017 22:15:05 GMT
Just in from the matinee in Birmingham and thought I'd post my thoughts. Overall, great touring production that is largely on par with the London revival - and in some ways better. As someone pointed out the big ensemble numbers are much clearer, you can hear what Chris, John and the girls are singing. Though I would say the slapping of hands on the steel tables is still a bit too loud. Few line tweaks here and there. Wedding Ceremony is different, some other random lines... I think these changes were brought in for Broadway. Orchestra sounded gorgeous - as someone pointed out the Entr'act has been re-scored, it really sounds lovely. I'm guessing the pit has been reduced in size slightly but you really can't tell. The saxophonist went crazy during the Exit Music, was brilliant to hear. Helicopter looked phenomenal and got an ovation. I think it works much better in the smaller space, I think the effect was somewhat lost in the barn that is the Prince Edward. In fact, I would say this set sits much better in a smaller auditorium like the Birmingham Hippodrome. Red Concepcion - audience didn't take to him quite as much as Jon Jon, but I thought he was BRILLIANT. He made it his own and he has a tremendous voice. As someone said, it's nice to hear The Engineer parts not speak-spung. Aynrand Ferrer (u/s Kim) - does anyone know how many shows she's done? Must be one of her first. She has a gorgeous, high, trilly voice that is very unlike any Kim I've heard before. I notice she went for a lot of the high notes that are in the original score but which were avoided by Eva. Her voice is angelic but she also has a cracking belt for when the moment comes. brilliant actress - almost filmic choices. Ryan O'Gorman - better than Hugh because you could understand him. Worse than Hugh because Bui Doi deserves to be much more of a show stopper - Ryan kind of sung along with the chorus towards the end. I didn't feel enough passion. Na Young Jeon - played a very sweet, child-like Gigi, the opposite of Rachel Ann Go. Gorgeous vocals during Move Is My Mind, she gave me chills. Zoe Doano - great actress, nice enough voice. She struggled with the low notes. I think it's nigh-on impossible to get this role right. Still think Maybe is a terrible replacement for Now That I've Seen Her Ashley Gilmour - decent enough Chris and a nice voice, but nothing revelatory. I think it's quite a dull part in honesty. I also thought he seemed a little too young during the hotel scenes in Act 2. But in Act 1 he had the right amount of naivety. Rest of the cast pretty decent. I'm glad I went and it's nice to see such a high quality touring production of Saigon. I have no doubt the standard is pretty equivalent to Broadway, I'd expect nothing less from Cam Mack. A handful of people around me were crying at the end - I think this is no greater compliment to the actors and it always gives me chills to hear tears at the end of Miss Saigon and Les Mis, shows a job well done.*** Badly behaved audience examples: I swear there is never a moment of dramatic silence in British theatre that isn't punctuated by someone coughing. Lady two rows behind decided the best time to gradually open a bag of sweets was over the first verse of I Still Believe. Luckily she got daggers from enough people that she stopped by the time Ellen popped up. Thanks for this great review! It's nice to have someone going into a bit more detail. This really sounds like a wonderful production. Everything I'm hearing so far sounds like an improvement from the London revival. Is the Entr'acte the same as the one on the Complete Symphonic recording or a new one? I'm so glad to hear the actors are embracing the score, unlike people in the London revival. Lowering notes and unnecessary speak-singing really took me out of the story there. The notes are actors too, when speak-sung in a forced way, I find myself wondering why they are actually singing and it takes me out of the story and I don't like that. It's like they apologize for singing and force the audience to constantly switch with them (even multiple times in 1 line sometimes) which makes it really unnatural. When they are singing, I am dragged into the illusion, completely captivated by the emotion and the story. About the sets, I agree, I think this show benefits from intimacy. That's what was so great about the original production where they used all these small sets, sliding down centre stage. In the London revival they had this huge steel pipe construction on a big black stage where scenes as sun and moon, last night of the world were not nearly as impressive. In this artform, it's important that we see what's going on in their thoughts. Last night of the world should be much more romantically staged, so we can feel what they feel. That scene in the London revival was too bare and literal. Therefore that scene in the original production felt more raw and real. As the visuals heightened the emotions more, combined with their sung thoughts. |
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Post by tsxmitw on Sept 16, 2017 22:28:49 GMT
Thanks for this great review! It's nice to have someone going into a bit more detail. This really sounds like a wonderful production. Everything I'm hearing so far sounds like an improvement from the London revival. Is the Entr'acte the same as the one on the Complete Symphonic recording or a new one? I'm so glad to hear the actors are embracing the score, unlike people in the London revival. Lowering notes and unnecessary speak-singing really took me out of the story there. The notes are actors too, when speak-sung in a forced way, I find myself wondering why they are actually singing and it takes me out of the story and I don't like that. It's like they apologize for singing and force the audience to constantly switch with them (even multiple times in 1 line sometimes) which makes it really unnatural. When they are singing, I am dragged into the illusion, completely captivated in the emotion and the story. About the sets, I agree, I think this show benefits from intimacy. That's what was so great about the original production where they used all these small sets, sliding down centre stage. In the London revival they had this huge steel pipe construction on a big black stage where scenes as sun and moon, last night of the world were not nearly as impressive. You're more than welcome. Largely agree with you on speak singing, though i think it comes from the fact that sung-through musicals are slightly out of fashion and modern audiences find it a bit silly. Purely a hunch though. And yes - the 'new' Entr'acte is exactly the same as the version on the Symphonic Recording. It is gorgeous |
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Post by Dave25 on Sept 16, 2017 22:40:11 GMT
Thanks!
Yes, I agree, but speak-singing only makes it 10 times sillier. Like speaking 4 words and use vibrato on the 5th. This especially baffled me in les Miserables, in the 10th and 25th anniversary dvd's both Valjeans sing the line "Now, come on ladies, settle down" in a very filmic way, both sung the line naturally and kept the word "down" short. In the movie version, Hugh Jackman spoke "Now.....come on.....ladies....settle....." and then used a 5 second vibrato on the word "doooooooooooown" and completely separated the word there. I can definitely say the first 2 Valjeans mentioned felt much more raw and real. On screen. Embracing the artform is the most important thing to keep the illusion feeling natural.
I love that Entr'acte. I'm glad they've put it back in.
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Post by Dannyboi on Sept 17, 2017 19:55:01 GMT
After seeing the matinee yesterday in Birmingham can I just add my voice to the praise this tour is getting. I knew it was essentially the same production as the west end one I saw a couple of years ago but was very surprised they had not scaled anything down for tour,it literally is exactly the same spectacle wise. The cast were just as good too,some better in fact. All this I guess explains the west end ticket price, which I don't mind seeing as they have essentially moved the London show to Birmingham. was blown away by it once more, i may have been leaving a rather different review mind you if my £63.50 ticket had bought me a cardboard helicopter though! xx
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Post by Deleted on Oct 16, 2017 18:36:52 GMT
For anyone looking for info on how to exchange tickets for tonight's cancelled performance see these details Phone lines are closed today but will reopen tomorrow from 9.00am Group or Access Bookings Email:groups@bgetheatre.ie Bord Gais Energy Theatre Box Office Email: justask@bgetheatre.ie Ticketmaster or Outlets See www.ticketmaster.ieIf you can quote the following in your email we will try and get back to you as soon as possible: Ticket Booking Reference number Full Name Contact number 3 Preferred Alternative Dates For Ticketmaster bookings you can also email: importantnotice@ticketmaster.ie |
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Post by ali973 on Oct 16, 2017 19:24:11 GMT
what happened?
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Post by Deleted on Oct 16, 2017 19:40:36 GMT
the storm thats currently battering ireland
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