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Post by Dr Tom on Jun 6, 2019 19:53:48 GMT
Finally saw this last night and enjoyed it.
The second row Circle seat was a good one. At the side, but not the side with a beam blocking your view. You couldn't see the edge of the stage but the action mostly avoids this and the rake is high enough there's no one blocking you in front.
Very simple staging, but I liked the use of the ball pool and a lot of the imagery throughout. One of the helium balloons ended up flying up to the ceiling. That will have been a pain to get down.
They didn't have a celebrity to play Daddy Brubeck, so one of the ensemble (Shaq Taylor) played the role. He sang well.
I liked Anne-Marie Duff's acting. I think her singing was fine for the Donmar, but I don't know if she'd be right if this transferred to a bigger venue (which I'm sure is the plan as the ticket prices can't have covered the costs). The acting highlight was Arthur Darvill. And I also liked how they included a non-binary actor as part of the strippers.
Glad to have finally been in the Donmar. It's a cosy venue, but a good space for creative productions.
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Post by nialld on Jun 8, 2019 10:56:16 GMT
Saw this for the second time last night (both via Young + Free - weirdly it was very easy to get a free ticket to this if you were Under 26, on both occasions I turned up/phoned up at the day and got free tickets immediately despite not winning in the ballot on any occasion!)
I just think Anne Marie Duff is fantastic in this - sure she's not the greatest singer, but if you listen to the OBC I wouldn't say the quality of her singing voice is that dissimilar to Gwen Verdon. She presents such a great character in Charity and completely nails both the tragic and triumphant facets of her arc - I'd go as far to say that it's one of my favourite acting performances I've seen on the stage. Beverley Knight was back as Daddy Brubeck (I think for just Thursday and Friday this week) which was a real treat as well. I was a big fan of the staging and general concept of the production, I think it was my first experience seeing a musical in such an intimate setting which I really appreciated too.
It's a really terrific experience being in an audience where the majority are under 26 as well - so important that Donmar and other theatres have initiatives like this to ensure that young people get to experience theatre and ignite a passion for it. The audience last night totally loved it with huge applause and whooping after each song, audible reactions to certain key moments and a full standing ovation at the end.
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Post by nialld on Jun 9, 2019 10:08:15 GMT
That's interesting about the scheme nialld . It's up to them how they run it, but rather sad it isn't totally full and also that someone can see it twice on a free ticket. I mean, it's great the seat hasn't gone to waste and gone to someone who appreciates it, but it defeats the object of allowing "as many as possible" to see it free, as it were. Wonder if they have the marketing of the scheme right? Yes I do agree. The fact that I hadn't gotten a chance to book Young + Free tickets through the ballot made me think that they were way oversubscribed and I wouldn't be able to get a ticket this way. I had heard they did have a returns queue so the first time I saw it I went on a whim, expecting to have to queue for a while and maybe get in right before it started on a not so great seat. I was pretty surprised that I was able to walk in at 6pm and get a free ticket straight away, and a really great seat in the centre of the second row of the stalls to boot, that would have cost me £40 if I'd paid full whack. I was even more surprised when I got in and there were lots of empty seats - it was probably only about two-thirds full, which felt strange in a theatre like Donmar which has a reputation for basically selling out every performance. It was more full when I saw it this Friday (only a few empty seats dotted around from what I saw) but still ridiculously easy for me to get another free ticket to it. I think the issue is two-fold - there's always an issue when you give out free tickets that people don't show up, as there's less of an incentive to actually turn up if you haven't paid for it. I think the way of dealing with that is making people more aware of the scheme and the fact that they had a very active returns queue - like you said, I think the marketing was off with this one, lots of my friends who I spoke to about it had no idea they were even doing the 'Sweet Fridays' initiative and definitely didn't think you could just rock up on the day and easily get a ticket - people had the perception that this was a really hard production to get a ticket for. That being said, the amount of no-shows required to have that amount of empty seats the first time I saw it was unusual, so I wonder if on that particular night they had a schools booking or something that cancelled last minute? I think they've also shot themselves in the foot by having it as a 'ballot' - it makes it seem elitist and too difficult to get a ticket, meaning people just give up on it. It makes sense when they only have a splattering of free tickets across the run and the demand far outstrips the allocation, but that clearly wasn't the case in this situation. It would have served them much better to have open booking for all the Friday performances for under 26s, and then had better publicity surrounding the returns queue. That's the way the Almeida does it for their under 26s free performances, and all of the ones I've attended there have always felt completely full. It must have been a very huge donation that facilitated all Friday performances being Young + Free so seems a shame for that donor that the Donmar didn't really go about it properly and it wasn't always completely full. That being fun, I LOVED this production and am very glad I got to see it twice, and it was an excellent audience atmosphere both times I watched with the show clearly very much engaging its audience - so it served its purpose in that respect. |
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Post by Dr Tom on Jun 9, 2019 17:12:16 GMT
I was even more surprised when I got in and there were lots of empty seats - it was probably only about two-thirds full, which felt strange in a theatre like Donmar which has a reputation for basically selling out every performance. There were a few empty seats on Wednesday as well, both singles and pairs, scattered around the theatre. That was even after the let a few people who had been waiting in (presumably trying their luck on the night). IF I remember, one was second row centre, so maybe there are seats they save for celebrities and members that aren't taken? One thing that impressed me that I don't think I mentioned. As well as the usual signs reminding people to turn their phones off, this also mentioned smartwatches. The result? No phones or watches making noises or lighting up during the performance. |
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Post by mrbarnaby on Jun 9, 2019 18:42:04 GMT
Cannot believe anyone would enjoy this mess of a show. A leading lady (too old for the part)with a voice like a bag of spanner’s and a nonesensical staging that only goes for style over substance. One of the worst shows I’ve ever seen. Good riddance to it. And may Josie Rourke never get her hands on another musical again. Useless director.
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Post by xanady on Jun 9, 2019 18:48:05 GMT
.... but what did you reeaallly think?
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Post by andrew on Nov 24, 2019 22:09:48 GMT
Giving the Best Musical Performance award to someone who can barely follow a melody is a... bold choice.
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Post by xanady on Nov 24, 2019 22:52:47 GMT
^Richly deserved win by Anne-Marie Duff at the Evening Standard awards tonight...one of my favourite all-round performances of the year...she really ‘lived’ the part for me.
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Post by sparky5000 on Nov 24, 2019 23:31:44 GMT
Giving the Best Musical Performance award to someone who can barely follow a melody is a... bold choice. I feel the same tbh. I mean I thought it was a great acting performance but the singing just wasn’t really there for me. But I’d take her over Sheridan Smith in Joseph. Feels like they just nominated the theatre / industry darlings, rather than based it on actual performance idk. Andy Nyman was the other nominee for musical performance. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 24, 2019 23:47:09 GMT
Giving the Best Musical Performance award to someone who can barely follow a melody is a... bold choice. I feel the same tbh. I mean I thought it was a great acting performance but the singing just wasn’t really there for me. But I’d take her over Sheridan Smith in Joseph. Feels like they just nominated the theatre / industry darlings, rather than based it on actual performance idk. Andy Nyman was the other nominee for musical performance. Although I didnt enjoy Fiddler on the Roof, I think Nyman should have won this. Blows the other two out of the water. All these awards shows are always just a schmooze-fest. |
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Post by mrbarnaby on Nov 25, 2019 7:46:02 GMT
Can’t believe she won this! Oh actually.. it’s the Standard awards.. yes I can.
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