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Post by anthony on Jan 16, 2023 19:56:25 GMT
Performance stopped 20 minutes in. They’re now mopping the stage… 5 members of staff mopping and drying… and then mopping again… now using UV lights.
What could have caused this? Nothing has came out this far so it’s not an oil leak from a prop or anything.
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Post by anthony on Jan 16, 2023 20:52:00 GMT
Show stopped again at the start of Talk Like a Man (reprise). So it’s going to come back for 90 seconds before the interval lol.
Seems to be a problem with the drum set this time. Manually dragged out now.
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Post by ceebee on Jan 16, 2023 21:01:24 GMT
Performance stopped 20 minutes in. They’re now mopping the stage… 5 members of staff mopping and drying… and then mopping again… now using UV lights. What could have caused this? Nothing has came out this far so it’s not an oil leak from a prop or anything. Maybe some big girls cried? |
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Post by Dr Tom on Feb 10, 2023 21:14:42 GMT
Made a last minute decision to attend last night when the announcement was made that Andy Smith would be on as Frankie. Andy is a very talented actor-musician who drops effortlessly into so many different roles. I ended up in the centre of the third row, which is a perfect seat.
There was a show stop about 10 minutes in. Then the show resumed for about 20 seconds, but without background music (I presume pre-recorded), so there was another show stop. Eventually, we got going. I had a group of Chinese visitors sat on one side who got a bit fidgety (including a very bright phone screen at multiple points, which I hope was for translation reasons).
I'm still not clear precisely what the show stop was for, but the show started with three people covering the female roles and resumed with only two (Gracie Lai and Bonnie Page). No one seemed to have told the sound desk about the change, so there were various microphones not switched on for redistributed female lines.
Apart from that, it must have been a long day, as evidenced by various members of the cast trying to make one another laugh (at an angle not obvious to most of the audience). On an unrelated note, Tom Oliver wasn't on as Tommy Devito yesterday, but I must say how much I enjoy his Tommy (as a different take to the also excellent Benjamin Yates).
Frankie Valli is an incredibly difficult role to sing consistently. I think that Elliot Allinson is such an excellent Frankie as the alternate (let's face it, he's excellent in all his roles), but he also has the advantage of being able to save his voice between performances. Luke Suri is a very charismatic actor and excellent singer, but I think the schedule has been less good on him vocally. I think Joey Cornish has come into his own for his occasional performances. Andy Smith to me is a perfect Bob Gaudio, but it's a pleasure to see him in many role and always great for him to get the chance to go on as the lead.
The show finished very late and I left through the back route, narrowly missing being bowled over by Benjamin Yates, who managed to leave the theatre in record time. To avoid controversy, I chose a different tube station to continue my journey from (sorry Ben - bad social media reference). Anyway, regardless who is on as Frankie, there are still few better nights out in London.
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Post by billy on Apr 6, 2023 22:00:28 GMT
Got Row M for £29 for tonight’s show which felt like a steal, fantastic view and just as good as the Row A seat I saw it in last July. Relieved by the well behaved crowd too after reading some of these posts!
Can’t help thinking the intro (which has always been a bit odd referencing a French song from 2000 that never charted here) needs to be updated with the cast instead dressed as Italian group Maneskin, singing their big cover version of ‘Beggin’ that was massive here a couple of years ago. A line noting the passing of Tommy Devito at the end would work too, it makes the Frankie/Bob partnership more powerful now they’re the last two standing. Just a great show either way though and Joey Cornish stormed it as Frankie.
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Post by Dr Tom on Apr 7, 2023 7:17:29 GMT
Got Row M for £29 for tonight’s show which felt like a steal, fantastic view and just as good as the Row A seat I saw it in last July. Relieved by the well behaved crowd too after reading some of these posts! Can’t help thinking the intro (which has always been a bit odd referencing a French song from 2000 that never charted here) needs to be updated with the cast instead dressed as Italian group Maneskin, singing their big cover version of ‘Beggin’ that was massive here a couple of years ago. A line noting the passing of Tommy Devito at the end would work too, it makes the Frankie/Bob partnership more powerful now they’re the last two standing. Just a great show either way though and Joey Cornish stormed it as Frankie. Thanks, I was there in the afternoon for my monthly (or so) visit and Joey was on as Frankie then. Surprised you saw Joey rather than Elliot in the evening, as they don't normally have the same lead on twice in the same day. The bigger news though (at least to me) is that Ben Yates is no longer in the cast. The cast board isn't shown anywhere now and the website no longer lists Ben (or anyone playing Tommy DeVito). I can't find anything on social media either and there are no signs to say this in the building, but yesterday Peter Nash was on as Tommy. Peter isn't in the cast but has previously played Tommy on cruise ship productions (and I believed covered the role on one of the UK tours). I don't know how long Peter is in the show for, but looks like the change happened in the past week or so. There have also been some more line changes in the past month. They've removed one of the mentions of "coloured" (quite understandably) but oddly left another in. I completely agree that the ending needs an update. I wouldn't change the introduction though as it's deliberately based around the biggest hit (plus, you can convince people they're attending one of the occasional performances in French). The Maneskin cover I'd never heard of until this post, so make of that what you will! |
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Post by billy on Apr 7, 2023 7:33:53 GMT
Thanks, I was there in the afternoon for my monthly (or so) visit and Joey was on as Frankie then. Surprised you saw Joey rather than Elliot in the evening, as they don't normally have the same lead on twice in the same day. I was going from what was listed in the theatre but that may have been left over from the matinee, looking at the website it seems it was Elliot in the evening after all. Odd indeed that there’s no Tommy at all listed right now so they must be finding a quick replacement! |
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Post by Matt on Apr 28, 2023 23:47:49 GMT
Kevin Fullink has confirmed he is leaving at cast change in July, does anyone know anyone else leaving, or has anyone else announced it?
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Post by justafan on May 5, 2023 22:19:26 GMT
Kevin Fullink has confirmed he is leaving at cast change in July, does anyone know anyone else leaving, or has anyone else announced it? Would you know the date of cast change? |
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Post by Matt on May 5, 2023 23:07:43 GMT
Kevin Fullink has confirmed he is leaving at cast change in July, does anyone know anyone else leaving, or has anyone else announced it? Would you know the date of cast change? I think the current casts last date is Monday 26th with the new cast on 28th, but don’t hold me to that. Also, Elliot has confirmed he is leaving. |
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Post by Dave B on May 9, 2023 9:25:47 GMT
I work a 9 day fortnight, last week was my Friday off. Taking 3 days leave gave me 10 days off in a row, so when a crazy offer (row D) popped up for the matinee on Friday, I thought why not. At the very least I had not been to Trafalgar since the work was done and I was curious how it went. On that front, it's lovely! Comfortable seats, with generous legroom - it might be the most comfortable I've ever been in the West End.
I went in pretty blind and probably unable to name a 4 Seasons song if put on the spot. Of course it turns out I knew four or five songs,
I missed a cast list anywhere but I think I had Joey Cornish, Peter Nash, Matthew Goodgame, Huon Mackley - several of whom are covers. I only really noticed one thing to suggest they were covers when there was one moment in the second half when they are doing the backing vocals and seemed to be misjudging the position of their hands for finger clicks and bumped into each other which caused an on-stage smile or two, I thought the cast were all great.
A very well behaved audience, almost no issues for me which was nice, I wondered with the bank holiday weekend and the offers how it would go. An announcement before about phones off and also about not singing until there would be a chance at the end.
The opening in French was excellent, I really did wonder for a second what was going on and if I was so totally off that the 4 Seasons had some sort of French connection. Nicely done.
I also really liked the end of the first act, the visual and the staging to have us as backstage at a big gig with the lights and crowd on the other side, really striking and just really smart. Amused myself that I thought one of the shows best moments has the entire cast with their back to the audience!
My first jukebox musical and I'm quite happy to admit that I enjoyed it considerably and probably a lot more than I expected if I'm honest. My unfamiliarity with the 4 Seasons didn't get in the way at all and there was only a couple of times where audience reaction let me know I was missing on a big song. While I don't see myself rushing out and seeing loads - I thought this was a pretty good advertisement for the genre.
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Post by Matt on Jul 7, 2023 15:47:11 GMT
Cast change was announced yesterday and 2 existing/returning cast members have mentioned 6 month contracts. The booking period is also only until January, so 6 months. Have they secretly set their closing date of Jan 2024?
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Post by Rory on Jul 7, 2023 15:54:29 GMT
Cast change was announced yesterday and 2 existing/returning cast members have mentioned 6 month contracts. The booking period is also only until January, so 6 months. Have they secretly set their closing date of Jan 2024? Would be great to get the Trafalgar back for plays. The programming there used to be pretty varied and interesting. I've missed that. |
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Post by Mark on Jul 7, 2023 15:58:22 GMT
Or maybe it could be a home for Titanique.
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Post by Being Alive on Jul 7, 2023 17:04:58 GMT
Be nice to get the Trafalgar back for something else
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Post by Jon on Jul 7, 2023 17:13:04 GMT
At 630 seats, it'd be a good theatre for a lot of plays.
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Post by Dr Tom on Jul 19, 2023 10:27:12 GMT
I made my first visit for a few weeks on Monday, with the hope of seeing a final Elliot show as Bob Crewe (or "Crew" as this was shown on the cast poster). And I got lucky.
Tom Oliver was on as Tommy DeVito as well. He's always one of my favourite people to play that role. Now, I very much enjoyed his performance, but he was doing his best to play everything differently, including lots of overacting, some very slow lines, and generally throwing out some of the timing. Some of this worked better than the original staging (and got more laughs). No complaints from my side. I found myself more drawn into that part of the show than I have for a while. A few other cast members really got into things as well, including Matthew Goodgame's crying scene.
I presume there's a bug going around as some of the cast did look under the weather. There was a show stop during the Barry Belson scene, after which it was announced that Andy Smith would be taking over as Bob Gaudio. I love watching Andy in that role, so quite a win. I'm almost hoping that there might be the opportunity for one final Elliot (Frankie) and Andy (Bob) pairing this week before they depart, as they work so well together.
There was a brilliant moment towards the end of the show with all four of the current Frankies on the stage together (in different roles).
I can't make cast change this year, but I should fit in another visit before then.
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Post by Dr Tom on Jul 21, 2023 15:51:19 GMT
I was front row at the Thursday matinee for what I think would usually be Elliot's last "normal" Frankie performance (with the assumption that tomorrow's could easily be a muckup).
Matthew Goodgame was on as Nick Massi. He's always excellent and got very emotional during his final scenes. Elliot was on total form and did look close to tears at several points.
Of course, everyone could just be ill, and so the planned cast could change completely.
The downside of the Thursday matinee is always the audience mix, but at least I didn't have a persistent cougher next to me like earlier in the week.
Very glad to have seen both Jack Campbell and Huon Mackley on this week too.
After a few hundred performances as Bob Gaudio, Adam Bailey lost his lines during Dawn, so skipped a few sentences. It happens. He always holds things together so well.
Tom Oliver was on fire again in his main roles, puling out his arsenal of different accents and actions. He's always such a fun performer to watch.
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Post by Dr Tom on Jul 22, 2023 13:23:52 GMT
Having seen the cast for the matinee today, anything could happen!
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Post by Dr Tom on Jul 23, 2023 12:28:17 GMT
Well, I did attend Elliot's final show, but he must have enjoyed himself so much he’s doing it again today. Sadly, I won’t be back until after cast change.
Everyone was on top form and well behaved. Elliot got a well deserved mid-show standing ovation. His crowd of female fans were there in force. Lots of cheering.
Some random laughs too, but most of the time I couldn’t spot why from my angle.
I did hear the couple next to me talking that it was their third time and they thought people would think they’d seen the show too much. I didn’t like to mention it was my third time - this week.
An excellent cast and sad to see so many people go. If anyone makes cast change tomorrow, do enjoy, and please report back!
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Post by justafan on Jul 25, 2023 21:34:34 GMT
Went to the final jersey boys show with the current cast last evening. They were all on excellent form - there were no hiccups, the audience was impeccably behaved and lots of support throughout for those leaving. Massive cheers especially for Adam Bailey’s final ‘Gaudio’ speech.
Ben Yates was in the audience - if by wearing a baseball cap he thought he would be incognito, he was wrong!!
Oddly, at the end we weren’t allowed out of the auditorium via the front stalls door stage right - I assume if there had been a fire alarm we would have been!!
Stage door was busiest I’ve seen it for a while. When the cast appeared, many were dressed for well deserved partytime. Spoke briefly with Luke Suri who was looking forward to an early night and a day off today.
Tomorrow they have a dress rehearsal with the new cast and then Jersey Boys cast 2023/24 hits the road at 7.30pm. Will I be there? You betcha - would be rude not too 😎
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Post by Dr Tom on Jul 27, 2023 10:39:01 GMT
I was there for the first performance with the new cast yesterday. The audience was a bit muted at first (with the exception of an American lady who was loudly and enthusiastically discussing dogging before the show - the US context may be different), but they picked up during the show.
I say new cast, but a lot of people are continuing, and many of the others have been associated with Jersey Boys before, whether at the Piccadilly Theatre, on tour, or at sea.
The current leads are very strong. Luke Suri is always such a natural sounding Frankie Valli. Karl James Wilson is the underappreciated glue as Nick Massi. Peter Nash doesn't overplay Tommy Devito. And Declan Egan is a really excellent Bob Gaudio. He has the vocals and nuance just right and looks like he wants to be there.
I do hope this cast get a full year. Lots of new covers to see too.
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Post by justafan on Jul 27, 2023 16:58:43 GMT
I was there for the first performance with the new cast yesterday. The audience was a bit muted at first (with the exception of an American lady who was loudly and enthusiastically discussing dogging before the show - the US context may be different), but they picked up during the show. I say new cast, but a lot of people are continuing, and many of the others have been associated with Jersey Boys before, whether at the Piccadilly Theatre, on tour, or at sea. The current leads are very strong. Luke Suri is always such a natural sounding Frankie Valli. Karl James Wilson is the underappreciated glue as Nick Massi. Peter Nash doesn't overplay Tommy Devito. And Declan Egan is a really excellent Bob Gaudio. He has the vocals and nuance just right and looks like he wants to be there. I do hope this cast get a full year. Lots of new covers to see too. I was there as well - thought it was fabulous. They look as if they have gelled very quickly as a team - tho as you say many will have known each other from previous iterations of the show |
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Post by Matt on Jul 27, 2023 20:01:57 GMT
I’ve seen 2 or 3 of them say they’ve signed on for 6 months, and it’s currently only booking for up to 6 months. Maybe it’s planning to close in January?
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Post by danielwhit on Aug 3, 2023 19:56:55 GMT
I'm in tonight (first time since its opening week at Trafalgar). Smallest audience I've ever seen at Jersey Boys and it all feels somewhat flat.
If the audience size tonight is anything to go by I wouldn't be surprised if those 6 month contracts are prepping for a closure...
Edit (after show) - second half did pick up. Audience shrunk by a few after the interval. One positive which I've never really experienced before is 98% of the circle audience staying until the end of the orchestra playout before they left.
Does anyone have the current understudy list for this cast? Didn't buy a programme to get full info.
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