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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2017 5:03:15 GMT
Ive not see Sixpence but their work in Poppins was flawless and fitted seemlessly into the old songs and stood up against them. Betty Blue Eyes, which admittedly i hated, did have some great songs...its was everything else that let it down. Soho Cinders again has great songs. Their Spoonfull of Stiles and Drewe concert many years back highlighted their great work and the CD is a good reminder. I can definately see why Camerom champions them as they are probably the best the UK has to offer at the moment but they have mever found that big break out solo hit.
I did think they would have been better composers for Charlie and the chocolate factory
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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2017 7:39:48 GMT
A solid 3 stars from me. An enjoyable, but unremarkable show, I imagine kids will love it!
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Post by mrbarnaby on Jun 17, 2017 21:57:54 GMT
I'm being taken to see it this week and rather dreading it. My friend has paid so I may have to pretend to like it if I'm not enjoying it  / |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2017 11:48:34 GMT
Why should you enjoy it? Isn't it intended for children?
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Post by Boob on Jun 18, 2017 15:27:21 GMT
...
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2017 20:52:16 GMT
Went to pre order this on iTunes and its €44.99 !!!!!! (In Ireland so its euros) Is that similar to price being charged in UK?
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Post by danb on Jun 18, 2017 20:55:50 GMT
£7.99 on uk itunes.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Jun 18, 2017 20:56:38 GMT
Went to pre order this on iTunes and its €44.99 !!!!!! (In Ireland so its euros) Is that similar to price being charged in UK? It's £7.99 on preorder. Release date 30/6 |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2017 22:02:29 GMT
Went to pre order this on iTunes and its €44.99 !!!!!! (In Ireland so its euros) Is that similar to price being charged in UK? It's £7.99 on preorder. Release date 30/6 I See .... Hopefully the price on the Irish iTunes incorrect |
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Post by showbizkid on Jun 23, 2017 9:34:59 GMT
So sadly I was left cold by this tonight. It just never quite clicked for me. Maybe it's just me, perhaps I'm not the target market - the design is good, the casting is good, but the book and score just aren't up to scratch. Given how much I loved Sixpence and Poppins, it's a real disappointment from the same team. Ran pretty much bang on 2.5 hours, no real technical hiccups to note. Mixed reaction from the audience, some clapping and cheering, some more muted. Programmes £6.50 and are the larger, glossier sort. Assortment of the usual merchandise including t-shirts, mugs and the like. Adverts for the cast recording coming soon. Worth a watch if at a discount and with a family, but sadly can't really recommend it as anything more than "just okay". 3 stars. I saw this last night and completely agree. Wonderful cast, set, cute story, nice production but it's all a bit boring. 7/10 To delve deeper into the story it actually brings up horrible class issues in British society!! |
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Post by phantom1986 on Jun 23, 2017 11:24:19 GMT
Must agree with what has already been said on this. It's quite boring and never takes flight, despite a beautiful set and talented cast. The large group of scouts and brownies behind us seemed almost sedated by the interval. They and a lot of the audience were completely baffled as to what was actually going on.
It's also a shame to see a show in 2017 where all the featured female characters (and there aren't many of them) are depicted as either stupid or boring/worrying mothers. Not a great example to the little girls in the audience. In the age of Frozen and Wonder Woman I thought we'd moved past all of that... a bit of a dud. Avoid.
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Post by westendwendy on Jun 23, 2017 14:27:47 GMT
Denise Welch cannot sing at all and her timing is all over the place. I also thought that she should not have played the barge woman in the second act. Just no reason. I totally agree on the class issues. I found Toad with his big house and posh RP accent and the foxes and weasles with their cockney accents a disgraceful reality check to today's society. The show looks so nice and the costumes and design and music all so sweet but goodness it is a boring musical. The people next to me left at the interval. *** Three stars from me.
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Post by Ade on Jun 23, 2017 21:32:47 GMT
Saw this tonight and it really was a hard slog. It just poodles along and while the sets and some of the music do the job, nothing quite works. Could not stand Rufus Hound as Toad I'm afraid. Wanted to enjoy it but for me it's less Poop Poop and more just plain old poop. I would say the majority of the audience were in the same boat as me - there were some kids next to us who looked bored out of their minds.
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Post by firefingers on Jun 23, 2017 23:06:49 GMT
Already on 40% discount at TKTS...
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Post by mrbarnaby on Jun 24, 2017 16:06:55 GMT
Well. That was as flat as a pancake. Why have they even bothered putting this show on? The script is terrible. The music is so middle of the road it makes Gary Barlows music sound positively cutting edge. Not a single song rises above mediocre.
Performance wise the only redeeming feature is Neil McDermott who is pretty terrific, great energy and a real sense of character and not just reciting his lines... unlike pretty much everyone else. The show came alive when he was on stage, when he wasn't..Zzzzzzzzzz
Rufus Hound is meh. Didn't generate a single laugh from anyone sat around us.
Talking of which, where is the humour? It's so clinically unfunny.
The only bright spot (Neil McD aside) is the design- some lovely stage pictures, it's the best looking show I've seen at the Palladium for years , not an easy stage to design for.
It did make me feel a warm nostalgic glow though for the glorious NT version years ago. One of my top 5 shows of all time.
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Post by wickedgrin on Jun 24, 2017 16:18:27 GMT
Oh yes that NT production and that infamous drum revolve used to it's full capacity. Alan Bennett script if I remember rightly?
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Post by mrbarnaby on Jun 24, 2017 17:45:00 GMT
Oh yes that NT production and that infamous drum revolve used to it's full capacity. Alan Bennett script if I remember rightly? Indeed.. and a quite spectacular design. Perhaps the best use ever of that drum revolve. |
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Post by longinthetooth on Jun 24, 2017 19:21:37 GMT
I agree with most others here. Thought Rufus Hound was awful, and not at all sure what Denise Welsh was doing there. The whole thing was totally forgettable. However, the kids around me were all as good as gold and totally absorbed in it (either that, or they'd fallen asleep with boredom!), and I heard one mother saying it was wonderful!
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Post by crabtree on Jun 24, 2017 21:18:59 GMT
yep the Bennett NT version was excellent, and hinted at slightly deeper things, especially in the relationship between the four. Ever since a kid, and through professional contact with Toad for many years, I always thought that Toad was the loud gay character, with the others being a little more discreet. But to treat Willows as simply a children's story on one level is so wrong...there is so much going on, especially about the industrialisation of the countryside, that Toad escalates, and the whole relationship between the gentry and the wild wooders. and then the females get very short shrift. And into all this comes Pan, and the Travelling Rat. a lot about male friendship and responsibility going on here.
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Post by mrbarnaby on Jun 25, 2017 13:57:38 GMT
yep the Bennett NT version was excellent, and hinted at slightly deeper things, especially in the relationship between the four. Ever since a kid, and through professional contact with Toad for many years, I always thought that Toad was the loud gay character, with the others being a little more discreet. But to treat Willows as simply a children's story on one level is so wrong...there is so much going on, especially about the industrialisation of the countryside, that Toad escalates, and the whole relationship between the gentry and the wild wooders. and then the females get very short shrift. And into all this comes Pan, and the Travelling Rat. a lot about male friendship and responsibility going on here. Yep. All of which this version doesn't even bother with. |
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Post by kathryn on Jun 25, 2017 23:14:37 GMT
I wonder if the NT have an archive recording of their production? I think, from what I'm reading here, I'd rather see that one.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 26, 2017 22:46:54 GMT
Just home from seeing this, and I largely concur with the previous comments on the unremarkable set and songs - for act 1.
The second act is by far much much better and whereas I was left numb at the interval, by the end I was loving it. Definitely a show that is practically two different musicals entirely.
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Post by theatremadness on Jun 27, 2017 16:39:27 GMT
I was also there last night! Wasn't too bothered about Rufus Hound being off and I thought Chris Aukett did remarkably well as Toad, since he was informed at 5pm, the show started at 7pm, and he had never run through the entire show from start to finish. A couple of semi-noticeable slip ups and a bit "deer in headlights" but that's hardly surprising and he should be ever so proud of himself. He could also have a job as a Rufus Hound impersonator as he looked, acted and sounded exactly like him. If I hadn't have been told, I might even have been fooled. But a nice speech from Simon Lipkin pre-show.
As for the show, well in my opinion it is completely unremarkable in every respect. The ultimate definition of style over substance, with the style also being just ok. Tl;dr BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORING.
It looks alright, I guess, but the stage looked pretty bare most of the time. It looks big, sure, but looking at how much of the proscenium was blacked out, it seemed to me that they weren't using anywhere near the full potential of the Palladium stage. Why use such a big theatre? Lighting was cool and the pretty big orchestra sounded great. Shame they have such dull and bland material to play.
The story/script itself seemed to be a pretty much non-entity. It was pretty much devoid of all humour, it had nowhere near the right mix of silliness, drama and pathos for any child to keep themselves interested and take something away from it apart from shouting "POOP POOP" around the house for the foreseeable future, and too mind-numbingly boring for any adult without an interest in theatre to need to see it on their own. The main character, who appears to have many faults as a person, learns absolutely nothing by the end of the show and is redeemed by no one!! The songs are a big let down. They are masked by a big orchestra and big orchestrations, but they are mostly forgettable with lazy, predictable lyrics and uninteresting music. All a big shame as I usually find Stiles & Drewe to be very listenable and wittily unpredictable. This whole project feels like they've written the most commercial score they can think of (to varying degrees of success) and abandoned all of their usual heart, soul & cleverness.
The character choices and directorial devices were, again, pretty lazy and uninspiring on the whole. Different accents depicting different animals, dress them in a mix of current fashion and animal characteristics, all been done before. I know if it ain't broke don't fix it, but why did they even need to bother at all? And I'm pretty sure Craig Mather's accent would be a terrible insult to anyone who lives anywhere close to the West Country! Choreography pretty bad on the whole, I thought. Not all of it - but a lot of it was reminiscent of choreography you'd expect to see in amateur and youth productions. No disrespect to any of them, of course, but not what you'd expect from a professional show on the Palladium stage! Cast were pretty good on the whole - and they sounded great as an ensemble. But all directed with no real character choices and are made to sound as if they could all drop into Mary Poppins/Made In Dagenham/Half A Sixpence at a moment's notice.
OK, so I realise that all reads as if it's the worst musical I have ever seen. It really isn't. But what it is, in my opinion, is almost worse. It's an unnecessary musical and that is SO frustrating. The team behind it seem to have made absolutely no conscious effort to bring anything new or interesting to this story. The sub-plot of Mrs Otter's daughter has absolutely no drama surrounding it, and neither does the rest of the show. I know it's a family show, but that's not the point. Matilda, Mary Poppins, Chitty. They don't treat kids like they're stupid, they invest in some actual drama, tension and stakes amidst all the fun, and they work because the majority of kids can take it. Here, they seem to think kids can't handle anything above very mild peril and the show suffers for it. There's just so reason for it to be a musical of this scale (though it is nice to see!), especially with an almost 1 hour 20 Act 1. A 90 minute straight-through version would've had more impact. But still, the reaction at the end was extremely positive and loud, which is good. And a pretty well-behaved audience, too.
I'd give it 2* or 3*, maybe even a 3.5* but it's certainly not anything more than that, in my opinion! Press performances Mon-Thurs this week, with the official "Gala" performance on Thursday, which is when all reviews are embargoed until, I believe.
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Post by theatremadness on Jun 27, 2017 17:09:23 GMT
which is when all reviews are embargoed until, I believe. They are, which is why I can't go into my own thoughts at the moment, theatremadness . That makes sense - look forward to hearing your thoughts in a couple of days time! |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Jun 27, 2017 18:47:39 GMT
I know it's a family show, but that's not the point. Matilda, Mary Poppins, Chitty. They don't treat kids like they're stupid, they invest in some actual drama, tension and stakes amidst all the fun, and they work because the majority of kids can take it. Here, they seem to think kids can't handle anything above very mild peril and the show suffers for it. Where in Poppins and Chitty is there anything more than mild peril? They're not exactly The bleedin' Exorcist! 👻 |
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