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Post by theatrefan77 on May 3, 2019 22:43:05 GMT
Tonight appears to be going ahead (though I've wimped out of going for various reasons including that I doubt whoever was too ill yesterday to perform will have recovered quickly enough to give an ideal performance 24 hours later). Cast member Daniel Stockton is still ill, but the show went on with understudy Jack Reitman. They only have one understudy for all the male parts and one for all the female parts. The performance on Thursday was cancelled because Reitman hadn't had enough rehearsal time. Considering the circumstances he did a great job this evening. It's very nice and charming show with a lovely score. At times it reminded me of Romantic Anonymous although not as good. It's quite well acted and some parts are quite funny. It needs a little bit of ironing here and there before the opening night, especially with the lighting as there were moments with the actors singing in complete dark. Hopefully everything will be sorted during previews. Overall it was a very pleasant evening and I recommend the show. |
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Post by winonaforever on May 5, 2019 10:40:07 GMT
I really really like this layout of the theatre. I was in row A yesterday and loved the show.
Although I knew the story,I hadn't heard any of the music before, but it felt very familiar (I've seen Les Parapluies de Cherbourg many times!)
Lovely show! 😊😊
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Post by freckles on May 5, 2019 10:59:48 GMT
I enjoyed this yesterday, it's a really sweet story and beautiful to look at - the music is pleasant but unmemorable.
The show is charming, and the cast excellent - especially the wonderful Claire Machin, who stood out for me. The lyrics are a bit twee and cheesy (you can often guess the very obvious rhymes coming up) but often very funny, although the audience didn't seem to know how to take them - at my performance they seemed very po-faced and "watching arty French theatre", rather than giving in to the silliness.
Although it was interesting to see the theatre with its new layout, I don't think the staging added anything to this performance; indeed, the actors often sang two lines facing one way, then completely reversed to sing the next two lines, so half the audience was often looking at a back! They should take a leaf out of Southwark Playhouse's (and many other director's) book and keep the actors moving, or performing sideways on. It seemed like the director kept trying to create pretty, static tableaux, which would have been much better on a proscenium stage. It's much more fun if you do give in to the silliness. A really interesting piece that - some aspects of the staging aside - I really enjoyed. Recommended. |
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Post by gra on May 5, 2019 12:03:42 GMT
Lovely show. Saw it twice when RAM performed this a few years ago.
Thought the 'in the round' set-up worked really well.
Can't agree that the music is unmemorable. Legrand's score contains many beautiful,tuneful songs.
Although some of the lyrics seem cheesy, they are at times very clever and very funny!
The cast of 9 work really hard, and seem to be thoroughly enjoying themselves.
Seemed to be a full house last night. I really hope this does well.
Go and see it!
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Post by winonaforever on May 5, 2019 13:24:27 GMT
Yes, I'm still singing some of the songs, and although some of the lyrics are predictable (it's a translation anyway, isn't it) I particularly liked one rhyme. Something like "at his desk" with "Kafka-esque" 😁
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Post by Someone in a tree on May 8, 2019 6:26:22 GMT
Well this person who does not like sung through musicals and struggles listening to the Amour cast recording really enjoyed this one.
Some of the lyrics are not great and I think act 1 requires another scene, something that advances the couples relationship.
The story has lots of quirks and is a million miles away from Rogers and Hammerstein and Disney and I loved it.
The three principals and its very hard working ensemble are all wonderful. Such imaginative staging that sounds and looks and looks great.
Go go go!
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Post by Someone in a tree on May 9, 2019 15:08:43 GMT
@theatremonkey did you enjoy the filthy lyrics? I know I did!
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Post by Deleted on May 9, 2019 15:27:29 GMT
This seems to be selling terribly looking at the Charing Cross website - eg only a third of tickets sold for Saturday's matinee.
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Post by Someone in a tree on May 9, 2019 15:50:15 GMT
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Post by gra on May 9, 2019 16:20:39 GMT
Looks fairly healthy for tonight.
And there are some good crits starting to appear.
Hopefully will get good 'word of mouth'
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Post by liverpool54321 on May 9, 2019 17:21:52 GMT
Is there a preference for this one re best view from the Row A side versus K side in stalls?
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Post by mallardo on May 9, 2019 17:37:37 GMT
Saw it at press night yesterday. It's, well, unique and inexplicable and has a lot of bicycles. My honest guess was a Vieux-Colombier and Copeau tribute in the staging. The music is lush, the lyrics veer from trite to filthy, and the performances are uniformly terrific. 4 stars from me. More ranting on my site if anyone cares.
I was there as well, TM - I liked Jeremy Sams' flashy lyrics. They do call attention to themselves but anyone who can rhyme Frank Sinatra with Montmartre gets a thumbs up from me. And only the Whore (a wonderful Claire Machin) gets risqué, never filthy. The lyrics need to be pointed and strong - in a sung through musical they're all the text we've got. Michel Legrande's music with his usual sinuous cascading melodies is gorgeous, of course, and very well sung by a talented cast led by the excellent Gary Tushaw and the radiant voiced Anna O'Byrne.
This is a show I've been listening to for years and always wondered how it might actually play on a stage. Turns out it plays very well in Hannah Chissick's inventive, atmospheric production. It's a slight story, diffuse in its telling, as the plot keeps drifting away in order to give everyone - literally everyone - a moment of personal reflection and a song. But when the songs are so strong and the characterizations so cleverly drawn that's a good thing. It's all very French in its sound and in its mood of longing and distant hope. I found it quite irresistible.
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Post by Dawnstar on May 9, 2019 18:31:52 GMT
Seats for £25 / £15 at all shows from Londontheatredirect.com or theatreticketsdirect.co.uk. Having just had a look, apparently not all shows but only Monday-Thursday. I was thinking of going to this Saturday matinee but no. If I'd realised the offers weren't for Saturdays I might have made more of an effort to get down for the preview I had a ticket for. |
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Post by gra on May 10, 2019 10:38:44 GMT
Seats for £25 / £15 at all shows from Londontheatredirect.com or theatreticketsdirect.co.uk. Having just had a look, apparently not all shows but only Monday-Thursday. I was thinking of going to this Saturday matinee but no. If I'd realised the offers weren't for Saturdays I might have made more of an effort to get down for the preview I had a ticket for. I think you can get £20 day seats from 2 hours before the show at the box office. Could be wrong, but look on the Charing Cross theatre site. If so, a real bargain! |
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Post by liverpool54321 on May 10, 2019 13:15:13 GMT
Thanks. I felt the previous in the round I went to at Charing Cross worked better from the A side. You can. Remember the box office only opens 2 hours before anyway, so don't waste time calling in the morning. Is there a preference for this one re best view from the Row A side versus K side in stalls? I didn't think so. Maybe the row A side got a little more action at times as her chair is that end, but they play to both pretty equally. I would say to sit a few seats off the aisle, though, to get a view of action in the balcony. |
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Post by Dawnstar on May 10, 2019 15:59:32 GMT
Could be wrong, but look on the Charing Cross theatre site. If so, a real bargain! Thanks. I could only get there about an hour in advance so I'll think about it. |
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Post by Dawnstar on May 10, 2019 18:28:10 GMT
I popped in to ask en route to the ROH & they indicated it wouldn't.
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Post by Dawnstar on May 11, 2019 13:36:15 GMT
Day seating definitely the way to go. Got to the theatre about 40 mins before today's matinee & got L9 (i.e. 2nd row) for £20.50.
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Post by dippy on May 11, 2019 15:14:30 GMT
That's good, sometimes they only sell the back two rows as day seats which I've often found ridiculous when the theatre is half empty and they stick you in the back row with a couple of other day seat people. Glad you got a good seat.
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Post by Dawnstar on May 11, 2019 17:41:43 GMT
I really enjoyed it, apart from the unhappy ending - though admittedly it did feel very French! I thought the production was brilliant, loved the stylization & the progression of the colour scheme. The movement is so complex I can quite understand why they had to cancel the first preview to get the understudy - who is still on - up to speed. I'm glad I left it a week as I'm sure it will have improved with the cast having got a few performances under their belts. A couple of posters up thread have likened it to Romantic Anonymous & I can see why but I found myself likening it more to the production of Salad Days at the Riverside Studios a few years ago. I spent most of Act 1 trying to think who Gary Tushaw reminded me of & finally twigged it was Damian Humbley. If any fringe theatres fancy doing a revival of Lend Me A Tenor he'd be perfect as Max. ETA dippy I was given the choice between near the front or further back and, being me, picked near the front. So they seem to be selling whatever's available rather than having a set area for day seats. |
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Post by liverpool54321 on May 11, 2019 17:58:58 GMT
We were also at matinee and loved it. My wife gave it 100 out of 10. Really strong cast and excellent staging and choreography. Would definitely go see again.
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Post by dippy on May 11, 2019 18:06:46 GMT
ETA dippy I was given the choice between near the front or further back and, being me, picked near the front. So they seem to be selling whatever's available rather than having a set area for day seats. That's good, when I saw Violet I asked for a day seat, was told none, maybe they had an allocated amount and they had gone? So it's good to know for this you were successful as I do want to see it but don't really want to pay full price and as I learnt from Violet the upstairs side seats are alright but unless you lean over you do miss the closest to you stuff. |
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Post by Dawnstar on May 11, 2019 19:59:29 GMT
That's good, when I saw Violet I asked for a day seat, was told none, maybe they had an allocated amount and they had gone? So it's good to know for this you were successful as I do want to see it but don't really want to pay full price and as I learnt from Violet the upstairs side seats are alright but unless you lean over you do miss the closest to you stuff. I doubt they'll be selling the balcony seats for Amour. One balcony is fully occupied by the band & the other frequently has cast members appearing on it. |
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Post by theatrescribe on May 11, 2019 20:20:58 GMT
I really really love this show - I find Legrand's music so beautiful and gorgeous to listen to, and I think Sams is a very clever lyricist - almost a bit Sondheim like with some of his puns and turns of phrase. Some very funny songs but also some really sweet ballads - the ending is extremely touching too.
I really liked this production although not quite as much as the Royal Academy of Music one I saw a few years ago - main difference for me was I think the funny scenes in the first half (mainly the ones involving the new boss) were played a bit too slapstick for me. I think the lyrics are clever enough that if you play it straight the humour will come through more (I think the guy playing the Prosecutor got this bang on) - it was a bit like Keystone Cops at times. I thought Elissa Churchill looked like a real talent in the ensemble - I'd like to see her understudying Isabelle.
Agreed about whoever said the audience was very po-faced - mine took a while to get into it and embrace the silliness - think they thought they were watching Brecht or something!
For what it's worth, my favourite songs are Whistling Ballet, the Painter's Song, Prosecutor's Song and Street Vendors' Waltz.
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Post by Dawnstar on May 11, 2019 22:16:12 GMT
I think Sams is a very clever lyricist - almost a bit Sondheim like with some of his puns and turns of phrase. Having heard a couple of operas in Sams' translations I thought this was quite similar in terms of use of word play, rhymes, etc. I'm therefore guessing that he translated it pretty freely but has anyone seen it in both the original French & in translation & could say how close or otherwise the translation is to the original? |
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