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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2016 21:46:19 GMT
I get the feeling that like a lot of shows, people who are regular theatre-goers will hate it, casual public going for a night out, possibly slightly tipsy, will say they loved it.  |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Sept 1, 2016 21:48:32 GMT
Big question: is it worse than 'Exposure'? It was absolutely awful. I saw ghost in the west end more than 4 times and to see it being butchered like this is shocking. Exposure was much better than this. Sarah Harding's over acting killed it for me. Also the musical oozed of cheapness. I wouldn't bother watching this crap. Welcome to the forum mp53, sorry it's to deliver such bad news. |
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Post by westendcub on Sept 1, 2016 21:50:00 GMT
Just to note, this random Melodie girl myself and Steve have quoted, she practically went in wanting to hate it by saying before the show began: twitter.com/_MellyM_?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwSo her views really shouldn't be bible as it is quite clear she went in with a negative mindset from the get-go. Can I just say I was a little wary to see people relying on this Melody off Twitter!!! |
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Post by stevej678 on Sept 1, 2016 21:54:18 GMT
A few more non Melodie tweets. Brutal.
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Post by mp53 on Sept 1, 2016 22:08:22 GMT
I get the feeling that like a lot of shows, people who are regular theatre-goers will hate it, casual public going for a night out, possibly slightly tipsy, will say they loved it. Totally agree. Not for usual theatre-goers. Maybe for children getting tips on how NOT to act. Being tipsy wouldn't help you with this..you'd need to be drunk and in desperate need of a chair to rest on to put up with this. This is how bad the effects were..when Carl died and landed on the floor we saw hands grab him to drag him off the stage. And Sarah Harding did a squeal like she'd seen a mouse. I went in the musical with a positive mind specially as this show was one of my favourites when it was in the west end. I was left very disappointed. I would recommend going to see it just to sew how they've destroyed it. |
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Post by jgblunners on Sept 1, 2016 22:22:29 GMT
Such a shame, was looking forward to this after hearing how well received the west end run was. Don't think I'll bother now unless it improves after Xmas!
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Post by centaured on Sept 1, 2016 22:23:15 GMT
Wow. I was wondering about this and now want to go if it's like "showgirls" bad in such an awful way it's more entertaining.....
Love you all, you have properly made me laugh out loud tonight after an annoying day at work, thank you!!!!
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Post by stevej678 on Sept 1, 2016 22:38:38 GMT
It sounds like we've got a Musical That Goes Wrong on our hands that would put Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society to shame!
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Post by kirstylovesmusicals on Sept 1, 2016 22:40:15 GMT
Think I might book Sunderland now and see how bad this has gotten
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Post by mrbarnaby on Sept 1, 2016 22:51:23 GMT
Really tempted to see this. Can't wait to see the £1 Shop version Kenwright stages.. And to hear Sarah Harding destroy the songs and act terribly- too exciting a prospect.
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Post by theatre-turtle on Sept 1, 2016 22:59:39 GMT
Here is Siobhan Dillon performing With You flawlessly. Not too late to ring her up?
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Post by geweena on Sept 1, 2016 23:04:44 GMT
Will try and post a full review tomorrow as just got home and answer some of the questions if no one does before me. Final thought is basically just disappointment that they have managed to completely ruined a musical I quite liked.
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Post by melly on Sept 1, 2016 23:18:41 GMT
Just to note, this random Melodie girl myself and Steve have quoted, she practically went in wanting to hate it by saying before the show began: twitter.com/_MellyM_?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwSo her views really shouldn't be bible as it is quite clear she went in with a negative mindset from the get-go. I don't usually post but going to defend myself here. I am a huge theatre fan and like most on here was very wary about the casting announcement for this, I admit I hate 'stunt' casting. Didn't realise I would be judged by joking about that on my personal twitter. I went in tonight with very low expectations because of the casting, yes. I love Ghost (despite it's faults) so definitely didn't want to hate it and was actually really hopeful I would enjoy it, but it was a trainwreck, didn't come close to even my lowest expectations. I was surrounded by other people who completely agreed. I don't watch Corrie, and quite liked Girls Aloud in their day so I had no reason to dislike Sarah Harding, but her performance in particular was awful. My 'vapid bimbo' comment was NOT about Sarah Harding (and that is actually clear in the tweet) - it was referring to how she plays Molly and describing the character, if you had seen the performance you would agree completely, and it made Molly incredibly unlikeable. She's portrayed as some sort of bimbo, stereotype valley girl. Sarah was also unable to sing any of the songs, and in fact forgot the words at least once in every single song. Actually humming along at one point in Nothing Stops Another Day. The whole production is very cheap and poor. Andy surprised me with his singing, but his acting also lets him down. People around me commented that he just looked like he was trying to poo! All but Oda Mae are badly cast, accents on the featured ensemble are painful, and I would have honestly been disappointed if I'd paid £10 to see this as an amateur production. In a professional production the cast should all be able to sing and act at a basic level, not looking for Olivier/Tony worthy here. All the illusions have been stripped out, there's no actual pot making, not a shred of chemistry between the leads, the set wobbles all over the place, and the female lead didn't even sing my favourite part of my favourite song because she forgot the words there too. So yeah, I didn't like it. |
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Post by djp on Sept 2, 2016 0:20:13 GMT
Really tempted to see this. Can't wait to see the £1 Shop version Kenwright stages.. And to hear Sarah Harding destroy the songs and act terribly- too exciting a prospect. Kenwright is odd. He can put out a Sound of Music thats top class with Danielle Hope, and reportedly still is now with Lucy, O Bryne. and I think Cabaret with Will Young and Siobhan Dillon was his too, and world class. On the other hand, he seems to go to auto cast names mode at other times, and ends up with people who can't sing, or act, the roles - when its obvious they can't and anyone who frequenst the West End could name people who would do a really good job. Its not even logical as far few people now watch Corrie or the soaps, fewer will go to see someone from GA, and if you are going to put on a show that requires simulating ghosts, you need some money spent on the effects. Its a bit like pantos which cast people even young grandparents will have never known, or his musicals on perpetual replay - which seem to be cast by picking up the cast list from 5 or 10 years ago, or the x factor failed male winners list. |
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Post by djp on Sept 2, 2016 0:25:19 GMT
Here is Siobhan Dillon performing With You flawlessly. Not too late to ring her up? Beautiful. And she even learnt to make pots too. She had some pictures of some on her twitter page recently. |
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Post by djp on Sept 2, 2016 0:32:51 GMT
Big question: is it worse than 'Exposure'? Easily done. Exposure is terribly written, but the two female leads and the ensemble are very good. Ghost can be beautifully sung, and its got enormous emotional potential for a good actress, with a male lead who can match her. I think turning nonsense into the odd splash of quality, is better than watching quality become nonsense. Actually the two female leads in Exposure could probably both play Molly well. |
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Post by universetipping on Sept 2, 2016 1:01:24 GMT
It's simultaneously painful and amusing to read this thread.
I do feel for Sarah as it sounds like she has been horribly miscast and it's unlikely it will do her musical theatre career much good.
Did the audience give a standing ovation at the end?
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Sept 2, 2016 5:36:19 GMT
Just to note, this random Melodie girl myself and Steve have quoted, she practically went in wanting to hate it by saying before the show began: twitter.com/_MellyM_?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwSo her views really shouldn't be bible as it is quite clear she went in with a negative mindset from the get-go. I don't usually post but going to defend myself here. I am a huge theatre fan and like most on here was very wary about the casting announcement for this, I admit I hate 'stunt' casting. Didn't realise I would be judged by joking about that on my personal twitter. Welcome and thanks for putting context around your tweets. Sometimes 140 characters isn't enough! |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2016 5:43:14 GMT
Just to note, this random Melodie girl myself and Steve have quoted, she practically went in wanting to hate it by saying before the show began: twitter.com/_MellyM_?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwSo her views really shouldn't be bible as it is quite clear she went in with a negative mindset from the get-go. I don't usually post but going to defend myself here. I am a huge theatre fan and like most on here was very wary about the casting announcement for this, I admit I hate 'stunt' casting. Didn't realise I would be judged by joking about that on my personal twitter. I went in tonight with very low expectations because of the casting, yes. I love Ghost (despite it's faults) so definitely didn't want to hate it and was actually really hopeful I would enjoy it, but it was a trainwreck, didn't come close to even my lowest expectations. I was surrounded by other people who completely agreed. I don't watch Corrie, and quite liked Girls Aloud in their day so I had no reason to dislike Sarah Harding, but her performance in particular was awful. My 'vapid bimbo' comment was NOT about Sarah Harding (and that is actually clear in the tweet) - it was referring to how she plays Molly and describing the character, if you had seen the performance you would agree completely, and it made Molly incredibly unlikeable. She's portrayed as some sort of bimbo, stereotype valley girl. Sarah was also unable to sing any of the songs, and in fact forgot the words at least once in every single song. Actually humming along at one point in Nothing Stops Another Day. The whole production is very cheap and poor. Andy surprised me with his singing, but his acting also lets him down. People around me commented that he just looked like he was trying to poo! All but Oda Mae are badly cast, accents on the featured ensemble are painful, and I would have honestly been disappointed if I'd paid £10 to see this as an amateur production. In a professional production the cast should all be able to sing and act at a basic level, not looking for Olivier/Tony worthy here. All the illusions have been stripped out, there's no actual pot making, not a shred of chemistry between the leads, the set wobbles all over the place, and the female lead didn't even sing my favourite part of my favourite song because she forgot the words there too. So yeah, I didn't like it. Thank you for putting more context into your tweets. And if you were offended by me sharing your tweets I do apologise as it was the most prominent tweets of the night so it was hard to avoid really. In terms of your first tweet, I did see it as you almost going in ready to hate it, I can see that it was a joke so I took it as a pinch of salt. But if you were at all upset by my sharing your views on here apology's, but it is out there for the world (and possibly Sarah, I respect you didn't tag her in the tweets btw) to see on twitter anyway haha, so I didn't think you would be too upset.  |
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Post by duncan on Sept 2, 2016 6:06:26 GMT
Kenwright is odd. He can put out a Sound of Music thats top class with Danielle Hope, and reportedly still is now with Lucy, O Bryne. and I think Cabaret with Will Young and Siobhan Dillon was his too, and world class. My Kenwright rule is see the plays but avoid the musicals. |
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Post by shady23 on Sept 2, 2016 6:19:02 GMT
I am tempted to go and see this now!
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Post by melly on Sept 2, 2016 10:26:56 GMT
Thank you for putting more context into your tweets. And if you were offended by me sharing your tweets I do apologise as it was the most prominent tweets of the night so it was hard to avoid really. In terms of your first tweet, I did see it as you almost going in ready to hate it, I can see that it was a joke so I took it as a pinch of salt. But if you were at all upset by my sharing your views on here apology's, but it is out there for the world (and possibly Sarah, I respect you didn't tag her in the tweets btw) to see on twitter anyway haha, so I didn't think you would be too upset. My twitter is public, so did expect them to be seen, in fact I hope the production team see the response. I know the twitter and facebook accounts for this are actually run by a fan, so not really worth tagging them, her name seemed more useful. I hope Sarah doesn't see them, but don't have much sympathy if she does search her own name on twitter! Overall I think most of the blame lies with the director. Sarah's characterisation of Molly is awful and Willie isn't much better, 'illusion' decisions are bad, and there's little moments that existed because of the staging and set that it's like the director didn't realise the purpose off so just left in. The poster frame is still in, even though the frame isn't being used for the door illusion, girl still dies in the hospital even without the illusion, etc. Andy's accent and vocals are very similar to Fleeshman, so he has put the effort in and done his own homework, but the rest of the cast seem unaware of why they're doing things. I genuinely wondered if they'd had any rehearsal time with the set, lot's of bumping into things, pieces moving, and just generally unaware of positioning. Whole rear stalls were friends of the ensemble, lots of random screaming and cheering whenever they came on. Standing ovation from them, and good response for Jacqui as Oda Mae, but very muted for others. Andy and Sarah only bow together, so not as quiet as I think it would have been for her alone, but still obviously quieter. For those that want to know what has changed without sitting through this, a little run down (I don't know how to do the spoiler tags, don't read if you don't want to know!) - {Spoiler - click to view}
Completely different set, 'orange sofa' is a orange piece of padding on top of bed frame, everything is on wheels.
There's a lot more dialogue before Here Right Now, some that used to be after, some new. Here Right Now is way cut down. Pottery wheel comes out during original Unchained Melody staging, Molly pokes a piece of clay while Sam sings UM without guitar. They start the 'sex' scene then stop while Sam wheels the pottery wheel off stage, he takes her top off and they wander off stage (it's as unsexy as it sounds!)
More etc all fairly unchanged, still a full size ensemble (I thought it was meant to be cut back).
Lead up to Three Little Words matches most of the staging throughout this production, there's no different sets so they just wander round the stage. Body swap of 'dead' Sam and ghost is fully lit, slow and very obvious - as are all later ones. These are the only 'illusions' kept, but whoever is directing has no idea how to do them.
Still the new song, but back to the Broadway version of just the main hospital ghost singing it, rather than the UK tour version. Girl in background dies on hospital bed, wearing white, fully lit, clambers awkwardly off the bed while you watch, before they pull a sheet over several seconds later to look like body is still there.
Door has a sliding panel, which is (loudly) slid back for him to 'slip' through.
I can't Breathe is back.
Whole Oda Mae section basically unchanged, she actually gets a table.
With You, she wanders on holding the shirts, stands holding them and doesn't actually write the letter (but it's still read out later).
Whole Suspend/I Had A Life section mostly unchanged, staging fairly similar.
Rain/Hold On - Lots of small lyric changes, although I don't know if those are all actually changes because Sarah forgot her words in this one a lot, missed whole end section basically. Choreography is awful! There's a big gap where the song used to end, then Sam continues singing an extended Hold On, people around me giggled (it's not great).
Pottery wheel comes out again, doesn't even get turned on, Molly sings UM, no loving heartfelt moment, he just stands there.
Carl scene unchanged from tour version, director didn't tell Sarah she's meant to be sad about the shirts so she was already stood at Carl's side with it when he indicated to them.
Subway Ghost scene unchanged, a newspaper floats about an inch off a bench at one point.
Talkin' Bout a Miracle is gone. Oda Mae scene only has the one client and ghost, he still 'enters' her body, but without any other cast members to hide behind, he just kneels in full view behind her. Willie's gun 'floats' between his hands, then he kneels in the middle of the stage to get hit by a 'car'.
Nothing Stops Another day is faster, Sarah doesn't know the lyrics so don't know if they changed.
Bank scene/I'm Outta Here unchanged, but still no set. Ensemble change clothes on stage for some reason.
Final scene is very badly directed. Body swap doesn't happen, she starts dancing with Molly then hands her to Sam and wanders over and stands facing a wall. I can't remember if they actually sang here, because I was too distracted by the awkwardness. Carl forgot to shoot the door before opening it, pushed it open, then closed it again and shot it (cue much laughter). His 'death' is very poorly done. He falls sort of behind the 'sofa', which has a plank of wood attached to the back meant to hide him. As he gets up fully seen, Molly is distraught about the dead floor.
Everything from here was met by a lot of quiet giggling around me, not sad or loving in anyway. Star cloth with bright light appears and Sam walks up a ramp into a space ship(?). The end. |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Sept 2, 2016 10:43:06 GMT
Spoiler tag added
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2016 10:51:16 GMT
I really don't know if I want to see this now.
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Post by theatrefan77 on Sept 2, 2016 10:58:17 GMT
You should see it so you can be as appalled as the rest of us, but make sure you get a cheap ticket or a freebee. I only paid £15 but everybody around me seemed to have got comps. I felt ripped off!
Btw, Bill Kenwright was sitting a couple of rows behind me, looking really scruffy wearing jeans and old t-shirt.
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