The Bridges of Madison County (Menier summer musical)

[theatre241]

Wondering if anyone could help? I am wanting to book a ticket for this. But there two on their own and I am going on my own but it won’t let me have a single seat and I don’t want to buy both! Is there any getting around this?

[BurlyBeaR]

Jul 18, 2019 11:51:49 GMT theatre241 said:

Wondering if anyone could help? I am wanting to book a ticket for this. But there two on their own and I am going on my own but it won’t let me have a single seat and I don’t want to buy both! Is there any getting around this?

Try the double browser trick. Put one of the seats into your basket but don’t check out. 
On a new browser window choose the other seat and go through check out. 
It only works where the booking system allows you to put a single in your basket then blocks you from buying it later in the process. If it doesn’t let you put it in your basket in the first place then it won’t work. 

Alternative: ring the box office and give them a sob story. 

[impossibleprincess73]

Jul 18, 2019 11:51:49 GMT theatre241 said:

Wondering if anyone could help? I am wanting to book a ticket for this. But there two on their own and I am going on my own but it won’t let me have a single seat and I don’t want to buy both! Is there any getting around this?

This was exactly the same problem I faced.  I just called the box office and they sold me one of the pair without any questions, leaving a single seat.  I don't get why you can't do it online if the box office are happy to let you leave a single seat.

[theatre241]

Jul 18, 2019 12:14:42 GMT impossibleprincess73 said:

Jul 18, 2019 11:51:49 GMT theatre241 said:

Wondering if anyone could help? I am wanting to book a ticket for this. But there two on their own and I am going on my own but it won’t let me have a single seat and I don’t want to buy both! Is there any getting around this?

This was exactly the same problem I faced.  I just called the box office and they sold me one of the pair without any questions, leaving a single seat.  I don't get why you can't do it online if the box office are happy to let you leave a single seat.

Thank you I will do that! Hate when theatres isolates solo theatre goers!

[impossibleprincess73]

No problem, happy to help. I agree, it really annoys me too.

[Being Alive]

Has anyone sat in the partial resitrcted view seats for this yet?

I'd be look specifically at the one's in F (either 1 and 2 or 47 and 48) - I'm firmly objecting to paying more for this than I did for Funny Girl with Sheridan Smith! (Although if I have to, I will)

[impossibleprincess73]

I'm in F48 but I'm not seeing the show til mid Aug so that's not much help to you, sorry.

[latefortheoverture]

What age is this suitable for?

Might have to take my 13 year old brother along.

[sf]

Jul 18, 2019 11:58:47 GMT BurlyBeaR said:

Jul 18, 2019 11:51:49 GMT theatre241 said:

Wondering if anyone could help? I am wanting to book a ticket for this. But there two on their own and I am going on my own but it won’t let me have a single seat and I don’t want to buy both! Is there any getting around this?

Try the double browser trick. Put one of the seats into your basket but don’t check out. 
On a new browser window choose the other seat and go through check out. 
It only works where the booking system allows you to put a single in your basket then blocks you from buying it later in the process. If it doesn’t let you put it in your basket in the first place then it won’t work. 

Alternative: ring the box office and give them a sob story. 

I can (ahem) suggest with some confidence that applying this method on the Menier's website yields a positive result.

[Deleted]

It could be worth going to the "choose best seat for me" option and asking the website to just pick one for you. Last time I did that, it sold me exactly the seat I was after, even though when I tried buying it under the "select your own seat" option the site didn't want to sell it to me 'cos it would leave one on its own.

[dan]

Had to contact Menier to sell on my ticket (which they’ll only do it it sells out) as there’s just no chance of me making the last train home with the 8pm start time and running time. I was so looking forward to it but now had to cancel trains etc too.

[theatre241]

Jul 18, 2019 16:56:05 GMT dan said:

Had to contact Menier to sell on my ticket (which they’ll only do it it sells out) as there’s just no chance of me making the last train home with the 8pm start time and running time. I was so looking forward to it but now had to cancel trains etc too.

That’s so bad I’m sorry! I really don’t get the 8:00 start when Trevor is directing. It’s very unfair

[andrew]

Just my immediate thoughts tapped out on my phone:

It’s a good score and a good story, but it is too long.

The leads are great actors (Jenna Russell I thought was incredible), and I believe in them, but the score was too much for them both at certain points. When we got to One Second and a Million Miles, I got all tense because I was worried ‘the big song’ wasn’t going to work. It did work (just), and they get away with it overall, but it’s not the right vocal part for either of them unfortunately.

Trevor Nunn (and the designer I don’t know the name of) has done well designing and using the space, I liked the direction throughout.

The orchestra are on fire, don’t know how many players there are but they sound excellent, kudos to the orchestrator and music director.

In the end I enjoyed myself, but I can see why this didn’t run for years on Broadway, it’s not perfect, and I don’t think this version of it is stellar enough to push through the same problems it would have had in the US. I don’t see it transferring and I don’t think the reviewers will be particularly kind. If the leads really warm into the vocal score it would make me feel a lot better, we’ll see.

[theatrelover123]

Was there tonight. On front row in front of Jason Robert Brown who was taking lots of notes. It’s a lovely show but particularly in the first half I kept thinking that there is a great 90-100 minute tight show in here. All the other stuff around the two leads seems a little tacked on/padded/unnecesssary. They all seemed to take a while to warm up. I thought Jenna Russell was Irish for the first 10 mins or so. None of them (apart from the girl playing the ex wife) seemed to comfortably sing the music. It put me on edge a lot as I wasn’t sure if the actors would make it through the song. Jenna is fabulous, Edward is well cast looks wise and sings about 60% of it well but the rest is not that nice, some great support from some of the rest of the cast. Lovey song with the Male neighbour and the Dad in the second half. It definitely felt like a preview tonight. I though the set design worked well in the space and it will work much better once it beds in a bit. Second half music better than the first. Liked second half better generally as it felt richer in terms of story. Cried at the end. I think I would give it 7 out of 10 - mainly as I think the show is padded and needs trimming and the singing needs to be better.

[justafan]

To those there this evening - are we still looking at 3hours run time as I’m on a booked train after Saturday’s matinee out of Euston so fear I may have to leave at interval

[theatrelover123]

Jul 18, 2019 23:13:44 GMT justafan said:

To those there this evening - are we still looking at 3hours run time as I’m on a booked train after Saturday’s matinee out of Euston so fear I may have to leave at interval

Started 4 mins late. Had what seemed like a short interval. Came down at about 10.48/10.50 and it took a while to get out as there is a bottleneck with people leaving through one entrance.

[latefortheoverture]

I tried so hard to love this but failed to connect completely. Such a long story. That didn't need to be nearly 3hrs.

Jenna Russel is good in this. She plays it well, but can tell this score doesn't sit too comfortably with her voice. There were some high notes where nothing came out other than a slight buzz! Other than this, she does a good job. On the other end is Edward Baker-Duly, a complete mis-cast in my opinion. I found him very creepy and cringeworthy. His voice isn't nothing special, parts of this nice score he sounded like a dying cat. I hate to be rude, but he really isn't up to the job. Dale Rapley, again ok, but struggled with the score! The two male leads were completely mis-cast, and bring this show down. I do think with stronger leads it could be 100x better show.

Have to echo above, Shanay Holmes, has one song. And she absolutely kiss it. The only person to be able to sing a challenging song in this show *comfortably* cannot wair do

The set worked, but looked pathetic at points. I got sick of the kitchen unit and fridge slowly coming round on revolves. Getting rid of that would shave a nice amount of time off! A few hiccups with it; Jenna had to slide the wooden shutter to get off-stage as they didn't open. A lot of banging and crashing again. And don't get me started on the 'truck!

I imagine seeing this with KOH would've been starters and mains.

The band sounded incredible; sound of the score was stunning, that can't be denied.

Trevor Nunn obviously wants this to do well; but with them two male leads, I can't seeing faring the best sadly.

Thin critics will take lukewarm reception to this.

[latefortheoverture]

^^^
Please excuse any errors above. It was wrote at 3am!

Some more thoughts;

Whilst the score sounded nice, it's completely forgettable. I can't remember one song.

Shanay Holmes is unreal! I need to see her in a lead role, her voice was stunning.

This could be a lot stronger with two new male leads sadly. If not just a new Robert. Edward Baker-Duly came across quite creepy, and struggled with this score. There is more talent out in the WE that this, I know!

I'm sad I didn't love this, but sadly I just couldn't connect what so ever.

[andrew]

Jul 19, 2019 8:48:29 GMT latefortheoverture said:

Whilst the score sounded nice, it's completely forgettable. I can't remember one song.

Oh! I was coming back here to say the opposite. Having a listen to the (excellent) Broadway cast album this morning it strikes me how good the score is, and I think it captures real moments of beauty. All of those moments are basically in the second act. 

It's almost like what it really needed was for the writers to come together with a new director and sort of tear it apart and reconstruct it. Within the show there's definitely something really special, but it hasn't yet been yielded. I keep thinking about the end, and how it really did tug at my emotional core somehow, and I just want the rest of the show to lead up to that better.

[sophie92]

This show has one of my favourite scores, it is beautiful to just listen to - at Jason Robert Brown’s Friday Night Is Music Night concert last year, the orchestra performed a selection of songs from the show and it was breathtaking, a highlight of my musical year. It’s a shame that the voices of the two leads in this production don’t live up to it, though at the time I gave them the benefit of the doubt on account of the first preview/dress rehearsal. From reading other reports on here, it appears there has not been much improvement. Jenna Russell was a lot better than I was expecting but still not quite there, and I thought both she and Edward Baker-Duly were stronger in Act 2 than Act 1.

This morning I listened to Caroline Sheen singing some Francesca because I like to torture myself.

This could have been so special with the right casting.

[FrontroverPaul]

Jul 19, 2019 8:48:29 GMT latefortheoverture said:

^^^
Please excuse any errors above. It was wrote at 3am!

Some more thoughts;

Whilst the score sounded nice, it's completely forgettable. I can't remember one song.

Shanay Holmes is unreal! I need to see her in a lead role, her voice was stunning.

This could be a lot stronger with two new male leads sadly. If not just a new Robert. Edward Baker-Duly came across quite creepy, and struggled with this score. There is more talent out in the WE that this, I know!

I'm sad I didn't love this, but sadly I just couldn't connect what so ever.

Shanay Holmes was also superb as the Narrator in Joseph at Kilworth house last summer. Her diction and stage presence were both exceptional. Would like to see her in the role again at some future time, ideally in London ....

[theatre241]

Menier have released More seats: there are 4 seats on row D separate from the block and two are restricted. Does anyone onjow what they are like?)

[FrontroverPaul]

Jul 18, 2019 23:13:44 GMT justafan said:

To those there this evening - are we still looking at 3hours run time as I’m on a booked train after Saturday’s matinee out of Euston so fear I may have to leave at interval

Sorry to hear that. I travel long distances by train using advance tickets to see matinees but have learnt always to allow 60-90 minutes between the likely finish time and my booked train back to London. Most musicals are between 2 hr 15 and 2 hr 45 including the interval so Bridges at 2 hr 50ish isn't that super-long really. It's the addition of a 3.30pm start time that's the biggest problem. A matinee not finishing till almost 6.30pm is crazy.

You might still be able to amend your advance ticket to a train an hour or two later but it will come at a cost - £10 + the difference between what you've paid and the new ticket. I would ideally be booking a train departing from Euston about 7.30pm although the London Bridge tube entrance is only a few minutes walk from the theatre and the Northern Line tube journey takes 12-14 minutes. I'd say if a show finished at Menier at 6.20pm you'd probably reach Euston about 6.45pm and would make a 7.00pm departure.

[latefortheoverture]

Jul 19, 2019 13:13:39 GMT andrew said:

Jul 19, 2019 8:48:29 GMT latefortheoverture said:

Whilst the score sounded nice, it's completely forgettable. I can't remember one song.

Oh! I was coming back here to say the opposite. Having a listen to the (excellent) Broadway cast album this morning it strikes me how good the score is, and I think it captures real moments of beauty. All of those moments are basically in the second act. 

It's almost like what it really needed was for the writers to come together with a new director and sort of tear it apart and reconstruct it. Within the show there's definitely something really special, but it hasn't yet been yielded. I keep thinking about the end, and how it really did tug at my emotional core somehow, and I just want the rest of the show to lead up to that better.

Although some songs sounded 'samey' it was a nice score. I am going to listen to the cast recording. But speaking without listening to it right now- I can't remember much other than the act 2 opener and the final song.

I do think if done with a stellar cast, which this cast isn't too far off of, and perhaps stronger set it could be a completely different show. The set annoyed me- why did we have a big wobbly front door slide in and out? It just looked so basic. The had two revolves at their disposal, used for little more than to bring the kitchen sink in and out. Don't get me started on the wooden panels! It was serviceable. The projections added little, I'm not the greatest lover of projection, I think it can be quite a lazy way of doing things.

Have to agree. Whilst Jason Robert Brown was there, I doubt he has much control over this production, other than advice on the way it should be sung. He's an extremely talented man, surely he knows there's stronger Roberts out there. Again that final song was stunning. The only moment I really emotionally cared about the story, was it worth wait a whole 2 hrs and 40mins for; no.

I really wanted to fall head over heels in love with this, but unfortunately parts just didn't click, and connect to me enough. I'm going to give the recording a try and see what comes of it.

[Deleted]

If it's any help to people struggling due to the late finish, the Menier will exchange tickets for another date if there are seats available, although they charge a £5 for this which seems excessive to me. I had to do this for Fiddler on the Roof for the same reason!