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Post by Deleted on Jul 25, 2019 8:27:47 GMT
I think people who are theatre-keen enough to spend time on a theatre discussion board are more often than not the sort of people who decide to book shows long before reviews come out.....
EDIT: (Admittedly there are times when people are uncertain about a show and decide to wait for the reviews to come out to help with the decision-making process, but I don't think mediocre reviews are what they're after.)
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Post by juicy_but_terribly_drab on Jul 25, 2019 8:54:02 GMT
I guess the world just isn't as full of soppy romantics like me as I though haha. How anyone dislikes the scores for this or Light in the Piazza when they're so sweeping and full and lush and romantic is beyond me but I guess I'm just that much of an easily emotionally-manipulated person!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 25, 2019 10:14:28 GMT
Looks like the Standard are going down the sensationalist Times/Treneman route to get clicks. Sad to see Hitchings and Mountford go, who always had integrity, despite the vanishing word count for their reviews. FWIW Mountford didn’t like it either (via twitter) but such reviews, where the average is pushed to the extremes instead is sad to see. Most reviews give three stars, which seems to be a fair representation. The above posted the day before Treneman’s one star review copying the Standard’s one. These people have seen how political polarisation has propped up their failing business model and are trying it on across other subjects. Divide and prosper, it’s just a way to get clicks by riling up its readership, the death rattle of professional theatre reviewing. |
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Post by xanady on Jul 25, 2019 15:23:14 GMT
Maybe it’s the heat but have read the opening paragraph of the ES review three times and it doesn’t make sense,does it?
‘...an Italian war-bride married alive in Sixties Iowa’
What???
Also I have been known to write the odd caustic review here and elsewhere...but to call a show ‘slop’ is beyond the pale...
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Post by sf on Jul 25, 2019 15:32:49 GMT
Maybe it’s the heat but have read the opening paragraph of the ES review three times and it doesn’t make sense,does it? ‘...an Italian war-bride married alive in Sixties Iowa’ What??? Also I have been known to write the odd caustic review here and elsewhere...but to call a show ‘slop’ is beyond the pale...
The source novel, on the other hand, most definitely is 'slop'. Actually, 'slop' is generous.
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Post by theatrelover123 on Jul 25, 2019 15:45:54 GMT
I have a pair of meal deal tickets (meal and theatre) for tonight. Can't now make it. Paid £105 for the pair but VERY open to offers if somebody can use them. Message me if interested.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 25, 2019 15:46:56 GMT
Maybe it’s the heat but have read the opening paragraph of the ES review three times and it doesn’t make sense,does it? ‘...an Italian war-bride married alive in Sixties Iowa’ What??? Also I have been known to write the odd caustic review here and elsewhere...but to call a show ‘slop’ is beyond the pale... It’s an attempt to be clever but how clever is up for debate. If they are referring to a previous musical by Jule Styne that started off called Married Alive and then became the flop Darling of the Day then it is just obscure and clever-clever. If they weren’t making that reference then it’s just a well worn pun on the phrase ‘buried alive’. |
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Post by latefortheoverture on Jul 25, 2019 17:34:20 GMT
I do think 1 star is extreme for this, I don't think I've seen a 1 star show. Its so disrespectful; 1* for all that work, regardless of what you think.
Think 3* is fair for this.
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Post by foxa on Jul 25, 2019 17:46:21 GMT
After a slight hesitation, I booked restricted view tix for this some time ago. I've heard bits of the score and liked it.
I find it hard to believe it's actually a 1* show. I remember there were a lot of complaints about Barnum and it was miscast, but I still had a good time at that show (okay I was comped in, but still.) The design was good, there was some clever staging. Anyway, not seeing this until sometime in August so will check back in then.
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Post by AddisonMizner on Jul 25, 2019 17:55:46 GMT
I’ve seen two shows I would consider to be 1 star. These were:
- GHOST
- 9 TO 5
Of course, this was just my personal opinion, and there are many others who would disagree. I just found the two shows mentioned above to be the worst kind of theatre imaginable.
BRIDGES will certainly not be that, as it has that score and Jason Robert Brown going for it.
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Post by musicalmarge on Jul 25, 2019 21:46:05 GMT
The 1 star reviews are completely uncalled for/unwarranted. I would have given it 3 stars/ 6 out of 10 easily. I totally agree with its 1 star reviews. I left at the interval I was so bored! It’s like some of you won’t actually allow people to say they thought something didn’t work for them and in their eyes bad.. |
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Post by impossibleprincess73 on Jul 25, 2019 22:34:02 GMT
I've only left at the interval once in my life and that was at Peter and the Starcatcher in NY (even the fact that it won a Tony couldn't make me stay for Act 2), I'm hoping that this show won't suffer the same fate.
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Post by MoreLife on Jul 26, 2019 9:48:04 GMT
The 1 star reviews are completely uncalled for/unwarranted. I would have given it 3 stars/ 6 out of 10 easily. I totally agree with its 1 star reviews. I left at the interval I was so bored! It’s like some of you won’t actually allow people to say they thought something didn’t work for them and in their eyes bad.. I disagree. It's like you won't actually allow people to say they didn't dislike something quite as viscerally as you did, although they are willing to acknowledge certain flaws and/or aspects they didn't like, and yet they find that some aspects didn't deserve the 1-star treatment. |
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Post by musicalmarge on Jul 26, 2019 10:04:36 GMT
I totally agree with its 1 star reviews. I left at the interval I was so bored! It’s like some of you won’t actually allow people to say they thought something didn’t work for them and in their eyes bad.. I disagree. It's like you won't actually allow people to say they didn't dislike something quite as viscerally as you did, although they are willing to acknowledge certain flaws and/or aspects they didn't like, and yet they find that some aspects didn't deserve the 1-star treatment. I’m glad I’m not married to you! Haha.... I wish the production well, I didn’t like it and some did - that’s the beauty of art and theatre. |
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Post by MoreLife on Jul 26, 2019 11:01:24 GMT
I disagree. It's like you won't actually allow people to say they didn't dislike something quite as viscerally as you did, although they are willing to acknowledge certain flaws and/or aspects they didn't like, and yet they find that some aspects didn't deserve the 1-star treatment. I’m glad I’m not married to you! Haha.... I wish the production well, I didn’t like it and some did - that’s the beauty of art and theatre. Haha we'd make such an adorable pairing, wouldn't we? Definitely, that's the beauty of it. And it's great that we have a platform to compare our opinions and impressions and.... one where we can peacefully agree to disagree at times  |
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Post by anthony40 on Jul 26, 2019 11:37:26 GMT
I will be there tonight. If anyone reading is going to, feel free to say hello
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Post by anthony40 on Jul 26, 2019 19:03:14 GMT
I will be there tonight. If anyone reading is going to, feel free to say hello Correction. I'm there tomorrow night. Got my dates mixed up. I was one stop away before I realised. Ooops! I've been extremely busy of late. l live in London, so it's not too far to travel |
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Post by anthony40 on Jul 27, 2019 18:08:16 GMT
For what it’s worth, I’m here on the right night and have got my ticket.
Whew!
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Post by theatremadness on Jul 28, 2019 13:55:22 GMT
Elaine Paige was less than complimentary about this on her radio show this afternoon. She was echoing comments from the Arts Desk review, choosing quotes that the "production fights the small space", "nor can the performers connect with the material", how Edward Baker-Duly "lacks the irresistible smoulder" and how "the leads struggle with Brown's deceptively difficult score".
Found it interesting that she would decide to even talk about it at all if those were the comments she agreed with. Obviously nothing wrong with her not being a fan of a production, and I personally think it's good/refreshing that she can constructively criticise a production on her show, I just assumed she would always want to keep it positive with such a large amount of listeners!
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Post by mrbarnaby on Jul 28, 2019 14:26:50 GMT
Also she is meant to be ‘friends’ with Jenna Russell. Showed her true colours there.
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Post by theatremadness on Jul 28, 2019 14:40:42 GMT
Also she is meant to be ‘friends’ with Jenna Russell. Showed her true colours there. I guess so, but I don't necessarily see the correlation there. She didn't say she hated Jenna personally, just agreed that maybe the part wasn't totally right for her. You can still be friends with someone whilst not thinking this was their best professional performance! |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Jul 28, 2019 16:44:49 GMT
Showbiz friends though init *kiss kiss*
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Post by sf on Jul 28, 2019 17:37:42 GMT
D21 and D22 at 25 pounds are absolutely bargains ..and I've just booked D21 for a return visit (the final matinee). Yes, it probably has a better view than the (also restricted-view) seat I sat in the other week (C32). I don't know that I'd have paid more - at least, not with train fare on top - but it's worth that much to see Jenna Russell's performance again. |
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Post by musicalmarge on Jul 28, 2019 17:54:21 GMT
Elaine Paige was less than complimentary about this on her radio show this afternoon. She was echoing comments from the Arts Desk review, choosing quotes that the "production fights the small space", "nor can the performers connect with the material", how Edward Baker-Duly "lacks the irresistible smoulder" and how "the leads struggle with Brown's deceptively difficult score". Found it interesting that she would decide to even talk about it at all if those were the comments she agreed with. Obviously nothing wrong with her not being a fan of a production, and I personally think it's good/refreshing that she can constructively criticise a production on her show, I just assumed she would always want to keep it positive with such a large amount of listeners! Isn’t that theatre propaganda to always be positive? People do make me laugh on this board! Haha.... |
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Post by tmesis on Jul 28, 2019 19:24:57 GMT
I saw the matinee yesterday and really loved it. I don't know now whether the performances have really bedded-in but I thought Edward Baker-Duly and Jenna Russell were truly excellent in this. I didn't think the extended tessitura of both their vocal parts gave either of them any problems. There was one very exposed high note for Baker-Duly but he handled it with a touching falsetto that just added to the poignancy. More importantly I thought they both acted the hell out of it and had great chemistry. I really began to feel I'd seen a different show to the negative reviews. I thought the set and design was wonderful, with everything moving on and off stage fluidly and bang on cue; in fact I think it was the most evocative and enterprising use of the space since Sunday in the Park with George.
But it was the quality of the music that really impressed. Jason Robert Brown is a really top-notch composer. I was trying all the time to identify his musical influences and fingerprints. There were two pastiche numbers in respectively country and gospel/blues style, both well done, but elsewhere he seems to have a liking for compound times (6/8, 9/8 etc.) which give a lyrical flow and lends a classical feeling to his music. By classical I don't mean the opposite of pop but specifically a Mozart influence of purity and elegance of line. This stops him short of the toe-curling, sub-Puccini overwrought expression that Lloyd Webber and others resort to at moments of emotional heft. He really does understand one of Sondheim's golden rules: less is more.
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