4,361 posts
|
Post by shady23 on Sept 8, 2019 19:04:53 GMT
I managed to catch this yesterday, purely on comments on this thread.
I really enjoyed it. Was in a cheap seat one in from the left (D46) and no problems, plus right by the exit (the toilets here are a nightmare, never flush and usually a couple are out of order).
I really enjoyed the show and have to echo the other comments about Jenna being absolutely superb. I don't think I've seen her in anything before but I was very impressed.
|
|
1,210 posts
|
Post by musicalmarge on Sept 8, 2019 20:50:03 GMT
^It needs to transfer...it just worked so well...a true highlight of my theatre-going year...so emotional and involving.A dream cast imo. A leading producer once told me “I don’t get people’s obsessions with transfers! Why do they? Why do shows HAVE to transfer? Maybe they are meant to be limited runs? Maybe they are meant to be in smaller spaces? Maybe they are produced small scale for production and emotional value? I TOTALLY understand this now. |
|
4,361 posts
|
Post by shady23 on Sept 8, 2019 21:03:12 GMT
I'm not sure it will sell enough tickets or generate enough interest for a bigger theatre. It worked very well in this space.
|
|
4,961 posts
|
Post by Someone in a tree on Sept 9, 2019 5:32:33 GMT
^It needs to transfer...it just worked so well...a true highlight of my theatre-going year...so emotional and involving.A dream cast imo. A leading producer once told me “I don’t get people’s obsessions with transfers! Why do they? Why do shows HAVE to transfer? Maybe they are meant to be limited runs? Maybe they are meant to be in smaller spaces? Maybe they are produced small scale for production and emotional value? I TOTALLY understand this now. I agree. Quite often the show feel overdesigned and the real design is only released once its transfered to a West End theatre |
|
|
|
Post by xanady on Sept 9, 2019 7:31:12 GMT
^Yes,my comments about wanting a transfer were from the POV of a non-local who travels to London from Brum to see shows.I,perhaps selfishly,wanted the chance to see the show again in the future or to recommend it to other friends of mine who wouldn’t be able to see it before it closes in Southwark.
|
|
316 posts
|
Post by ABr on Sept 9, 2019 8:13:46 GMT
Booked tickets to see this on seat recommendations from here, we were in D21 and D22 on Friday night. As advised great seats, I only missed 2 phone conversations, so barely missed anything. So a real steal at £25!
My other half was lucky enough to see the Broadway production, I had very little previous experience with the show, so pretty much went in blind.
Overall we really enjoyed the performances, and the overall production, although at times it did feel a tad clunky, but you can forgive that! For us the plot/story itself really hurts the show. This 'whirlwind' affair that happens over the course of two thirds of the show, with no real jeopardy on either side, we really just couldn't connect with that! This is all down to the book, the show has some beautiful music, and both Jenna and Edward I thought were really moving at times, and I did believe their performances, I just feel that pacing and the overall structure of the show really damages it. Generally all the performances were great, for us the show itself let it down! We thought the ice cream scene could be the Act 1 finish, and then Act 2 is about the choice she makes, and the repercussions from that choice. But with having very little knowledge of the original book or even the film I can't comment on how faithful it is to the source material. But like I said for us the shows book is a disservice to the show itself.
Glad I saw it, as its another one ticked off the list, and my first time to the Menier which I enjoyed, really interested now I can see the space knowing how versatility of the space. Shall be returning to the Menier but not Bridges I'm afraid.
|
|
|
|
Post by taboolie on Sept 10, 2019 14:51:42 GMT
I was really pleasantly surprised at just how good Jenna Russel and Edward Duly Baker were at acting. Their chemistry and the overall story brought me to tears. I was one of just a handful of people who stood at the end, which amazed me since this was at the end of a week of show going where everyone has stood at everything (from Amelie to Falsettos to Blues in the Night). Question, does anyone think this will transfer based on the fact that on the night I was there, Sir Trevor was in row B making notes?
|
|
637 posts
|
Post by AddisonMizner on Sept 10, 2019 17:50:12 GMT
If it does, I want Kelli!
|
|
|
|
Post by xanady on Sept 10, 2019 17:54:27 GMT
^If it does it would be amazing...but where?The Playhouse?
|
|
|
|
Post by theatrej on Sept 11, 2019 20:50:06 GMT
I'd love to see this transfer but unsure how likely it would be - an early preview saw Edward Baker-Duly struggling a bit, but he and Jenna Russell were a dream acting-wise. Vocally the Broadway cast recording is a difficult one to match all-round. Shanay Holmes was a completely new name to me however and one that I've made a note of - what a voice!
|
|
529 posts
|
Post by jampot on Sept 11, 2019 22:11:27 GMT
I'd love to see this transfer but unsure how likely it would be - an early preview saw Edward Baker-Duly struggling a bit, but he and Jenna Russell were a dream acting-wise. Vocally the Broadway cast recording is a difficult one to match all-round. Shanay Holmes was a completely new name to me however and one that I've made a note of - what a voice! When she sang "another life" gave me chills... |
|
5,147 posts
|
Post by Being Alive on Sept 11, 2019 22:20:10 GMT
It would have to transfer without Edward too (which is no bad thing...) as he has a job to go on to - as does Maddison.
|
|
1,970 posts
|
Post by sf on Sept 15, 2019 14:13:03 GMT
Back yesterday afternoon for the final Saturday matinee, mostly because of the score and Jenna Russell. The set changes were much smoother than they had been when I saw it in late previews - no ominous offstage crashes or spontaneously-opening fridge doors - and the performances, with one exception, had all grown significantly over the last few weeks. I liked Jenna Russell the first time, but she's since somehow found a way to make the music sit far more comfortably in her voice, and To Build A Home and Almost Real were both quite lovely. The scene between Francesca and Marge after the family have returned was exquisitely done, Shanay Holmes's Another Life is still gorgeous, and most of the cast have tapped into an emotional resonance that wasn't quite there on my first visit.
Edward Baker-Duly's performance, unfortunately, had moved in the opposite direction. For most of the show yesterday he was a bland presence with nice hair, and there was (a bit) more than that to it the first time. The scene leading into It All Fades Away has devolved into a rather hammy performance of age/infirmity; the big notes in One Second And A Million Miles were there by the skin of his teeth, and the climax of It All Fades Away was a car crash, and the problems were magnified by the fact that everybody else has got better over the run and he hadn't.
Still, I'm glad I saw it again. The source novel, yes, is completely dreadful, but the musical is a very intelligent adaptation of problematic material, Brown's score is glorious, and I expect it'll be a while before I hear that music performed live again. It was worth the trip.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 15, 2019 16:39:37 GMT
I keep confusing this thread with that of 'Girl from the North Country' start reading and get very confused, ha.
|
|
|
|
Post by Nicholas on Oct 11, 2019 10:17:59 GMT
“One Second and a Million Miles” is, simply, gorgeous. Operatic yet casual, it’s such a glorious sweep of a song: JRB’s pianistic showy-offy-ness, moody Midwestern guitars, exquisite harmonising, and two passionate voices matching two passionate characters. That said… this eight minute long duet does almost nothing for plot or character progression – it’s literally one second long. Nonetheless, not one guitar strum of those eight minutes/one second feels wasted – to spend time in this gorgeous unhurried company is enough.
Such, overall, is The Bridges of Madison County. Often more concerned with charming cameos and mini moments of mood than really re-evaluating a relationship, Bridges never swings for the fences, as JRB does at his best (controversial opinion: that best is still Songs for a New World), but whilst the show never truly digs into emotional depths, it charm nonetheless. Like its lead, its laid-back romance warms your heart, and you want to go with it – unlike its lead, it doesn’t prove hidden artistic depths, but perhaps that doesn’t matter. This production’s workmanlike construction somewhat mirrors the show’s lack of worry over depth and nuance, but sets it in a home you end up feeling homey in. Sometimes, you just want to curl up in front of the telly, watch pretty actors fall in love and break their hearts, and cry. Sometimes you want to travel far and pay £50 for the privilege. Sometimes, you want beautiful music too. This miniature romance is what it is.
The score may not be vintage JRB, but it is rather lovely. His usual pianistic flourishes and those glorious arias remain, but there’s a hint of Glenn Campbell, of Jimmy Webb – music of the Midwest that can’t be rushed. JRB appropriates these songs surprisingly well, mixing them with his syncopation and style effortlessly. It lacks the punch of his best work – often the laid-back songs are too laid back to serve much purpose. Nonetheless, that it’s too relaxing is hardly a complaint, and for a story like this the melancholy of his best work wouldn’t work. The setting fundamentally doesn’t quite work for a JRB piece – he’s trying to spin the plates of a two-hander, a family drama, a soppy romance, and a musical style that doesn’t want to rush, whilst not wanting to write anything TOO challenging, and the show ends up far more mood over meaning – but nonetheless it’s charming.
Sir Trevor’s stiltingly literal set doesn’t help, however. Clunking in and clunking out, Sir Trevor’s odd decision to bring every prop into coherent reality ends up hampering the pace and, worst, dampening the magic. The intimacy this show demands is met by the Menier, but challenged by the insistence to make every setting and every scene as photo-realistic as possible. Perhaps that was his intention, but the awkward pauses and OTT sets make it over-real. At its best, the characters sit, sing, romance and win our hearts. Sir Trevor’s decision to direct it like a DH Lawrence drama is odd, but when he allows his cast to be themselves, there is a real magic.
Bridges could have been quite profound if – as is bubbling under – it had argued that within the middle of nowhere, operas can bloom if given have the chance. In, for example, the rather lovely “When I’m Gone”, the implication is that that relationship – an unchallenging marriage-of-convenience from the outside – is actually as dramatic underneath its initial simplicity, is built on true timeless love, and he feels fears as profound as anyone – simply, instead, tied to something superficially simpler. If you squint I think this interpretation holds up – think how Clint’s character isn’t given an expository song, but his wife is given a ghostly mood song instead. The book, however, presses nothing quite so interesting. JRB’s musical argument is perhaps that there is as much romance in a Glenn Campbell scene as there is in a Rogers and Hammerstein scene, as the two musical motifs intertwine, but the concern seems more on establishing mood than meaning. We never truly inquire into why towns like these are ripe for romance – we just accept it and, amidst a glorious score, get swept up in it.
Largely, this is because the book is uninterested in elevating Robert James Waller’s book to anything. Francesca and Robert are lovely but perhaps don’t make timeless star-crossed lovers – she, in particular, is given the chance to truly express that artistic side of herself that longs to be free. The thing is, hokey as a plot like this is, it’s lasted for a reason. When two actors as charming as these get together, and music as gentle yet simmering with syncopation as this is sung, it would take a heart of stone not to go with it. It’s a winning romantic formula, especially when performed by performers who get the mood. Jenna Russell’s greatness has always been in being at home in soap operas or rock operas, and her ability to convince both as a bored housewife and so romantic underneath is what makes her character shine. Edward Baker-Duly makes a surprisingly good Clint Eastwood (better than Clint), an unforced charm helping the time pass by. I actually felt the two children nailed their performances, taking roles that could otherwise drag the plot or fall into cliché and, like Russell, grounding them in absolute reality, whilst delivering such charming music.
Overall, my little heart melted at this, despite it being far from great. JRB’s score is charming, but not amongst his best, and Sir Trevor’s production treats it as a museum piece already. Nonetheless, I was very much won over to its romantic charms. It’s populated with beautiful performances that give the piece wings, and the simple fact is a plot like this, when given the romantic sway of a Jason Robert Brown ballad, can’t help but charm. It’s fluff, for sure, but it’s fluff that works. Operatic yet casual, it wins you over.
P.S. Jenna Russell was great, but her best work? Um… Fun Home?
P.P.S. Having gone on a Glenn Campbell and Jimmy Webb binge since invoking them, they really were quite extraordinary, weren't they?
P.P.P.S. I didn’t buy a programme – what did JRB say about the novel? My mum read it recently and enjoyed it – she enjoyed the show more than I, I didn’t mind the flaws whilst I don’t think she noticed them – so I’d be interested to know why he found it bad – and why he then adapted it! There are so many romances out there – why this?
|
|
4,961 posts
|
Post by Someone in a tree on Oct 11, 2019 11:37:58 GMT
Interesting point about Double Denim directing it as a museum piece. Very true. I guess that is his trademark style? You know you are getting a solid and reliable production but not one of new light.
|
|
|
|
Post by xanady on Jan 19, 2020 13:25:28 GMT
Anybody else still missing this wonderful show from last year.Thanks to a recommendation from theatremonkey,I managed to get the Kelli O’Hara/Steven Pasquale CD and it is quite brilliant.
|
|
1,255 posts
|
Post by theatrelover123 on Jan 19, 2020 13:55:05 GMT
Anybody else still missing this wonderful show from last year.Thanks to a recommendation from theatremonkey,I managed to get the Kelli O’Hara/Steven Pasquale CD and it is quite brilliant. No. I’ve moved on with my life. |
|
|
|
Post by xanady on Jan 19, 2020 17:27:07 GMT
^Good for you....
|
|
|
|
Post by juicy_but_terribly_drab on Jan 19, 2020 18:37:04 GMT
Anybody else still missing this wonderful show from last year.Thanks to a recommendation from theatremonkey,I managed to get the Kelli O’Hara/Steven Pasquale CD and it is quite brilliant. Yes I already loved the cast recording but I'd do anything to see Jenna's incredible performance again. I don't think I've seen anything as convincing as her shyly dismissing him taking photos of her at the bridge but secretly loving the attention. Edit: also if you don't mind watching shows through less than legal means then there's a bootleg of the original production on YouTube somewhere. I haven't gotten round to watching it myself but if you're ever really missing the show that might be an outlet. |
|
|
|
Post by xanady on Jan 19, 2020 19:02:00 GMT
Oh,thank you,I will take a look at You Tube....kind regards to you and much obliged 😀
|
|
|
|
Post by theatre241 on Jan 19, 2020 19:23:19 GMT
I loved Jennas portrayal especially because its such an intimate space and I loved the projections. Its a really beautiful musical
|
|
5,811 posts
|
Post by mrbarnaby on Jan 20, 2020 17:53:34 GMT
Anybody else still missing this wonderful show from last year.Thanks to a recommendation from theatremonkey,I managed to get the Kelli O’Hara/Steven Pasquale CD and it is quite brilliant. No. It was a dreadful production with miscast leads who couldn’t sing the score. If you saw the original in NYC you would not have enjoyed this here. |
|
|
|
Post by intoanewlife on Jan 20, 2020 17:59:30 GMT
Anybody else still missing this wonderful show from last year.Thanks to a recommendation from theatremonkey,I managed to get the Kelli O’Hara/Steven Pasquale CD and it is quite brilliant. No. It was a dreadful production with miscast leads who couldn’t sing the score. If you saw the original in NYC you would not have enjoyed this here. Or maybe she would've...how do you know? |
|
5,811 posts
|
Post by mrbarnaby on Jan 20, 2020 18:11:40 GMT
No. It was a dreadful production with miscast leads who couldn’t sing the score. If you saw the original in NYC you would not have enjoyed this here. Or maybe she would've...how do you know? I have special powers |
|
