544 posts
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Post by amp09 on Nov 25, 2019 20:34:08 GMT
We must not underestimate the cultural differences between the USA and the UK. Subjects as "the victim role" and "anxiety" are perceived in a different way Helpful, yes, didn't think of that. Worrying that the USA is going the way you describe. could suffer and feel for Jamie and Billy Elliot Jamie and Billy were both truthful, so they were easy to sympathise with and cheer on as they used what they had to get somewhere. I’m mystified by the anxiety /depression debate about this and how supposedly appalling Evan is. I took it that he , in the heat of the moment, created a lie to try and ease the suffering of the grieving parents- and then it just snowballed. And that everyone else around him, particularly the girl at his school, behaved awfully. I think maybe because he had few social skills due to those issues, he couldn't see how to deal with it any other way. Later, he used his own experiences to fabricate the lie ever more convincingly? That's my take anyway. Bring back Billy! Pleaseeeeeeeeeeeee |
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Post by danb on Nov 25, 2019 21:32:29 GMT
All of this! I found the Murphy's to be the most real characters simply because their grief was a lot more believable than whatever it is that Evan & his Mums deal is. Empathy is so much more affecting than sympathy. I felt for all that they were feeling. Evan & his Mum were the authors of their own fates to an extent, so harder to card about. Regardless, performances were uniformly excellent, so great to see people doing the best with what they have got to work with.
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1,562 posts
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Post by showtoones on Nov 26, 2019 3:58:24 GMT
Marcus was on tonight (Monday)...was Sam out of the show ill? Was it a scheduled absence?
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1,102 posts
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Post by zak97 on Nov 26, 2019 6:35:31 GMT
Marcus was on tonight (Monday)...was Sam out of the show ill? Was it a scheduled absence? I’m guessing because he performed at the Evening Standard Awards last night. |
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Post by Scswp on Nov 26, 2019 6:38:39 GMT
Marcus was on tonight (Monday)...was Sam out of the show ill? Was it a scheduled absence? Maybe the alternate performances are not a set schedule each week. Sometimes they mix it up a bit. Monday is generally a ‘good’ night to put the alternate on, as it gives the main star 2 days of rest. For Kim in the most recent production of Miss Saigon, the alternate shows varied considerably each week. |
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290 posts
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Post by southstreet on Nov 26, 2019 10:25:36 GMT
All of this! I found the Murphy's to be the most real characters simply because their grief was a lot more believable than whatever it is that Evan & his Mums deal is. Empathy is so much more affecting than sympathy. I felt for all that they were feeling. Evan & his Mum were the authors of their own fates to an extent, so harder to card about. See, as much as I feel for the Murphy's grief (on a superficial level, I don't think any of them are particularly well written), the relationship between Evan and his mum is the only bit I really bought into. Probably because my mum brought me up on her own and had to work full time and was also going to college some evenings to try and better our circumstances. So I don't think that Evan's mum was the author of her own fate, being a single mum and having to provide on your own is bloody hard. And whilst I have no sympathy for the sh*t that Evan pulls with the Murphys, I was that resentful teenager that was annoyed at my mum for not being home as much as I'd like her to be and envious of other families that were better off financially and had someone at home all the time. So for me, that was really the only part of the story that I cared about because I could relate to it. As much as adult me wants to slap Evan and my teenage self for not understanding that our mothers were trying the best they could without a support system. LOL |
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Post by Rukaya on Nov 26, 2019 11:06:03 GMT
All of this! I found the Murphy's to be the most real characters simply because their grief was a lot more believable than whatever it is that Evan & his Mums deal is. Empathy is so much more affecting than sympathy. I felt for all that they were feeling. Evan & his Mum were the authors of their own fates to an extent, so harder to card about. See, as much as I feel for the Murphy's grief (on a superficial level, I don't think any of them are particularly well written), the relationship between Evan and his mum is the only bit I really bought into. Probably because my mum brought me up on her own and had to work full time and was also going to college some evenings to try and better our circumstances. So I don't think that Evan's mum was the author of her own fate, being a single mum and having to provide on your own is bloody hard. And whilst I have no sympathy for the sh*t that Evan pulls with the Murphys, I was that resentful teenager that was annoyed at my mum for not being home as much as I'd like her to be and envious of other families that were better off financially and had someone at home all the time. So for me, that was really the only part of the story that I cared about because I could relate to it. As much as adult me wants to slap Evan and my teenage self for not understanding that our mothers were trying the best they could without a support system. LOL I literally could've written the above post, as I thought the exact same (down to wanting to slap both Evan and past me) after seeing the show in NYC. |
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Post by danb on Nov 26, 2019 13:12:46 GMT
I think that possibly being a parent in my mid 40’s is where I was viewing it from...
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781 posts
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Post by latefortheoverture on Nov 26, 2019 14:23:02 GMT
Anyone know if Sam's back tonight? Might see if there's anything left, but would like to see the principal.
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Post by theatreviewer126 on Nov 26, 2019 16:44:08 GMT
Anyone know if Sam's back tonight? Might see if there's anything left, but would like to see the principal. I think he is, the only thing I’ve seen is that Courtney is on for Alana! |
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Post by sparky5000 on Nov 26, 2019 18:03:42 GMT
This definitely feels like more of a marmite love it or hate it show to people over here, and I get that. I didn’t love it when I saw it in nyc but get why it was loved. I kind of felt like ii was being emotionally manipulated a bit, which annoyed me, because I found it really hard to have too much sympathy for Evan!
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573 posts
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Post by Dave25 on Nov 26, 2019 21:17:22 GMT
It’s almost a celebration and defence of appalling behaviour, just because. The thing is, when I listen to it I connect but watching how awful a person he is was a real disconnect. I agree. "Just because", is apparently just because the writers of this show feel like it is something you can use, which is probably how they see the world. They refused to write any form of reflection or consequences, which worries me even more. |
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573 posts
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Post by Dave25 on Nov 26, 2019 21:23:04 GMT
The moment where Cynthia gives Evan Connor‘s tie ahead of his speech was screaming for a big solo for Evan, reflecting on what happened and telling the audience what he feels about the whole mess he‘s created. And then the saccharine ending - I wish American writing would have the guts more often to not drown stories in sugar. Leave Evan alone behind and head to college sadder but wiser, why not? It is like the writers either do not care for this reflection or consequences because the victim role is all that matters to them? Maybe it's all they know/recognize in handling daily situations in the way they are raised? It seems like their mindset and comes across as quite selective. I am really worried about the millennial generation in the USA at the moment. Like another poster beautifully described: The fact that he faces no consequence for his actions and that on the contrary his lies are showed to be the source of new harmony seems to put the stamp of approval on this kind of behaviour. Good things come out of bad actions is a grim moral to a show. The question is, why would any writer exclude consequences? What's the point? Is it really only about using pshychological manipulation and the sympathy that deserves? |
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Post by edi on Nov 27, 2019 12:21:24 GMT
I "won" today the lottery but whichever day I tried there were no tickets available.
It was weird? Why was I even selected if all tickets sold out?
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32 posts
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Post by Sven on Nov 27, 2019 15:17:39 GMT
Saw it this afternoon. On the admin front, the £5 slips are fine if you are happy to lean forward - tested them at the interval. Won't see much if you don't or others lean into your view, though. We sat in Grand Circle slips AA10-12 during the 3rd preview (when they were sold for £15). Since AA13-14 remained empty we moved there after the interval. They are a bit nicer and less leaning required. Now I bagged AA3-5 for a Saturday matinee in February for £7.50 each  For those tempted to buy the slips, do! Of course, you have to lean and yes occasionally you miss something but I noticed the actors always alternate between both sides of the stage or stay dead center a lot. And for that price, it's quite a steal... About the show, I loved it. Occasional duller moments but overall quite intense and emotional.
Sam Tutty is a star! Lauren Ward very impressive. Jack Loxton spot on. The rest of the cast was adequate. Not a fan of Rebecca McKinnis' singing though. Looking forward to seeing the alternate Evan at the matinee!
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Post by andrew on Nov 27, 2019 16:54:43 GMT
I "won" today the lottery but whichever day I tried there were no tickets available. It was weird? Why was I even selected if all tickets sold out? I would assume that the "winners" (aka those who make it to the booking page) are pre-selected, and then whether they'll be able to get a ticket or not depends on their place in the queue. It doesn't really sound weird to me. |
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Post by FrontroverPaul on Nov 27, 2019 17:58:43 GMT
A lottery where x number of entrants are informed they have won but there are fewer than x number of prizes available is on dodgy legal ground. Fair enough to set a time limit to claim (book) tickets but not unless that is clearly stated.
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Post by edi on Nov 27, 2019 21:41:47 GMT
Possible there were tickets, and you didn't click on every area of the theatre? It's not possible to chose areas or seats. After walking person it takes you to the calendar on their website. You choose date, 1 or 2 tickets and it offers the seats. Not possible to change it. Except today after selecting 2 tickets I wasn't offered the seats just some kind of message that it wasn't available. I don't remember the exact message. I went through ever single day for next week and the same happened. Thinking it all over now 1) I wasn't announced as "winner" but the fact I was redirected to the website just after 5mins of queuing I assumed I would be able to book 2) maybe they had only single seats left. I didn't try that I only tried 2 seats. Mind you it should not ask how many I wanted if only single were left |
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Post by squidward on Nov 27, 2019 23:13:50 GMT
The moment where Cynthia gives Evan Connor‘s tie ahead of his speech was screaming for a big solo for Evan, reflecting on what happened and telling the audience what he feels about the whole mess he‘s created. And then the saccharine ending - I wish American writing would have the guts more often to not drown stories in sugar. Leave Evan alone behind and head to college sadder but wiser, why not? It is like the writers either do not care for this reflection or consequences because the victim role is all that matters to them? Maybe it's all they know/recognize in handling daily situations in the way they are raised? It seems like their mindset and comes across as quite selective. I am really worried about the millennial generation in the USA at the moment. Like another poster beautifully described: The fact that he faces no consequence for his actions and that on the contrary his lies are showed to be the source of new harmony seems to put the stamp of approval on this kind of behaviour. Good things come out of bad actions is a grim moral to a show. The question is, why would any writer exclude consequences? What's the point? Is it really only about using pshychological manipulation and the sympathy that deserves? ‘What’s the point?’ is the exact question on my mind after seeing the show on Broadway. The book doesn’t amount to anything. The music is ok but nothing special and the only characters I really had any interest in were Evan’s mother and Connor Murphy (who played by the wonderful Mike Faist was gone way too soon). I wished we’d seen Ben Platt play Evan as maybe his performance would have made a difference, but the actor we saw (Noah Galvin) was massively over- ticing and gurning, almost to the point of unintentional physical comedy, so it was impossible to really buy into the character or his story arc. I almost felt like there was some cynicism in the writing that tapped into the social media obsession to bring in a younger audience. Nothing wrong with that in principle, but there’s only so much anyone is going to get from the social media hook when there doesn’t appear to be any meaningful narrative and the eponymous lead is so irritating that you want to hit him hard round the back of the head with Connor’s father’s baseball glove. I wonder if a UK audience will give this production the outpouring of love that the US audience did? I have my doubts. |
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Post by danb on Nov 28, 2019 5:37:40 GMT
It is like the writers either do not care for this reflection or consequences because the victim role is all that matters to them? Maybe it's all they know/recognize in handling daily situations in the way they are raised? It seems like their mindset and comes across as quite selective. I am really worried about the millennial generation in the USA at the moment. Like another poster beautifully described: The fact that he faces no consequence for his actions and that on the contrary his lies are showed to be the source of new harmony seems to put the stamp of approval on this kind of behaviour. Good things come out of bad actions is a grim moral to a show. The question is, why would any writer exclude consequences? What's the point? Is it really only about using pshychological manipulation and the sympathy that deserves? ‘What’s the point?’ is the exact question on my mind after seeing the show on Broadway. The book doesn’t amount to anything. The music is ok but nothing special and the only characters I really had any interest in were Evan’s mother and Connor Murphy (who played by the wonderful Mike Faist was gone way too soon). I wished we’d seen Ben Platt play Evan as maybe his performance would have made a difference, but the actor we saw (Noah Galvin) was massively over- ticing and gurning, almost to the point of unintentional physical comedy, so it was impossible to really buy into the character or his story arc. I almost felt like there was some cynicism in the writing that tapped into the social media obsession to bring in a younger audience. Nothing wrong with that in principle, but there’s only so much anyone is going to get from the social media hook when there doesn’t appear to be any meaningful narrative and the eponymous lead is so irritating that you want to hit him hard round the back of the head with Connor’s father’s baseball glove. I wonder if a UK audience will give this production the outpouring of love that the US audience did? I have my doubts. I think that (a certain section of) the uk audience are always ready for the next big thing to obsess, fawn and disproportionately ‘adore’. If someone tells them it is, they’ll spend a pretty penny proving their love. It is a narratively slight piece, but concerning all of the buzzwords that the ‘kids’ love to use these days. It’s mostly young cast exactly the sort to be waited for after the show to sign their mock arm casts for them. It’s the new theatre. The exceptional performances are almost overshadowed by the zeitgeist which is a sad thing. |
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Post by sleepflower on Nov 28, 2019 10:57:38 GMT
Saw this last night. I did enjoy it overall, and Sam Tutty's performance was brilliant undoubtedly, but as others have said I was disappointed by how the build up of the plot fizzled out into nothing, and how the whole thing was bogged down in saccharine and meaningless platitudes that are all very...American, when the show contained a whole lot of painful and difficult things that can't just be fixed with 'positivity'. The show took a cynical view of Alana using Connor's death to her own advantage via social media etc...but then Evan did exactly the same thing and it all turned out fine.
A large number of songs were a bit too slight and forgettable, but it's clear why Waving Through A Window is the 'big' song and I really liked that.
I think there is a huge audience in the UK for this kind of thing, who just eat up that kind of emotion. Lots of teenagers, people who actually get affected by sob stories on reality shows, and people who buy Ed Sheeran records.
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Post by leanne23 on Nov 29, 2019 6:15:39 GMT
Has anyone sat in B27-28 in the Dress Circle (end of the row on the left). I understand these seats offer a side on few. How restricted is the view and will I miss much action?
Very tempted by the £55 price point...
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Post by danb on Nov 29, 2019 6:25:13 GMT
We were B25-27 and I sat in 27 and felt that I missed nothing. Another seat left may have made a tiny difference but it’s mostly played quite central.
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Post by leanne23 on Nov 29, 2019 6:46:21 GMT
We were B25-27 and I sat in 27 and felt that I missed nothing. Another seat left may have made a tiny difference but it’s mostly played quite central. Thanks! They sound fine, I’ll book them this evening  |
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Post by FrontroverPaul on Nov 29, 2019 15:21:44 GMT
I saw this last night from ( front row) seat B12 which is right in front of where Evan sings solo numbers and I always love being so close. Sam Tutty is stunningly good in the title role.
I expected DEH to be much darker than I found it to be. More black comedy than tragedy for most of the time. and certainly nothing that made me feel at all emotional. Cop-out ending though.
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