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Post by Deleted on Nov 22, 2017 0:14:59 GMT
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Post by bimse on Nov 22, 2017 7:51:01 GMT
I saw Craig Revel-Horward in an excerpt from Annie , on children in need , and thought his performance was quite frankly very amateurish indeed. Watching this performance I can’t understand how he’s marketed as a big “name” for this show, all over the country, with other actors standing in (usually at weekends) for his pre-arranged tv absences.
Not worth the effort of planning for his time off in my opinion , just let the substitutes do the whole run, I’m sure they’d give a more enjoyable performance, or have I missed the point and he’s such a big draw for the public at large?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 28, 2017 14:13:31 GMT
I agree somewhat with Bimse's view whilst CRH is a big TV star, top Panto draw, well known director and choreographer, I would have thought that a role like Miss Hannigan would be considered a part a lot of top musical theatre actresses would show an interest in. Her age has always been flexible - we have had Jodie Prenger mid to late 30's and Lesley Joseph who is in her 70's playing the role in recent years.
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Post by danb on Nov 28, 2017 14:25:45 GMT
At least unlike Craig she will be doing Saturdays Her agent is obviously a crap negotiator  . Not really Monkey. She isn’t doing Tuesdays just in case her sky box fails and she misses ‘Holby City’. That was a deal breaker for her! 😂 |
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Post by Paul on Jan 7, 2018 21:03:41 GMT
Went to see this on Friday evening. I saw the UK tour of Annie years ago and loved it so I was looking forward to seeing this production but it did not live up to my expectations.
Annie was played by Lola Moxom (her last performance). Lola was quite good in the role, her accent and acting were good and her singing was fine but the song 'tomorrow' in particular was much too big for her. She also sang the incorrect lyrics when she is singing 'tomorrow' with Sandy - should have been "you're always a day away" but she sang "you're only a day away."
Meera Syal was disappointing as Miss Hannigan. Meera's singing was great but her acting is what let her down. The role of Miss Hannigan is naturally funny but I feel like Meera overacted, missing most of the humour. I also feel like her accent covered all of the American states.
Alex Bourne was a fantastic Daddy Warbucks. He can sing, act and brought a welcome bit of comedy to the role.
Holly Dale Spencer was fine as Grace. Nothing outstanding but certainly nothing negative.
Both both actors playing Lily and Rooster were also very good in their roles.
The musical itself is quite iconic and I do not think the wig, costume or set design helped do this show any justice. As much as I wanted to love it, I didn't and definitely don't think this particular production deserves any place in the West End.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 8, 2018 1:42:30 GMT
Never realised that the gorgeous Alice Liveing who was in the last major tour of this is Fitness and Lifestyle Guru - Clean Eating Alice.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2018 17:38:04 GMT
Went to see this on Friday evening. I saw the UK tour of Annie years ago and loved it so I was looking forward to seeing this production but it did not live up to my expectations. Annie was played by Lola Moxom (her last performance). Lola was quite good in the role, her accent and acting were good and her singing was fine but the song 'tomorrow' in particular was much too big for her. She also sang the incorrect lyrics when she is singing 'tomorrow' with Sandy - should have been "you're always a day away" but she sang "you're only a day away."Meera Syal was disappointing as Miss Hannigan. Meera's singing was great but her acting is what let her down. The role of Miss Hannigan is naturally funny but I feel like Meera overacted, missing most of the humour. I also feel like her accent covered all of the American states. Alex Bourne was a fantastic Daddy Warbucks. He can sing, act and brought a welcome bit of comedy to the role. Holly Dale Spencer was fine as Grace. Nothing outstanding but certainly nothing negative. Both both actors playing Lily and Rooster were also very good in their roles. The musical itself is quite iconic and I do not think the wig, costume or set design helped do this show any justice. As much as I wanted to love it, I didn't and definitely don't think this particular production deserves any place in the West End. Wait, I always thought the lyric was the latter? Is it not? In the 1982 film she definately sings "only" rather than "always".  |
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Post by theatregeek1 on Jan 9, 2018 17:52:07 GMT
I saw this last night, which was Madeleine Haynes’ final show as Annie along with a couple of the orphans. Her voice was actually very powerful, sounded nothing like the audio someone posted a while back, and her acting was great. Well aware there are many better shows on the west end but I must admit I really enjoy this production. New Annie’s and orphans have also been announced: www.broadwayworld.com/westend/article/A-New-Cast-Joins-West-Ends-ANNIE-Next-Week-20180109 |
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Post by Dr Tom on Jan 9, 2018 19:22:14 GMT
Annie was played by Lola Moxom (her last performance). Lola was quite good in the role, her accent and acting were good and her singing was fine but the song 'tomorrow' in particular was much too big for her. She also sang the incorrect lyrics when she is singing 'tomorrow' with Sandy - should have been "you're always a day away" but she sang "you're only a day away."Wait, I always thought the lyric was the latter? Is it not? In the 1982 film she definately sings "only" rather than "always". I've always heard this as "only a day away" too. Changing the lyric to "always" would completely change the meaning of the song. With "only" it's about hope, knowing that it won't be long until there are new opportunities. With "always", it would be a pessimistic view that things will never change and better. The same in the scene with FDR where they're proposing the New Deal and resume the song, bringing an end to the depression and hope for the future. |
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Post by Paul on Jan 9, 2018 23:11:18 GMT
When Annie sings 'tomorrow' for the first time on the street with Sandy the correct lyrics are "you're always a day away." There is a deliberate change to the lyrics later in the show when Annie sings 'tomorrow' with FDR and they sing "you're only a day away."
The 1982 Annie movie does not feature the scene where Annie sings 'tomorrow' on the street with Sandy - only the scene with FDR.
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Post by bellboard27 on Jan 10, 2018 23:59:12 GMT
My first return visit since the press night ages ago. I enjoyed it more this time and I preferred Meera to Miranda.
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Post by ellie1981 on Jan 17, 2018 23:29:58 GMT
Saw this tonight and Meera was just fantastic. I was a huge fan of the 1982 film growing up (less so the 2014 remake which is one of the few films I've ever walked out of) but have never seen it on stage. I can't imagine Miranda or Craig Revel Horwood doing even remotely as good of a job as Meera did with the whole performance. She was also the highlight of Romeo & Juliet a couple of years ago.
Some of the girls were just so young, I couldn't believe how well they did. I wish I;d seen it when I was younger though because it's very much a kid's show.
Was not impressed by the organisation of the theatre however. I got there at 18:00 to pick up the tickets before going for something to eat. I queued for 10 minutes as they hadn't got the collection tickets ready and there were a good 20 people waiting. Got back to the theatre at 19:10 and waited outside with hundreds of people until 19:20 before they started letting us in. The show started a bit late because of this. I was at the back of the stalls so right near the exit - When it was over, the staff still took a good couple of minutes to even let us out, being more concerned with directing people to the toilets than the exit.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2018 12:23:39 GMT
Wandered past the Piccadilly Theatre to get a coffee from Dept of Coffee & Social Affairs the other day and was quite taken aback by the state of the outside. On the left of the theatre, directly adjacent to a large fire exit some homeless had set up camp.
This wasn't a sleeping bag or cardboard box jobby. Full on tent and alot of provisions around blocking most of the pavement. Clothes and other bits were hung off the railings and some dirty clothes hung offf the advertisements on the theatre itself.
I know homelessness is a real issue across the country currently, in the capital especially and it really needs some intelligent solutions to tackle it. I was just surprised at how far they'd been allowed to set up home outside the theatre. Especially given the show housed there currently has such a family attraction.
I've not seen quite a comprehensive a setup outside a theatre, most I guess are moved on fairly quickly, but this seemed like it had been ignored and allowed to develop.
I realize it sounds quite compassionate to be criticizing the actions of someone in a very unfortunate situation. This seemed like a real risk for patrons leaving the theatre though with the setup so close to the main fire exits, and post show exit.
Theatre-goers have a tendency to stand and mill about and linger at the exit, waiting for others to catch up post-show and I could only imagine the awkwardness as people push to leave the exits and people lingering get pushed along into the tent and other provisions.
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Post by Dr Tom on Feb 10, 2018 11:46:53 GMT
A few thoughts from catching this on Thursday evening.
Meera Syal was the best of the "celebrity" Miss Hannigan's (having seen all three). Great physical humour, played the scenes differently and adding some lines and ad-libs of her own. And the staging was changed around a bit for other scenes.
Miss Hannigan really isn't on stage much, so it's a great role for a name like this.
I couldn't see a cast board, but plenty of different faces in the ensemble and minor roles, so I presume all the covers were on (including some who didn't look like any of the cast on the website).
One of the ensemble had a case of continually moving eyes and eyebrows. I'm sure that's something taught at drama school, but it also looks odd when they're the only person doing it and meant to be in the background.
Audience was pretty full and well behaved. Not many children in. Much more of a "Bend It" audience too, so having Meera Syal in did make a difference. I notice they now have an Asian girl as one of the Annie's as well (I saw one of the other two, who was very good).
The dog still doesn't want to be there!
The sound wasn't good in the first half, with muffled vocals. I know it wasn't just me, as heard someone else commenting too. It was fine in the second half, so someone must have said something.
An enjoyable evening and real feel good show. It may not be the best production ever, but it's a shame it's closing.
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Post by jampot on Apr 23, 2018 9:52:22 GMT
Coming to Southampton 30th April 2019...
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Post by Deleted on Apr 23, 2018 14:40:01 GMT
I have absolutely no desire to ever see this show live again.
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Post by daniel on Apr 23, 2018 14:40:45 GMT
I have absolutely no desire to ever see this show live again. you say that today, but tomorrow... |
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Post by cheesy116 on Apr 24, 2018 11:17:22 GMT
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Post by TallPaul on Apr 24, 2018 12:40:41 GMT
When Lesley Nicol finished her run in The York Realist, she flew home to LA for a few days rest, before starting rehearsals in Toronto for Annie . It would be nice to have a different Miss Hannigan, rather than the usual suspects.
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Post by Being Alive on Apr 24, 2018 13:45:50 GMT
Don’t get me wrong - I liked this tour. But after a year long west end run straight after an 18 month tour, it seems a bit much to be going out again doesn’t it?
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Post by LaLuPone on Apr 24, 2018 15:06:44 GMT
Sounds like it’s CRH back as Hannigan AGAIN from a thread on General Chat!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 24, 2018 22:48:06 GMT
I still want to see Jodie Prenger as Hannigan so once Fat Friends ends, get on it Jodie.
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Post by Being Alive on Apr 24, 2018 22:49:49 GMT
I still want to see Jodie Prenger as Hannigan so once Fat Friends ends, get on it Jodie. She was great when I saw her - proper funny |
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Post by Being Alive on Sept 4, 2018 10:01:58 GMT
Anita Dobson will open the tour as Hannigan from Manchester-Bradford.
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Post by Being Alive on Sept 4, 2018 10:03:07 GMT
and then Craig for the following 10 venues
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