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Post by danb on Jun 14, 2022 11:13:58 GMT
Wow, what an incredibly thin skinned boy he must be. Does he think Jon & Craig have never been on holiday?
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Post by starlight92 on Jun 14, 2022 11:18:15 GMT
This really is magical stuff. Much more interesting than the show was. I don't get the reference, could someone please explain? |
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Post by ladidah on Jun 14, 2022 11:21:13 GMT
It's two people who called him out on twitter.
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Post by Jane Parfitt on Jun 14, 2022 11:24:10 GMT
It's on page 389 of this thread . This really is magical stuff. Much more interesting than the show was. I don't get the reference, could someone please explain? |
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Post by partytentdown on Jun 14, 2022 11:55:39 GMT
Well this is weird.
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Post by stagebyte on Jun 14, 2022 12:18:28 GMT
Rodney trying to be all cocky but Jon and Craig live rent free in his head now.
Enjoy your holiday lads
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Post by Oleanna on Jun 14, 2022 12:30:22 GMT
Incidentally, ALW DOES have a lot going on at the moment, with something of a close family crisis.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 14, 2022 12:56:53 GMT
This really is magical stuff. Much more interesting than the show was. What... what is he doing?! Trying hard to imagine any of the talented, established performers I actually respect carrying on like this. Even CHF - God bless her - with her often problematic social media use, doesn't carry (hah!) on like this. Is he auditioning for Club Tropicana the Musical - he'll play one of the guys George met on his nights out and then claim to be the star of the show? |
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Post by lsaf26 on Jun 14, 2022 12:58:37 GMT
I've been stalking this board for a while I admit, and so I made an account so I could join in the fun! I'm glad people are seeing through Rodney's little act finally, and boy do I have a story for you.
Last month I went to see Cinderella with my elderly mother who is a big fan of ALW. After the show, we decided to wait outside at stagedoor because we both wanted to tell Carrie Hope Fletcher how much we enjoyed her performance. Rodney came out at stagedoor and a few teen fans were taking photos with him and getting autographs. I thought he was quite good, so I also asked him for a selfie. To my surprise, he snatched my phone from my hand and dropped it on the ground, which seemed purposeful, even though he said 'oops.' When I expressed my shock at the broken phone he called me a 'pathetic slut.' Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, he grabbed a hammer from his pocket and smashed my mother with it. He kept running in little circles and growling 'Don't mess with Dante Cadbury'. I couldn't even call the police or an ambulance because he broke my phone. I have to say, the whole incident really put me off the show!
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Post by sph on Jun 14, 2022 13:33:45 GMT
While I don't know ALW as a person, I understand that the way his company managed the closing of Cinderella paints him in a bad light. That being said, theatre has kind of always been this way. Nowadays though I'm guessing a closing notice has to get out as rapidly as possible to prevent the inevitable social media leaks, which is probably what they feared would happen if cast found out first.
Either way, they found out the show was closing and... what? It's not the nicest way to find out, but having read many books by performers of yesteryear it seems an abrupt and unexpected closing notice isn't new. In New York closings are even more cut throat. Some shows literally die during out-of-town tryouts and everyone is let go.
It's not exactly the industry to be putting yourself in if you're looking for a stable, long-term job. Surely people know going in to a brand new musical that it might fail and that getting a new show up and running from scratch is incredibly stressful and draining for everyone involved? It's not like jumping into the chorus of Phantom or Les Mis which has been around for decades and has everything neatly in place.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 14, 2022 13:46:05 GMT
Either way, they found out the show was closing and... what? It's not the nicest way to find out, but having read many books by performers of yesteryear it seems an abrupt and unexpected closing notice isn't new. I'd expect abrupt closure to be the norm in any business. Once you know the business can't continue there's nothing to be gained by trying to drag it out. It just means you lose even more money. It's not like management are sitting there in late summer saying "So we've agreed we'll stop in four months, but because we're total meanies we'll hold off telling the staff until December 24th, lol". |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Jun 14, 2022 14:01:16 GMT
I've been stalking this board for a while I admit, and so I made an account so I could join in the fun! I'm glad people are seeing through Rodney's little act finally, and boy do I have a story for you. Last month I went to see Cinderella with my elderly mother who is a big fan of ALW. After the show, we decided to wait outside at stagedoor because we both wanted to tell Carrie Hope Fletcher how much we enjoyed her performance. Rodney came out at stagedoor and a few teen fans were taking photos with him and getting autographs. I thought he was quite good, so I also asked him for a selfie. To my surprise, he snatched my phone from my hand and dropped it on the ground, which seemed purposeful, even though he said 'oops.' When I expressed my shock at the broken phone he called me a 'pathetic slut.' Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, he grabbed a hammer from his pocket and smashed my mother with it. He kept running in little circles and growling 'Don't mess with Dante Cadbury'. I couldn't even call the police or an ambulance because he broke my phone. I have to say, the whole incident really put me off the show! Goodness what a story! Sounds like you both had a lucky escape from possible death! Please give your mother our best wishes for a speedy recovery and once fit please ask her to sign up here. We could do with a few more ALW fans to balance things out! 🙂 |
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Post by scarpia on Jun 14, 2022 14:32:36 GMT
Can't ever forgive what he has done to "Phantom" and he is, most of us agree, woefully incompetent at producing theatre - but three of his shows are in my top 5 ever, so I respect his brilliance at composing a book musical. , Phantom, and Sunset by any chance? In my all-time top 5 too.  |
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Post by danb on Jun 14, 2022 14:53:08 GMT
I think this is what is most upsetting. For me it’s JCS & Sunset. Regardless of his behaviour they are still works of godlike genius and will never not be. Which is why it rankles when people say they won’t see ‘x’ because it’s written/directed by ‘y’ who once said this about ‘z’. You’re only punishing yourself. It might be great. ‘Produced by’ is another matter altogether. If somebody morally reprehensible puts their money into something, I like to make sure that I do not reward their endeavours.
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Post by Oliver on Jun 14, 2022 15:50:30 GMT
I think it's only repetition because what ALW does when hyping up each show excessively with hyperbolic - and sometimes nonsensical - statements has become so tired, repetitive and predictable itself. We've seen this play out show after the show since Sunset, including before the age of social media. He writes a score and then hands it to a lyricist who will take orders but he won't collaborate with (so forget about changing any note of the score). He says it is the best thing he's ever done. The marketing/producing aspect post-Cameron is a bit dodge. People query/question it, and ALW gets defensive and lashes out. Then it opens cold in the West End without a proper try-out or series of workshops to improve the material, because ALW or someone at RUG is still convinced he's at the peak of his career and the 90s/00s/10s didn't happen and he still has the Midas touch of the 70s/80s. So then it opens cold in the West End and it's weak. People say so. ALW sulks and then does a rewrite and a re-opening and says that he was never happy with it to begin with. But the damage is done and the changes are superficial and don't address core structural problems. ALW says it's amazing and will go to Broadway and open everywhere in the world at once. The show closes a few months later. ALW gives a ridiculous hyperbolic statement and blames ever y single thing it is possible to blame (potentially including other creatives/cast) other than himself. ALW says Broadway is going to happen. It doesn't. Eventually it's forgotten about. Then 2-3 years pass and ALW says he was never happy with the show and he shouldn't have produced it and should have stuck to being the composer. Then the entire experience is forgotten and we go through this drama all over again. Nothing is learned. He can be annoying at times and tries to handle some of the PR himself (which he definitely shouldn't do). Cinderella had a workshop, and "weak" is a strong word for this musical even though it fell sort dramatically. The score is superb, not among his best, but great nevertheless. Hardly any of his musicals, including his most successful shows, have had `tryouts'. `Whistle' is the only one that comes to mind. |
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Post by richey on Jun 14, 2022 16:06:23 GMT
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Post by inthenose on Jun 14, 2022 16:29:01 GMT
Can't ever forgive what he has done to "Phantom" and he is, most of us agree, woefully incompetent at producing theatre - but three of his shows are in my top 5 ever, so I respect his brilliance at composing a book musical. , Phantom, and Sunset by any chance? In my all-time top 5 too. Yep!!! |
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Post by steve10086 on Jun 14, 2022 16:54:08 GMT
I think it's only repetition because what ALW does when hyping up each show excessively with hyperbolic - and sometimes nonsensical - statements has become so tired, repetitive and predictable itself. We've seen this play out show after the show since Sunset, including before the age of social media. He writes a score and then hands it to a lyricist who will take orders but he won't collaborate with (so forget about changing any note of the score). He says it is the best thing he's ever done. The marketing/producing aspect post-Cameron is a bit dodge. People query/question it, and ALW gets defensive and lashes out. Then it opens cold in the West End without a proper try-out or series of workshops to improve the material, because ALW or someone at RUG is still convinced he's at the peak of his career and the 90s/00s/10s didn't happen and he still has the Midas touch of the 70s/80s. So then it opens cold in the West End and it's weak. People say so. ALW sulks and then does a rewrite and a re-opening and says that he was never happy with it to begin with. But the damage is done and the changes are superficial and don't address core structural problems. ALW says it's amazing and will go to Broadway and open everywhere in the world at once. The show closes a few months later. ALW gives a ridiculous hyperbolic statement and blames ever y single thing it is possible to blame (potentially including other creatives/cast) other than himself. ALW says Broadway is going to happen. It doesn't. Eventually it's forgotten about. Then 2-3 years pass and ALW says he was never happy with the show and he shouldn't have produced it and should have stuck to being the composer. Then the entire experience is forgotten and we go through this drama all over again. Nothing is learned. He can be annoying at times and tries to handle some of the PR himself (which he definitely shouldn't do). Cinderella had a workshop, and "weak" is a strong word for this musical even though it fell sort dramatically. The score is superb, not among his best, but great nevertheless. Hardly any of his musicals, including his most successful shows, have had `tryouts'. `Whistle' is the only one that comes to mind. “Weak” is a weak word for this musical. Abysmal would be more accurate. |
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Post by properjob on Jun 14, 2022 17:27:52 GMT
While I don't know ALW as a person, I understand that the way his company managed the closing of Cinderella paints him in a bad light. That being said, theatre has kind of always been this way. Nowadays though I'm guessing a closing notice has to get out as rapidly as possible to prevent the inevitable social media leaks, which is probably what they feared would happen if cast found out first. Either way, they found out the show was closing and... what? It's not the nicest way to find out, but having read many books by performers of yesteryear it seems an abrupt and unexpected closing notice isn't new. In New York closings are even more cut throat. Some shows literally die during out-of-town tryouts and everyone is let go. It's not exactly the industry to be putting yourself in if you're looking for a stable, long-term job. Surely people know going in to a brand new musical that it might fail and that getting a new show up and running from scratch is incredibly stressful and draining for everyone involved? It's not like jumping into the chorus of Phantom or Les Mis which has been around for decades and has everything neatly in place. I think it was more about the way the new cast were treated than the old cast although that could also have been managed better. Sadly I'm sure actors and crew are used to a show closing before the end of a contract but they would at least have been paid for the probably several months they had worked. I think what was unusual was recruiting a new cast and then closing before they opened. I don't know how pay and expeneses works for things like auditions and costume fittings etc but I imagine they could be considerably out of pocket. There is of course also the opportunity cost of missing out on other jobs they didn't apply for because they thought they would be busy. |
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Post by ceebee on Jun 14, 2022 18:14:23 GMT
I've been stalking this board for a while I admit, and so I made an account so I could join in the fun! I'm glad people are seeing through Rodney's little act finally, and boy do I have a story for you. Last month I went to see Cinderella with my elderly mother who is a big fan of ALW. After the show, we decided to wait outside at stagedoor because we both wanted to tell Carrie Hope Fletcher how much we enjoyed her performance. Rodney came out at stagedoor and a few teen fans were taking photos with him and getting autographs. I thought he was quite good, so I also asked him for a selfie. To my surprise, he snatched my phone from my hand and dropped it on the ground, which seemed purposeful, even though he said 'oops.' When I expressed my shock at the broken phone he called me a 'pathetic slut.' Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, he grabbed a hammer from his pocket and smashed my mother with it. He kept running in little circles and growling 'Don't mess with Dante Cadbury'. I couldn't even call the police or an ambulance because he broke my phone. I have to say, the whole incident really put me off the show! I bet even after a vicious hammer attack, your mother can still do a better job of singing the dots in the right order, unlike Cinderbellend... |
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Post by Jon on Jun 14, 2022 18:19:16 GMT
ALW is a great composer and pretty decent theatre owner but he's not great at producing or PR. There were times in the last year and a bit where you wonder if people at RUG and others in the theatre industry where just cringing at some of his comments to the media.
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Post by chernjam on Jun 14, 2022 19:59:56 GMT
Then it opens cold in the West End without a proper try-out or series of workshops to improve the material I think that's a big problem with many shows. No matter how high your opinion of yourself or your work, there's no substitute for getting feedback from people who are seeing it for the first time. I get the impression that some creatives think themselves too important to open in the mere regions with all the nobodies. I know I've been brandished an ALW defender, and will readily admit my bias since I do love his music... there's not a day that goes by that one of his songs doesn't get some airplay from me. So that being said, I'm curious if this is another "If Only" for ALW. Because he found doing the public workshop of School of Rock something of a revelation for him in refining and ultimately staging and opening the show. I was under the impression he had done the same for Cinderella at The Other Palace (late 2019 perhaps?) which would've made sense prepping for a Spring 2020 opening. Maybe that environment of collaboration that ALW enjoyed in School of Rock and seemed to be replicating for this was lost with the pandemic. Maybe the insights for the creative team with some of the actors were lost and ALW thought he could maintain it with the zooms and distanced work they did instead. It's a shame because whatever goodwill there seemed with him and CHF seems to have disappeared. I was happy to see Zippel defending him (since Emerald has been silent about everything for some time) Also it's really frustrating that people keep insinuating about some family crisis that is going on for ALW. I caught the momentary slip in Lawrence's speech the other night, which was unfrotunate. But others chiming in that they know of it, but then shut down or say "respect his privacy" should steer clear of mentioning it in the first place |
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Post by richey on Jun 14, 2022 20:32:18 GMT
378 pages, 5,657 posts and over a million views for this thread.. and counting! It’s been a blast! Hope they have a great final show. And it's showing no signs of slowing down! Lol |
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Post by ceebee on Jun 14, 2022 20:43:41 GMT
Do you think there might be a sequel to this (like ALW did with Phantom) perhaps using a full orchestra?
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Post by oxfordsimon on Jun 14, 2022 20:45:51 GMT
Do you think there might be a sequel to this (like ALW did with Phantom) perhaps using a full orchestra? let's hope not |
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