Preludes - Southwark Playhouse

[musicalmarge]

Saw this tonight. First of all it is a rather strange abstract type of show with a mixture of a therapy session meets American vision of Russian classical and literary writers! I liked the staging at Southwark very much and the acting and direction was great / just that this show is not a commercial piece as such. It feels very lab and experimental and workshopy. Still glad I saw it. It’s very different that’s for sure!

[FrontroverPaul]

I saw this at the matinee. Didn't enjoy it at all but at least I managed to stay awake unlike the man next to me who was asleep for a major part of the first half and even snoring lightly!.

The cast were great, especially the male lead, and there are a couple of decent songs but it's far removed from the traditional musical format. I didn't have a clue what was going on for long periods and by the interval didn't care. I was in the front row, and about 8 seats within my view were unoccupied after the interval. I only remained as I had another show booked this evening ( "Working" at Upstairs at the Gatehouse which was brilliant so not a wasted day)

I think this will attract a lot of Southwark regulars like myself used to more mainstream material, and a fair few will be baffled and underwhelmed by it all. Looking forward to reading the reviews!

I had put off booking Ghost Quartet at the Boulevard Theatre until I saw Preludes. Will give it a miss now.

[pianowithsam]

Sept 10, 2019 23:26:44 GMT FrontroverPaul said:

I saw this at the matinee. Didn't enjoy it at all but at least I managed to stay awake unlike the man next to me who was asleep for a major part of the first half and even snoring lightly!.

The cast were great, especially the male lead, and there are a couple of decent songs but it's far removed from the traditional musical format. I didn't have a clue what was going on for long periods and by the interval didn't care. I was in the front row, and about 8 seats within my view were unoccupied after the interval. I only remained as I had another show booked this evening ( "Working" at Upstairs at the Gatehouse which was brilliant so not a wasted day)

I think this will attract a lot of Southwark regulars like myself used to more mainstream material, and a fair few will be baffled and underwhelmed by it all. Looking forward to reading the reviews!

I had put off booking Ghost Quartet at the Boulevard Theatre until I saw Preludes. Will give it a miss now.

I am a big Malloy fan and started listening to Preludes when it was announced for Southwark.
Hate to say it, but not really a fan of the album. Ghost Quaret, on the other hand, is a work of genius.

[intoanewlife]

Sept 10, 2019 23:26:44 GMT FrontroverPaul said:

I saw this at the matinee. Didn't enjoy it at all but at least I managed to stay awake unlike the man next to me who was asleep for a major part of the first half and even snoring lightly!.

The cast were great, especially the male lead, and there are a couple of decent songs but it's far removed from the traditional musical format. I didn't have a clue what was going on for long periods and by the interval didn't care. I was in the front row, and about 8 seats within my view were unoccupied after the interval. I only remained as I had another show booked this evening ( "Working" at Upstairs at the Gatehouse which was brilliant so not a wasted day)

I think this will attract a lot of Southwark regulars like myself used to more mainstream material, and a fair few will be baffled and underwhelmed by it all. Looking forward to reading the reviews!

I had put off booking Ghost Quartet at the Boulevard Theatre until I saw Preludes. Will give it a miss now.

I have not seen this yet, going on Saturday, but I saw Ghost Quartet in NYC and it was amazing.

It is more a musical performance than a 'musical' as such, but the score is fantastic and it is one of the cleverest shows I've ever seen.

The London version is meant to be a 're-imagining' which worries me slightly, but if they get the cast right it'll be a great evening at the theatre.

[FrontroverPaul]

Thanks for advice re Ghost Quartet.

I see there are several full live versions of it online so I'll give one a viewing and then decide.

[cartoonman]

Saw this last night. The SP was as hot as hell for the first half and I needed an ice cream at half time. Second half was a normal temperature. I thought that the journey on the overcrowded Northern Line would prepare me!

At the interval I wasn't sure if I liked the show. by the end I loved it. All the cast were great, with really good voices and the pianist and electronic keyboard players were excellent. The music was excellent in the main apart from the odd bit of drum and bass that crept in. Didn't understand one scene, but not a big deal. A few empty seats but almost sold out.

I would say go and see it.

[jampot]

Can anyone inform me who the masked red caped character was? Think in second half....

[longinthetooth]

I was at yesterday's matinee too. I gathered it wasn't going to be a traditional "musical", so was half prepared. I thought the cast were excellent, especially the young man playing "Rach". I just about got the gist of what was going on, but on the whole not for me. However, it kept me absorbed and did leave me thinking about it quite a bit.

The creatives were all sat in front of me (I only know because I heard a lady telling the man next to her that she was the producer, I had no idea what Danielle Tarento looked like!), then she spoke to someone called Alex (who it turned out was the director). There were about five of them in all, but as the programme doesn't give head shots of them I've no idea who was who). They were making copious notes throughout - I did wonder how they would see to write, as it was very dark for a lot of the show, but one of them had an annoying red light to shine on the page, which was somewhat distracting. In fact, one couple complained about the light to one of the ushers during the interval, and he had to explain who they were and what was happening.

[JJShaw]

Was also at yesterdays matinee, partially miffed that TodayTix had £10 seats for previews when I'd paid £16 but oh well!

Hadn't quite anticipated just how unique Dave Malloy's work is, I was considering leaving after act one but that gorgeous song that ends act one kept me. In this show there's really only a handful of pieces you would call traditional songs, and the act one finale song is just gorgeous.

The rest of the show, unfortunately wasn't for me. I was a little bored watching it, but after leaving and even today the show has lingered with me and kept me thinking a little bit so its not bad by any means just incredibly, abstract. He's managed to walk deftly between being pretentious but not coming across as annoying or lofty. I did think the "opening" to act two with the Caped Devil Character ( jampot ) for what I gathered/remember he was a character in one of the main characters Opera that he had written. I thought that song was the weakest across the board and rang very GCSE-Edgy to me.

The lighting was beautiful and I enjoyed the set design and LED frames. Have no clue what critics will think of it because it's certainly a piece that, for me, is better after its settled in your mind for a while. all the performances were great and the main actor had such a difficult task of never leaving the stage and staying completely in that "struggling starving artist whose Edgy and borderline pretentious" but, again, he managed to make me not dislike or get annoyed with him so huge kudos to that!

Couldn't even give it a star rating, its very unique. I have booked to see Ghost Quartet and will be interested to see what that's like.

[juicy_but_terribly_drab]

I think it got pretty mixed reviews in its original US run so I imagine it'll be a similar reception here, especially considering the responses so far. I'm hoping since I've listened to the cast recording so much and am anticipating it being pretty abstract that I'll love this but it sounds worthwhile to go just because it's something unique (and if the performances are as good as everyone is saying that's a positive).

[Steve]

Sept 11, 2019 9:09:12 GMT jampot said:

Can anyone inform me who the masked red caped character was? Think in second half....

I'm just guessing, and please anybody correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Chaliapin is dressed up as Tsar Boris Godunov of the opera of the same name, with Rachmaninov as the conductor. He then performs the song "I am on a loop," which for me indicated that even the most powerful people in the world feel the romantic need to just let their hair down and be crazy and creative, a demonstration of the kind of creativity which Rach is trying to get back for himself through psychotherapy, after losing his confidence.

Anyway, this show didn't quite hit the target for me. While I loved all the crazy creative bits (eg "Loop," above), and while I loved the sensitivity and soul that Georgia Louise conferred in Rach's girlfriend, Natalya, I felt that the piece lacked a sense of depth and heart at it's very centre: Rach himself.

Some spoilers follow. . .

My only real knowledge of Rachmaninov is his choral work, Vespers, his Piano Concerto 2, and the fact that an orgasmic John Gielgud says in the movie "Shine" that "Rach 3" is the hardest piece in the world to play lol! But from my limited knowledge, I felt Rachmaninov to be a deeply soulful depressive, not a psychotic Charlie Chaplin, or an eye-rolling sociopathic Joker, ready to destroy Gotham, which is how he seems to be directed here.

When you have so much expressionism in a piece, with whole scenes illustrating a character's mindset, it's pretty important for me to feel some sense of identification with that character, some anchor with the reality of his sadness and tentativeness and confusion and depression, before leaping into his even darker recesses. I never felt that, and since I failed to identify with the character, I felt excluded from the drama, observing coolly from the outside.

Georgia Louise sings Natalya so melodiously and so tenderly, that I did identify with her, and Norton James' Chaliapin has such conviction and passion that I was excited by him, but Keith Ramsay, who was wonderful in "Amour," felt directed to give such a broad (outwardly rather than inwardly) expressive performance that the whole work never caught fire for me, though I did enjoy it's embers.

3 stars.

[cartoonman]

I had no idea who the devil figure in the cape was and what it was about. It reminded me of when I saw The Crazy World of Arthur Brown in the 60s. I think it spoiled a good show.

[Deleted]

Reading the reviews this morning and feel I've clearly missed something. I thought this was really, really bad. The performances were solid (though I had no idea what was going on with the Devil), but the score was just wholly unforgettable and dull.

Such a shame because as I said the performances were good and the lighting design exquisite, but just an otherwise very dull evening at the theatre for me.

[FrontroverPaul]

Sept 12, 2019 11:09:02 GMT @mrmusicals said:

Reading the reviews this morning and feel I've clearly missed something. I thought this was really, really bad. The performances were solid (though I had no idea what was going on with the Devil), but the score was just wholly unforgettable and dull.

Such a shame because as I said the performances were good and the lighting design exquisite, but just an otherwise very dull evening at the theatre for me.

While this all went completely over my head I'm pleased to see such favourable reviews and people who book to see Preludes after reading them will have a better idea what to expect than perhaps we did.

One disappointing afternoon certainly won't stop me booking almost all new musicals and I enjoy what I see probably 9 times out of 10.

From some of the points in the reviews I do feel I am intellectually better suited to Priscilla Queen Of The Desert and Oliver (which I've also seen this week)  than Preludes, but then I read The Sun, never miss Corrie and  dine out at McDonalds, Subway and KFC so that's just me. 

[Deleted]

Sept 12, 2019 12:09:11 GMT FrontroverPaul said:

Sept 12, 2019 11:09:02 GMT @mrmusicals said:

Reading the reviews this morning and feel I've clearly missed something. I thought this was really, really bad. The performances were solid (though I had no idea what was going on with the Devil), but the score was just wholly unforgettable and dull.

Such a shame because as I said the performances were good and the lighting design exquisite, but just an otherwise very dull evening at the theatre for me.

While this all went completely over my head I'm pleased to see such favourable reviews and people who book to see Preludes after reading them will have a better idea what to expect than perhaps we did.

One disappointing afternoon certainly won't stop me booking almost all new musicals and I enjoy what I see probably 9 times out of 10.

From some of the points in the reviews I do feel I am intellectually better suited to Priscilla Queen Of The Desert and Oliver (which I've also seen this week)  than Preludes, but then I read The Sun, never miss Corrie and  dine out at McDonalds, Subway and KFC so that's just me. 

I'm intrigued by Malloy's other musical opening later this year, so he's not put me off entirely. 

[FrontroverPaul]

Same here but I@m going to watch one of the online versions before deciding whether to book for the Boulevard Theatre's production of Ghost Quartet.

I did try this for Preludes but only brief excerpts are available, whereas there are two or three full length Ghost Quartets.

[intoanewlife]

Cannot WAIT now. Glad to see Malloy FINALLY getting some recognition in this country!

[robertb213]

Sorry to anyone involved in this production or other board members who enjoyed it, but I thought it was dreadful. Interval walkout from me I'm afraid. The guy next to me fell asleep halfway through the first half and woke up at the interval. I was quite jealous of him.

[tom08]

Sept 12, 2019 19:59:26 GMT robertb213 said:

Sorry to anyone involved in this production or other board members who enjoyed it, but I thought it was dreadful. Interval walkout from me I'm afraid. The guy next to me fell asleep halfway through the first half and woke up at the interval. I was quite jealous of him.

I was there too last night. Sorry to hear you did not like it.

Although not his best work (I have only seen Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet but I have listened to Ghost Quartet), I did enjoy it. The story is all over the place to the point that I just thought 'WTF' (excuse my language) but I found it pretty engaging. For me, everything came together towards the end. Unfortunately, the last 10 minutes dragged and dragged and dragged.

I do recommend it.

[FrontroverPaul]

Such contrasting views. Almost universal critical acclaim, but a slight majority here are giving it a thumbs down. Looking forward to reading further reactions from board members.

While I'm with robertb213 on this one, even having a sleeper/snorer next to me, I did feel the whole cast were excellent and Keith Ramsay as Rach gave a powerful, gut-wrenching, virtuoso performance.

While I scored Preludes low in my subjective "personal enjoyment" ratings, it's a show which pushes the boundaries of what constitutes musical theatre so inevitably not for everyone. Certainly too abstract, too confusing and just too weird for me.

Finest quality marmite !!

[intoanewlife]

Saw this last night and I thought it was quite simply one of the single greatest theatrical experiences I have ever had in my life.

This production itself is simply brilliant!

The fact that something so powerful and affecting can be created in such a small space is almost unfathomable to me.

The lighting is perfection and the use of sound is brilliantly complementary to the piece.

The performances and direction are completely flawless and then there is the show itself...it is a work of genius!

Frankly I simply cannot understand how anyone could walk out at intermission.

There was probably 30 seconds in the wedding scene is the 2nd Act where my attention began to wander and then that beautiful music kicked in and oh my Lord was it beautiful!

Apart from that I was enthralled and hanging on every word the entire evening.

I really struggle with how anyone could not understand what was going on throughout the show. If you found this hard to follow, DO NOT bother with Great Comet or Ghost Quartet, because this was FAR easier to follow than either of them.

I think I experienced every single emotion there is over the course of the evening and I was close to tears pretty much the entire show.

I have never leapt to my feet so fast at the end of a performance ever, there was so much talent on that stage it would've been a disgrace not to.

I will be revisiting this many times over the next few weeks.

[pianowithsam]

Sept 15, 2019 7:24:43 GMT intoanewlife said:

Saw this last night and I thought it was quite simply one of the single greatest theatrical experiences I have ever had in my life.

This production itself is simply brilliant!

The fact that something so powerful and affecting can be created in such a small space is almost unfathomable to me.

The lighting is perfection and the use of sound is brilliantly complementary to the piece.

The performances and direction are completely flawless and then there is the show itself...it is a work of genius!

Frankly I simply cannot understand how anyone could walk out at intermission.

There was probably 30 seconds in the wedding scene is the 2nd Act where my attention began to wander and then that beautiful music kicked in and oh my Lord was it beautiful!

Apart from that I was enthralled and hanging on every word the entire evening.

I really struggle with how anyone could not understand what was going on throughout the show. If you found this hard to follow, DO NOT bother with Great Comet or Ghost Quartet, because this was FAR easier to follow than either of them.

I think I experienced every single emotion there is over the course of the evening and I was close to tears pretty much the entire show.

I have never leapt to my feet so fast at the end of a performance ever, there was so much talent on that stage it would've been a disgrace not to.

I will be revisiting this many times over the next few weeks.

I genuinely don’t think that Ghost Quartet is written to be understood.
More that it’s written to be appreciated.

[robertb213]

Sept 15, 2019 7:24:43 GMT intoanewlife said:

Saw this last night and I thought it was quite simply one of the single greatest theatrical experiences I have ever had in my life.

This production itself is simply brilliant!

The fact that something so powerful and affecting can be created in such a small space is almost unfathomable to me.

The lighting is perfection and the use of sound is brilliantly complementary to the piece.

The performances and direction are completely flawless and then there is the show itself...it is a work of genius!

Frankly I simply cannot understand how anyone could walk out at intermission.

There was probably 30 seconds in the wedding scene is the 2nd Act where my attention began to wander and then that beautiful music kicked in and oh my Lord was it beautiful!

Apart from that I was enthralled and hanging on every word the entire evening.

I really struggle with how anyone could not understand what was going on throughout the show. If you found this hard to follow, DO NOT bother with Great Comet or Ghost Quartet, because this was FAR easier to follow than either of them.

I think I experienced every single emotion there is over the course of the evening and I was close to tears pretty much the entire show.

I have never leapt to my feet so fast at the end of a performance ever, there was so much talent on that stage it would've been a disgrace not to.

I will be revisiting this many times over the next few weeks.

Glad you liked it! Always good to see differing opinions on shows 😀

[intoanewlife]

Sept 11, 2019 9:09:12 GMT jampot said:

Can anyone inform me who the masked red caped character was? Think in second half....

Sept 12, 2019 8:17:03 GMT cartoonman said:

I had no idea who the devil figure in the cape was and what it was about. It reminded me of when I saw The Crazy World of Arthur Brown in the 60s. I think it spoiled a good show.

My interpretation...

The Red Devil is just a character his friend Chaliapin is playing in an opera.

Before he takes to the stage, the 2 have a conversation about Chaliapin's recent trip, the different types of music he heard there, the feelings he experienced while listening to it and how the drums and rhythms seemed to create a looping sound.

By that point Rach's mind is in such chaos and is so fractured (the next scene is his big revelation and final unravelling with the doctor) it is looping recent events with current events. It is fusing the conversation he'd just had, with the experiences his friend had and his own experience watching the opera.

Chaliapin is performing as normal, but we see it through the fractured mind of Rach.

It is basically a fever dream.

[CG on the loose]

This thread had warned me this was something of a marmite piece and having seen it, I get that... but I love marmite, and I loved this! Call me shallow, but I don't go into a show needing to 'understand' it, I just want to experience it and if it speaks to me on some level, I consider myself enriched by that experience. This had me spellbound - visually, musically, emotionally.