Bedknobs and Broomsticks - U.K. & Ireland Tour

[Jan]

May 30, 2020 15:36:11 GMT anthony40 said:

It's always great to see David Tomlinson in an old Disney film, isn't it? 

In his autobiography David Tomlinson doesn't mention Bedknobs and Broomsticks at all. This is believed to be because of the many problems he had on the shoot which ranged from him disliking Angela Lansbury to not being allowed to provide his own costumes for the film. 

[westendboy]

Saw the show last night at the Orchard. I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought the effects and stagecraft were done in a very clever way and worked much better than I expected. The cast were all in top form and it was very fun evening. The film is a nostalgic favourite of mine and I felt that this was a decent adaptation. One thing I did notice was that they made Mr. Browne less self-confident than he was in the film, which I did find kind of strange. I can believe he wouldn't have confidence in his magic skills, but in the film he still had a level of self-assurance, particularly in "The Beautiful Briny".

However, like what some others who have seen the show have said on this thread, I wasn't crazy about the ending. It honestly felt like a bit of a cop out to end it like that and it did take away a little of the magic. But for me the most irritating part of the evening was the audience! The people sitting behind me kept talking and laughing at certain points in Act 1, that it made it difficult for me to hear what the actors were saying. Thankfully they left during the interval.

But overall, I really enjoyed the musical. I wonder if the tour is successful enough, they will bring it to the West End and maybe "upgrade" it? (Sorry to sound like a Cyberman) In terms of sfx?

[TallPaul]

The final week at Leeds, 4 to 9 January, has been cancelled, due to 'circumstances beyond our control'.

[westendboy]

Nov 26, 2021 13:45:30 GMT TallPaul said:

The final week at Leeds, 4 to 9 January, has been cancelled, due to 'circumstances beyond our control'.

    That's interesting. Wonder what it could be?

[jaqs]

Had a second visit this afternoon, spent all morning checking to see if it would be off.
Really enjoyed the show, felt tighter than Manchester. Had a much closer seat but it still felt magical for the big moments. And generally was lovely to go out with my family at Christmas.

[notmymuse]

Just had an email from Curve in Leicester, week 1 going ahead but week 2 cancelled. No real explanation as to why. It hasn't been selling amazingly well so I'm wondering if that's why?

[lettybetty88]

I'm seeing this in Bristol at the end of the month and from reading some of the comments can't wait! Love the original film and always thought it would make a great stage musical.

[Figaro]

Any news of the supposed London transfer?

[Sam]

I really enjoyed this at the weekend. It would be a shame if there wasn't a London run. I much prefer this to the often compared Mary Poppins.

The effects were really great, as were the songs.

I found Charlie's accent a bit Frank Spencer which grated. I'm not sure why they've gone with such a young child for Carrie when an adult is playing Charlie. In the film they seem much closer in age, and the gap really made it more evident that he wasn't a child.

Also, unfortunately (but understandably), a lot of Paul's classic lines, like "What's that got to do with my knob?" aren't in the stage version.

The ending was odd as people have already commented here. There is so much crammed into the story as it is, so it seems odd to opt for a long, somewhat pointless, drawn out ending. That time could have been better spent elsewhere in the show.

Overall I really loved it and would not hesitate to see again.

[jacob]

wanting to see this at the end of the month, where’s best to sit?

[Dr Tom]

Jan 21, 2022 21:45:34 GMT jacob said:

wanting to see this at the end of the month, where’s best to sit?

Near the front. The show looks great, but it's small in scale compared to many other Disney musicals.

[fluxcapacitor]

Finally saw this over the weekend in Cardiff. It was joyful. The magic is clever (even though there was a show stop when the bed failed to appear at one point), the musical arrangements stunning - adding depth to many of the original songs ("Nobody's Problems" is a particular standout), the new music fits well (though there's nothing particularly groundbreaking or memorable in there) and most of the tweaks to the main narrative to fit the stage are done sensitively and cleverly. In my opinion, this is a perfect example of how to successfully adapt a movie into a stage musical, done by a creative team who understand the new medium but obviously have a love and respect for the source. Sure, it looks a little small in a huge space like the Millennium Centre, but not distractingly so and it's covered well with the design of the set. I assume it would be scaled up again if it were to hit a more permanent home in London.

Like many other posters, t's another big thumbs down from me for the ending, though. I absolutely loved it until that point and they had well and truly sucked me into this world of magic set against the backdrop of the second world war, especially with a new backstory for Miss Price and some fleshing out of the children's. And then it really feels like they break that magic completely with the choice of ending. It's not even the concept as much as the execution. The rest in spoilers:

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler - click to view}I quite like the skew that Charlie/the children have imagined all of this to help them cope with the horrors of war. I didn't even mind characters "vanishing" once they were confronted with Charlie's realisation of the truth. But it feels like the following scene in the museum, where they "re-meet" Mr Browne and a very different "real" Miss Price, was just a long attempt to twist a happy ending out of a glum twist. It just felt... awkward, and rather confusing. And that's before you even get into more picky issues like the fact that we now need to believe the children had never met Miss Price or Mr Browne in real life, but miraculously "imagined" versions identical to the real life counterparts who enter the museum. Personally, I would have preferred an ending more in line with the movie OR a more ambiguous ending following Charlie's revelation that the attacking army was imagined; for example waking up in Miss Price's bed once again with her convincing all three they have only just arrived at her home and that it's still the evening when they pretended to sleep before they ever saw her flying... only for Mr Browne to then enter. Leaving us wondering if she's hiding the truth, or if they only ever imagined everything.

Hopefully it will get changed somehow in a future London run since it seems the consistent negative in reviews, but either way I hope to see it again since otherwise it was the perfect balance of nostalgia, emotion and spectacle.

[robertb213]

I'm reviewing this on Thursday at Leicester Curve on Thursday (10th Feb), 7.30pm start. They've allocated me a second ticket, if anyone wants to come along on a freebie drop me a message. I'm not a murderer, I promise 😁

[westended]

Has anyone worked how the flying effects in this show work? I would love to know ! (Perhaps someone could explain, but hidden in a spoiler?)

Is the bed just a case of a “bed on a stick” or it is a bit more lavish than that?

[Being Alive]

Feb 9, 2022 18:00:56 GMT westended said:

Has anyone worked how the flying effects in this show work? I would love to know ! (Perhaps someone could explain, but hidden in a spoiler?)

Is the bed just a case of a “bed on a stick” or it is a bit more lavish than that?

I worked the bed out (I'll try to do a spoiler but it's hard on mobile) but the broom through the window STILL baffles me all these months on 😂

[PhantomNcl]

Feb 9, 2022 20:54:46 GMT Being Alive said:

Feb 9, 2022 18:00:56 GMT westended said:

Has anyone worked how the flying effects in this show work? I would love to know ! (Perhaps someone could explain, but hidden in a spoiler?)

Is the bed just a case of a “bed on a stick” or it is a bit more lavish than that?

I worked the bed out (I'll try to do a spoiler but it's hard on mobile) but the broom through the window STILL baffles me all these months on 😂

The bed was quite an easy one, but it took a few viewings to work out the window.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler - click to view}
The bed is on an arm which comes from the back of the stage, pretty much like all of the flying without wires effects used by The Twins in many UK pantos, and I believe also the car in Back to the Future. It allows it to rise, fall, move around, and rotate too.

One side of the window frame doesn't exist, but is covered by the curtain that hangs over it - the arm holding the bed simply passes through the empty space, and the curtain flops over the top of it. It's something similar when the bed flies through the arch in London too - there's a side section of the arch which slides down into the rest of the column below it, and the bed simply passes through the empty space. The section is then pulled back up into place, but as it happens in semi-darkness it's hard to see what's going on.

[HereForTheatre]

I saw this today. I had covers on for all the lead 3 roles.

It's one of my fave films and I like how they adapted it, it felt very magical. I was always wrestling with whether i wished it was bigger more technical production though. On one hand sometimes the arty and basic scenery on a stick approach felt like it let the show down a bit but then on the other I wondered if anything too big and technical would have taken away some of it's charm too. I'm still not quite sure. Ultimately I do think it was cleverly staged and was a nice magical afternoon at the theatre and they nailed the flying bed, which is key. All the performances were very good but I don't think the Ms Price really captured the characteristics and personality from Angela Lansburys version, it felt a bit too prim and proper for me, I don't know how Dianne Pilkington plays it, I'd have been interested to see. Probably Sam Lupton was my fave performance of the evening as Emelius.

[theatreliker]

Saw this last night at Curve. Having not seen the film, it's an odd show isn't it?

I found the covers to be first class, but the actor playing Browne stood out for me.
As mentioned above, this isn't the high tech Disney stage show you might expect. I agree it has its own charm and style but there are so many bits of set that need lugging on and off. The cast must be exhausted. At one point I'm sure I saw one cast member chuck a bit of scenery offstage.
The show is clunky and slow at times particularly at the beginning. Great effects, some nice moments especially towards the end of Act 1, but forgettable songs. It's the cast that bring it all together especially the ensemble.

[robertb213]

4 stars from me, if it got a London residency and they could automate the scenery and make it slightly punchier, it would be 5. There's a lot of charm and magic here, it just needs tightening.

[stagebyte]

Loads of heart and a magical story.
Another great night out at Curve

[karloscar]

The movie never made much of an impression on me apart from the obvious big numbers that were shown again and again so I went to see it with no expectations. I loved the staging and the mix between hi tech and old fashioned techniques. I didn't mind the ensemble moving stuff around at all, it was done knowingly and done well and fitting for a forties setting. The rabbit spell was a fun highlight and broomstick sequence was clever. I thought the bed might have done something more spectacular in act 2, but didn't miss it when it didn't. That was mainly because the show found some heart and danger in the second act. ( The sequence with the invading Germans isn't quite threatening enough, but could be fixed quite easily.) The most moving moment was the cry of "why does everyone leave us?" from Paul(?),which set up the ending perfectly. Contrary to most of the opinion on here, I thought it was beautifully done, and the fact that the real Miss Price is less erratic and forgetful than the children feared is no bad thing given that they're newly alone in the world. It doesn't mean there won't be mad adventures ahead...

[david]

I had a great night last night in Liverpool watching this and it was a really enjoyable stage version of the film. As other board members have posted, this show really has a lot of charm and magic about it. I thought there was a nice blend of both the more technical stuff with the broomstick and bed sequences and the simpler staging of moving bits of scenery by hand by the cast. I really loved the use of the puppets in the show, especially during the Nopeepo Lagoon part in Act 2 (Loved Norton the fish). Cast-wise, Charles Brunton as Browne and Conor O'Hara as Charlie were the standouts for me.

Rating - 4 stars.

[robertb213]

Travelzoo code travelzoo10 to get up to 40% off tickets at Northampton Derngate next week (Tuesday to Friday)

[drowseychap]

This appears to have sold so much better in Wolverhampton than it did in Birmingham??? Where tickets were being sold for £14 just to fill the theatre
Wolverhampton tickets are between £55-60 top price and cheapest tickets and I’ve never really got this
On seating plan says listening only !!! So you can’t even watch the show just hear it for £27-30 🤔🙄🤪

[shady23]

That is outrageous. Seats like that should not be allowed to be sold.