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Post by broadwaylover99 on Apr 21, 2016 22:15:17 GMT
Anyone who was there tonight, how was Ria? Any details would be great!
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Apr 21, 2016 22:17:59 GMT
Just been reading the ENO twitter feed. It's getting rather lively! Including the suggestion that Glenn is out for the rest of the run, hence no exchanges or refunds  |
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Post by Michael on Apr 21, 2016 22:18:30 GMT
I'm booked for next Thursday and frankly, I'm happy to see either.
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Post by distantcousin on Apr 21, 2016 22:28:30 GMT
According to some reports on Twitter people were just leaving the theatre when they found out it wasn't Glenn. Didn't even stay to see what RJ was like!  Utter ignoramuses!! I despair. Says a lot about the average person's attachment to "celebrity" now in the world of entertainment ... |
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Post by Boob on Apr 21, 2016 22:34:51 GMT
Is Ria Jones a rehearsed understudy or did they draught her in last minute because she knows the part and was available?
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Post by n1david on Apr 21, 2016 22:36:08 GMT
Is Ria Jones a rehearsed understudy or did they draught her in last minute because she knows the part and was available? She is the named understudy and credited as such in the programme. |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Apr 21, 2016 22:36:19 GMT
Is Ria Jones a rehearsed understudy or did they draught her in last minute because she knows the part and was available? Rehearsed. Shes been gagging for this for the last 3 weeks  |
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Post by dippy on Apr 21, 2016 22:42:43 GMT
I'm not very good at this kind of thing but I'll give it a go. I tend to stick to factual stuff rather than my opinions.
So I went along specially to see Ria.I enjoyed Glenn but went because I wanted to hear someone sing it without any problems.I guess I could easily have got a good rejected ticket off someone but instead I just got myself a cheap balcony seat. There were scattered gaps in the stalls from what I could see but not loads.
It started with a man coming on to tell us that unfortunately Glenn Close wasn't able to perform. The audience response was horrible, there was some booing, it was stopped by lots of people shushing them. He told us Ria would play the role which led to applause and some cheering.
She got a massive round of applause when she came along the top walkway. Funny that I had seen a previous show when Glenn didn't get an entrance applause.
I enjoyed Ria's performance, her singing was what I'd been hoping for. The applause at the end of her big numbers felt just as big as what Glenn got. She was a little less crazy at the end than Glenn is but that didn't matter. I can't fault her in anyway.
The audience did seem to love her or were being nicely supportive. There was a standing ovation, all the stalls that I could see and about two thirds of the balcony. She was very sweet in the curtain call, the conductor had to drag her to the front at one point. The person who sat next to me loved it as did two people I spoke to on the tube. One of the two one is going back on Saturday (already had the ticket for a while) and the other got a ticket to see it again, they were disappointed she'd been off but both loved it. I definitely heard lots of moaning before it started but I didn't hear any at the end. However there were some people who left (or moved to better seats?) in the interval. I'm sure two of them would have left whoever had been on though, one of them was sleeping with her head resting on the front ledge of the balcony.
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Post by couldileaveyou on Apr 21, 2016 22:51:45 GMT
I just saw a pic of her curtain call on Twitter. What the hell was she wearing? Did she have the "perfect year" dress over the salome one?
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Post by sub37 on Apr 21, 2016 22:54:14 GMT
I watched tonight from the orchestra. Ria was great :-)Totally different performance, made the role her own. Very powerful and deserving of the ovation...
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Post by d'James on Apr 21, 2016 22:56:16 GMT
I just saw a pic of her curtain call on Twitter. What the hell was she wearing? Did she have the "perfect year" dress over the salome one? Any links? |
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Post by CG on the loose on Apr 21, 2016 23:00:24 GMT
Can't add much too Dippy's report. Didn't know until I got to the theatre that GC was off and it wouldn't have crossed my mind not to see it as I love the show (and have two more tickets booked so will hopefully see the 'star attraction' at some point).
I was appalled (though not surprised sadly) at the boos that greeted the announcement (and heartened by the louder and longer applause that followed for Ria) but even the most ardent booer in my immediate vicinity was cheering by the end.
I thought Ria was fabulous vocally and was in no way disappointed with her acting either though will be interested to compare and contrast if I get the chance.
So, a tad disappointed after all the anticipation, but mostly just happy to have heard that orchestra play what is perhaps my favourite score.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Apr 21, 2016 23:17:29 GMT
So, understudy stands in for much lauded but sickly star, and gets rave reviews. 24 hours later star makes miraculous recovery and is back on stage. Ring any bells? *cough*sarah brightman*cough*phantom*  |
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Post by dippy on Apr 21, 2016 23:18:40 GMT
Found a tweet with a curtain call picture:
He's got some more pictures as well if you go to his account.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2016 4:47:22 GMT
We know the legal aspect of this - you payed to see the show etc.etc. BUT when the star is above the title there should be a facility to exchange the ticket if possible, as the show is marketed as Glenn Close in Sunset Boulevard. It has to be compared with paying to see Madonna and not the understudy. It is about the huge cost - we are not talking the usual £70 top price to see a fully staged musical but £100 - £150 to see a semi staged show! I can understand the guy "kicking off"! However, I have to report that many people were picking their tickets up at the box office with a resigned shrug and "oh well ...let's go and have a drink before the show!" Plus several people were booking tickets especially to see Ria as they were friends who wanted to support her! I felt very sorry for the duty box office manager who had a bad shift! There were plenty of security guys around in case anything got physical! He took the line (and held it) that it was not the ENO policy but the policy of the producers of this visiting production which the ENO had no control over and they could not exchange or refund. I would have bought a cheap ticket (having seen Glenn the first week) to see Ria but unfortunately I had tickets to something else this evening. Also when the stars photo, basically a headshot, is on all the advertising and is as big as the logo. Considering the whole point of these musicals was to help increase the eno audience this kind of bad taste won't get people returning any time soon |
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Post by loureviews on Apr 22, 2016 6:52:10 GMT
Bit odd that they aren't offering exchanges. I love how self righteous people get about this though. Whilst I'd be livid if it happened to me ( Martine! I may forget; I'll never forgive) I do think I could understand, and hope to rebook. People get ill, deal with it. Martine was quite a different issue. She should never have committed to a show in the first place. In the case of Sunset I do like Ria and glad she has had her moment, although I might have been disappointed if I had geared up to see Glenn rather than the show. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2016 7:50:38 GMT
I have very little sympathy for people who think the position of the name of the star entitles them to see the star in the role no matter how unwell the star in question may be. If you literally don't understand how live theatre works, and that sometimes people get too ill to do their job, then you definitely don't deserve a refund. People are not machines. You may book to see the star but PEOPLE ARE NOT MACHINES. You may think the producers are legally obliged to give refunds or exchanges if the absent star is above the name (this is not true, not even on Broadway; they do it there as a goodwill gesture, not because they are obliged to) but PEOPLE ARE NOT MACHINES.
Besides, what's the difference? What if the poster was just the show logo, and the posters said "SUNSET BOULEVARD with GLENN CLOSE" rather than "GLENN CLOSE in SUNSET BOULEVARD"? Are you honestly saying people would in that situation say "well, I booked to see Glenn Close, but it's my own silly fault for being disappointed, this is fine"? People are going to book to see particular cast members wherever they are on the poster, and you can put someone's name below the title but that doesn't magically make them not a major Hollywood star who people are going to book specifically to see. If you think about it for half a minute, it makes absolutely no sense that the star's name being above the show's name makes a sudden massive difference. Hell, if it did, producers would NEVER put the star above the title, because if there was this legal loophole, why in the hell would the money people not exploit it for their own ends instead of leaving it there for disgruntled audience members to exploit? This is the same idiot logic that makes people think they should legally be allowed to not have to pay 5p for a carrier bag because it's got the shop's logo on the side therefore counts as advertising, even as they wear their Nike trainers and chat on their Apple iPhones which they bought with their own money.
Anyway. Speaking as an individual, I think it would have been the done thing to at least offer exchanges (I'm choosing to ascribe no weight to the rumours that Close is expected to be off for the rest of the run), but the person sitting at the box office doesn't get to make that decision, not even the one who has "manager" written on their name badge, and anyone who has been rude about that either in person or online deserves to step on Lego bricks in their bare feet every day for the rest of the year.
IT IS LIVE THEATRE AND PEOPLE ARE NOT MACHINES.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2016 8:06:21 GMT
It's a different way of advertising. The show name and logo are bigger than the cast name, like cats when it has a name as grizabella, the cats eyes and title are always more prominent. The show is still the star.
Here, you have the title taking a back seat and the star being sold front and centre. The show is second fiddle. It has become a star event.
Having a ruling, like on broadway, would help manage public expectations and also keep producers in check for not over advertising something they can't guarantee they can deliver. Producers can't have it both ways.
It also annoys me when new productions use the originals art work (looking at you hairspray)
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2016 8:20:57 GMT
So, understudy stands in for much lauded but sickly star, and gets rave reviews. 24 hours later star makes miraculous recovery and is back on stage. Ring any bells? *cough*sarah brightman*cough*phantom* I saw that Phantom documentary a while back too, where the bitchy chorus girls made that claim. Of course, the BIG difference is that Sarah Brightman could actually *cough* sing *cough* so she had nothing to fear with Claire Moore going on at all. (In fact, she's gone on to make a highly successful career as a recording artist beyond the world of Musical Theatre and spends a lot of time performing fairly spectacular shows around the world.) I'd imagine Glenn Close's indisposition is due to the strain on her vocal chords, if the reports we have been reading on here this past week are correct. I dare say she (and the producers) will have been realistic when contracts were signed, admitting that she might have to miss performances for whatever reason, and this is why an understudy has been put in place. (The Madonna/no Madonna comparison is no comparison as far as I'm concerned. That is something altogether different, and this is why we often hear of pop/rock concerts being cancelled.) I would also imagine Ria Jones knew EXACTLY what she was signing up for too- apart from most nights watching the telly and texting her mates in her dressing room: the fact that IF she had to go on it would not go down well with many in the audience. I sympathise with the people who were disappointed by Glenn's absence last night; I too have been in the position where I would have been gutted to miss a particular artist in a role (much as I LOVED Victoria Wood, it was Julie Walters I wanted to see in Acorn Antiques the Musical. Funnily enough I booked my third pair of tickets for Aspects of Love when it was on at the Prince of Wales just to see Sarah Brightman. When it was announced she was off, the producers kindly offered to exchange my tickets for another date...) I'm not bothered about seeing Glenn myself, so I won't be booing Ria Jones if she's on for my show. But I do hope she makes a full recovery and returns to the show as soon as possible, so that those who really wanted to see her in the role can. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2016 8:29:09 GMT
Is Ria Jones a rehearsed understudy or did they draught her in last minute because she knows the part and was available? Rehearsed. Shes been gagging for this for the last 3 weeks She probably slipped something into Glenn's medication. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2016 8:55:46 GMT
Putting the Glenn/Ria issue aside for one moment - do people think Norma Desmond is ALW's most iconic female role?
The fierce opinions, controversy and backstage drama concerning who is/isn't appearing has forever been a huge issue for Sunset Boulevard. This is not the same for Christine in Phantom. Even in Evita there was never this level of drama!
What's different about Sunset? It really is his only show where the star can sometimes be seen as bigger than the show!
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Post by Joseph Buquet on Apr 22, 2016 9:09:37 GMT
I have very little sympathy for people who think the position of the name of the star entitles them to see the star in the role no matter how unwell the star in question may be. If you literally don't understand how live theatre works, and that sometimes people get too ill to do their job, then you definitely don't deserve a refund. People are not machines. You may book to see the star but PEOPLE ARE NOT MACHINES. You may think the producers are legally obliged to give refunds or exchanges if the absent star is above the name (this is not true, not even on Broadway; they do it there as a goodwill gesture, not because they are obliged to) but PEOPLE ARE NOT MACHINES. Besides, what's the difference? What if the poster was just the show logo, and the posters said "SUNSET BOULEVARD with GLENN CLOSE" rather than "GLENN CLOSE in SUNSET BOULEVARD"? Are you honestly saying people would in that situation say "well, I booked to see Glenn Close, but it's my own silly fault for being disappointed, this is fine"? People are going to book to see particular cast members wherever they are on the poster, and you can put someone's name below the title but that doesn't magically make them not a major Hollywood star who people are going to book specifically to see. If you think about it for half a minute, it makes absolutely no sense that the star's name being above the show's name makes a sudden massive difference. Hell, if it did, producers would NEVER put the star above the title, because if there was this legal loophole, why in the hell would the money people not exploit it for their own ends instead of leaving it there for disgruntled audience members to exploit? This is the same idiot logic that makes people think they should legally be allowed to not have to pay 5p for a carrier bag because it's got the shop's logo on the side therefore counts as advertising, even as they wear their Nike trainers and chat on their Apple iPhones which they bought with their own money. Anyway. Speaking as an individual, I think it would have been the done thing to at least offer exchanges (I'm choosing to ascribe no weight to the rumours that Close is expected to be off for the rest of the run), but the person sitting at the box office doesn't get to make that decision, not even the one who has "manager" written on their name badge, and anyone who has been rude about that either in person or online deserves to step on Lego bricks in their bare feet every day for the rest of the year. IT IS LIVE THEATRE AND PEOPLE ARE NOT MACHINES. You're right. People are not machines. But if I booked to see a Madonna concert and she was indisposed, I wouldn't expect an alternative act for the same price. Would you agree with this principle? So does that make pop music artists machines but musical theatre artists not? Or is the fact that people are not machines in fact not relevant here? I don't understand why some people on here get so upset when people say that they go to see a show specifically to see a particular performer - it's like it's some sort of moral issue. Why does any production ever announce a cast? Why didn't ENO just say "we're putting on Sunset Boulevard" and stay totally silent on the cast? It's because far, far fewer people would come. Which must mean that people are paying to see a specific cast, rather than just a show. And I don't see what's wrong with that |
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Post by distantcousin on Apr 22, 2016 9:13:25 GMT
Putting the Glenn/Ria issue aside for one moment - do people think Norma Desmond is ALW's most iconic female role? The fierce opinions, controversy and backstage drama concerning who is/isn't appearing has forever been a huge issue for Sunset Boulevard. This is not the same for Christine in Phantom. Even in Evita there was never this level of drama! What's different about Sunset? It really is his only show where the star can sometimes be seen as bigger than the show! You are exactly right - ALW never conceives his shows as star vehicles - the show is always very much the star. But it has ended up being the key to Sunset's lack of longevity (when compared with his monster hits). Patti LuPone was unknown to anyone in the UK apart from West End theatre enthusiasts, and the show was sold off the back of his name, and the film. That all changed when he employed La Close, and also created a monster where the public expectation was that a star should play Norma. This was replicated in London when Elaine Paige took over - a musical theatre star who had long since transcended the West End bubble (one of its very few breakout stars in fact) and had been a household name since the late 70's. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2016 9:18:05 GMT
A Madonna concert is an entirely different beast from a production of Sunset Boulevard starring Glenn Close and you know it. Pop concerts get cancelled all together (usually to be rescheduled) when the performer is unable to perform, but it's infinitely less practical to expect a theatrical performance to be cancelled due to the indisposition of a single performer and rescheduled for another date, when the rest of the cast have moved on to other jobs and the theatre now has a different production in situ.
I book shows to see particular performers. I have a list of performers I like and will book to see. The difference is I - and probably most of the people here - don't throw a whiny baby tantrum when my performer of choice is indisposed, even if I've flown to the other side of the Atlantic specifically to see them, may I refer you back to IT IS LIVE THEATRE AND PEOPLE ARE NOT MACHINES. No one cares that people have booked to see particular performers, because we all do it, what we do care about is when people have a bad attitude about life taking the bumpy path rather than the smooth one that day.
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Post by terrylondon79 on Apr 22, 2016 9:42:55 GMT
My main issue is, yes I know people aren't robots. But but that logic, of the Eno Orchestra got food poisoning, would a cassette tape being played, (It's a great recording) be a acceptable substitute. Or could the whole cast be played by school kids making there acting debut. According to the booking terns and conditions, they could do either of those and not give you your money back.
When the advertising is the star, that is the product.
Yes Ria Jones was good, but she is not what hundreds of people had paid for.
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