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Post by ceebee on Sept 12, 2024 20:48:51 GMT
Saw the matinee today. Wow, wow, wow. So brilliant to catch Carolyn as Diana after seeing the original full cast at the Donmar. My son came with me this time (daughter last time). It broke him. It really resonated with him, leading him to open up on the way back to the train about an ex's struggles (he basically was 'Henry' in the family dynamic). Provoked a really interesting discussion about current understanding, tolerance, education etc of mental health issues. And of course the power of musical theatre in exploring such topics. Easily my top show of the year so far. I felt exactly the same having been in Dan's shoes. This show wrecked me first time around - the last two times I was able to enjoy it more without the emotional express train ploughing through my heart. |
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Post by ThereWillBeSun on Sept 12, 2024 22:54:29 GMT
Saw matinee today. Sobbed. Amazing to have seen Carolyn and Jamie Parker’s voice is the best it has ever been. Breaks my heart. What a privilege. Outstanding cast.
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106 posts
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Post by highonahill on Sept 13, 2024 6:12:00 GMT
Saw the matinee today. Wow, wow, wow. So brilliant to catch Carolyn as Diana after seeing the original full cast at the Donmar. My son came with me this time (daughter last time). It broke him. It really resonated with him, leading him to open up on the way back to the train about an ex's struggles (he basically was 'Henry' in the family dynamic). Provoked a really interesting discussion about current understanding, tolerance, education etc of mental health issues. And of course the power of musical theatre in exploring such topics. Easily my top show of the year so far. I felt exactly the same having been in Dan's shoes. This show wrecked me first time around - the last two times I was able to enjoy it more without the emotional express train ploughing through my heart. I hear you. The show's impact is deep to anyone. But so much more if you've experienced those issues. Glad you were able to see it more than once. |
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Post by dollybm on Sept 13, 2024 7:33:54 GMT
The evening show was a Carolyn/Lizzy combination as mother and daughter and I’m really glad to have seen them on my second viewing. I’m still processing a lot of my thoughts but echoing the heaps of praise for Carolyn, she had such wonderful shades of light and dark in her performance and what a voice. I feel Carolyn and Cassie both play Diana very differently but both come across utterly authentic- you really feel as though you’re in the room with them both. An absolute treat to have seen both.
Lizzy is quite an angry Natalie and I can’t quite believe she’s the same actress I saw as Heather McNamara previously! I know that’s the point of acting but with some performers I struggle to really distinguish between their characterisations if I’ve seen them in multiple productions. I feel she really nails the invisible girl aspect of the role and her voice brought such a richness to the Diana/Natalie harmonies.
I have no words for Jamie and Jack as Dan and Gabe last night, I thought there was no way they could have strengthened what were utterly astonishing performances previously but both truly had the audience in the palm of their hands yesterday evening.
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Post by apubleed on Sept 13, 2024 9:12:17 GMT
Last night, the title song maybe/next to normal hit me so hard. It felt like a very special moment where the two understudies had their moment together while the other actors sit away. Both of the performances are so strong it’s actually hard to believe they have barely gone on - especially the Diana understudy of course since the other has had more time on stage. They did not seem to make any mistakes. I’m so happy that they had the moment they were clearly prepared for.
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Post by xanady on Sept 13, 2024 9:21:35 GMT
Was also there last night and echo the comments above.
Congrats to Carolyn and Lizzy.
Seen this now four times and it is a wonderful piece.
Had a similar emotional effect on me as when I saw the original versions of Les Mis,Blood Brothers and more recently DEH.
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Post by doornumberthree on Sept 13, 2024 17:57:52 GMT
SO proud of Carolyn, it’s been the most amazing journey from the cover run at the Donmar to now. This woman has given so much to this role and done so much work, to get to watch her get to do it for actual audiences and not just the invited dress run audiences was just sublime.
I will never stop talking about how brilliant her Diana is, to see her with Jamie was just such a gift.
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Post by apubleed on Sept 13, 2024 18:02:29 GMT
Do we know if everyone back tonight?
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631 posts
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Post by ncbears on Sept 13, 2024 21:12:54 GMT
Do we know if everyone back tonight? I don't see anything on @westendcovers about N2N for today. |
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Post by pancakehaus on Sept 13, 2024 21:47:45 GMT
Looks like it was still Lizzy as Natalie tonight (based on her instagram story).
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3,426 posts
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Post by ceebee on Sept 14, 2024 9:57:48 GMT
Right old bunfight online for matinee tickets this morning - i still managed to bag a nice stalls seat ahead of Hell Dolly tonight. Perfect day.
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Post by ntherooh on Sept 14, 2024 13:23:13 GMT
This has probably been discussed already, but can’t seem to find it. Does the new pro shot mean it’s not going to bway next march?
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Post by anywherespace on Sept 14, 2024 13:46:30 GMT
This has probably been discussed already, but can’t seem to find it. Does the new pro shot mean it’s not going to bway next march? I'm not sure it really means anything except for that we're getting a pro-shot. Filming a pro-shot in the West End and then going to Broadway isn't unheard of, and it makes far more financial sense to film it here instead of on Broadway, especially if they're planning on keeping the same cast for the transfer (or at the very least the Goodmans cast which seems to be the most prominent rumour.) Someone on the Broadway World forum was saying that they had apparently spoken to Michael Longhurst who said that Broadway was "definitely his main goal", but that doesn't really mean much of anything. |
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Post by ntherooh on Sept 15, 2024 13:15:47 GMT
This has probably been discussed already, but can’t seem to find it. Does the new pro shot mean it’s not going to bway next march? I'm not sure it really means anything except for that we're getting a pro-shot. Filming a pro-shot in the West End and then going to Broadway isn't unheard of, and it makes far more financial sense to film it here instead of on Broadway, especially if they're planning on keeping the same cast for the transfer (or at the very least the Goodmans cast which seems to be the most prominent rumour.) Someone on the Broadway World forum was saying that they had apparently spoken to Michael Longhurst who said that Broadway was "definitely his main goal", but that doesn't really mean much of anything. Thank you for the kind response. Huge difference to what happens on the broadway world boards 🥴. |
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Post by viscountviktor on Sept 15, 2024 21:57:06 GMT
I really must be an outlier on this but I was really disappointed in this show. The main issue was the book - it had no heart. It was just song after song which after a while weren't discernible from each other. I was craving some actual dialogue scenes to dive into the issues and explore them.
It started off great with the opening number but then became bogged down, confused and soulless. Not for me.
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Post by capybara on Sept 16, 2024 12:08:31 GMT
Saturday evening marked what will definitely be my final trip to Next to Normal, having seen it twice at the Donmar and four times at the Wyndham’s.
Once again, the full cast of principals was on and, once again, I was blown away by the sheer talent of every one of them, both as individuals and as a company.
I’m so pleased this show is being preserved forever in the form of a proshot and I look forward to see the actors achieve more great things in other roles.
Sad to see it go but I’ve loved Next to Normal more with each viewing. Not many shows have that effect. Wonderful theatre.
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3,426 posts
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Post by ceebee on Sept 16, 2024 12:12:09 GMT
Saturday evening marked what will definitely be my final trip to Next to Normal, having seen it twice at the Donmar and four times at the Wyndham’s. Once again, the full cast of principals was on and, once again, I was blown away by the sheer talent of every one of them, both as individuals and as a company. I’m so pleased this show is being preserved forever in the form of a proshot and I look forward to see the actors achieve more great things in other roles. Sad to see it go but I’ve loved Next to Normal more with each viewing. Not many shows have that effect. Wonderful theatre. I'm the same - spent a small fortune on this show as it resonates so much. A privilege to see such a stellar cast perform a show I had next-to-no interest in until I read the thread on here. I managed to book the little box at the back of the stalls for one last visit - no idea what it is like but don't really care. Will be happy to listen even if I can't see the stage! |
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Post by lonlad on Sept 18, 2024 11:45:46 GMT
Jack was off on Monday night. Hope he's back the remainder of the run?
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Post by pancakehaus on Sept 18, 2024 12:37:53 GMT
Jack was off on Monday night. Hope he's back the remainder of the run? It was full cast last night. Fingers crossed they will all be able to do the rest of the week. |
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5,139 posts
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Post by Being Alive on Sept 18, 2024 13:25:48 GMT
He probably could do with tonight off as he sounded pretty tired last night.
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Post by fclou on Sept 18, 2024 23:26:49 GMT
saw it tonight for the first time - it was a full cast - it was amazing - second favourite musical I have ever seen.
I wish I'd gone earlier so I could see it again but I didn't think it would be my kind of thing.
The audience was mostly full of people who had seen it before but I was completely blown away!
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5,795 posts
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Post by mrbarnaby on Sept 19, 2024 7:12:22 GMT
saw it tonight for the first time - it was a full cast - it was amazing - second favourite musical I have ever seen. I wish I'd gone earlier so I could see it again but I didn't think it would be my kind of thing. The audience was mostly full of people who had seen it before but I was completely blown away! How did you know it was full of people who’d seen it before? Did you poll them?🤣 |
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Post by fclou on Sept 19, 2024 9:32:07 GMT
saw it tonight for the first time - it was a full cast - it was amazing - second favourite musical I have ever seen. I wish I'd gone earlier so I could see it again but I didn't think it would be my kind of thing. The audience was mostly full of people who had seen it before but I was completely blown away! How did you know it was full of people who’d seen it before? Did you poll them?🤣 ha ha, no but from the way they were talking and reacting - only a few people were surprised at a couple of points, readiness and anticipation in certain characters and songs etc. Heard them talking about 'last time' etc. |
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Post by lonlad on Sept 19, 2024 11:37:48 GMT
Yes, I think this week is getting a lot of repeat visitors as often happens at the end of a musical with a considerable fan base. That said, several people walked out Monday during it and others were heard muttering at the interval about how "heavy" it was. Let's hope everyone makes it through the remaining shows- the emotional toll on them must be considerable, given this show particularly.
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Post by sophie92 on Sept 19, 2024 12:27:48 GMT
Lizzy’s on as Natalie today
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