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Post by westendfan2 on Feb 3, 2023 11:38:32 GMT
Whilst there is excitement about the news of the tour casting bringing back cast favourites such as Jacob Folwer (JD), within 30 mins of the announcement the show to being slated on socials for its lack of diversity in the casting, hiring only 2 POC and for the token roles that has always been done of Duke and Young republicanette , very poor on Heathers behalf and not a great start to their tour. This is not the first time the show has been picked up on their lack of diversity and I think we all hoped this time would be different, sadly it is not.
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Post by thistimetomorrow on Feb 3, 2023 11:39:40 GMT
and lots of familiar faces from recent ArtsEd and Mountview graduating classes! |
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Post by keekio2 on Feb 3, 2023 12:05:07 GMT
Whilst there is excitement about the news of the tour casting bringing back cast favourites such as Jacob Folwer (JD), within 30 mins of the announcement the show to being slated on socials for its lack of diversity in the casting, hiring only 2 POC and for the token roles that has always been done of Duke and Young republicanette , very poor on Heathers behalf and not a great start to their tour. This is not the first time the show has been picked up on their lack of diversity and I think we all hoped this time would be different, sadly it is not. This show will never change tbh you only have to look at the creative teams casting for other shows it says a lot tbh |
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Post by Seriously on Feb 3, 2023 12:13:26 GMT
Does it look like there are any swings?
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Post by hadeswasking on Feb 3, 2023 13:01:49 GMT
Does it look like there are any swings? Sorry with all these large touring venues they are going to, they don't have the room! |
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Post by danb on Feb 3, 2023 17:26:09 GMT
Wow, you really do have a problem with that don’t you? I suspect that if it was your money paying to have spare cast members sat doing the ‘heat’ crossword across the country, you may feel differently? 😬🤷♂️
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Post by hadeswasking on Feb 3, 2023 18:23:57 GMT
Wow, you really do have a problem with that don’t you? I suspect that if it was your money paying to have spare cast members sat doing the ‘heat’ crossword across the country, you may feel differently? 😬🤷♂️ If I were a producer of this show would I pay for spare cast members to ensure my show runs smoothly most nights? Why yes, yes I would! Because that comes with the cost of running a show, can't afford it? Then don't put on the show in the first place. Would love to hear your argument as to why this isn't nessascary. |
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Post by danb on Feb 3, 2023 18:34:08 GMT
Because if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it. The show might fly by the seat of its pants far too often, and the producers commitment to spending as little as possible in no way puts its customers first; but it is still open, is about to go out on its second tour and has a very happy fan base. I was under the impression that its more zealous fans actually enjoyed the roulette-like jeopardy of who they might see. Gives them something to bitch about on twitter…
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Post by Dr Tom on Feb 3, 2023 19:06:54 GMT
They are going to be in a far safer position with a London cast and a tour cast running at the same time and the opportunity for people to fill in between the two. Exactly the same way that The Book of Mormon operated with both running at the same time and Jersey Boys occasionally shares between the two (and I'm sure there are other shows that do the same, just they don't make the information anywhere near as easy to access).
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Post by marob on Feb 3, 2023 22:26:14 GMT
I thought Jacob Fowler had a lovely voice in the Hope Mill Cinderella, so it’ll be nice to get a chance to see him in this. The only other name I recognise is Morgan Jackson, who I remember as one of the lads in Mamma Mia when I finally got around to seeing it.
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Post by danb on Feb 20, 2023 18:28:24 GMT
I have put some of my Christmas theatre tokens to good use on a couple of tickets for Saturday in Windsor. A day out and ‘Heathers’ somewhere a bit less stressful than town. Looks like a nice compact little playhouse, so will have a similarly intimate feel. It’ll be great to see Jacob Fowler again who was a highlight on my last TOP visit over a year ago now.
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Post by Dr Tom on Feb 24, 2023 10:51:09 GMT
I went over to Windsor last night to catch the tour and found it excellent. It will give the show a new lease of life.
It is odd to watch this with almost all new faces in the cast (other than Jacob Fowler and Billie Bowman returning to roles I've seen them in previously). This is a very strong cast all around, the strongest I would say since Ailsa left the London product (but I haven't seen the new cast who joined the London production this week yet). Jenna Innes is perfect as Veronica, full of charm and most important, she doesn't overact. She is also the first Veronica I've spotted who has managed to eat a whole stick of liquorice! Jacob Fowler has always been on the strongest JDs (possibly the strongest, it's a close call between him and Ben). He still sounds perfect and he's added a new dimension to his performance too.
Speaking of sound, the musicians were in the pit and the sound was the best I've ever heard it. There were parts of the score I'd never picked up on before.
The set is bigger than in The Other Palace and fits perfectly on the Windsor theatre stage. There's a lot more space for acting. The stage wasn't as full as it could have been though, as they were already down to three female and one male ensemble, with Liam Dean on in his cover role as the Dads/Principal Gowan. They've also reverted back to the original script in several places where it had changed at The Other Palace.
Great to see several recent graduates I recognised in the cast, including Verity Thompson, who was an excellent Julie Jordan when I saw her at Mountview, and was equally excellent here as Heather Chandler. I also have to point out Morgan Jackson excelling as Ram, who put everyone else on the stage to shame with his dance moves.
The Circle was closed so everyone was in the Stalls. It was a well behaved crowd but rather quiet and there were several times when I was the only person clapping for a few seconds after the songs had finished. The second half had a more enthusiastic audience and good applause at the end.
They picked a Steve in the front row, which is unusual (the opposite end of the front row to me).
All finished just after 22:00, but too fine to make the 22:05 train, so there are always a load of theatregoers who end up on the 22:25. This included many of the cast, who I presume are commuting in from homes around London. Anyway, do see this in Windsor if you get chance, as it's a perfect venue. This should tour well, but some other venues may be a little on the large size for this to work as well.
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Post by danb on Feb 25, 2023 17:49:35 GMT
Seeing an energised new cast with different ideas of how to play this has really brought it to life again. Jenna Innes is a spunky Veronica and Jacob Fowler reprises his, quite frankly, brilliant JD. I hate the word nuanced but my God he finds stuff from somewhere to add hurt , anger, restraint and a crazy loss of control sometimes to what could just be a one dimensional psycho. In fact my only gripe is still their inability to cast people that can sing Heather Duke. (Edit-it was a cover Duke)
The stage looked great in the dinky Windsor Theatre Royal, and the band had another dimension coming as previously mentioned from the pit rather than onstage. Given that they’ve been in a week, it was still a touch quiet at first. If anyone has even a passing interest in seeing the show for (in some cases) half the price of London this was your chance.
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Post by thesoberpanda on Apr 16, 2023 6:40:52 GMT
Saw this on Friday and was shocked at how poorly this had sold. To say it was half full would be optimistic when in reality it was probably more like a third full. The crowd did a great job of elevating the atmosphere though and somehow it played like a full house ! It's a shame - I didn't look at how it had sold for the rest of the tour but that isn't a good sign.
As per the previous poster Jenna Innes is fantastic in the role (I was dubious of seeing anyone after Ailsa Davidson) and it was great to see Jacob Fowler as JD - he makes everything look effortless whilst giving the role an authenticity for the reasons given above. Kingsley Morton is also excellent as Martha Dunstock.
My only gripe with the performance was the sound mix was absolute trash up in the circle in band A seats (we bought cheap seats and moved forward when it was obvious that we could else I would've probably complained) the ensemble and band were both drowning out the leads to the point that most of the time you couldn't make out 90% of the words and had I not listened to the soundtrack so much I wouldn't have had a clue. I don't think it helped having the band forward of the stage in the pit instead of on and above the stage and Jenna Innes had to fight really hard to get her vocals across in I say no (she managed it fine but she shouldn't have had to) - it was like the sound techs hadn't listened to the mix from anywhere else but their booth
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Post by bram on Apr 19, 2023 15:31:23 GMT
totally agree about not hearing the words just the same in Eastbourne. I don't know the show and was totally bemused by this over amplified band.
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Post by darreno on May 7, 2023 16:25:16 GMT
Saw this twice this week in Dublin as I was over for some work. Jacob Fowler is UNBELIEVABLE. Genuinely worth going to see him alone. If you are a regular visitor to TOP or have only seen it once or twice, this touring cast is really, really good.
A couple of small observations for the regulars: 'Myriad, nice' still isn't getting the attention it deserves. I'm always the only one laughing at it. Oh well. There's a new emphasis on 'Sword fight in her mouth' which is excellent as it sometimes gets lost in the madness. 'Kindergarten Boyfriend' is paced differently, first half is quicker than usual to allow some extra time during the pause for the actress to really do some cool work. Crowd super silent for this both nights which was worth the pay off when it ended. Only a small change but a good one.
Crowds in Dublin were really good. Not sold out as the Bord Gais Theatre is bloody massive. Lots of younger people out for fun and a lovely atmosphere as a result.
It's coming to my home town of Malvern soon and I'm there every night!
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Post by david on Jul 6, 2023 19:07:01 GMT
I hadn't really planned on booking for the current tour stop in Liverpool this week, but the announcement of Jacob Fowler as JD and seeing a last-minute front row premium stalls ticket for £20 being available for last night's show made me changed my mind and quite honestly, I am really glad I made the purchase. It was the first time I had seen him as JD (loved him as the Prince in Hope Mill's Cinderella) and his performance alone was worth the money. Great acting and singing from him. He totally owned the stage whenever he was on.
As for the Heathers, a really strong group of ladies on the tour and Jenna Innes as Veronica with Jacob really brought some great chemistry with the VS-JD story arc.
Being front row was a great experience as I was selected to be "Steve" in Act 2. I had a really fun couple of minutes with this and topped off the night for me.
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Post by darreno on Jul 25, 2023 18:14:14 GMT
After all this time travelling to see Heathers, it's finally come to my very doorstep. Going every night here in Malvern. Will be interesting to see the reactions as it's a very 'settled' crowd that come here. Looking around now there's a few young faces but nothing like at TOP or in Dublin earlier on the tour. Excited!
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Post by Dr Tom on Jul 25, 2023 18:38:12 GMT
After all this time travelling to see Heathers, it's finally come to my very doorstep. Going every night here in Malvern. Will be interesting to see the reactions as it's a very 'settled' crowd that come here. Looking around now there's a few young faces but nothing like at TOP or in Dublin earlier on the tour. Excited! I wonder if you’ll get to be Steve every night? |
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Post by darreno on Jul 25, 2023 19:52:36 GMT
After all this time travelling to see Heathers, it's finally come to my very doorstep. Going every night here in Malvern. Will be interesting to see the reactions as it's a very 'settled' crowd that come here. Looking around now there's a few young faces but nothing like at TOP or in Dublin earlier on the tour. Excited! I wonder if you’ll get to be Steve every night? Dare I dream that dream? I'm Steveing as hard as I can here during the interval in hope. |
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Post by darreno on Aug 3, 2023 15:56:36 GMT
Apologies for posting right after myself but I did this 5 nights in a row last week and figured I'd add some thoughts.
Needless to say, I loved every night. Sat in different spots to absorb as much as possible and see the different things I could spot. First up, a shout to the band. 5 piece. The conductor/keyboardist in particular. One of my seats gave me a great view of him and seeing the level of effort he puts in certainly reinforces points made in the TOP thread about the importance of the band.
Jacob Fowler is incredibly watchable. Does some really cool stuff as 'second half' JD and some cute comedy timing as 'first half' JD. As for his voice, WOW. Just wow.
Verity Thompson is almost robotic in terms of consistency. In a good way! Some performers can shine brilliantly and miss the mark occasionally, she is superbly consistent.
Liam Dean seems capable of playing, and playing well, every part available. I'd cast him in anything and everything. Conor MacFarlane has a ridiculously good voice. Almost wasted in a part that isn't so prominent but he's got a great presence too.
Finally, for me the highlight, Billie Bowman's Heather Mac. She is a star. Impossible to keep your eyes off her if she's on stage. If I never get to see her playing Sally Bowles, I'll be forever incomplete!!
This is touring until late this year so if you haven't seen it (shame on you), or haven't seen it recently, get it booked.
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Post by capybara on Aug 5, 2023 17:43:56 GMT
I know the press release for the Heathers London run ending says Wimbledon is the final date of the tour but it’s actually Windsor isn’t it? Just checking I’m not going mad?
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Post by hoopoe on Sept 1, 2023 9:10:09 GMT
Saw this yesterday, which was my first time seeing the show live, though I had seen the proshot. After seeing a lot of love on here for Jacob Fowler as JD I was kind of excited to see his performance, but unfortunately it came across to me as very one-note pure psycho creep. He seemed cocky and arrogant, and kept making villainous faces to the audience. My recollection of the proshot is that Simon Gordon was a bit more nuanced and there was at least some sweetness there that helped you understand what Veronica might see in him. For everyone in our group of 3, Verity Thompson as Heather Chandler was the standout performer.
The sound mixing wasn't great, which left me a little sad that Candy Store didn't pack the punch I wanted it to, with particularly Heather Duke's vocals being hard to hear, and the whole song a bit quiet. In contrast, there was an almost comical moment later on where the saxophone was way too loud the 3 times it plays at the beginning of Dead Girl Walking (Reprise). At the end of Kindergarten Boyfriend we could clearly see Martha walk off stage, which led to some confusion for my friend who knew next to nothing about the show.
Those little issues aside for this specific performance, it's a show I have a lot of respect for. I think it flows really well, brings a solid mix of comedy, emotion and drama, and has a lot of memorable songs. I wish I'd experienced it in a theatre first rather than seeing the proshot, but I wasn't sure it was a show I'd be bothered about and wouldn't have booked if not for seeing the proshot, so better that way around than not seeing it at all. It also gave my partner and I the added bit of fun of trying to guess who might be Steve before the show started.
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Post by djdan14 on Sept 8, 2023 9:16:11 GMT
Tour stop at Wellingborough castle theatre has been cancelled. No mention of RAAP and everything else seems to be unaffected so I suspect poor sales. Thought it was a random venue, and the prices were high across the whole theatre.
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Post by katykate on Sept 19, 2023 13:57:57 GMT
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