Gypsy - Alexandra Palace

[Deleted]

I'm going to this on Monday night and am very intrigued - I don't know what to expect, suffice to say I'm looking forward to Tracie Bennett who I believe is performing Rose's Turn. Wondering who has Some People and Everything's Coming Up Roses... Any ideas?

[Being Alive]

From what deduced from varies photos I think the songs are split as the following:

Keala - Some People
Mel - Mr Goldstone
Becky - You'll Never Get Away From Me
Nicola - Small World
Sally - Everything's Coming Up Roses
Sam - Together Wherever We Go
Tracie - Rises Turn

Desperate for them to reduce the prices of the remaining seats (although I will book if I absolutely must pay that 😂)

[Deleted]

You don’t know how much I envy all of you who are going to see this on Monday. But I don’t envy you cos you’ll see all these great women who’ll play Rose; I envy you cos you’ll see Danny Collins as Tulsa. He may be a tad too old for Tulsa, but he’s such an amazing actor/dancer/singer. Loved him in everything he did for Matthew Bourne and Showboat; and I watched that dreadful film version of Cats just cos he’s in it.

By the way, I leave this here in case someone hasn’t seen it yet:

Have fun on Monday! 

[theatremiss]

I was supposed to be there tonight but the trip to Ally Pally and the new train timetable meant I gave it a miss. Anyone know how it was?

[ilovewemusicals]

Some People – Samantha Spiro
Small World – Nicola Hughes
You’ll Never Get Away From Me – Rebecca Lock
Mr Goldstone – Melanie La Barrie
Everything’s Coming Up Roses – Keala Settle
Together, Wherever We Go – Sally Ann Triplett
Rose’s Turn – Tracie Bennett

[theoracle]

Well I really enjoyed this. All were exceptional but Sally Ann Triplet and Tracie Bennett.. they are British Theatres Crown Jewels for a reason, the absolute real deal. Although there are more songs in the first half and the other roses were brilliant, the second half was taken up a notch by the two fabulous leading ladies. It was wonderful to hear the original orchestrations so well taken care of by Alex Parker and the audience was clearly loving it too. I walked past Sir Ian McKellen on my way to my seat who seemed to be enjoying too and I saw Daniel Evans in the audience as well.

I’m not sure how I felt about Ally Pally though. It’s a large auditorium for sure and I think the design suits Gypsy well but I’m really not a fan of the flat floor. I was in row L and felt far away and found myself ducking heads. Acoustics were ok - vocals were 90% clear but felt this might’ve worked better somewhere else.

Overall, QuickFantastic seem to really know how to run these concert productions in a way some other organisers don’t. Can’t wait to see what they bring out next.

[Being Alive]

Sally Ann walked away with the show - she had the whole of the second half including Rose during the strip.

It would have belong to Bennett, but she went so wrong in the dressing room scene that it was on the verge of the wheels coming off - the look of panic on Laura Pit Pulfords face was...quite something. Whole chunks of dialogue missed, getting to the point she was just making stuff up.
Great rendition of Roses Turn though.

Really enjoyed all of them tbh - although I'm not sure I'd have given Keala Everything's Coming Up Roses. She was fine but I imagine one of the others might have made something a bit more of it.

Sensational orchestra playing one of the best scores of all time though - kind of a dream and very glad I went!

[Deleted]

This was a messy night. Because it was a one off it really was far from perfect but there were some lovely performances. Sally Ann floored me. She was really a near perfect Rose, and her scenes were really something. So nuanced and ticked all the boxes for the role - hopefully she gets to do it in full some day. Bennett gave a barnstorming Rose’s Turn as expected and got an immediate standing ovation but a shame she went up on the killer dressing room scene, it was quite painful to watch. I’m not sure what show Keala thought she was in but the scene she did prior to Coming Up Roses was awful. She whispered all the dialogue. I was also really disappointed with Sam Spiro - she was really poor tonight - maybe she was having an off night but she seemed really nervous. She also didn’t have the voice for Some People. The orchestra was very good but the sound system was poor and everything was so loud - did anyone else find this? I’m not sure the whole concept worked - every Rose was really trying to savour her scene by dragging out every line and there wasn’t much connection between the Roses but that’s to be expected with the short rehearsal time etc - it was just a bit of fun I guess in the end. Glad I saw it!

[apubleed]

* The orchestra sounded incredible (although was so overamplified. The whole night was so overamplied I worry about hearing damage. Telling myself it’s ok because there were breaks from the sound between scenes
* The best roses:
- Tracie Bennett gave a devastating, haunting performance of a very dark Rose that I would love to see a full production of
- Sally Ann Triplett was able to give a surprisingly fleshed out performance because she has quite a good range of comedy and drama in her scenes. Her small world reprise really made an impact. Again another one I would be interested to see a full show of
-Kealla has a very very clear and powerfully belted “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” and I enjoyed her dialogue before the song. Again yet another I would want to see the full show.
* Most of the other roses didn’t really have the material to do as interesting work as these three so I won’t dwell on them too much.
* The Louise gave a fully realised and complex arc - it was like watching a real stage version

[BurlyBeaR]

Have we got to a place where performers in a one-off show apparently get a free pass on learning the material? Or the sound technicians get a pass on it being over amplified? I don’t think the ticket prices included a discount for the fact that the show would be imperfect, probably quite the opposite, so why are customers expected to accept this? As much as I may like and respect Tracie Bennett, she had one scene to learn and she fluffed it. Actually, not fluffed but totally blew it by the sound of it. Not acceptable.

[apubleed]

For me the sound design was unacceptable - it wasn’t a technical mess up more so just complete and utter misguided direction. However, I can forgive slip ups for a one night concert especially because I thought Tracie had a much more complex and realised performance of Rose’s Turn than I’d expect for a one night concert. I’ve watched performers make mistakes in previews and in normal performances all the time so of course I know it’s a risk that is especially likely in this kind of scenario. Disappointing but forgivable for me.

I also want to say this theatre is a bit awful. Awful sound awful location awful look and atmosphere. I think it was a mistake choosing it but I assume they got a good deal.

[mrbarnaby]

This is why I will never see one of these concerts again. The sound ALWAYS ruins them. I don’t know how they think they can get away with it. They charge loads of money for tickets and then it’s always under rehearsed and dreadful sound.

The disastrous Chess at the Albert Hall years ago did me in.

I would absolutely love to see Tracie Bennett’s car crash of a scene though. Sounds amazing 😂

[mrbarnaby]

Also
How did Sally do all of act 2 including the strip and then Tracey B did Roses Turn?!

[apubleed]

Tracie entered from Gypsy’s dressing room scene onwards.

[alece10]

Reading these sorts of comments about concert versions of shows are all too familiar with actors reading from the score, under rehearsed, poor sound etc and I've been to a few if them in my time.
However the recent Bonnie & Clyde concert showed how it can and should be done.
Great sound (and I was informed they only had 1 hour to do sound checks), well rehearsed cast and it was pretty much fully staged.

[partytentdown]

Feb 22, 2022 9:17:48 GMT mrbarnaby said:

This is why I will never see one of these concerts again. The sound ALWAYS ruins them. I don’t know how they think they can get away with it. They charge loads of money for tickets and then it’s always under rehearsed and dreadful sound.

The disastrous Chess at the Albert Hall years ago did me in.

I would absolutely love to see Tracie Bennett’s car crash of a scene though. Sounds amazing 😂

I had totally blanked that Chess debacle! I think it's the only time I've ever been proactively sent a partial refund because a show was so bad!

[Being Alive]

I didn't think the sound was as bad as everyone else is saying - yes there were moments that were a little bit off but on the whole I thought it was pretty good

[inthenose]

I feel the need jump in here with a little bit of balance/defence for the noise boys and girls with regards to these types of gigs.

The get-in is usually the same day as the performance, and sound is always an afterthought. In fact, it is always the very last thing teched - if there is time. Sound technicians are expected to turn up to a venue for load in, know the house's equipment and acoustics (and the material!) inside out in advance, with absolutely zero chance to prepare/balance/know every pick-up cue. All the stuff you have a week or more to tech in any show running for more than a few performances, you get a few hours maximum. It's just a completely impossible task to get it right first time, no matter the skill of the individual hired.

Performers standing up on stage and nerves getting the better of them/being unprepared is a completely different set of circumstances.

I once DSM'd one in a 1000 seat house where I missed about five sound cues because they added them four minutes before the house opened while I was doing FOH calls. Literally nobody told me.

LX had five hours on stage for the plot, sound had 19 minutes to get it right. The tickets were up to £85 each. The first time the sound tech heard the performers mic'd was in the opening number. There was no foldback on stage, it was a disaster.

I do agree, these shows do sound awful more often than not, but until producers and directors start taking sound seriously and give them the time they need, nothing will ever change.

[ruthieh]

I was there last night and thought from where I was sat the sound was great. I loved the orchestra, and thought the Roses did a great job…I don’t know Gypsy as well as some on here and haven’t seen it in years so to be honest didn’t spot any mistakes, but thought the performances were pretty fab given that it was one night and they were trying something a bit different. It was much more staged and choreographed than I expected. I loved the first three Rose costumes in similar red dresses and purple shoes, so was a bit disappointed when Keala came on in grey and silver and then on they wore different colours. It would have been a nice touch to have kept that theme I feel.

All in all, I had a great night, and thought I was watching something pretty special.

[Deleted]

Feb 22, 2022 9:17:48 GMT mrbarnaby said:

The disastrous Chess at the Albert Hall years ago did me in.

Agreed. I haven't been to the RAH since. They didn't give a damn about people in the hall, just what it sounded like for the recording.

[jgblunners]

The renovated Ally Pally theatre actually has a rather nice acoustic for unamplified music. I've not attended a concert there that used amplification so can't comment on how hard it would be to get it right. inthenose makes an excellent point about it being on the producers to ensure that sound design is given ample time. I remember that the LMTO concerts at various venues (frequently Cadogan Hall) always had excellent sound, and were often performed in more traditional concert style stood at mic stands rather than this semi-staged business that Quick Fantastic seem to be doing. It seems to me that LMTO always used to put music first in their fairly simple stagings whereas QF are being far more ambitious with their events.

[theoracle]

Ahh yes LMTO events were amazing - will never forget how perfect R&H Cinderella was at Cadogan Hall which seems to have better acoustics generally too. QF always has amazing casts though which pique my curiosity and the pieces Alex Parker chooses tend to be ones I like too. Would’ve loved to see Bridges but sadly couldn’t make that one.

In the interview, Alex said that Ally Pally was deliberately chosen because of the look and feel of the space - the nostalgia marching well with the period Gypsy is set in. In a way I do understand but after the complaints at Sunset, I am surprised so many still had issues with sound this time around. I was right by the mixing guy so maybe I was lucky but yes, it did still feel over amplified

[FrontroverPaul]

Maybe the sound issue depended on where you were seated. At the very front of the stalls to my ears it was perfect, as was the entire show. Maybe I'm too easily pleased but if this was a two nighter like Bonnie & Clyde I'd be back tonight.

I'd never been to Alexander Palace and thought the building and auditorium were amazing, plus the view from outside is quite something. Now I know the bus route (W3) I'm going back by day to see it properly.

[CG on the loose]

I was there too last night. Sure, the sound wasn't perfect but it really wasn't bad from where I was sitting a couple of rows into the rake of the Stalls. I had a perfect view from there too, above the heads below and on the aisle with no seat in front, so plenty of leg room too. Personally I love the space - reminds me of Wiltons but on a larger scale - but my was it cold! First time I've resorted to wearing my coat at an indoor production.

As for the show, "you gotta have a gimmick" had been embraced wholeheartedly with their 'bunch of Roses'. For me, it worked - I thought the change overs might have been jarring but didn't find them so and credit must go to all seven for that. Stand outs for me, as for others, were Sally Ann Triplett for her outstanding, fully-rounded Rose and Tracie Bennett for her achingly brilliant Rose's Turn.

For me, these 'one offs' are event theatre and I'm minded to forgive a few flaws for the unique experience they present.

[danb]

So pleased for Sal getting so much praise. Her talent is just massive!