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Post by Mark on May 28, 2023 13:17:25 GMT
Hello all! Just wondering why in the West End version of Mrs Doubtfire the first song has changed from the OBC recording? It’s not ‘What’s Wrong With This Picture’ but ‘That’s Daniel’? Thanks! Not sure the change back but it was also “That’s Daniel” in Seattle |
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Post by Mark on May 28, 2023 14:40:16 GMT
Right- was it in Seattle before or after its Broadway run?  Before - that was the pre Broadway tryout. |
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Post by FJ on May 29, 2023 22:36:21 GMT
Saw this tonight thanks to a last minute front row ticket popping up for £30 at 5.30pm.
So I was the furthest left on the front row of the stalls (A26) and have to say the view was extremely restricted. I’m 6’3 and I would say I probably missed 40-50% of the show, with some scenes at the back of the stage happening and I couldn’t even see their heads, only hear their voices. I think because the row curves, the centre of row A will have a better view than the sides, but the stage is extremely high, similar to front row of Hamilton, and the leg room was also very tight.
I’m not complaining though, it has a warning on the ticket of restricted view and was only £30, which I thought was decent value for the view. But I wouldn’t be happy paying £60 or £70 for this seat, which I think I’ve maybe seen the front row for sale for.
Also very strangely this evening, there were 12 empty seats in the front row, with only 4 being filled, but they were definitely not available to buy when I bought mine 2 hours before the show, and the rest of the theatre was sold out.
As for the show, I really enjoyed it. There was enough of the classic, quotable lines from the movie thrown in, and some great new jokes along the way too.
Comparing it to the Broadway soundtrack, I much preferred ‘That’s Daniel’ so this was a welcome addition, but I really missed ‘you’ve been playing with fire’. The new song contains elements of it, but it seems like more of a comedy song than playing with fire, and it was such a powerful song for Mrs Sellner. I think I’ve seen a bootleg clip of it from Broadway too a year or two ago and loved the staging of it.
Overall 4 stars from me, really enjoyed myself and will definitely go back.
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Post by Joseph Buquet on May 30, 2023 0:41:23 GMT
I’m going to see this on a Saturday in August, and bought tickets just after they went on sale. The tickets are in the front row and cost over £60 each. I see that the front row is now classified as restricted view, and cost £35 on a Saturday (and even less during the week). I’m really not happy about the price I’ve paid for restricted view - there’s no mention in my booking that these seats are restricted view!
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Post by FrontroverPaul on May 30, 2023 0:56:23 GMT
I’m going to see this on a Saturday in August, and bought tickets just after they went on sale. The tickets are in the front row and cost over £60 each. I see that the front row is now classified as restricted view, and cost £35 on a Saturday (and even less during the week). I’m really not happy about the price I’ve paid for restricted view - there’s no mention in my booking that these seats are restricted view! I'm in exactly the same position and price paid for our booking this coming Thursday evening and planning to request a move - there's plenty of availability at present. FJ has posted about a near empty front row and reduced prices there on Monday evening so I'm hopeful we will be offered a move maybe without even asking. Will post how we get on. |
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Post by danb on May 30, 2023 6:08:24 GMT
Have either of you contacted the theatre about this in advance?
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Post by FrontroverPaul on May 31, 2023 22:24:42 GMT
Have either of you contacted the theatre about this in advance? I went there this evening before seeing another show ( thanks to Elizabeth Line on a rail strike day!) and arranged an exchange with no problem. Got two great seats in row E now. |
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Post by jampot on Jun 1, 2023 4:36:32 GMT
Have either of you contacted the theatre about this in advance? I went there this evening before seeing another show ( thanks to Elizabeth Line on a rail strike day!) and arranged an exchange with no problem. Got two great seats in row E now. At no further expense? |
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Post by FrontroverPaul on Jun 1, 2023 8:42:49 GMT
I went there this evening before seeing another show ( thanks to Elizabeth Line on a rail strike day!) and arranged an exchange with no problem. Got two great seats in row E now. At no further expense? No. I just said to the box office clerk that I had become aware there is a high stage, and restricted view warning on the the front (and second) stalls row now, and that the front row was being offered @ £30 whereas I had paid double that . He explained briefly about the stage design and offered me two seats in row E with no payment needed. Very helpful and all sorted in 5 minutes with printed tickets issued, and that was at 6.45 on a performance night. I will probably revisit on my own later in the run and book front row if it stays at £30, but my partner is with me tonight and she is much shorter than me so combining that with knowing the seats have been halved in price made me decide to request a switch in advance and it worked out I could do so in person. |
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Post by anita on Jun 3, 2023 10:00:19 GMT
I should of mentioned the excellent "turn off your phone" announcement. The audience erupted into great laughter at the last mention.
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Post by theatrefan77 on Jun 15, 2023 23:25:06 GMT
I didn't like this much. Gabriel Vick does a great job but the show is not very exciting and a bit boring. The music is unmemorable and the choreography just not very good. What i hated the most was the portrayal of the gay characters.
It will never cease to amaze me how gay characters are still portrayed in many musicals as over the top camp stereotypes.
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Post by annette on Jun 16, 2023 1:35:12 GMT
I couldn’t agree more with what theatrefan77 said about the portrayal of gay characters in this show. It’s woefully dated and not the least but funny. It feels like watching something from the 1970s.
Since this show tanked on Broadway, I’m surprised the producers are trying their luck with it here. I know some shows have triumphed here after failing to do so on Broadway, but I’m not sure why that would be the case with this one.
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Post by mattnyc on Jun 16, 2023 3:24:23 GMT
Before saying it “tanked” on Broadway, you need to understand everything that went on with the show, with it starting a few days before the shut down and then when it came back having to continuously stop for weeks and start again never building momentum or an audience and having ticket sales repeatedly stop cold.
We’ll obviously never know if it would have been a hit or not but saying or hinting that it “tanked” because of a perceived portrayal of gay characters is completely disingenuous.
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Post by showtoones on Jun 16, 2023 4:09:10 GMT
Before saying it “tanked” on Broadway, you need to understand everything that went on with the show, with it starting a few days before the shut down and then when it came back having to continuously stop for weeks and start again never building momentum or an audience and having ticket sales repeatedly stop cold. We’ll obviously never know if it would have been a hit or not but saying or hinting that it “tanked” because of a perceived portrayal of gay characters is completely disingenuous. I haven’t seen the movie in a long time, but I know that in the movie, Robin Williams brother was Harvey Fierstein, who wasn’t over the top gay stereotype, which worked for the time. I wasn’t a huge fan of the show, not because of the gay stereotype, but just because it wasn’t very good. I haven’t seen it in London yet though, so not sure if it’s different or they’ve made any changes. |
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Post by mattnyc on Jun 16, 2023 4:50:27 GMT
The brother and his partner are the same in London as they were on Broadway. I liked them both, not saying anyone else has to. My point was linking them to the shows failure is wrong.
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Post by annette on Jun 16, 2023 9:58:32 GMT
Before saying it “tanked” on Broadway, you need to understand everything that went on with the show, with it starting a few days before the shut down and then when it came back having to continuously stop for weeks and start again never building momentum or an audience and having ticket sales repeatedly stop cold. We’ll obviously never know if it would have been a hit or not but saying or hinting that it “tanked” because of a perceived portrayal of gay characters is completely disingenuous. Thank you for telling me what I need to understand about what went on with show before I can talk about it, but actually I think I’m fairly conversant with the relevant details. A closing date was announced a month after reopening- with 43 previews and 85 regular performances. I apologise if the word ‘’tanked’ offended you, but in my opinion, also having seen it in a theatre with an audience who in the main gave up trying to laugh very early on in the proceedings,it’s not an unreasonable word to use. I did not specifically say that the portrayal of gay people in the show was the reason why it had such a short life. What I do think, is that along with Tootsie, it felt incredibly dated full stop. This is obviously not the always the case with old films being adapted for stage if they bring something fresh or innovative to the party. Again, in my opinion, this adaptation doesn’t quite know what it wanted to do, it tries to both replicate and cack handedly update the material (all inevitable in the shadow of the original performance from Robin Williams). The end result is distinctly underwhelming with a patchwork script and unmemorable songs (shame Alan Menken didn’t stay with the project). This is why I was wondering about the producer’s thought process behind bringing the production to London. Of course it may well be a smash hit here in the UK and for everyone involved in the production,I do hope that is the case. |
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Post by mrnutz on Jun 16, 2023 10:34:37 GMT
I'm seeing it tonight and looking forward to it!
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Post by sph on Jun 16, 2023 11:09:02 GMT
I suspect (and I've said this in this thread before I'm sure) that the film is perhaps more popular in the UK than the US. I remember it being a staple of TV airings and video rentals back in the 90s/00s. Perhaps the producers felt this might translate into better ticket sales and reception in London?
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Post by Mark on Jun 16, 2023 11:10:25 GMT
Before saying it “tanked” on Broadway, you need to understand everything that went on with the show, with it starting a few days before the shut down and then when it came back having to continuously stop for weeks and start again never building momentum or an audience and having ticket sales repeatedly stop cold. We’ll obviously never know if it would have been a hit or not but saying or hinting that it “tanked” because of a perceived portrayal of gay characters is completely disingenuous. Thank you for telling me what I need to understand about what went on with show before I can talk about it, but actually I think I’m fairly conversant with the relevant details. A closing date was announced a month after reopening- with 43 previews and 85 regular performances. Not quite, it reopened in the October but was hit pretty badly by the Omnicron wave (which forced retrospective closure of Jagged Little Pill and very fast closure of other such as Ain’t too Proud and To Kill a Mockingbird). It then announced hiatus to March, which eventually became April, and just never built the momentum and then announced closing. I genuinely think it would have had a decent run of a year or so bad it not been for the pandemic. I can see it doing very solid business in London, and out on US tour. The timing is certainly the reason for its Broadway failure. |
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Post by mrnutz on Jun 17, 2023 8:24:30 GMT
Saw this last night in a not-that-full Shaftesbury Theatre (on a Friday night?!).
This is a three-star show with a five-star lead - Gabriel Vick is a superstar.
The show is the theatrical equivalent of fast food - it's quick, dirty, and only satisfies you temporarily.
The plot is thin (but true to the film), the score unmemorable, the pace and scene-changes impressively quick. But Vick really does make it. I laughed out loud a number of times.
Wouldn't rush back, but glad to have seen it.
4/5
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Post by richey on Jun 17, 2023 12:11:20 GMT
I didn't like this much. Gabriel Vick does a great job but the show is not very exciting and a bit boring. The music is unmemorable and the choreography just not very good. What i hated the most was the portrayal of the gay characters. It will never cease to amaze me how gay characters are still portrayed in many musicals as over the top camp stereotypes. Glad you posted this, I felt exactly the same after seeing it in Manchester and was beginning to feel I was in a minority for not liking it. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2023 12:25:42 GMT
Thank you for telling me what I need to understand about what went on with show before I can talk about it, but actually I think I’m fairly conversant with the relevant details. A closing date was announced a month after reopening- with 43 previews and 85 regular performances. I can see it doing very solid business in London, and out on US tour. The timing is certainly the reason for its Broadway failure. I agree, in Manchester it was constantly sold out, so there is definite interest in the show. I think if the show had opened in Broadway now, it would have a decent run and do well in award season, the stop start due to covid, and people's initial fear to return to theatres definitely stopped it getting any traction. |
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Post by fluxcapacitor on Jun 17, 2023 15:17:52 GMT
I can see it doing very solid business in London, and out on US tour. The timing is certainly the reason for its Broadway failure. I agree, in Manchester it was constantly sold out, so there is definite interest in the show. I think if the show had opened in Broadway now, it would have a decent run and do well in award season, the stop start due to covid, and people's initial fear to return to theatres definitely stopped it getting any traction. As well as the pandemic, I think the show suffered on Broadway because it came quite soon after Tootsie closed. I personally loved Tootsie, but despite being praised as a show and winning some Tonies it was quite heavily and publicly criticised by the transgender and non binary communities for its outdated portrayal (and play for laughs) of its central man in a dress. Mrs Doubtfire definitely suffered as a result since the general feeling seemed to be that producers had learnt nothing from the Tootsie controversies. Some Like it Hot, on the other hand, is currently running and has not only taken note of all the issues raised around Tootsie/Doubtfire but actively made it a show which reflects and celebrates our current understanding of trans people. As a result, it's being hailed in a way Mrs Doubtfire totally failed. I should add that I'm not trying to say all three shows deal with the same issue, or even find laughs in the same trope, but the discussion around them has been similar. Gender is a huge topic in the USA (moreso than over in the UK) and I do think Mrs Doubtfire's failure to learn from Tootsie's mistakes was a factor in its failure in the USA. In the UK it doesn't have that same battle because a) we haven't had Tootsie, and b) through panto dames and our own self deprecating drag culture, we're generally less sensitive about using gender bending and cross dressing within comedy. |
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Post by steve10086 on Jun 17, 2023 16:18:35 GMT
Mrs Doubtfire has nothing to do with trans issues, and it’s ridiculous that it’s been caught up in it.
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