Guys and Dolls - Bridge Theatre

[kathryn]

I enjoyed this a lot yesterday from the pit. Thought Richard Anderson was very good a Sky and of course Daniel Mays as Nathan.

It’s very well done, though not earth-shatteringly original.

[c4ndyc4ne]

Mar 19, 2023 16:35:19 GMT kathryn said:

I enjoyed this a lot yesterday from the pit. Thought Richard Anderson was very good a Sky and of course Daniel Mays as Nathan.

It’s very well done, though not earth-shatteringly original.

Andrew Richardson, but enjoy the switch-up

[lynette]

Just a comment about the seating. We were on the right of the band in gallery 2 and it was fine. But I did feel that the left hand side of band got more face on performances, especially the ‘cold’ song from Adelaide which was more or less back of head right through to where we were. The opposite side to band got a bit of attention but ‘luck be a lady’ was practically in my lap. But if you want a full on in yer face experience then go for left of band and as expensive as you can afford or stand in the ‘immersive’ area though again, if you are not tall, this might be a bit of a disappointment, the crowds being not as loose as was with the Dream.
Maybe others can add to or correct my thoughts.

[ceebee]

Mar 19, 2023 19:52:27 GMT lynette said:

Just a comment about the seating. We were on the right of the band in gallery 2 and it was fine. But I did feel that the left hand side of band got more face on performances, especially the ‘cold’ song from Adelaide which was more or less back of head right through to where we were. The opposite side to band got a bit of attention but ‘luck be a lady’ was practically in my lap. But if you want a full on in yer face experience then go for left of band and as expensive as you can afford or stand in the ‘immersive’ area though again, if you are not tall, this might be a bit of a disappointment, the crowds being not as loose as was with the Dream.
Maybe others can add to or correct my thoughts.

I agree with this view, having seen it twice now.

[kathryn]

Mar 19, 2023 18:37:49 GMT c4ndyc4ne said:

Mar 19, 2023 16:35:19 GMT kathryn said:

I enjoyed this a lot yesterday from the pit. Thought Richard Anderson was very good a Sky and of course Daniel Mays as Nathan.

It’s very well done, though not earth-shatteringly original.

Andrew Richardson, but enjoy the switch-up

D’oh! Brain fart…

[Marwood]

Those of you that saw Ewan McGregor in this back in the day: what part did he play, Sky Masterson?

I ask because I went to see Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio this evening and was really impressed by his singing, surprised he hasn’t done more musicals after this and Moulin Rouge.

[musiqualetheater]

Mar 21, 2023 0:22:23 GMT Marwood said:

Those of you that saw Ewan McGregor in this back in the day: what part did he play, Sky Masterson?

I ask because I went to see Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio this evening and was really impressed by his singing, surprised he hasn’t done more musicals after this and Moulin Rouge.

Correct, there’s clips on YouTube

[ladidah]

I love him in Down with Love - he sings there too!

[Matt]

Saw this tonight, got a rush ticket for floor standing. It was probably the best theatre experience I’ve ever had. It is fun being a part of the floor show, and you can freely move around the whole floor if you don’t try and be at the front all the time.

I didn’t know a thing about guys and dolls before this, but I LOVED the show. It was really funny, and I thought every single person in the cast was brilliant.

My only issue, just because you have floor standing tickets and are part of the immersion, it doesn’t mean you’re allowed to just chat with your mates and have no respect for the actors on stage.

[lolalou]

Mar 21, 2023 23:43:32 GMT Matt said:

Saw this tonight, got a rush ticket for floor standing. It was probably the best theatre experience I’ve ever had. It is fun being a part of the floor show, and you can freely move around the whole floor if you don’t try and be at the front all the time.

I didn’t know a thing about guys and dolls before this, but I LOVED the show. It was really funny, and I thought every single person in the cast was brilliant.

My only issue, just because you have floor standing tickets and are part of the immersion, it doesn’t mean you’re allowed to just chat with your mates and have no respect for the actors on stage.

All the previous comments on how to achieve the ‘best view’ with these ‘immersive’ type in the round shows just leave me anxious. Add in the comments about the floor standing tickets folks chatting. Sounds like a fantastic show but with added jeopardy based on the luck of where you’re placed. Call me old fashioned, but I like to see the faces of the performers during a show. And hear them.

[ceebee]

Mar 22, 2023 3:11:50 GMT lolalou said:

Mar 21, 2023 23:43:32 GMT Matt said:

Saw this tonight, got a rush ticket for floor standing. It was probably the best theatre experience I’ve ever had. It is fun being a part of the floor show, and you can freely move around the whole floor if you don’t try and be at the front all the time.

I didn’t know a thing about guys and dolls before this, but I LOVED the show. It was really funny, and I thought every single person in the cast was brilliant.

My only issue, just because you have floor standing tickets and are part of the immersion, it doesn’t mean you’re allowed to just chat with your mates and have no respect for the actors on stage.

All the previous comments on how to achieve the ‘best view’ with these ‘immersive’ type in the round shows just leave me anxious. Add in the comments about the floor standing tickets folks chatting. Sounds like a fantastic show but with added jeopardy based on the luck of where you’re placed. Call me old fashioned, but I like to see the faces of the performers during a show. And hear them.

Then buy a seat? Problem solved!

[Deleted]

I had not thought about people in the standing sections talking with each other, but concerts are the likely parallel to that experience and people engage in all sorts of talking, singing along, and other engagement there.

I could see myself accidentally slipping into that behavior momentarily as a result and I'm the guy who gives an evil eye at the slightest crinkle of a candy wrapper.

[Matt]

To be honest the people talking amongst themselves did mostly end about 30 minutes into it, but there were a couple of girls who were talking to each other through the whole thing. The good thing is you can just walk away from them if they are distracting.

I didn’t once have a bad view, you can see the performers at all times as the stage is raised, sometimes you just might have to move a few steps to the side if someone is blocked by a prop or if their back is to you. I didn’t miss a thing, so don’t be too worried.

[jr]

A few thoughts on this.

I enjoyed it and it was fun, with that score it would be really difficult not to!

I saw it standing. The view was fine, though a bit too long to be standing (it started 10 minutes late plus the prolonged end, 3 hours in total). I am not convinced with this type of staging though. To me it feels more like a few scenes connected by intervals than a whole play, it lacks unity. I might see it again later in the run, seating.

The band was really good and the main actors quite good too. Celinde Schoenmaker probably the weakest of the four. Great chemistry between Marisha Wallace and Daniel Mays.

There are so many versions of the songs that I could not avoid comparing. Adelaide's lament felt to me lacking punch, If I were a bell was played a bit aggressively (Jenna Russell played it giddy and to me that's way more effective and true to character) and Sit Down You're Rockin' the Boat was great at the end but it took a bit to get there and the staging was a bit boring.

At the end the cast stayed mingling with audience, most of them went away quickly but Marisha Wallace and Daniel Mays stayed until the end and seemed to be having a good time. Andrew Richardson was out before me and was posing for pictures with some audience members.

Oh, and get back to the auditorium before the end of the interval, there is some entertainment before the second act.

[dlevi]

I saw this last night and found it to be unadulterated bliss from start to finish. True it's pretty much a perfect show to begin with but Nick Hytner has delvered a classic in a way that is completely fresh to that often "elusive" younger audience. Audiences at revivals of classic musicals tend to skew older, last night though the crowd was younger ( in large part thanks to the pit) and multi-cultural. For those of us who are older it wasn't simply a nostalgia trip at an old favorite, it was a bold re-thinking. There was palpable sexual energy between the two couples ( especially Sky and Sarah) which gave the whole evening a feeling of living in the present. And with theall inclusive bows I felt as if we were visiting s genuine community called "Runyonland". Quite simply, I found this to be a great production of a great musical.

[frankubelik]

Enjoyable. Liked the use of moving platforms but not the "immersive" aspect as I could not see what value it brought and inevitably one misses parts of the action due to the staging. Solid leads; good vocals from the female leads but not from the leading man; great band; poor female ensemble. Quite why the audience went crazy for the inevitable riffs on "Sit Down...." remains beyond me but I am assuming the younger demographic knows no better.

[Matt]

Mar 24, 2023 7:21:16 GMT frankubelik said:

Quite why the audience went crazy for the inevitable riffs on "Sit Down...." remains beyond me but I am assuming the younger demographic knows no better.

Incredibly rude.

[max]

How 'over' do you think Covid is? Is it risky for the cast to be mingling with the audience after. I think it's 'over' enough for me to have forgotten about it a bit, and then seeing pictures of the pit made me wonder.

[ceebee]

Mar 25, 2023 10:55:48 GMT max said:

How 'over' do you think Covid is? Is it risky for the cast to be mingling with the audience after. I think it's 'over' enough for me to have forgotten about it a bit, and then seeing pictures of the pit made me wonder.

I think Covid is something we have learned to live with. It's clearly still prevalent and some people choose to manage their personal risk accordingly. I've noticed more masks in theatres recently and agree there's an obvious risk to the cast mingling with the public, though in an odd way I think it is great to stick two-fingers up at all of that lockdown nonsense we endured by celebrating all as one the very events we all loved so much pre-pandemic.

[Jon]

TBH since the mask mandate ended last year, I've only worn a face covering in medical settings.

[theatremiss]

Thouroughly enjoyed this today, Daniel Mays never fails to put in a good performance in everything that I’ve seen him in and I loved him in this. Marisha Wallace is very different from all the Adelaide’s I’ve seen before and I thought her and Mays worked well together. Both seemed to be really enjoying themselves.
I thought the management of the immersive experience was very good and hard work by the staff. 30yrs ago I might have bought an immersive seat but I was very glad I was sat.
One thing I found rather off putting and once I noticed it, it was all I focused on was Andrew Richardson’s lisp/speech impediment. So many words sounded odd. Is it just me that noticed this?

[theatrelover123]

Mar 25, 2023 19:17:13 GMT theatremiss said:

Thouroughly enjoyed this today, Daniel Mays never fails to put in a good performance in everything that I’ve seen him in and I loved him in this. Marisha Wallace is very different from all the Adelaide’s I’ve seen before and I thought her and Mays worked well together. Both seemed to be really enjoying themselves.
I thought the management of the immersive experience was very good and hard work by the staff. 30yrs ago I might have bought an immersive seat but I was very glad I was sat.
One thing I found rather off putting and once I noticed it, it was all I focused on was Andrew Richardson’s lisp/speech impediment. So many words sounded odd. Is it just me that noticed this?

I too noticed the speech impediment but it didn’t overly worry me. What frustrated me more as his over emphasis of everything and lots of blinking and over emoting.

[theatremiss]

Mar 24, 2023 7:21:16 GMT frankubelik said:

Enjoyable. Liked the use of moving platforms but not the "immersive" aspect as I could not see what value it brought and inevitably one misses parts of the action due to the staging. Solid leads; good vocals from the female leads but not from the leading man; great band; poor female ensemble. Quite why the audience went crazy for the inevitable riffs on "Sit Down...." remains beyond me but I am assuming the younger demographic knows no better.

Sit Down is usually a huge pleaser for me, but I was totally underwhelmed by Cedric Neals performance. I really hated the “pop song” riffing and the milking the crowd for more. It just seemed out of context with the rest of the shows direction. It’s a shame as the rest of the interpretations were fab

[theatremiss]

Mar 25, 2023 19:20:53 GMT theatrelover123 said:

Mar 25, 2023 19:17:13 GMT theatremiss said:

Thouroughly enjoyed this today, Daniel Mays never fails to put in a good performance in everything that I’ve seen him in and I loved him in this. Marisha Wallace is very different from all the Adelaide’s I’ve seen before and I thought her and Mays worked well together. Both seemed to be really enjoying themselves.
I thought the management of the immersive experience was very good and hard work by the staff. 30yrs ago I might have bought an immersive seat but I was very glad I was sat.
One thing I found rather off putting and once I noticed it, it was all I focused on was Andrew Richardson’s lisp/speech impediment. So many words sounded odd. Is it just me that noticed this?

I too noticed the speech impediment but it didn’t overly worry me. What frustrated me more as his over emphasis of everything and lots of blinking and over emoting.

I never noticed the blinking but I was Stalls row B so never really close enough. Yea to the over emoting too, I’ve seen better Skys

[gmoneyoutlaw]

Mar 25, 2023 19:24:06 GMT theatremiss said:

Mar 25, 2023 19:20:53 GMT theatrelover123 said:

I too noticed the speech impediment but it didn’t overly worry me. What frustrated me more as his over emphasis of everything and lots of blinking and over emoting.

I never noticed the blinking but I was Stalls row B so never really close enough. Yea to the over emoting too, I’ve seen better Skys

He’s trying to do a ‘Brando’ and if I had hair Id pull it all out!!! Bad casting