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Post by Being Alive on Jul 16, 2023 20:57:12 GMT
Returned to this last night, for the first time since the first preview.
I really believe this is the best show on in London right now. The staging is just brilliant, and they've properly got it down to a fine art now in terms of crowd control and enjoyment.
Was pushed to go yesterday as Daniel Mays has three months off from now and I wanted a friend to see him. Still a great performance.
We had full cast apart from Celinde, and I liked Charlotte Scott's Sarah Brown (although she didn't go quite as wild as Celinde does at Havana).
Marisha just gets better and better - it's a very different Adelaide to what we are used to, but I think it works so well (still prefer an older Adelaide but she's fabulous). Her 'Take Back Your Mink' is one of the highlights of the show.
Andrew Richardson continues to be a revelation, I just LOVE him as Sky.
But the show is still absolutely stolen by Sit Down You're Rocking The Boat, and the vocal gymnastics of Cedric Neal.
I do wish they had more room for more inventive choreography but it is what it is.
If I could bottle the joy that the audience feels when Cedric is singing his way through the two encores and the whole 'standing' audience is dancing away, I would - it's theatrical heaven and leaves everyone ecstatic like few things do.
In short, I could go every week.
It's a brilliant production of the greatest musical comedy ever written.
Packed to the rafters, and long may it continue.
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Post by ladidah on Jul 17, 2023 14:14:42 GMT
Oh no, is Daniel now off?
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Post by mattnyc on Jul 17, 2023 15:08:11 GMT
Oh no, is Daniel now off? He’s out for 3 months(?), I believe. |
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Post by Being Alive on Jul 17, 2023 16:35:41 GMT
Yep back in October - one assume he's off to make a film
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Post by Rory on Jul 17, 2023 16:48:33 GMT
Yep back in October - one assume he's off to make a film is he doing Moonflower Murders? He mentioned reprising his Suffolk accent. |
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Post by capybara on Jul 18, 2023 8:37:08 GMT
Have any of the cast posted their summer holiday dates anywhere?
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Post by lonlad on Jul 18, 2023 8:43:19 GMT
Any news on Owain's first performance last night? And is Celinde back?
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Post by oedipus on Jul 18, 2023 10:36:32 GMT
I’m visiting, and happened to catch Owain Arthur’s first performance by accident (I didn’t know when I was buying a ticket!). I thought he was very good: there were a couple of moments in the first act when he was clearly settling into his comic timing, but once it clicked, he was golden. The duet with Adelaide in the second act was terrific, and got a huge hand. I greatly enjoyed the production, too. As others have said, the choreography suffers a bit because of the constraining platforms, and sometimes there was so much bustle, I wasn’t quite sure where I could, or should, look. The only misstep might be the inclusion of that gay bar in Havana. I’m clearly in the minority, but I thought that muddied the waters: is Sarah upset because a *guy* is hitting on Sky (and she’s therefore appalled, as one might expect of a religious conservative in 1950) or because *anybody* is hitting on Sky (because she’s falling in love)? I guess Sky’s (bisexual?) proclivities explain why he’s always reading the bible in hotels—an interesting spin on a striking line—but that particular angle doesn’t seem to go anywhere.
But that’s a quibble. I had a blast, and clearly the crowd did too. And Nathan Detroit is clearly in excellent hands with Arthur. |
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Post by ladidah on Jul 20, 2023 12:34:10 GMT
Finally seeing this tonight, does anyone know when it typically finishes please?
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Post by anthony40 on Jul 20, 2023 12:37:19 GMT
Apparently Bryan Cranston was in the audience last night.
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Post by alece10 on Jul 20, 2023 12:39:35 GMT
Apparently Bryan Cranston was in the audience last night. And Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones last week. |
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Post by n1david on Jul 20, 2023 12:40:40 GMT
Finally seeing this tonight, does anyone know when it typically finishes please? When I was there the show finished about 10.15 but the 'afterparty' went on until about 10.30 - so you could sneak out at 10.15 but if you want to enjoy the actors partying with the pit then plan to hang around a bit longer. |
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Post by ladidah on Jul 20, 2023 12:50:02 GMT
Thank you!
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Post by A.Ham on Jul 20, 2023 12:54:44 GMT
Exactly the same when I went. If you’ve got standing tickets, definitely don’t rush off at the ‘end’!
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Post by ladidah on Jul 20, 2023 12:56:15 GMT
Couldn't last that long, I'm seated!  |
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Post by A.Ham on Jul 20, 2023 16:17:01 GMT
Couldn't last that long, I'm seated! Fair enough, I was a bit achy the morning after! You'll still have a great time and be out by 10.15 then - enjoy :-) |
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Post by ladidah on Jul 21, 2023 8:12:45 GMT
I loved it! I was sat in the back stalls, which I loved. Great view. It was freezing though as I was right next to all the air-con, I ended up with 3 blankets and I usually run hot!
The cast were all amazing, especially Adelaide, Skye and Nathan. I would have lost a few songs, but overall it just works - the evolving scenery is incredible.
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Post by alece10 on Jul 21, 2023 8:24:32 GMT
I loved it! I was sat in the back stalls, which I loved. Great view. It was freezing though as I was right next to all the air-con, I ended up with 3 blankets and I usually run hot! The cast were all amazing, especially Adelaide, Skye and Nathan. I would have lost a few songs, but overall it just works - the evolving scenery is incredible. I remember seeing blankets on some seats and wondered what they were there for. Mind younthe theatre is very good and warn people in advance. |
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Post by ladidah on Jul 21, 2023 8:53:36 GMT
Yes, and I would rather be freezing than hot!
A couple nearby were too cold and ended up leaving about 20 mins in
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Post by theatregoer22 on Jul 21, 2023 23:01:05 GMT
I was also there last night. It was my second time seeing Guys and Dolls in the West End, the other time being in 2005, and this was by far the superior production. The set design, the energy from the cast and the rendition of Sit Down Your Rocking the Boat were all absolutely incredible and made me so glad I went. What wasn't quite to my taste was the very start, I think because it was dancing without dialogue or song and that tends to make me switch off unless I really like the music. But once I got into it (probably about 20-30 minutes into the first act) I really did and the second act was 10/10. Seating wise I was near the end of row CC in Gallery 1 which was almost perfect. There was a tiny corner of the stage I couldn't see, but otherwise it was high up enough to be able to take in the full set but close enough to see the actors facial expressions clearly. I particularly loved walking across the 'stage' to get there, although it was a bit of a maze to find the stairs up to the Gallery. I had brought a jumper, but thankfully the temperature was fine. The several empty seats around the auditorium, made me wonder why they don't offfer seated Rush tickets, as it seemed a crying shame to have empty seats for such a great production.
Overall really glad I went, score wise it's a very easy 4.5, although as I can't give that on here I'll have to select 4.
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Post by A.Ham on Jul 22, 2023 20:18:39 GMT
Yes, I think I read on here there were seated rush tickets when it first opened, but very shortly after they changed to only the standing/immersive ones. Perhaps they’ll include seats again if they feel they need to?
I would’ve gone for seats when I ‘rushed it’ but as only standing was available I went for that and loved it. Appreciate not everyone can do 3+ hours standing though, so if empty seats are a regular occurrence then they’re definitely missing a trick.
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Post by theatregoer22 on Jul 22, 2023 21:41:01 GMT
Yes, I think I read on here there were seated rush tickets when it first opened, but very shortly after they changed to only the standing/immersive ones. Perhaps they’ll include seats again if they feel they need to? I would’ve gone for seats when I ‘rushed it’ but as only standing was available I went for that and loved it. Appreciate not everyone can do 3+ hours standing though, so if empty seats are a regular occurrence then they’re definitely missing a trick. I was sure I saw both seated and standing rush options on TodayTix when it first opened, but the seated option seemed to disappear after a couple of weeks. Still, at least they have some reasonably priced seats. |
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Post by ladidah on Jul 24, 2023 8:51:41 GMT
Already planning to return to this, to see Daniel Mays when he is back!
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Post by Figaro on Jul 24, 2023 9:29:11 GMT
Has anyone seen Marisha’s latest holiday dates? Does she advertise these??
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Post by theatrenerd on Jul 30, 2023 18:57:51 GMT
Has anyone seen Marisha’s latest holiday dates? Does she advertise these?? Marisha has just posted on Instagram her next holidays are 1-2 August and 13-20 August |
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