The Time Traveller's Wife - Chester Storyhouse / Apollo

[Being Alive]

Jan 26, 2024 11:38:34 GMT MusicalTalk said:

And herein lies the problem with UK Theatre. “Stick some stunt casting in and it’ll be alright”.


Get the songs rewritten by people that know what they’re doing and then it’ll be alright.

Precisely

[CG on the loose]

Hmmm... English Heritage have an ongoing prize draw giving away two tickets for this, plus an overnight stay in London. They plan to notify winners by 23 Feb... hope someone's told them so they can figure out a contingency plan!

[mattnyc]

Jan 26, 2024 11:41:25 GMT Being Alive said:

Jan 26, 2024 11:38:34 GMT MusicalTalk said:

And herein lies the problem with UK Theatre. “Stick some stunt casting in and it’ll be alright”.


Get the songs rewritten by people that know what they’re doing and then it’ll be alright.

Precisely

This is the problem with commercial theater EVERYWHERE nowadays.

[showtoones]

The thing about the show is that it’s not terrible… It’s just not very good. It’s perfectly adequate, but not for the prices that they charge in the West End.

[andypandy]

I'm sorry - but this show was just terrible! Awful score and cheap design, average performances and dreadful direction and choreography - one of the worst i've seen in years.

[danb]

Thought we might get the Apollo back after this but its filled with short run dross til September.

[capybara]

I actually enjoyed this so much more than I thought I would, having read reviews and comments on here.

I’m not especially familiar with the source material but thought the story was told well, with many heartfelt and touching moments.

Joanna Woodward and David Hunter work so well together. Hiba Elchicke and Tim Mahendren were great levity as well.

It’s not perfect, the set felt too bland is several scenes and some of the ‘tricks’ were indeed a bit basic.

But I tend to agree more with the reviews from its original run in Chester compared to the more mixed-negative reaction it has garnered in the West End.

Four stars.

[singingbird]

Honestly wasn't sure if I would make it to this before it closed, but just squeezed it in on Friday night. Honestly, it wasn't bad, but it just wasn't great either. Solid, but uninspiring.

I wish it had had more courage - I'd have preferred a more sophisticated, nuanced score. Too much of it was bland middle of the road pop-rock. It could have differentiated the time periods better, made more of the opera connection, and also made more clearly delineated character choices, to draw out the fact that the main male character is not quite of the same world as the other characters. Also, if I see one more musical that has a finale where the whole company come on and sing some platitudes about making the best of our lives, facing straight out to the audience, I think I'm going to scream!

I think, however, that the biggest problem is that the source material doesn't actually make for a great musical. On the surface it sounds ideal - a time travelling passionate love story. But the problem is that the characters are constantly fighting against the time travelling - they are trying to live domestic, ordinary lives. Great musicals tend to be about characters trying to break away from domestic, ordinary lives, into something bigger, wilder, crazier, not the reverse. It makes for a strangely muted evening where the direction of the script is fighting against the characters' need to sing.

[osdtdg]

Thought I'd add my thoughts here as I did catch this in November, albeit that it may be a bit pointless given the production has closed.

I will start by saying I think this is a 2/5 for me in terms of enjoyment. The cast were all fantastic and did their best to convey the story for what it was, but they didn't have a whole lot to work with. As others have pointed out, there are issues with the songs not moving the plot forward and what was, in my opinion, the best song - namely, Journeyman - was placed weirdly at the start of Act Two devoid of emotional context. Sure, it was great to give an insight into how Henry experiences his travelling, but that scene robs its own emotional potency. To me, Journeyman may have been better suited after "I'm in Control" if Henry got dragged away immediately after - or even better, during - the argument. I think that would've given both songs a greater potency. I loved David Hunter as Henry, Joanna was good as Clare and Tim & Hiba hit all the right comedic beats. Chemistry was generally great between everyone, but I do wish they had some better material to work with - which could've used the keen eye of a dramaturg

[SamB (was badoerfan)]

I wonder if 'Journeyman' had to be placed where it was to enable the special effects - time to set it up after the interval or something?