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Post by funnygirl90 on Oct 20, 2022 15:33:07 GMT
Well the time for Musical “con” is nearly upon us. I’ve noticed an increasing amount of disgruntled tweets directed at the musical con account.
Including a tweet with a screenshot of an email received by a disabled ticket holder where musical con seem to suggest reasonable adjustments (as required by the equality act) come at a price.
It won’t let me add an image but the email reads:
“Those with visual impairments that have emailed in have all purchased vip tickets to be as close to the front as possible. We understand that not everyone is able to afford a vip ticket. We ask you to please visit our information desk on the day and we will see what we are able to in terms of getting you access to the front in your wheelchair.”
They will… see what they can do? 😑 they think it’s acceptable for disabled ticket holders to have to wait until the day they attend to find out whether their access requirements will be met? Shameful.
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Post by richey on Oct 20, 2022 17:22:22 GMT
There certainly seems to be a lot of people trying to sell their tickets online over the last few days.
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Post by bethr20 on Oct 21, 2022 16:52:12 GMT
I'm going tommrow - and, honestly, I'm looking forward to it. I've paid the £45 entry fee (I didn't manage to get tickets in the first sale, so I had to pay the increased cost for the next release), and I've not bought any 'stage door' m&g experiences because they're extortionate for what they are. Nor have I got an workshops booked because I certainly fall more into the spectator category than the performer category; I don't want to embarrass myself in front of a whole load of 13 year old triple threats! I'll probably spend the day around the main stage, as well as in the backstage area because some of the talks (especially the 'moving a musical' one) look interesting, too.
I feel more sorry for the people who have purchased VIP tickets, expecting it to actually amount to being worth the extra cost, because if I had paid £100+ for very little extra than the standard tickets I'd be demanding my money back!
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Post by inthenose on Oct 21, 2022 22:03:41 GMT
Looking forward to reading reports of this, I hope it isn’t chaos. First ever conventions have a bit of a reputation of “teething problems”…
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Post by anxiousoctopus on Oct 21, 2022 22:30:19 GMT
Looking forward to reading reports of this, I hope it isn’t chaos. First ever conventions have a bit of a reputation of “teething problems”… I’ve heard of so many disaster first year conventions, I’m actively waiting to hear how things go 😅 |
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Post by stagebyte on Oct 22, 2022 0:29:58 GMT
‘Layton Wlliams may be on vocal rest’ How incredibly stagey of him. |
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Post by stagebyte on Oct 22, 2022 0:30:55 GMT
I feel more sorry for the people who have purchased VIP tickets, expecting it to actually amount to being worth the extra cost, because if I had paid £100+ for very little extra than the standard tickets I'd be demanding my money back! Is it sold out? |
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Post by jaqs on Oct 22, 2022 7:12:54 GMT
I’m going. I live close to the excel, so it’s less hassle to get to than a show.
Wish they’d actually put it it’s east or west entrance on the ticket though.
Will report back later.
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Post by jaqs on Oct 22, 2022 10:15:47 GMT
It’s like west end live without the sunburn.
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Post by alece10 on Oct 22, 2022 10:42:18 GMT
It’s like west end live without the sunburn. Or the rain! |
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Post by anxiousoctopus on Oct 22, 2022 11:25:14 GMT
Early reports are there’s a lot of queuing and hectic crowds, as well as a few issues with noise levels - but things seem to be going relatively well right now
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Post by Mr Wallacio on Oct 22, 2022 13:37:14 GMT
After the initial queuing chaos (still a long queue at the time main stage was supposed to start), two people scanning tickets just not enough (though main stage start was delayed so didn't miss anything), it's been OK.
Spent most of my time by main stage which had sound issues further back, but ok the closer you got.
The Sondheim section with Jenna Russell was great, and the 4 Elphaba's section was nice, though couldn't see the quartet of Defying Gravity due to the amount of people watching the performance through phone screens.
Going to try for the backstage theatre Footballers Wives preview at 3pm if I can get a headset.
Would I go again next year? Probably not. It's more for the youngsters I feel, and no miserable old me.
Only reason I'm really going tomorrow is because I won a photo experience on Instagram.
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Post by funnygirl90 on Oct 22, 2022 13:55:55 GMT
After the initial queuing chaos (still a long queue at the time main stage was supposed to start), two people scanning tickets just not enough (though main stage start was delayed so didn't miss anything), it's been OK. Spent most of my time by main stage which had sound issues further back, but ok the closer you got. The Sondheim section with Jenna Russell was great, and the 4 Elphaba's section was nice, though couldn't see the quartet of Defying Gravity due to the amount of people watching the performance through phone screens. Going to try for the backstage theatre Footballers Wives preview at 3pm if I can get a headset. Would I go again next year? Probably not. It's more for the youngsters I feel, and no miserable old me. Only reason I'm really going tomorrow is because I won a photo experience on Instagram. Thanks for your overview, did you notice a separate entrance line for disabled guests? Or any disability friendly measures? |
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Post by Mr Wallacio on Oct 22, 2022 14:18:19 GMT
After the initial queuing chaos (still a long queue at the time main stage was supposed to start), two people scanning tickets just not enough (though main stage start was delayed so didn't miss anything), it's been OK. Spent most of my time by main stage which had sound issues further back, but ok the closer you got. The Sondheim section with Jenna Russell was great, and the 4 Elphaba's section was nice, though couldn't see the quartet of Defying Gravity due to the amount of people watching the performance through phone screens. Going to try for the backstage theatre Footballers Wives preview at 3pm if I can get a headset. Would I go again next year? Probably not. It's more for the youngsters I feel, and no miserable old me. Only reason I'm really going tomorrow is because I won a photo experience on Instagram. Thanks for your overview, did you notice a separate entrance line for disabled guests? Or any disability friendly measures? Not really in terms of queuing. Some guests in wheelchairs were ushered to the front of the queue, but so were those with VIP tickets so I can't say if they also had VIP. There's an accessible viewing platform at the rear of the main stage area and some disabled spaces at the front of the backstage theatre area. It isn't a very big venue. |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Oct 22, 2022 14:43:27 GMT
What’s this headset thing all about?
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Post by jaqs on Oct 22, 2022 14:46:39 GMT
I feel the same, I’d have loved it in my teens but I’m too old for screaming or standing for long.
Enjoyed the Jenna Russell section at the main stage, but have mostly been to the backstage talks, the visibility panel, the choreography panel which I didn’t realise was going to be choreography, it was called ‘moving a musical’ and I thought it would be about shifting sets on tour, and the Disney puppetry. All very interesting, always good to hear stories from behind the scenes and about creative process. All had moments of being unable to hear due to the mics feeding the headsets picking up noise from the main stage or workshops.
They need to rework the setup as the battling noise is overwhelming.
Im glad I went but wouldn’t again.
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Post by jaqs on Oct 22, 2022 14:47:49 GMT
What’s this headset thing all about? The backstage talks have a silent disco headset to hear the panelists. The area is between the main stage and one of the workshop areas so we’d not hear a thing without. It’s hard enough with. |
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Post by Mr Wallacio on Oct 22, 2022 16:51:35 GMT
At least they were forward thinking enough to provide headsets for the backstage theatre talks area. I went there for Footballers Wives and stayed for Toby Marlow. At first the main stage overpowered the headsets but then I discovered the volume control, turned the headset up and it was fine.
Some of the headsets didn't work, but the crew had spares they were handing out, so can't fault the staff there.
Overall it was a nice day, I am glad I went, not sure I'll return next year as I don't feel it's really aimed at me, and as a theatre fan I'd have preferred it to be more like West End Live, but understand it can't be due to the location of the venue and Saturday matinées. I'm not someone who would be attending workshops etc, so they wouldn't interest me, so it was a long day of not too much to see.
I hope the people I feel it's more aimed at had a good day.
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Post by richey on Oct 22, 2022 17:39:29 GMT
Only stayed for a few hours this morning, but it was better than I expected and will probably pop back for some more tomorrow.
The main issue for me is the same as has been previously mentioned, the noise from the main stage. It drowned everything out, and competed with the noise from the workshops and some of the individual stands. They really needed to put that in a separate hall.
Otherwise not bad, some good cosplay (awful lot of Heathers and Six as expected but also so brilliant Phantoms and Christines)
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Oct 22, 2022 17:47:34 GMT
Sounds like a poor choice of venue.
What was the average age of the punters?
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Post by Matt on Oct 22, 2022 18:12:45 GMT
Sounds like a poor choice of venue. What was the average age of the punters? I’m not there, but Excel is used for most of the big London cons, unless they’re only using a portion of the space? |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Oct 22, 2022 18:33:39 GMT
But would the usual conventions be “performance” specific? I mean, when I think of a convention I think of stands, talks, merch. I don’t think of musical performances. How can you have what is effectively a concert going on while there are talks going on nearby?
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Post by alece10 on Oct 22, 2022 18:58:48 GMT
I was an invigilator for many years at some finance exams held at Excel where up to 12,000 students were taking exams at the same time. As Excel is so big there were often other exhibitions going on at the same time including Olympic Games practise runs, Christmas Fairs and even the X Factor. It could often be difficult as the students needed silence during the exams. However Excel always did well by putting us at the opposite end of the hall to other events. But I guess to have a separate hall for the performance stage would greatly increase the costs.
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Post by anxiousoctopus on Oct 22, 2022 19:59:04 GMT
But would the usual conventions be “performance” specific? I mean, when I think of a convention I think of stands, talks, merch. I don’t think of musical performances. How can you have what is effectively a concert going on while there are talks going on nearby? I’ve been to London ComicCon a few times and EGX (gaming convention) both at the ExCel centre and all the events there were talks and Q&As - and even then, the general ambient noise of the attendees is loud and constant. I can imagine that a convention where the majority of events are singing performances in multiple areas would be very overpowering noise-wise. There’s no real ‘walls’ inside the halls outside of temporary dividers, and they would definitely not be sound proof. The silent disco headsets is a great idea, but the workshops should really be in a different location so they’re not mixed into the general hubbub of sound. |
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Post by bethr20 on Oct 22, 2022 21:19:01 GMT
I can completely relate to all of the posts here - at least it wasn't just me thinking that the entire layout of the event was really unplanned! Was looking forward to going to the marketplace stalls area, but it was mainly used as a through route and it was so tight for space, with seemingly hundreds of people trying to file through it at any time - that I barely got any opportunities to actually see what was on offer; I just took some pictures of the stall names so that I could check out their websites/social media pages once I was home.
They had placed all of the food trucks in a corner of the room (which were definitely unnecessary - there were so many food options in the Excel concourse itself which many people were circulating toward instead) which took up a large amount of space that could have otherwise been used for more, or more spaced out, exhibits. It also meant that everything else was crammed in together, so the entire area was very noisy because many things were going on at one time. It got to an extent where I could hear Whipped into Shape in the workshop and Into the Unknown at the main stage, which was getting pretty disorientating!
I went to the moving a musical talk in the backstage area, but the noise from the main stage completely overpowered what everyone was saying (even after I turned up my headset), so ultimately I just headed across to the main stage, which was actually a really great act (the 'star of musicalcon'; the winner was absolutely incredible and wholly deserved the title, as opposed to the teenagers who, although they were undoubtedly up-and-coming stars, *knew* that they were good).
The Wicked and Heathers acts were stand-outs to me, although I always knew that they would be. It was very noticeable that many people, especially the younger teenage audience, left the exhibition after the Wicked act and never returned: the afternoon was a lot less busy. I also liked the ETAJ Vs Legally Blonde contest thingy at the end of the day, except from certain 👀 cast members trying to make the performances about themselves, which got incredibly tedious by the end of the act. That ended at ~4;45, and everyone left basically at once; there was no goodbye speech or general acknowledgment that the day was over, which felt a little bit weird because not everybody (myself included) are returning tommrow.
Ultimately, I'm glad that I at least experienced the atmosphere. That said, I think going for 2 days would become pretty boring by the end of it; the exhibits are the same, so you'd have to make the most of the main stage and backstage areas, else it would be very repetitive. They seem pretty intent on doing another event next year, but I think I'd only return if they offered more things to do within the entry price, had more acts on offer (although I did like all of the ones that they had), and fixed the sound and spacing issues. That said, I infinitely prefer the atmospheric of West End Live - which is designed to be more of a concert, filled with more of the acts which people loved, as opposed to the alternative'festival' vibe which Musicalcon gave off - and the fact that it's free makes it far more appealing.
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