Musicalcon - ExCel

[anxiousoctopus]

Here’s a list of stalls that someone’s posted on Twitter.

[richey]

So just left after second visit. Really not enough there to justify having a weekend ticket but only went back for the Cam Mac showcase. The Les Mis section was ok (Bring Him Home and On My own) strange choice for Mary Poppins (Stemp and Strallen doing the Supercalifrag dance) and Phantom only warranting a brief intro but a lovely performance by Holly singing Wishing You Were Somehow here again. All suffered from the conflicting noise from the other stands as their backing was drowned out at some points.
It's not bad for a first attempt but they definitely need to adapt next year with separate halls and more stands.

[anthony40]

I was there yesterday. Not ever having been to either the Excel centre or to any sort of Con (Comic.com etc) beforeI was very impressed by the size of the whole thing. It was also my first time on the new Elizabeth line.

As it was my first time to such an event, I only purchased a one day pass. I also chose not to partake in any of the singing/dance events.

Firstly, this was LOUD. Not that I found it offensive but I felt it did override everything.

And it was extremely busy. It did drop off a bit after lunch

I caught the last part of the Jenna Russell talk and luckily once in there was the option of re-entry.

In terms of the exhibitors, they were varied and knowledgable.

I saw some very clever costumes. There were a lot of Heathers, several Phantoms and Christine's, several Jenna's from Waitress, a lot od Queen from Six, I saw a very well dressed Everybody's Talking About Jamie, I saw a few Elphabah's, both a Glinda and Galinda, a few Jean ValJoohns, Enjorles and Eponione's. I also saw a woman dressed as Mark from Rent, A few Beatlejuice's a girl in Kinky Boots, a dwarf dressed as the chimney sweep Bert (of Mary Poppins) and one guy dressed as Seymour Krelbourne (Little Shop of Horrors) carrying Audrey II. He was awesome and seemed pretty impressed that I immediately recognised who he was.

However what I did find disappointing was that I would have thought that every show would have had their own stalls selling merchandise- like an expanded West End Flea Market.

The problem with the West End Flea Market was too many people for the space. Here you had the space, but not the exhibitors.

And I wasn't the only person thinking this. I met several people that I know who all said exactly the same thing.

& Juliet was there, with just the costumes and designs, for Back to the Future there was the DeLorian car and Moulin Rouge was applying temporary tattoos.

Dunno, just seemed like a missed opportunity with such a captive audience.

Maybe next year they'll learn from this years mistakes.

I know some one who was there with his partner who was there for both days and who partook in some events, with the final performance of Dear Evan Hansen last night.

Would I go again? Most definitely.

If not to see the changes.

[richey]

Have to say I was really impressed with the level of some of the cosplay. There were an awful lots of Six costumes, some of them indistinguishable from the stage versions. Today there was a perfect Glinda and several Christines with gorgeous blue dresses complete with huge bustles as well as a couple who had recreated Sally and EmCee from the current Cabaret prduction. Top marks for me though was the guy in full Phantom Red Death outfit, which was astounding.

[interval99]

Some clips have started being posted on YouTube by the official London theatre channel so presume official authorized clips
The wicked four Elphabas seems to work well and also at the end gives a good pan of the hall and set up.
It does seem to have picked up fairly good feedback even with a lot of things to improve for next time. At least it's been proven that a musical based convention event will be supported in the UK.

[ladidah]

Will go next year, wanted to see how the first one went.

[ruthieh]

Who were  the 4 Elphabas? Alice Fearn, but who else?

[interval99]

Louise Dearman , Nikki Bentley, Laura Pick
Are listed on the clip info. Think Louise is on the far right and Alice far left but no idea on the middle two.

[interval99]

Mickey jo theatre has posted a review of day one which will either have you planning the trip for 2023 or confirming it's a bit too frantic and noisy for you.
Does seem like there was a fair bit to see, it is selling to a audience who likely to have already seen the shows they want to so possibly only yet to open shows will get tickets sales benefit but with what seems to be a full house attendance it will be interesting to see if next year's does attract more west end input and a bigger area to sort the sound overlap issues. Quite a lot of the review is him talking afterwards but there's enough footage of the place and some of the workshops and performances and interviews to give good idea of what it was like.
For those who went were there many stands selling, dvds, CDs, posters, t-shirts and theatre merchandise for sale?

[BurlyBeaR]

Seen the videos.. sorry “vlogs”. Hard hard very hard pass. 

[anthony40]

Anyone else receive a mysterious email this afternoon simply stating- There's a Place for Us

Announcement tomorrow at 10.30am.

Perhaps a reference to West Side Story? Or of the great mam himself, Steven Sondheim. It was the 1 year anniversary of his passing.

[TallPaul]

Confirmed as returning to ExCel on 21 and 22 October 2023. Bigger and better than this year they're claiming!

[jaqs]

Got the email, it prompted me to unsubscribe.
I cannot be doing with any more announcements about announcements.

[anthony40]

This on again this weekend at London's Excel Centre.

I enjoyed it this year, more than last year and it seems like they've really learnt from last years mistakes. And that's understandable, as last years was the first.

This is a HUGE space and the layout was much better.

I got there just before 11 am and walked straight through.  They had all of the various stalls at the front that took up about a third of the space, the main stage and the standing areas took up another third and the workshop spaces positioned behind the stage took up the last third of the space.

Some of the stalls were the same as last year, but there were definitely some more and different ones. And of the newer ones, these were a bit more merchandise themed and related,

In the centre there was a huge Genie's lamp from Aladdin promoting Disney on stage and you could win a Frozen/The Lion King or Aladdin signed poster, which I won, or Disney tote bags, key rings and, if you were lucky, tickets.

They were also promoting The Time Travelers Wife, Hadestown, Everybody's Talking About Jamie and Moulin Rouge- a photo booth and free temporary tattoos. 

On the main stage I saw Alice Fern, Rachel Tucker and the cast of Operation Mincemeat.  There was also a discussion about the upcoming BatBoy concert on Halloween.

People took part in cosplay and I did seen an excellent Pearl from Starlight Express. an excellent Elphaba, a Cat, variations on the Schulyer sisters, an excellent death mask Phantom. Speaking of Phantom, a good Rauol, Christine- in costume from All I Ask Of You and a Meg Giry. Also a few Wives from Six and a Spongebob.  However last year, I felt, had more.

The workshop space moved behind the stage was the Larson (Jonathan of Rent) and the Sondheim Workshop.

Although I didn't take part in any workshops it made me so happy to see that (Jonathan) Larson and the impact he made on the musical theatre scene with Tick! Tick!...Boom and Rent! wasn't forgotten.

It was also encouraging to see how accessible this venue was, also with ramps to a viewing platform for the main stage. There many in wheelchairs, or walking aids.

There was also an area referred to as the Backstage area where there was a stage an various actors, or those involved in shows talked about their experiences.

Directly opposite was a cinema screening area where, just like a silent disco, you could watch a moving with headphones on.  The had already screened Annie, I caught about 45 mins of Hairspray and after that they screened Chicago.

I had to literally tear myself away from Hairspray. I love that film. James Marsden and John Travolta are both so good.

There were people of all ages.

I didn't get involved in any workshops (by choice) and after several hours I felt like I was done

For me personally, I couldn't do two days. That said, I guess it depends what you want to get out of it.

 

[mrbarnaby]

The whole thing sounds absolutely ghastly!!

But if it gives some people joy…

[anthony40]

Aww, it wasn't that bad mrbarnaby!

[BurlyBeaR]

What would you say the age demographic is anthony40?

[anthony40]

Oct 22, 2023 16:37:30 GMT BurlyBeaR said:

What would you say the age demographic is anthony40 ?

Relatively young.

I'd say between 18- 50. Now I know that's a HUGE age gap but there were some young stage people, some escorted by their patents but the age gap did really vary.

[Deleted]

Good to see such a wide age range. I'd have thought it would have been a teenage and maybe student vibe up to say 25.

[anthony40]

Oct 22, 2023 22:35:51 GMT @original9 said:

Good to see such a wide age range. I'd have thought it would have been a teenage and maybe student vibe up to say 25.

Most definitely not!

Yes, there were a lot of young people (not gonna lie) but people much older than me- I'm 53.

As you left to the central corridor where food was being sold, in the neigbouring arena was a Final Fantasy exhibition and there were people dresses as warlords and wizards.

It was a truly bizarre and surreal experience!

[alece10]

Isn't there a Disney exhibition on there too?

[anthony40]

You are correct. There is a Disney exhibition on.

As you walk through the glass doors of the Excel Centre, there is a central corridor with the exhibition halls (each are HUGE) running off either side, each are numbered. The eatery is housed within that central corridor.

To get to the Disney exhibition, you don't even enter the glass doors. It's (almost) like a separate wing, with a separate entrance.

[hoopoe]

I went for the first time yesterday and thought it was a pretty entertaining and well-run event. I didn't do any meet and greets or classes, so other than looking at the stalls all of my time was spent at either the main stage or backstage theatre talks. I saw: the opening ceremony, Hadestown show spotlight, star of Musical Con, choreography on the West End panel, wigs, hair and make-up panel, Figaro show preview, Little Piece of You show preview, and the game show. I walked into the hall at 10:00 and left at 4:50. There was only about 15 minutes at one point where I wasn't sure what to do with myself, otherwise I was kept busy the whole time.

I'd be interested in going again next year, but as with this year I would want to know the full schedule before booking, which wasn't released until just under 3 weeks ago. A little frustrating, but I understand why they can't confirm it until late on. I really don't think I'd have got much out of going today, with only about 3 hours' worth of programming I'd be interested in, and none of it starting before 1pm. There was also only about a week of the schedule being known before ticket prices went up another £10 (after already going up £10 post early bird prices), so you really have to be paying attention if you don't want to get stung.

Highlights of the day for me were probably the opening ceremony, which was a series of performances by musical theatre stars, e.g. it began with Layton Williams doing Willkommen, and the star of musical con, where 10 non-professionals each performed a song and a panel of industry judges picked a winner, who will get to perform at their choice of West End Musical Halloween or Christmas. They were all good in their own way, and it wasn't hard to imagine a couple of them being names we'll be familiar with in a few years' time.

[BurlyBeaR]

Zero buzz about it on here this year, until our member’s post above. That has to be a concern surely?

[blamerobots]

I was considering going but I just decided to stick with the coverage given on WhatsOnStage.