751 posts
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Post by horton on Aug 31, 2017 10:38:56 GMT
Except in both those examples, it wasn't chiefly the cast singing; One Man Two Guv'nors just has a band that opened the action and reappeared for a little lift.
This "not a musical" has more music/ tracks than Blood Brothers!
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5,996 posts
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Post by mrbarnaby on Aug 31, 2017 20:09:30 GMT
Really happy they are releasing a cd.. the musical performances were something very special
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Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2017 8:50:01 GMT
Well. I don't know if it was the mix of the flurry of activity when someone collapsed in the bar at the interval or that I was simply jacked up on gin but I rather enjoyed this. It was rather a pleasant surprise. It's a bit of a mess really. The play is a bit rubbish but the actors are great and the musical numbers are terrific. Debbie Kurup and Sam Reid in particular were very good and while Jack Shalloo doesn't get a whole lot to do in the play, he gets a fabulous number to belt out in the musical part. Bronagh Gallagher also plays drums in a coat with huge fur cuffs which I found very impressive. Shirley Henderson seemed to get all the raves for her performance. It's a very Shirley Henderson performance I thought, squeaky voice, quirky etc and she does seem like she is in a different play at times (which I suppose makes sense seeing as her character is losing her mind) but then this voice of hers comes from nowhere. It's all a bit sentimental at times and there was a bit where I got a bit teary for some reason . . {Weepin and a wailin}
. . when after Nick reveals to his wayward son (who he has a difficult relationship with) that he's going to kill himself and his wife because they're broke, he gives him all the money he has in the world, like $20, and tells him to go and buy himself a drink . . Could have done with a tap routine though. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2017 19:45:00 GMT
I went on Saturday and I really enjoyed it. I didn't LOVE it, because as you say, the play itself is a bit haphazard and doesn't really go anywhere, but the songs more than make up for it. I'll definitely be buying the cast CD as I really want to hear the songs again. Sheila Atim was fabulous and I loved Debbie Kurup's first song and Shirley Henderson's Like a Rolling Stone in particular.
I got a cheap restricted view seat in the stalls thanks to advice on Theatremonkey (I normally avoid restricted view) and it wasn't really restricted at all! I thought the view was excellent to be honest, and I paid a third of what the person next to me paid!
There were some idiots in on Saturday though. All the people in the middle of the row stood at the side drinking until the last second and then decided to clamber in over me - didn't even say anything or I'd have got up. I just had a group of women clambering over my lap at the last minute, clutching their two drinks each. The bloke next to me kept texting all the way through as well, which was really annoying.
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5,716 posts
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Post by lynette on Sept 7, 2017 11:34:57 GMT
Elanor, you must practise the ankle flick at home before going to,theatre next time. If carried out correctly the resultant spillage of the drink will be all over the person in front of you, not you. Win, win.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2017 17:57:02 GMT
Elanor, you must practise the ankle flick at home before going to,theatre next time. If carried out correctly the resultant spillage of the drink will be all over the person in front of you, not you. Win, win. Ha! I need to learn. Instead, I settled for glaring at them from behind and whispering 'you're welcome' at them under my breath. That'll learn em. |
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Post by Jonnyboy on Sept 10, 2017 18:51:25 GMT
Interview with Conor McPherson and a live performance on Andrew Marr this morning. Should be available on iPlayer.  |
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Post by thesortinghat on Sept 10, 2017 19:33:07 GMT
I saw this last week. I felt in some ways it was a bit of a miss-match and thought it was a little awkward at times, but the musical performances blew me away and I was one of a number of people up in the circle in tears at that ending. In fact I was still crying when I got to my station. Can't wait for the cast recording!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2017 20:06:57 GMT
You Tube tells me that I've watched Sheila Atim singing 'has anybody seen my love' about ten million times in the last two weeks. My cat is also sick of me singing it to him.
They need to release this cast album urgently.
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Post by liverpool54321 on Sept 13, 2017 15:44:08 GMT
Remaining dates seem to be virtually sold out aside from side benches. Bit of a shame (but pleased for show) as I had planned to take couple of singers on their night off from UK tour but now looks unlikely unless some returns pop up. The Like a Rolling Stone advert out yesterday excites me even more re album.
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Post by crowblack on Sept 13, 2017 23:18:57 GMT
Just got back from seeing it this afternoon. The songs were beautiful - spine tingling stuff, the performances and design, choreography etc. great, but the play itself, oh dear! Interesting hares set running that just seemed to go nowhere. Potentially dramatic storylines dispensed with in a few lines, with utterly unconvincing character reactions, and then a song shoehorned in as a full stop. I was reminded of a Patricia Highsmith novel that ends so abruptly I thought there were chapters missing, then looked online to find others thought the same. I think the blame may lie with having the writer as director, too - a lack of the quality control and querying of his plotlines that another head would have brought to it. Btw, one of the storylines seems to be lifted from an episode of Marple, only in that it was Shirley Henderson who did the deed I was in a £16 behind-a-pillar seat, which I won't bother with again - the restricted view rail seats for a few more pounds (alas, all sold out by the time I booked) are much better. Annoyingly, a handful of what were probably the best seats in the house, down in the stalls, were unoccupied throughout. I asked a the box office during the interval if I could move there and they said no, because, though the people hadn't turned up, they weren't technically returns. Argh! |
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Post by mrbarnaby on Sept 27, 2017 19:42:42 GMT
Definitely transferring.. expect an announcement imminently..
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Post by mallardo on Sept 28, 2017 7:12:34 GMT
Thank you, Mr. B - you are the bearer of glad tidings.
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Post by peggs on Sept 28, 2017 14:43:04 GMT
Elanor, you must practise the ankle flick at home before going to,theatre next time. If carried out correctly the resultant spillage of the drink will be all over the person in front of you, not you. Win, win. Lynette can you teach us all this trick Please, sounds delightful and most useful |
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Post by lynette on Sept 28, 2017 20:59:32 GMT
Make it look like a nervous fidget. Timing of course is everything. 😉
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Post by paplazaroo on Sept 29, 2017 11:03:39 GMT
It's on Spotify guys! Great recording
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Post by mrbarnaby on Sept 29, 2017 22:49:25 GMT
The recording is fab., great arrangements and voices. I also like the salightly rough quality to the recording.. preserves some of the shows energy without being a dreaded ‘live’ recording
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Post by loureviews on Sept 30, 2017 14:43:06 GMT
At the interval. I like this a lot so far. Very interesting use of both iconic and lesser known songs.
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Post by rockinrobin on Sept 30, 2017 19:47:48 GMT
I'm loving this. That's exactly the kind of theatrical magic I like the most. I never thought I'd cry whilst listening to "Like A Rolling Stone" but perhaps I'm simply getting old...
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617 posts
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Post by loureviews on Sept 30, 2017 20:22:31 GMT
OK, my thoughts, which will be formulated more clearly when I have had a chance to reflect more:
1. Ciaran Hinds clearly can't sing as he plays no part at all in any of the musical numbers, not even in the background. Unless this is a deliberate choice to show how isolated he is from everything going on. Dunno. He's far too shouty in this though. I didn't feel for him as I thought I should have done.
2. Bronagh Gallagher (who I recognised for a TV version of 'Shadow of a Gunman' years and years ago) was absolutely terrific as the ignored wife and devastated mother. And she's a dab hand on the drums too.
3. I wasn't convinced by some of the plot points. For e.g. Gene being so stereotypically racist when his parents took in and raised a black child, and his duet of regret when his childhood (I assume) love leaves town.
4. Shirley Henderson is totally convincing as the broken spirit lost in dementia, and the soaring, shining spark who comes alive in song.
5. The use of Dylan songs is very clever, but is used a little too much to paper over the cracks in what plot there is; however, the performance of the songs is absolutely top-notch, by everyone.
6. Ron Cook (Mr Crabb from 'Mr Selfridge') is a decent but pointless narrator, and the ending monologue doesn't even need to be there, I would have ended with the couple at the table and faded to black.
7. Jim Norton (Bishop Brennan forever!) gives yet another superb performance as the old widower (and he seems to enjoy dancing and singing in the group numbers). I thought he was one of the best of the non-showy roles.
8. The set is fantastic in its simplicity, and the way the songs are done to the audience makes it feel rather like dream sequences rather than the structure of a traditional musical. 'Slow Train' and 'Hurricane' were high points for me.
9. Sheila Atim, Michael Shaeffer, Debbie Kurup, and even a rather flat Stanley Townsend did well in their numbers. There's one other standout but to reveal it would spoil a plot point.
10. In summary, a hard working cast in a play which feels it has too many loose threads, but there are some excellent nuggets here and there, with two marriages showing their cracks, people pretending to be what they are not, people being accused of things they didn't do, and a very interesting use of space, light and shadows in some of the musical sections.
**** from me.
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Post by loureviews on Sept 30, 2017 20:23:27 GMT
It's on Spotify guys! Great recording I can only find a collection of the original songs by Dylan et al. Do you have a link to the cast recording on Spotify? |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 2, 2017 9:36:28 GMT
I am wanting to see this in the end week and have been too busy to see it before. I would like to get return ticket but tried to ring the box office and they were quite blunt in saying they probably won't get any. Does anyone have any advise or way of being notified if the website updates. If I can't can't tickets I really hope I can see the transfer though.
Thanks
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Post by crowblack on Oct 2, 2017 9:47:31 GMT
Does anyone have any advise or way of being notified if the website updates. I don't know if it works with the Old Vic's website format, but if you look early in the thread on Mosquitoes there's instructions on an app you can use with Firefox that tells you when a web page is updated - you apply it to the buy tickets page and can set it to ping every 15 mins or 5 mins etc.. |
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Post by TallPaul on Oct 2, 2017 12:31:56 GMT
Call me old-fashioned, but I'm one of those strange people who still likes to physically own music on a shiny, silver disc. That's why I found myself in HMV yesterday afternoon flicking through the Shows & Musicals rack (and putting it back into some sort of order).
The OCR of Girl from the North Country is now in stock, at what I thought was a very reasonable £9.99.
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Post by paplazaroo on Oct 2, 2017 18:48:02 GMT
It's on Spotify guys! Great recording I can only find a collection of the original songs by Dylan et al. Do you have a link to the cast recording on Spotify? Here you go - |
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