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Post by 49thand8th on Jun 3, 2016 12:33:59 GMT
Laura Heywood is one of the refreshing NON-sarcastic Broadway personalities out there. I've never met her, but I did see her speak at BroadwayCon. I love me some snark but she can be a bit of a light at the end of the tunnel.
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Post by Hamilton Addict on Jun 4, 2016 15:40:46 GMT
Back from New York and was lucky enough to get a backstage tour of Hamilton!!! I know the guy who works at stage door and he was kind enough to give me and my Mum a tour. I'm a massive, massive, massive Hamilton fan (if you hadn't guessed already!) so this was an experience I'll never forget! Then when I was stage dooring for Eclipsed, I saw Thomas Kail (Hamilton's director)!! I asked him if it would be possible to get an autograph and he was so kind and appreciative for being a fan of the show. The guy working at stage door said that Leslie Odom Jr. is currently negotiating to stay, keeping my fingers crossed!  |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 4, 2016 17:08:31 GMT
I don't know anything about Hamilton, Hamilton Addict, but I know what you must be feeling with your lucky backstage tour and chance meeting and autograph...!
Ahhh, it's all coming back to me now: back in the 70s I once asked at the stage door of the Palace Theatre if someone would be willing to show me backstage. I don't think they got many nutty kids my age asking for such a favour; miraculously, an electrician showed me the set and costumes for Jesus Christ Superstar. I was in heaven! When Les Miserables played there in the 80s I tried the same old trick. Guess what? It worked! (Different person this time...)
I used to stage door JCS too. I didn't once come across an actor who wasn't willing to chat and sign something. (Years before selfies were heard of!)
And chance meetings, well they're the best, aren't they? I've had quite a few of those, but my favourite Les Mis one happened in Vienna. I'd gone there just to see Les Mis. During the day I went sightseeing, and I bumped into Ken Caswell, the resident director and original Bishop of Digne. I asked him to sign something; he was amazed I knew who he was, and I couldn't believe my luck!
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Post by ali973 on Jun 4, 2016 18:10:43 GMT
I was only lucky once back in the late 90s when Anna Montanaro and Frederike Haas were in Chicago right before Val Pettiford and Chita Rivera stepped in. I had my Chicago paraphernalia with me for autographs, and one of them (I think it was Haas) who took forever to leave the theatre. I think it was 11.30 by the time she left as she was entertaining guests. So it was me and two German fans who were loitering at the stage door forever with the theatre's security guard, who by the time the building was empty, took us inside and took us backstage, on stage, into the dressing rooms and all. It was fabulous and luckily I had a camera on me.
Too bad Chicago has little to no set to speak of! But I remember walking underneath the stage and stepping into that elevator that takes Velma up right before All That Jazz and trying to carry around those chairs they use in the show, and I recall they were mighty heavy for normal looking chairs.
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Post by Stasia on Jun 6, 2016 12:22:05 GMT
I will probably be even more offtopic than 2 previous posters, but I also have a story about a backstage tour to brag about Last week I took a West End actress on a backstage tour. Jill Winternitz (Once, Dirty Dancing) was in Moscow so I got comps for her and her fiancee to see Crime and Punishment musical. And then my friends from the cast met us backstage She promised the same for me next time she is in something, so I really need her to get a part in something nice! |
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Post by ShoesForRent on Jun 7, 2016 19:07:41 GMT
#GiveItBack4Ham
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Post by lynette on Jun 8, 2016 0:43:34 GMT
Please tell me when Hamilton is coming in and to which theatre. I know you guys know much more on musicals than I do. My family have expressed an interest and I think it might make a good outing. Thanks in advance.
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Post by charliec on Jun 8, 2016 6:08:21 GMT
Supposedly The Victoria Palace from September 2017!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2016 7:28:11 GMT
There's a Hamilton thread already - mods, please merge this.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2016 7:45:53 GMT
Threads merged
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Post by lynette on Jun 8, 2016 20:02:33 GMT
Thanks, M
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Post by mrbarnaby on Jun 8, 2016 21:37:44 GMT
You are in the admin team and you don't know this?! Even though it's been heavily reported to reopen the Victoria Palace Please tell me when Hamilton is coming in and to which theatre. I know you guys know much more on musicals than I do. My family have expressed an interest and I think it might make a good outing. Thanks in advance. |
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Post by Flim Flam on Jun 8, 2016 22:50:24 GMT
My family have expressed an interest and I think it might make a good outing. Thanks in advance. I think it's more a question of selling your family to see this, rather than taking your family to see this... |
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Post by theatremadhatter on Jun 9, 2016 0:43:09 GMT
Was thinking tonight about this watching Lin Manuels carpool with James Corden and the question may have already been posed... Do you think Hamiton will have the same frenzy over here? Maybe between us theatre lovers and those 'in the know' but I mean the mass appeal it has in NYC. It hasn't got the same punch historically with Britain in my eyes, if you know what I mean? It's about a founding father, the American constitution & bank not something we learn about in school and are as connected with day to day. I mean I LOVE the show but am just worried that should I get the chance to see it here it may not have the same effect / impact on the audience.
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Post by ali973 on Jun 9, 2016 0:45:34 GMT
Been discussed to death. People are 50/50 about it. No reason to worry about it. I think it'll do very well.
They will figure out a way to PR the living sh*t out of it before it even announces dates.
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Post by 49thand8th on Jun 9, 2016 1:23:03 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 9, 2016 2:14:27 GMT
Was thinking tonight about this watching Lin Manuels carpool with James Corden and the question may have already been posed... Do you think Hamiton will have the same frenzy over here? Maybe between us theatre lovers and those 'in the know' but I mean the mass appeal it has in NYC. It hasn't got the same punch historically with Britain in my eyes, if you know what I mean? It's about a founding father, the American constitution & bank not something we learn about in school and are as connected with day to day. I mean I LOVE the show but am just worried that should I get the chance to see it here it may not have the same effect / impact on the audience. It obviously wont have quite the same frenzy. For a start, American shows rarely do as well in the UK. Although Alexander Hamilton is no Washington or Jefferson in terms of name recognition (or at least he didn't used to be), most Americans had probably at least heard of him whereas I doubt the same can be said for British people. However, I think it will still do extremely well. The cast recording and book have already sold very well over here, a lot of the hype has already travelled online with both theatre fans and just young people that keep up with popular culture. I wouldn't be surprised if they took a cue from TBOM and advertised and marketed this show extremely heavily here as well. Radio 2 has been promoting it heavily already. It will also be much cheaper to see it here than in America, which will help to attract tourists. I think the main thing to remember is that Hamilton didn't sell in New York because it is about American history. Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson flopped. It sold and continues to sell from extremely positive word of mouth and the media excitement that this results in. As long as they can get people in to see it to give it that word of mouth, the show will be fine. |
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Post by ali973 on Jun 9, 2016 5:50:07 GMT
The upcoming Broadway tickets in the soon to be made general public release will be more expensive than the previously sold block. Around $800+ for Premium.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 9, 2016 6:04:57 GMT
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Post by Flim Flam on Jun 9, 2016 7:42:09 GMT
My niece, who has just turned 15, and does not live in London, (so has barely seen a live musical in her life - yet, give it a couple of years!) may be a good indicator. She,and her friend, have somehow become interested in musicals in the last year or two. I put it down to us force feeding her the Mary Poppins film from an early age. They started off by being mad keen on Les Miserables. I think I mentioned previously how proud of her I was when she told me that she knew all of Les Mis 'off by heart'. They also loved the Sweeney Todd film, (one day I hope to introduce her to the joy of live Sondheim!!), but I don't think she knows a huge number of other musicals at the moment. Although she did go to see the 'Into the Woods' film, but wasn't blown away by it. So filmed musicals seem to have drawn her into all this. Saw her last week and she was telling me how 'totally obsessed' they now were with Hamilton, and listen to it all the time, rapping along with it. Don't know how she even knew about it (social media as you say?), and an interest in American history is unlikely to be a factor I imagine! So, if she is anything to go by, there could be a very enthusiastic youth market developing for it in the U.K. Hopefully, though ticket demand and prices in London will be more along the lines of the Cumberbatch Hamlet, rather than the Broadway experience. Hopefully! |
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Post by jek on Jun 9, 2016 8:34:56 GMT
My daughter is just 15 too and mad on musicals. As we live in London she gets to see quite a lot - highlights for her have been Assassins and Funny Girl at the Menier, Gypsy at the Savoy, Beautiful, In The Heights and, most recently The Threepenny Opera. And Les Mis was definitely the gateway drug to this. So I suppose it is not surprising that the obsession with Hamilton arrived in this house sometime last year. Birthday and Christmas present requests included the cast recording, the Hamiltome, the Ron Chernow biography (which she seems to be attempting to read). I even caught her reading the Financial Times last week because Simon Schama had an article in it about the show. It's definitely a very teen thing and other kids at her school (a state school in East London with kids from many different parts of the world) are similarly enthused. She sobs at the end of the cast recording because 'It is so sad'. God knows what she will be like when faced with an actual performance - if, of course, we manage to get tickets.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 9, 2016 8:38:46 GMT
As I've said before, the subject matter of a show really really doesn't matter. Look at Les Mis. It's based on historical events, in a non-UK country, events which most people are so unfamiliar with that even people who've seen the show can come out believing it's about the French Revolution, and yet it's been running for years with no sign of stopping. And does it matter if a show is peculiarly American? Why not ask Book Of Mormon, which is only three years old here but still going strong without a single dip in its sky-high ticket prices? If Hamilton fails to find an audience over here - and that's always a possibility - then it's not going to be because of the subject matter.
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Post by ali973 on Jun 9, 2016 12:55:19 GMT
Tickets to the Chicago production go on sale on the 21st. I'm planning to see a few performances in December of the Chicago company, so I'll be booking. I hope.
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Post by Jon on Jun 9, 2016 14:11:28 GMT
Was thinking tonight about this watching Lin Manuels carpool with James Corden and the question may have already been posed... Do you think Hamiton will have the same frenzy over here? Maybe between us theatre lovers and those 'in the know' but I mean the mass appeal it has in NYC. It hasn't got the same punch historically with Britain in my eyes, if you know what I mean? It's about a founding father, the American constitution & bank not something we learn about in school and are as connected with day to day. I mean I LOVE the show but am just worried that should I get the chance to see it here it may not have the same effect / impact on the audience. It obviously wont have quite the same frenzy. For a start, American shows rarely do as well in the UK. Although Alexander Hamilton is no Washington or Jefferson in terms of name recognition (or at least he didn't used to be), most Americans had probably at least heard of him whereas I doubt the same can be said for British people. However, I think it will still do extremely well. The cast recording and book have already sold very well over here, a lot of the hype has already travelled online with both theatre fans and just young people that keep up with popular culture. I wouldn't be surprised if they took a cue from TBOM and advertised and marketed this show extremely heavily here as well. Radio 2 has been promoting it heavily already. It will also be much cheaper to see it here than in America, which will help to attract tourists. I think the main thing to remember is that Hamilton didn't sell in New York because it is about American history. Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson flopped. It sold and continues to sell from extremely positive word of mouth and the media excitement that this results in. As long as they can get people in to see it to give it that word of mouth, the show will be fine. I suspect the producers won't officially announce until later in the year, we know that a London production is coming but they'll want the Harry Potter and Aladdin hype to die down before they start their campaign. I think the theatre and dates will announced in the Autumn with tickets on sales in February or March. |
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Post by ali973 on Jun 9, 2016 14:21:30 GMT
^ I agree, it'll be lost if it begins now. I think they have their hands full with the Tony Awards (and their aftermath), replacing or extending the leads and casting and mounting the Chicago sitdown production. I agree that the machine will probably kick start much later on in the year. The only big opening following summer is Dreamgirls, which won't be as dominant as Harry Potter or Aladdin.
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