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Post by BurlyBeaR on Nov 15, 2022 10:44:27 GMT
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Post by TallPaul on Nov 15, 2022 10:52:35 GMT
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Nov 15, 2022 12:06:26 GMT
I see this will be in the Courtyard so we shouldn’t expect a big &Juliet style production. He’s directed lots of stuff in small spaces though, including the stunning Hope Mill Spring Awakening so might be worth a visit. Or maybe they’ll do a run at Home MCR like they did with Hedwig.
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Post by TallPaul on Nov 15, 2022 12:11:53 GMT
I'd somehow missed that, BB. I wonder if they've reserved the Quarry for another collab with Opera North...or something as part of Leeds 2023...or both?
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Post by helso1 on May 18, 2023 12:02:58 GMT
Oliver Tompsett & Lena Hall to star :-) In Dreams |
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Post by viserys on May 18, 2023 12:05:55 GMT
Leeds was about the last place in the world I would have expected Lena Hall to turn up in.
I assume they plan to move on with the show later, possibly with Broadway on their mind?
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287 posts
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Post by singingbird on May 18, 2023 13:35:01 GMT
Oh my, how can something so completely miss the mark with Roy Orbison songs? His songs are melancholy, mysterious, spooky, dreamlike. ... 'It's Over', 'Crying', 'In Dreams' Joyous and uplifting? Blue skies and flowers? That's crazy!
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2023 18:19:12 GMT
Leeds was about the last place in the world I would have expected Lena Hall to turn up in. I assume they plan to move on with the show later, possibly with Broadway on their mind? Oliver Tompsett has said that he is in Leeds then Toronto, so guessing that Broadway isn't too far behind. |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on May 18, 2023 18:41:48 GMT
I don’t see anything in the Quarry Theatre for this period unless I’m missing something so is this the LP’s summer musical?
I’ll probably have a look at this given the creatives and Ollie. Never heard of Lena Hall. Sorry!
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Post by viserys on May 18, 2023 19:54:54 GMT
Hall was cast as Yitzhak in the Broadway production Hedwig and the Angry Inch for which she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. She was also the first female (and to my knowledge only so far) to actually play Hedwig. And of course the Bat fans know her as Sloane from the short gig at New York City Center (where I fell in love with her). |
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Post by princeton on May 18, 2023 22:58:51 GMT
She was also the first female (and to my knowledge only so far) to actually play Hedwig. Ally Sheedy took over as Hedwig during the original off-broadway run (in 1999). She was not a critical success, missed many performances and had her limited run cut short because of her erratic on-stage behaviour. |
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Post by TallPaul on May 20, 2023 10:57:52 GMT
It's Sian Reece-Williams I'll be booking for. I don't know if she's done much MT, but she was very good on University Challenge at Christmas.
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Post by apubleed on Jul 7, 2023 9:37:29 GMT
Has anyone been to this?
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Post by dazzerlump on Jul 8, 2023 18:38:14 GMT
I'm surprised there's no feedback on this as yet. I am seeing it next Saturday evening. I have heard from a friend though that the story is paper thin, but the show is enjoyable and the cast and their singing are fantastic.
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Post by anniel on Jul 8, 2023 19:55:10 GMT
I went on Monday and have been mulling over quite what to say.
It is a pretty terrible story - which I can't summarise without giving too much away. There is some terrible shoehorning of the songs into the story - which feels a bit creaky. Like Mamma Mia - you can almost work out what is coming next. I think they wanted it to be a very emotional evening and I didn't feel like weeping at all, despite the fact that some bits are, in theory, quite sad. The end just fizzles out as well.
It is really well performed though and the quality of the singing is excellent. Lena Hall is brilliant (although it is a MASSIVE sing for her - I shall be impressed if she does all of the performances as she takes a lot of the 'big' songs). Oliver Tompsett is his usual cheeky chappy generic south eastern accented character (a bit like his Shakespeare - which I find irritating as it mangles his sound a bit when he sings) but he does deliver the songs well and with conviction.
I had never heard of Sian Reece Williams before and she is a real burst of energy when she comes on - really great -and Noel Sullivan is serviceable as her husband.
I wanted to like this more than I did - but then I had to see &Juliet a second time to really fall for it and then I ended up seeing it 5 times.
It is worth seeing to hear the songs performed so well and it is quite a fun, if slight, night out.
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Post by TallPaul on Jul 16, 2023 13:25:23 GMT
5-star commitment from the cast.
An improbable story.
Lena Hall is a perfect Kenna.
Oliver Tompsett plays Oliver Tompsett.
Sian Reese-Williams should do more musical theatre.
Oscar and Nicole, played by Manuel Pacific and Gabriela Garcia, are adorable.
One of the campest gay characters ever seen on stage.
Compulsory clapping along.
A standing ovation.
The audience loved it...I'm not sure I did.
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Post by c4ndyc4ne on Jul 16, 2023 14:31:31 GMT
This one must be eyeing a move to london? Beyond its Toronto run of course
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Post by FrontroverPaul on Jul 16, 2023 15:39:25 GMT
This one must be eyeing a move to london? Beyond its Toronto run of course I certainly think it's strong enough for a West End run, at least with the current cast who are all brilliant. More commercial than Ain't Too Proud; sure the storyline is a bit of a mess but it's an unashamed juke box musical and Lena Hall's performance is worth the ticket price alone. Roy Orbison's songs are mostly downbeat so many are understandably reworked to be more poppy. Highlight for me was Cryin'. Loved the staging too. Zero marks to the young woman next to me. She had one of those watches which displays emails and read each one as received. Distracting but I didn't feel I could say anything about that but then about 10 minutes from the end she took out her mobile and began texting. I said "That's not allowed during the show, please turn it off" to which she replied that she was arranging to meet her friend as if that justified it and carried on texting. As we left I turned to her and told her she should be ashamed of herself and that in London theatres she would have had a torch shone on her. I was advised to F off. Wasn't there a previous Roy Orbison musical some years ago ? |
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Post by TallPaul on Jul 16, 2023 16:52:33 GMT
Yes, there was a Roy Orbison bio-musical. In the early/mid 1990s it would have been. I saw it at least twice on tour, if not three times. Were you sitting in your usual spot on the front row, FrontroverPaul? The stage looked very high. |
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Post by FrontroverPaul on Jul 16, 2023 17:44:30 GMT
Yes, there was a Roy Orbison bio-musical. In the early/mid 1990s it would have been. I saw it at least twice on tour, if not three times. Were you sitting in your usual spot on the front row, FrontroverPaul ? The stage looked very high. I originally booked centre of front row A back in November 2022 when the show first went on sale. Then a few weeks ago I got an email that my booking had been upgraded to row D due to "sightline issues". I checked the website and pricing and it was indeed an upgrade - my new seat cost about double what I had paid. Row B was the new front row and as you say it's a high stage though that doesn't really bother me so I accepted the change. The view from my central seat in the now third row was perfect. They sent me a survey this morning with 27 questions but nowhere to add any comments - they were far more interested in my health and sexual orientation than what I thought about the show and venue ! I would have suggested a turn mobile phone off sign or announcement which I don't think there was but possibly I missed it. |
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