716 posts
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Post by theatre-turtle on Mar 17, 2018 18:02:20 GMT
Claire Moore still sounds amazing after all these years of brilliant singing
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4,171 posts
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Post by anthony40 on Mar 18, 2018 21:36:03 GMT
So I posted the following on Twitter:
Attended this last night. It was awesome! I'm not a crier by nature but when they all sang Sunday in perfect harmony, I started to well up and couch my heart.
This got liked by The Sondheim Society and was re-tweeted by them, BritishTheatre.com and also liked by Liz Calloway, Rebecca Trehearn, Tyrone Huntley and Damien Humbley- so almost half the cast.
Wow!
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5,138 posts
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Post by TallPaul on Mar 19, 2018 14:24:08 GMT
Sorry to divert too much from 'Sondheim on Sondheim' but I like to keep waving the flag for the Theatre Royal, Stratford East, when I can. And at the moment, Tony, it desperately needs someone to wave its flag, so keep it up! |
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Post by alece10 on Mar 19, 2018 16:30:07 GMT
I seem to be the only person who had no issues with the sound. Even the Sunday Times review complained about it.
Maybe my hearing is going as I get older.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 19, 2018 18:54:09 GMT
BTW My ears pricked up when Sondheim said that he had been inspired to write 'Sweeny Todd' after he saw the play by Christopher Bond at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East, where the brilliant Brian Murphy played the demon barber. That was in 1973 and Sondheim's musical version saw the light of day in 1979. I had completely forgotten that link with Stratford East, although I well remember the link with Lloyd Webber's 'Phantom of the Opera' as told below. It was in 1976 that Andrew Lloyd Webber saw Ken Hill's musical version of 'The Phantom of the Opera' at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East, after which he found a copy of the original novel and then went ahead and wrote his own completely new musical version of the story that eventually premiered in 1986. So that's two of the most successful and significant musicals of our time being inspired by productions at Stratford East. Sorry to divert too much from 'Sondheim on Sondheim' but I like to keep waving the flag for the Theatre Royal, Stratford East, when I can. It looks like you’ll be waving it for musicals on your own, tony, judging from this: www.thestage.co.uk/news/2018/staff-overhaul-at-theatre-royal-stratford-east-as-theatre-ditches-musicals-focus/All together now, “On my own...” (I hope that flag’s red!) |
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1,089 posts
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Post by tonyloco on Mar 19, 2018 22:40:16 GMT
Oh, Caiaphas, I hadn't seen that report and I have now shed a silent tear for what is apparently being wiped away at Stratford East, not only the focus on developing new musicals and supporting work by local writers but even the much loved Carribean food menu in the bar!  But this is not the place to discuss this in any depth, and in any case we need to wait to see exactly what the policies of the new director Nadia Fall and her staff produce and how successful they prove to be before rushing to judgement. My new avatar is from a Sunday Night Variety show at Stratford East with Kate Williams on the stage hosting the evening and Christine Pilgrim and Yvonne d'Alpra in the stalls playing theatre cleaners gossiping about current events. Yours truly is in a white shirt at the piano downstage on the left and a bit further upstage on the same side is the drummer. Now how about getting back to the Sondheim concert. BTW, judging purely by what I have now seen on YouTube, the original Broadway production of 'Sondheim on Sondheim' was a fully staged show, whereas what we got at the Festival Hall was purely a concert with no staging whatsoever, which somehow, for me at least, just didn't quite come off as well as I was expecting. |
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Post by alece10 on Mar 20, 2018 11:57:42 GMT
Even the Sunday Times review complained about it Is that in the Culture section or just online? Can't find it in the paper magazine? I think it must have been online as a friend sent the link to me and she subscribed to The Times online. |
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5,138 posts
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Post by TallPaul on Mar 20, 2018 13:08:53 GMT
This is the first part of the article, @theatremonkey , if that helps. You have to register to read the rest. "Imagine a TV documentary about Stephen Sondheim. Call to mind, also, a compilation of his songs. Then think what they would be like spliced together. Netflix-meets-Now That’s What I Call Sondheim is, broadly speaking, the effect of Sondheim on Sondheim. A homage in film and song to the American musical-theatre legend, this revue was conceived for Broadway in 2010 by James Lapine and on Thursday night came to this side of the Pond for the first time.
It was a huge pity, then, that an otherwise slick evening was marred by the audio engineering, at least from where I was sitting. The sextet of singers were miked up, but the balance was all over the place. The sound quality too often got in the way…" Source: www.thetimes.co.uk/article/concert-review-sondheim-on-sondheim-at-the-royal-festival-hall-33fl0mpcg |
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4,955 posts
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Post by Someone in a tree on Mar 20, 2018 15:56:24 GMT
Oh, Caiaphas, I hadn't seen that report and I have now shed a silent tear for what is apparently being wiped away at Stratford East, not only the focus on developing new musicals and supporting work by local writers but even the much loved Carribean food menu in the bar! But this is not the place to discuss this in any depth, and in any case we need to wait to see exactly what the policies of the new director Nadia Fall and her staff produce and how successful they prove to be before rushing to judgement. My new avatar is from a Sunday Night Variety show at Stratford East with Kate Williams on the stage hosting the evening and Christine Pilgrim and Yvonne d'Alpra in the stalls playing theatre cleaners gossiping about current events. Yours truly is in a white shirt at the piano downstage on the left and a bit further upstage on the same side is the drummer. Now how about getting back to the Sondheim concert. BTW, judging purely by what I have now seen on YouTube, the original Broadway production of 'Sondheim on Sondheim' was a fully staged show, whereas what we got at the Festival Hall was purely a concert with no staging whatsoever, which somehow, for me at least, just didn't quite come off as well as I was expecting. Although staged productions in the RFH don’t really work. I’m glad it was ‘in concert’. I would like to see this staged in a more intimate venue but I would much prefer an intimate venue to stage a Sondheim book musical ... |
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2,452 posts
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Post by theatremadness on Mar 20, 2018 17:01:09 GMT
Just a reminder that this is on BBC Radio 3 tonight at 7.30pm!  |
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1,345 posts
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Post by tmesis on Mar 20, 2018 23:48:29 GMT
Well the sound balance was still pretty poor (voices swamped by orchestra) on Radio 3.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Mar 21, 2018 0:10:35 GMT
thanks for the reminder - time to get get_iplayer fired up!
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910 posts
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Post by karloscar on Mar 21, 2018 13:13:00 GMT
On the whole it was a fairly enjoyable listen, but Lapine's original concept has been rather lost with all the cuts made. Most of the humour seems to have disappeared with the seldom performed numbers like Smile Girls and God!, so it starts to resemble any other greatest hits compilation. Nice to hear Something Just Broke, and You Are The Best Thing, and Beautiful from Sunday was lovely.
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1,478 posts
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Post by Steve on Mar 25, 2018 23:02:51 GMT
I haven't listened to this yet on iPlayer, but for those who weren't there and who listen, when you listen to "The Gun Song," you have to imagine Damian Humbley nonchalantly, yet with maximum menace, wagging his forefinger, as he gloated that "all you have to do is move your little finger. . . and you can change the world." Amazing how such a small gesture focused attention on how powerful and threatening guns are. Couldn't take my eyes off the finger. (Care to comment, Ryan?) |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2018 11:08:30 GMT
I haven't listened to this yet on iPlayer, but for those who weren't there and who listen, when you listen to "The Gun Song," you have to imagine Damian Humbley nonchalantly, yet with maximum menace, wagging his forefinger, as he gloated that "all you have to do is move your little finger. . . and you can change the world." Amazing how such a small gesture focused attention on how powerful and threatening guns are. Couldn't take my eyes off the finger. (Care to comment, Ryan?) I always keep my eye on Damian Humbley's finger nowadays. Learn that the hard way. |
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4,955 posts
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Post by Someone in a tree on Mar 26, 2018 12:00:04 GMT
Fingers aside! The recording is not perfect but has many strengths I’m loving the orchestrations. I hope the symphonic S in S gets a proper commercial recording
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910 posts
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Post by karloscar on Mar 26, 2018 14:42:35 GMT
Liz Callaway rehearsing for Sondheim on Sondheim (with help from Judy and Seth).
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