Been to the theatre to see...
Discussion
Book of Mormon - it was... ok. Didn't really do it for me.
Groundhog Day: The Musical - Saw this a few years ago at the Young Vic on its initial run before it went to Broadway, then again recently at the Old Vic. Now, I'm not a musicals kinda chap, but this is just utterly superb! Co-written by the original screenwriter of the film and Tim Minchin. Well worth seeing if you get the chance.
Groundhog Day: The Musical - Saw this a few years ago at the Young Vic on its initial run before it went to Broadway, then again recently at the Old Vic. Now, I'm not a musicals kinda chap, but this is just utterly superb! Co-written by the original screenwriter of the film and Tim Minchin. Well worth seeing if you get the chance.
OMITN said:
bunchofkeys said:
Thanks for this! I've wanted to see him on stage for a while, book tickets for March.
Well done for getting tickets - it was a nightmare trying to book the Liverpool date. I’m hoping he is as good on stage as on screen - I’d expect him to channel menacing pretty well. Naturally daughter associates him with being Voldemort in Harry Potter. Good preparation for this role..!
Both agreed that the man has an unimageable presence when on stage, you cannot help but give him your undivided attention.
We went to see Wicked a few years ago. We thought it was excellent. The story is more child focused but the production and the voices on the actresses were really amazing.
Hamilton - Also great, a different thing entirely for us but very good. My wife listens to the soundtrack on the way to work! This is 100% musical but rapping. I found it quite hard to follow at the beginning so I think a second visit would be beneficial. The subject matter is quite heavy going but it was really good.
Book of Mormon - The funniest thing I have ever seen. So good. I wasn't sure what to expect with this, I had heard good things but wasn't sure how the comedy of the South Park creators would translate to the stage. Turns out it translates very well indeed. Perhaps the comedy being slightly incongruous in a theatre setting almost made it funnier, who knows.
The Lion King - This was good, my first trip to the theatre in the West End around 2014. A visual spectacle for sure and the singing was also great. Probably my least favourite?
We are going to see SIX in Torquay next month, this is the travelling production. We are really looking forward to this. I don't know what to expect at all as I quite like it being a bit of a surprise.
I think I just like going to the theatre if I'm honest. I haven't been disappointed with any trip.
Hamilton - Also great, a different thing entirely for us but very good. My wife listens to the soundtrack on the way to work! This is 100% musical but rapping. I found it quite hard to follow at the beginning so I think a second visit would be beneficial. The subject matter is quite heavy going but it was really good.
Book of Mormon - The funniest thing I have ever seen. So good. I wasn't sure what to expect with this, I had heard good things but wasn't sure how the comedy of the South Park creators would translate to the stage. Turns out it translates very well indeed. Perhaps the comedy being slightly incongruous in a theatre setting almost made it funnier, who knows.
The Lion King - This was good, my first trip to the theatre in the West End around 2014. A visual spectacle for sure and the singing was also great. Probably my least favourite?
We are going to see SIX in Torquay next month, this is the travelling production. We are really looking forward to this. I don't know what to expect at all as I quite like it being a bit of a surprise.
I think I just like going to the theatre if I'm honest. I haven't been disappointed with any trip.
filthypig said:
Cotty said:
Baldchap said:
I'd like to see the Back to the Future stage show.
Cobnapint said:
Anybody else been to the theatre recently?
Sadly not. Tried to see The Crown Jewels a couple of weeks ago, but it was cancelled a few hours beforehand "due to the indisposition of a cast member". Do they not have understudies any more?Anyway, booked in to see Noises Off next month to make up for it.
BigGingerBob said:
We went to see Wicked a few years ago. We thought it was excellent. The story is more child focused but the production and the voices on the actresses were really amazing.
Hamilton - Also great, a different thing entirely for us but very good. My wife listens to the soundtrack on the way to work! This is 100% musical but rapping. I found it quite hard to follow at the beginning so I think a second visit would be beneficial. The subject matter is quite heavy going but it was really good.
Book of Mormon - The funniest thing I have ever seen. So good. I wasn't sure what to expect with this, I had heard good things but wasn't sure how the comedy of the South Park creators would translate to the stage. Turns out it translates very well indeed. Perhaps the comedy being slightly incongruous in a theatre setting almost made it funnier, who knows.
The Lion King - This was good, my first trip to the theatre in the West End around 2014. A visual spectacle for sure and the singing was also great. Probably my least favourite?
We are going to see SIX in Torquay next month, this is the travelling production. We are really looking forward to this. I don't know what to expect at all as I quite like it being a bit of a surprise.
I think I just like going to the theatre if I'm honest. I haven't been disappointed with any trip.
For others considering Hamilton I would say that, while it is much more modern in style, don’t assume it’s all rap. There are some fast spoken elements, but there is a lot of outright singing. My daughter also plays the soundtrack endlessly.Hamilton - Also great, a different thing entirely for us but very good. My wife listens to the soundtrack on the way to work! This is 100% musical but rapping. I found it quite hard to follow at the beginning so I think a second visit would be beneficial. The subject matter is quite heavy going but it was really good.
Book of Mormon - The funniest thing I have ever seen. So good. I wasn't sure what to expect with this, I had heard good things but wasn't sure how the comedy of the South Park creators would translate to the stage. Turns out it translates very well indeed. Perhaps the comedy being slightly incongruous in a theatre setting almost made it funnier, who knows.
The Lion King - This was good, my first trip to the theatre in the West End around 2014. A visual spectacle for sure and the singing was also great. Probably my least favourite?
We are going to see SIX in Torquay next month, this is the travelling production. We are really looking forward to this. I don't know what to expect at all as I quite like it being a bit of a surprise.
I think I just like going to the theatre if I'm honest. I haven't been disappointed with any trip.
We saw it in August, having just come back from a trip to DC and that part of the US. So the subject matter was fresh in our minds. But you don’t need to be a US founding fathers history buff to be engaged by the story. While the staging is fairly conventional - albeit excellently choreographed- the presentation of this part of history is excellent. And if nothing else you’ll love King George III..!
It’s due to be touring soon (we saw it in the West End). I understand it’s still nigh on impossible to get tickets on Broadway.
48k said:
Cobnapint said:
Sadly not. Tried to see The Crown Jewels a couple of weeks ago, but it was cancelled a few hours beforehand "due to the indisposition of a cast member". Do they not have understudies any more?
My wife will be envious when I tell her, we saw it on its last day at Milton Keynes. The girl singer she had wanted to see had been replaced by a bloke. Al Murray & Mel Wotsit were fine, but Neil Morrissey was almost incomprehensible.
So the Shakespeare season continued recently after seeing Branagh’s King Lear in October.
Romeo & Juliet (Royal Exchange, Manchester)
A spur of the moment purchase to catch its last night. Our daughter will study the play for English GCSE - what better way to engage with it than seeing it live. And what a performance. For those who don’t know, the Royal Exchange is a theatre in the round - the seats closest to the stage are on the stage (often having actors engaging directly with audience members). This production was Manchester themes with many Manc actors really broadening their accents and wrapping (and rapping!) them round Shakespeare’s wordplay. In fact the verbal
sparring of Mercutio was unbelievable and spellbindingly played by David Judge. Superbly directed with a real vitality. Reminded me why I love Shakespeare so much.
Macbeth (The Depot, Liverpool)
Five days after Romeo & Juliet, another Shakespearean tragedy (“they all die in the end”). Macbeth was played by Ralph Fiennes and Lady Macbeth by Indira Varma. Proper acting royalty in that pair.
The production has great promise - it’s set at a time or war and you approach the stage from behind through a scene of battlefield destruction. The stage is a solid chunk of brutalist concrete, serving for all scenes.
The opening scene with the Three Witches sets play off with a start. But then the first quarter is very low key and I wasn’t sure whether the Fiennes hype was justified. The guy’s 60 and I wasn’t sure if he is up to it. Then, as he plots Duncan’s murder the malevolence started to come out.
There are lumpy bits and the direction is fairly pedestrian - I don’t think they made enough of staging it in a TV/film studio (basically a big warehouse) but Fiennes, Varma (in particular) and Ben Turner (as the horrendously wronged MacDuff) we’re really captivating.
So which was best?
Lear is third. Branagh surrounded himself by young actors but they were all RADA trained and it showed in a rather mannerly performance.
Macbeth is second. The direction wasn’t bold enough to really dig into the menace and paranoia. Fiennes got there though.
Romeo & Juliet is first. Vital, bold, relevant. Sure, none of the characters are sympathetic - few are in Shakespeare I find, but especially the obsessed lovers themselves - but it was gripping throughout. A real “don’t let it end” sort of play.
Desperate to see all sorts of things - not just the bard! - at the theatre again. Love it.
Romeo & Juliet (Royal Exchange, Manchester)
A spur of the moment purchase to catch its last night. Our daughter will study the play for English GCSE - what better way to engage with it than seeing it live. And what a performance. For those who don’t know, the Royal Exchange is a theatre in the round - the seats closest to the stage are on the stage (often having actors engaging directly with audience members). This production was Manchester themes with many Manc actors really broadening their accents and wrapping (and rapping!) them round Shakespeare’s wordplay. In fact the verbal
sparring of Mercutio was unbelievable and spellbindingly played by David Judge. Superbly directed with a real vitality. Reminded me why I love Shakespeare so much.
Macbeth (The Depot, Liverpool)
Five days after Romeo & Juliet, another Shakespearean tragedy (“they all die in the end”). Macbeth was played by Ralph Fiennes and Lady Macbeth by Indira Varma. Proper acting royalty in that pair.
The production has great promise - it’s set at a time or war and you approach the stage from behind through a scene of battlefield destruction. The stage is a solid chunk of brutalist concrete, serving for all scenes.
The opening scene with the Three Witches sets play off with a start. But then the first quarter is very low key and I wasn’t sure whether the Fiennes hype was justified. The guy’s 60 and I wasn’t sure if he is up to it. Then, as he plots Duncan’s murder the malevolence started to come out.
There are lumpy bits and the direction is fairly pedestrian - I don’t think they made enough of staging it in a TV/film studio (basically a big warehouse) but Fiennes, Varma (in particular) and Ben Turner (as the horrendously wronged MacDuff) we’re really captivating.
So which was best?
Lear is third. Branagh surrounded himself by young actors but they were all RADA trained and it showed in a rather mannerly performance.
Macbeth is second. The direction wasn’t bold enough to really dig into the menace and paranoia. Fiennes got there though.
Romeo & Juliet is first. Vital, bold, relevant. Sure, none of the characters are sympathetic - few are in Shakespeare I find, but especially the obsessed lovers themselves - but it was gripping throughout. A real “don’t let it end” sort of play.
Desperate to see all sorts of things - not just the bard! - at the theatre again. Love it.
We went to see Hamilton in Bristol yesterday. I've heard a lot of the music before as my brother was obsessed with it for a long time but seeing it live was totally different.
I can't recommend it enough really. The last musical I saw was Lion King and this was the polar opposite really, though both are brilliant in their own way.
Hamilton is clever, witty, has brilliant use of language, it's epic and powerful and also (for us at least) surprisingly emotional.
Worth reading up on the story/characters a bit before you go, I less you're already an American history nerd (I'm very much not). But it's all explained well you just need a keen ear and a bit of brain power to follow the lyrics.
I genuinely think it's a work of genius though, just the idea alone is great but the implementation is perfect. Loved it, as did my wife and the four old ladies next to us.
I can't recommend it enough really. The last musical I saw was Lion King and this was the polar opposite really, though both are brilliant in their own way.
Hamilton is clever, witty, has brilliant use of language, it's epic and powerful and also (for us at least) surprisingly emotional.
Worth reading up on the story/characters a bit before you go, I less you're already an American history nerd (I'm very much not). But it's all explained well you just need a keen ear and a bit of brain power to follow the lyrics.
I genuinely think it's a work of genius though, just the idea alone is great but the implementation is perfect. Loved it, as did my wife and the four old ladies next to us.
We have recently been to see Aida (didn’t enjoy at all), Swan Lake (loved it) and Cinderella (liked it) all at the Royal Theatre in Denmark. I am going to miss the easy access to culture when we leave Copenhagen.
I just booked tickets for the Spirited Away live performance in London as a surprise birthday present for my daughter. I watched a lot of Ghibli movies with her as she grew up so looking forward to it.
I just booked tickets for the Spirited Away live performance in London as a surprise birthday present for my daughter. I watched a lot of Ghibli movies with her as she grew up so looking forward to it.
We went to a touring production of The Mousetrap at the Northcott Theatre in Exeter a month or so back, mainly because my wife had always wanted to see it.
It was ok, very much of the manners and style of the early 1950s, a typical Agatha Christie play, but I wouldn't bother seeing it again. I didn't know who did it, but guessed correctly.
The most notable event for me was the use of what looked to be 1950s copies of Autosport Magazine as a stage prop
It was ok, very much of the manners and style of the early 1950s, a typical Agatha Christie play, but I wouldn't bother seeing it again. I didn't know who did it, but guessed correctly.
The most notable event for me was the use of what looked to be 1950s copies of Autosport Magazine as a stage prop
Thinking of going to see Mrs Doubtfire this Saturday as it's me and my partners anniversary. Will go for the matinee version as it allows us a reasonable time after and to travel back via train near Reading and have dinner booked near house.
Tickets in Row K stalls are £160 each
Tickets in the circle are £109 each
The seat plan website reviews actually say the circle is better. I don't mind spending the money to an extent but 2x£162 on a theatre show is a lot
....
Going to also check out Sister Act, and Guys and Dolls too
Tickets in Row K stalls are £160 each
Tickets in the circle are £109 each
The seat plan website reviews actually say the circle is better. I don't mind spending the money to an extent but 2x£162 on a theatre show is a lot
....
Going to also check out Sister Act, and Guys and Dolls too
Edited by redrabbit29 on Wednesday 22 May 00:09
redrabbit29 said:
How much are you typically splashing out on tickets? I know you can get the tickets on the day, which is fine when you are easy going on what show and seating you may have.
But what about when it's a specific show?
Whatever we go to see we always buy tickets in the first 6 rows in the stalls. It gives you a far better impact and allows you to see the cast's facial expressions.But what about when it's a specific show?
I know it's the most expensive way but if you're going to see a show, see a show. Not view it from the cheap seats up in the gods where it's like watching something on an old 14" Matsui portable TV from Dixons.
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