GRcade

Until last saturday (and the chaos of getting there), it was something i'd never had the chance to do.

But then i went and saw Frozen at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, and it was one of the most amazing things i've done.

I had a seat in the front row of the upper balcony which allowed me to have a fantastic view of the stage, at £70 it wasn't the cheapest seat, but wasn't the most expensive either. I wanted a decent view (and not be stuck behind anyone) and so that was exactly what i had decided to go for.

The performance and special effects were mindblowing, some of what they did, i didn't even realise it was possible to do that in a theatre production. The show is actually coming to an end later this year too, as it leaves the Theatre Royal in September.

I honestly don't know if any of you here have been to these types of shows (if you do, what have you seen?), but if you go to one, go and see Frozen, it is next level amazing!

Here's a shot of my view which i was able to snap with the phone too (no pics or filming during the show obviously, but it's ok to get a couple of shots during the interval or after the show has ended).



I also posted a pic of my merch in the pick up post thread.

Love me some theatre. Haven't seen Frozen though, surprisingly. I've always been kind-of put off by what I imagine the crowds are like - I'm not fond of kids at the best of times (although some of the horror stories you read about adults in audiences are even worse ). I've got tickets for the Book of Mormon towards the end of the year, and I've got a weekend in London coming up that we're going to attempt to get some day tickets for (definitely Wicked, and hopefully Phantom)

If you liked Frozen you should absolutely go see the Lion King. It is superb. Did you get Samantha Barks as Elsa, too?

Yes, we had a trip to a theatre to see Hiawatha when I was at school.

I don't remember hating it, but haven't been to the theatre since.

Yep! I did Drama GCSE and was in the school play every year (including 6th form) sowent to see quite a few plays that the Drama teacher offered as extracurricular trips. This led to me having, - maybe not a love for the theatre per se - but definitely a respect and enjoyment of it.

Yesterday I saw Sufjan Stevens' Illinois musical for the second time. Essentially just a (very good!) live performance of the album with a full band, but also some excellent dance performances. There's was something about seeing this album (which is so so integral to people our age from this state) in Chicago which was very cool. It will probably never get staged again so at $25 a ticket it was worth seeing a second time.

Did quite a few West end stuff in London. From the top of my head:

-Hamilton x 2 (I was at the second ever UK performance)
-Matilda
-Fun Home (an excellent adaptation of Alison Bechdal's graphic novel)
-Bat out of Hell (gooseberry fool but £10 and a lot of fun to get drunk at)
-Book of Mormon (has aged terribly, I thought it was Meh)
-Midsummer Nights Dream at the globe (£5 standing tickets, you should deffo go and do a video on this @Vermi)
-Admissions (small play about positive discrimination)

And probably a few others that I can't remember. Think I did a couple at the Globe too!

Yeah, I try and go 3 or 4 times a year. It's a nice evening out.

Edit - just remembered, "The Woman In Black" is the next thing I am going to.

Oh, and obligatory -

Just this past week, the wife and I went to see My Neighbour Totoro.

I had a few reservations about how well Totoro would be adapted for a stage show, but I was blown away.

The cast was brilliant, the score was beautiful (Joe Hisaishi, no duh), and Henson's Creature Shop smashed it out of the park with the puppet designs.

Not to mention the puppeteers, who injected so much life and personality into their puppets that the puppeteers themselves managed to completely melt away into the background despite being stood immediately behind them on stage, as clear as day. Absolute masters of their craft.

It's only on for another month, but if you get the opportunity to go, take it like your life depends on it!

No, and have no desire to.

A place where I used to work used to do discount tickets for the Liverpool Empire and it was around the time I met my wife who liked going so we went quite a lot for a few years. Ones I can remember:
Sister Act
Hairspray
Phantom of the Opera (Great Set)
Lion King (great props)
Blood Brothers (on the curriculum up here)
West Side Story

kazanova_Frankenstein wrote:Yeah, I try and go 3 or 4 times a year. It's a nice evening out.

Edit - just remembered, "The Woman In Black" is the next thing I am going to.

Saw this in November, was very good

Yeah I went to see 2:22 A Ghost Story at the weekend, it was fantastic.

Don’t get that often really but it’s a really nice place to go if the production is good.

Been a few times.

Was in the Drama Club at school so went on an extracurricular trip to see The Woman in White/Black (can't remember which but there was a big scream jumpscare towards the end). Saw Patricia Routledge in The Importance of Being Earnest a few years later which was really good. The last thing I went to see in the West End was a production of 1984 which had some really visceral practical effects during the torture scenes - the audience full on winced when he got his teeth pulled

My wife's extended cousin worked as a dancer in the West End and we saw his now wife in Top Hat at the Wimbledon Theatre.

I think the best thing I've seen in the theatre was the ENO's Madame Butterfly. I loved it despite the utterly ghoulish puppet they used for the child - it moved like a dog in a spider costume

If recommend going to see an orchestra if you get a chance, classical music in an acoustic side sounds incredible

The weirdest night was going to see Jersey Boys with my wife's family for her mum's birthday. I was sat on the edge of our group in the front row and was next to these two women who were Jersey Boys superfans. Before the show one said to the other "I heard him [the lead] on Radio 2 say he was off to be Frankie - and I don't think he meant in front of the mirror!" I nearly sprained an ocular muscle side-eyeing her at this point. Then the music started and she was slapping her knee through one of the songs and was invading my personal space as she did it. I nearly ended up on my wife's lap trying to get away from her. Then when an absolute banger came on (this happened a lot because it's a great show and Frankie Valli wrote loads of classics) she'd act surprised despite having seen the show before. I would recommend Jersey Boys though, just be in the middle of a group of three normal people

Topic title makes it sound like going to the theatre is an unusual and rare experience. No offense Vermi, but you need to get out more

As a kid to see pantomimes as a school trip. Only once as an adult but that was for a stand-up comedian so not sure if that counts. I'd like to go see Spirited Away or My Neighbour Totoro but I'm not willing/can't afford to go to London to do so.

Dowbocop wrote:
The weirdest night was going to see Jersey Boys with my wife's family for her mum's birthday. I was sat on the edge of our group in the front row and was next to these two women who were Jersey Boys superfans. Before the show one said to the other "I heard him [the lead] on Radio 2 say he was off to be Frankie - and I don't think he meant in front of the mirror!" I nearly sprained an ocular muscle side-eyeing her at this point. Then the music started and she was slapping her knee through one of the songs and was invading my personal space as she did it. I nearly ended up on my wife's lap trying to get away from her. Then when an absolute banger came on (this happened a lot because it's a great show and Frankie Valli wrote loads of classics) she'd act surprised despite having seen the show before. I would recommend Jersey Boys though, just be in the middle of a group of three normal people

2 of my friends nearly got into a fistfight with some Meatloaf superfans at Bat out of Hell, they were singing along awfully behind us

Outrunner wrote:As a kid to see pantomimes as a school trip. Only once as an adult but that was for a stand-up comedian so not sure if that counts. I'd like to go see Spirited Away or My Neighbour Totoro but I'm not willing/can't afford to go to London to do so.

Oh that reminds me, I did the Panto every year at Hackney Empire, a real London institution, well worth seeing every year.

i saw book of mormon about 18 months ago and it was fantastic, got tickets to see it again this year

outside of that cant really be arsed arranging it all, though im sure some of it is alright

oh and i saw (and was hypnotised by) derren brown, if that counts as theatre

it was in the lowry theatre so kind of does

Zilnad wrote:Topic title makes it sound like going to the theatre is an unusual and rare experience. No offense Vermi, but you need to get out more

He would but he is stuck on the bus.