The Musicals/Opera/Live Shows/Whatever Thread

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Frank
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PostRe: The Musicals/Opera/Live Shows/Whatever Thread
by Frank » Wed May 13, 2015 11:24 am

Queued up for two and a half hours this morning for day tickets for Wicked.

Front row :datass:

Gonna be awful.

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Errkal
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PostRe: The Musicals/Opera/Live Shows/Whatever Thread
by Errkal » Wed May 13, 2015 11:28 am

My wife loves Wicked, she keeps banging on at me that I should go with her to see it.

Went to see Les Mis the other week was bloomin brilliant.

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PostRe: The Musicals/Opera/Live Shows/Whatever Thread
by Skarjo » Wed May 13, 2015 11:32 am

I'm going to watch The Woman in Black and Wicked this year, fo' sho'.

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PostRe: The Musicals/Opera/Live Shows/Whatever Thread
by Frank » Wed May 13, 2015 8:39 pm

*Love* the Woman in Black. It's just two blokes for the whole thing but it's absolutely captivating. And horrifying.

Wicked was actually pretty good. Had the understudies for both Elpheba and G(a)linda. Elpheba was phenomenal (Natalie.. Andreou?) :wub:

Dat Defying Gravity/As Long As You're Mine/No Good Deed

Not a fan of the very front row, though. You're directly below the time dragon and the balcony sections are a bit of a stretch. It's pretty cool being *that* close to the actors, though. Kept making really awkward eye contact with the ensemble.

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PostRe: The Musicals/Opera/Live Shows/Whatever Thread
by Denster » Sat May 16, 2015 8:39 pm

Missed out on free tickets to the Bridgewater Hall tonight as I'm working :x

Got La boheme in July, though. :toot:

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PostRe: The Musicals/Opera/Live Shows/Whatever Thread
by Frank » Sat Jun 06, 2015 9:48 am

Pixie Lott to star in theatrical version of Breakfast at Tiffany's

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Discounting a childhood appearance in a Palladium production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, it marks Lott’s debut in the West End, following a pop career that scored her three number one singles and countless magazine column inches.


Just got (front row circle) tickets to the Birmingham show :wub: Probably going to be awful, but the first-night discount means it's not that big a loss if it's awful. She was amazing on Strictly so I can imagine she'll transition pretty well to the theatre.

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PostRe: The Musicals/Opera/Live Shows/Whatever Thread
by Denster » Sat Jun 06, 2015 2:14 pm

Went to a free opera recital by music students the other night was lovely.

Got another next week. A classical concert on 26th then the Opera on the 9th July. Oh My!

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PostRe: The Musicals/Opera/Live Shows/Whatever Thread
by Tragic Magic » Mon Jun 29, 2015 10:45 pm

Just got home from Derren Brown's Miracle show. Not quite as good as his last tour but still absolutely brilliant. I much prefer his smaller, more reserved tricks to his big displays but he constantly has you second guessing everything.

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Frank
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PostRe: The Musicals/Opera/Live Shows/Whatever Thread
by Frank » Sat Jul 11, 2015 8:12 pm

GUYS. STOP EVERYTHING.

Dogfight is back! \o/

Well. It's an amateur production, but the off-West End production was tiny anyway, so it'll probably be pretty much the same.

Seriously, if anyone's in Birmingham for the two week's in August it's on, you have to see it. It's the best new musical in years.



:wub:

Can't wait.

Also, saw Barnum at the Hippodrome today. Pretty good (loved all the athletic circus performers), but Brian Conley was still pretty difficult to hear (especially during the Museum Song)

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PostRe: The Musicals/Opera/Live Shows/Whatever Thread
by Hypes » Sat Jul 18, 2015 12:38 pm

Off to the Battle Proms tonight.
Tchaikovsky and cannons :datass:

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Denster
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PostRe: The Musicals/Opera/Live Shows/Whatever Thread
by Denster » Sat Jul 18, 2015 2:35 pm

Nice. Im going to a film soundtrack recital tonight. Should be nice. Saw la Boheme at the Royal Opera House last week. It was heavenly.

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Frank
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PostRe: The Musicals/Opera/Live Shows/Whatever Thread
by Frank » Thu Aug 13, 2015 12:30 pm

So, the Old Joint Stock production of Dogfight was great. It's such a great show for small theatres. Come to a Party is amazing, and the last scene or so is so intense.

Not as good as the Off West-End London show, but that's a tough show to beat.

Seriously, if you're in Birmingham and you've got even a passing interest in musicals or the theatre, you *have* to see it. I can't overstate how good the soundtrack is.

Also, just bought tickets for my first opera! Off to see Tosca in February (at the New Alex in Birmingham, so I get my theatrecard discounts 8-) ).

Literally all I know about it is that it's apparently the one from Hitman. Expecting good things.

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PostRe: The Musicals/Opera/Live Shows/Whatever Thread
by Drumstick » Thu Aug 13, 2015 12:58 pm

Drumstick wrote:This year I've got tickets for And Then There Were None at Brighton's Theatre Royal. Huge fan of it (and any of Christie's work in general) so I can't wait.

Saw this last month and it was terrific, very worth the price of admission.

I'll soon be getting tickets to The Mousetrap production in January at the same venue. Excited!

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PostRe: The Musicals/Opera/Live Shows/Whatever Thread
by Denster » Thu Aug 13, 2015 10:50 pm

New guy at work can get me free tickets for The Opera at Covent Garden.

He will not be having any issues with his shift requests.

8-)

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PostRe: The Musicals/Opera/Live Shows/Whatever Thread
by Frank » Mon Sep 14, 2015 12:23 pm

Dennis clearly missed his bribery and corruption training... ;)

Also Preezy look here

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PostRe: The Musicals/Opera/Live Shows/Whatever Thread
by Preezy » Mon Sep 14, 2015 12:37 pm

I knew you'd produce the goods :lol:

edit: from the last film thread:

Preezy wrote:Went to see The Shawshank Redemption at the Theatre Royal in Brighton on Saturday. Was based on the novel as opposed to the film so there were a few bits that were new and some scenes from the film that were a bit different. The sets were a bit budget and there was no orchestra pit so no live music (and no iconic Shawshank theme music) but the performances themselves were very good.

6.5/10.

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Frank
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PostRe: The Musicals/Opera/Live Shows/Whatever Thread
by Frank » Mon Sep 14, 2015 6:53 pm

I try my best ;) That's the one with the guy from Doctors in, isn't it? I was semi-tempted to give it a look.

Right. Thanks to an act of god, I now have a hotel booked for the 8th of October in London, with no reason to visit the city... Anyone recommend a decent West End show I should probably see? Les Mis appears to already be sold out, or it's just not on that day...

EDIT: Got B row of the circle tickets for Phantom of the Opera. Expecting it to be terrible (The Wizard of Oz is the only thing Webber's done that I've enjoyed), but it'll be good to cross another one off the list, even if it is a last-minute change. Now to get some train tickets!

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PostRe: The Musicals/Opera/Live Shows/Whatever Thread
by Frank » Sat Sep 19, 2015 9:01 pm

The London cast of Dogfight are doing a one-day only concert at St James' Theatre next month! (11th October) :wub:

It's like the 19th post I've made about the show in this thread but I don't even care because it's that good:



Can't wait.

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Frank
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PostRe: The Musicals/Opera/Live Shows/Whatever Thread
by Frank » Sat Oct 03, 2015 11:27 pm

Saw the Birmingham Royal Ballet production of Swan Lake earlier. I think it's more consistent than the Nutcracker, but the numerous solo dances let it down. You'll have the swan do a dance, then the prince, then the swan, then the prince, and then they'll do one together and it all just gets a bit same-y. Really bugs me that they take the time after every dance to wander to centre stage and curtsey, too. You'll get literally ten minutes of applause later, which you'll milk for all it's worth, just get on with the damn thing.

I like how they give out little notes explaining the plot in each act, too. Means they can skimp on actually trying to show it. I was expecting *some* kind of special effects with the whole woman-who-turns-into-a-swan thing, but everything happens offstage. It wouldn't have been that hard to do a light-show like the water scene at the end of Wicked...

The cygnet dance is absolutely tremendous, though. They were totally in-synch:



That's a dance worthy of a pause for applause. More like that in future please :wub:

Busy week next week, too. Phantom of the Opera, Variations (a Birmingham Royal Ballet triple bill of shorter performances), and Dogfight in Concert. Woah.

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Frank
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PostRe: The Musicals/Opera/Live Shows/Whatever Thread
by Frank » Mon Oct 12, 2015 7:29 pm

It's been a busy few days, so I'll try and sum up my recent shows pretty briefly.

Phantom of the Opera (Her Majesty's Theatre)

Yes. Went in with low expectations and it blew me away. Had goosebumps as soon as that riff kicks in and the Chandelier goes up. Fantastic set design and costumes (the Phantom's suit in Masquerade is brill) The actress playing Christine was lush, and the occasional bits of humour work quite well. Too many songs where seven or so people sing completely different lines over the top of one another, though (Notes and the other one with the whole production gang spring to mind)

Variations (Birmingham Royal Ballet at the Hippodrome)

Three short ballets (Theme and Variations/Kin/Enigma Variations). First part was fairly standard, pretty forgettable, second was amazing, more of a modern ballet so it seemed to have a lot more of a flow to the dancing, third had a bit of humour but dragged.



That's the preview video for Kin. The dance with the couple was absolutely sublime :wub:

Dogfight in Concert (St James' Theatre)

On the fence about our seat choice (very very front row, so I had a little bit of a neckache all the way home), but oh my god. Absolutely stunning. I can see Laura Matthewson going far (she'd be perfect for Elpheba in the next few years). I can't really pick a highlight, because the entire show is just brilliant. The title song stole the whole thing, though. Rebecca's performance is just insane (can't believe there's no videos of her doing it on YouTube :( ) The applause just didn't stop :wub:

Hope it comes back properly soon.

Also, Emma Williams' new show is coming to the West End :mrgreen: It's a musical version of Mrs Henderson Presents (everyone remembers the film with Will Young, right?). Need to get tickets to it ASAP.

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