The Musicals/Opera/Live Shows/Whatever Thread

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Denster
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PostRe: The Musicals/Opera/Live Shows/Whatever Thread
by Denster » Wed May 07, 2014 5:41 pm

Marriage of figaro tonight. Going to be immense! 8-)

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PostRe: The Musicals/Opera/Live Shows/Whatever Thread
by Frank » Fri May 09, 2014 5:24 pm

Priority booking is open for Richard III (with Martin Freeman) now. Wondering whether it's worth it. Seems like an absolutely tiny theatre, so I imagine the view will be alright wherever I eventually manage to get seats... They're like, £50 each, though.

Also, saw Every Last Trick at the Royal & Derngate last week. Got in for free as my friend works there. Properly funny show, so I'll be keeping an eye on what Spymonkey do next :wub:

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PostRe: The Musicals/Opera/Live Shows/Whatever Thread
by Denster » Sat May 10, 2014 2:21 am

Opera was stunning. Followed it up with a trip to see the Halle orchestra.

Rachmaninov's 3rd Symphony.. Beautiful. :wub: :wub:

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PostRe: The Musicals/Opera/Live Shows/Whatever Thread
by Frank » Sat May 10, 2014 8:45 am

Got any more ballets on the cards, Denny?

Just got tickets for Skylight at Wyndham's Theatre in London. Terrible seats, I imagine (I didn't book them), but I don't really care. It's Carey Mulligan's West End debut :wub:

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PostRe: The Musicals/Opera/Live Shows/Whatever Thread
by Hexx » Sat May 10, 2014 9:49 am

Going to see Book of Mormon today :)

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PostRe: The Musicals/Opera/Live Shows/Whatever Thread
by Denster » Sat May 10, 2014 1:03 pm

Frank » Sat May 10, 2014 8:45 am wrote:Got any more ballets on the cards, Denny?

Just got tickets for Skylight at Wyndham's Theatre in London. Terrible seats, I imagine (I didn't book them), but I don't really care. It's Carey Mulligan's West End debut :wub:


Not presently.

ROH again in July hopefully, though.

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PostRe: The Musicals/Opera/Live Shows/Whatever Thread
by Frank » Sun May 25, 2014 11:55 am

Went to see The Believers at the Tricycle Theatre yesterday with my hardcore drama-student friend. Wandering down Kilburn High Road at 12 o'clock and there's about 9 riot vans and a fella sitting outside a pub nursing his bloody forehead. What a lovely place for a theatre.

The show itself wasn't bad, though. It's by this Frantic Assembly company, who seem to be known for their physical theatre, so there's lots of high-wires involved (for a couple of scenes the whole cast are pretty much standing on the wall, just going about their business like normal), which I wasn't expecting from such a tiny show.

Basic plot synopsis:
There's two families, one being devout christians and the other basically mocking their beliefs at every opportunity. The believers invite the other family to stay with them as their house has been flooded. During the stay something terrible happens, but everyone's too drunk/stoned to remember what actually went down, so they have to try and piece together whodunnit.


A lot of the reviews are banging on about how it's the most terrifying play since the Woman in Black, but I'm not sure I agree. With the Woman in Black the end leaves you with this feeling of dread (with the whole twist of the woman in the production being the actual woman and not an actress meaning that everything's about to go pear-shaped for the actor), while in the Believers it tries to lead you into thinking that there's something supernatural going on (with one of the parents being possessed by some evil force), when in the end it's basically just that the perfect child of the believers kills the other aggressive, awful, devil baby child. There's no real explanation as to why, it just happens. Then the play ends.

I mean, it's unnerving in places (the "12 seconds of chaos" scene was pretty chilling (inspired by this bit of the Cloverfield trailer). Just blinding flashes > horrifying screams > pitch black silence > repeat), but there's no justification behind why the golden child becomes a murderer, so it all just falls a bit flat.

I think it's also the most times I've heard "strawberry float" in a play. And it was only 75 minutes long.

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PostRe: The Musicals/Opera/Live Shows/Whatever Thread
by Frank » Sat Jun 07, 2014 4:34 pm

Saw Kevin Spacey in Clarence Darrow last night at the Old Vic. Decent show, disappointing theatre. It's basically a two-hour monologue about Clarence Darrow's life and a few of his most famous cases. I wasn't expecting too much from a one-man show, but it was pretty impressive. Spacey is amazing :wub: Our tickets were literally right at the back, which was the only bad thing. It's one of the few productions I think I'd rather have been in the stalls for, as there's actually a fair bit of audience participation (and better legroom in the stalls, I'd imagine. Crazy claustrophobic in the circle).

Going to be a busy few months for the theatre for me, now! Got Skylight, Annie Get Your Gun and Show Boat in the next month or so. Might try and get tickets for La Fille mal Gardée next weekend...

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PostRe: The Musicals/Opera/Live Shows/Whatever Thread
by Denster » Sat Jun 07, 2014 11:29 pm

Going to see Adam Buxton on the 27th in manchester. Got a ticket for La Boheme in July as well. £62 which is a bargain for the Opera House.

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PostRe: The Musicals/Opera/Live Shows/Whatever Thread
by Frank » Fri Jul 04, 2014 6:58 pm

So, Annie Get Your Gun is fantastic. Emma Williams is tremendous :wub: Actually quite disappointed there's no recordings of the current cast available, the broadway revival Annie doesn't have as nice an accent. Jason Donovan sounded properly hoarse throughout, though.



Noticed that Frantic Assembly's version of Othello is coming to the Birmingham Rep in November, so I'll probably get tickets for that at some point. Also got tickets for Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown starring Tamsin Greig in January. Looking forward to that :wub: Tempted to see if I can get tickets for Speed-the-Plow just for Li-Lo... :shifty:

Any Birmingham-based folk going to see Wicked in the next few weeks? If it's a decent touring version I might try and catch it.

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PostRe: The Musicals/Opera/Live Shows/Whatever Thread
by Mockmaster » Wed Sep 03, 2014 2:06 pm

[iup=3439736]Frank[/iup] wrote:Just got tickets for Skylight at Wyndham's Theatre in London. Terrible seats, I imagine (I didn't book them), but I don't really care. It's Carey Mulligan's West End debut :wub:



I saw this recently, thought it was excellent. Bill Nighy sort of stole the show but Carey was really good. In fact, she was probably better, as I couldn't distinguish Nighy and his character. It was just Bill Nighy being very funny. Carey nailed hers.

Also recently seen:

Strangers on a Train
The Weir
Clarence Darrow

And most recently, The Crucible with The Hobbit's Richard Armitage.

Best show I've seen this year, and maybe ever. What an amazing production.


Seeing later this week: Richard III with The Hobbit's Tim from The Office.

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PostRe: The Musicals/Opera/Live Shows/Whatever Thread
by Frank » Wed Sep 03, 2014 4:51 pm

Mocky :wub:

I love Carey Mulligan :wub: Hung out by the stage door after the show to get their autographs, too :shifty: I thought her actually cooking that pasta as the show goes on was a nice touch. Still need to attempt the recipe in the program...

I'm off to see Dogfight this weekend. It's an off West End production of a musical that's based on some River Phoenix film.



Might be a busy month for me and the theatre this month. Seeing Dogfight this week, Avenue Q on the 20th, and I might be going to see the Lion King on the 27th. Exciting!

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PostRe: The Musicals/Opera/Live Shows/Whatever Thread
by Mockmaster » Thu Sep 04, 2014 12:11 am

Yeah, I really wanted some of her pasta by the end of the play. With the chilli.

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PostRe: The Musicals/Opera/Live Shows/Whatever Thread
by Mockmaster » Sat Sep 06, 2014 6:49 pm

Richard III at the Trafalgar.

As part of the set there were 3 or 4 rows of seats on the stage itself, and this was where I was sitting. Initially a bit unnerving looking out onto the audience and being in the midst of the scenes. Tim from The Office gave me epic eye contact several times during the play. I think we had a connection. I also nearly got splattered with blood. I look forward to accepting my Tony Award.

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PostRe: The Musicals/Opera/Live Shows/Whatever Thread
by Denster » Sun Sep 07, 2014 1:01 pm

La Boheme in July was one of the loveliest things i have ever seen. I wept in the first act at the love duet. :oops:


Got a few nice things lined up over the next few months.


Got CAV/PAG at the RNCM in a few weeks and then some more opera in november. Going to see Clint Mansell in the new year and Elbow. All in Manchester.

Plan on catching a few classical concerts as the Bridgewater Hall as well, hopefully. 8-)

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PostRe: The Musicals/Opera/Live Shows/Whatever Thread
by Frank » Fri Sep 12, 2014 4:35 pm

So, Dogfight was amazing. Wish I'd seen it sooner, so I'd have had chance to see it a second time :( Hope it comes around again. The soundtrack is sublime :wub:



The penultimate scene is fantastic for such a low budget production (think the going-over-the-top scene from Blackadder). Got me quite teary eyed in places.

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PostRe: The Musicals/Opera/Live Shows/Whatever Thread
by Frank » Sun Sep 28, 2014 12:15 pm

Can't believe it's taken me this long to see Avenue Q. Loved it. It's actually got some pretty emotional moments for a show that also contains muppets singing about schadenfreude ("Being on an elevator when somebody shouts "hold the doors!" No! Schadenfreude. strawberry float you lady, that's what stairs are for" :lol: ). I Wish I Could Go Back to College gets me :(

The bad idea bears are so good "You could always hang yourself! Yeahhhhh!" (especially Jessica Parker and her faces :wub: ):

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Anyone ever seen Next to Normal on Broadway? Just been listening to a few songs from it. Can't believe it's never come over here :(

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PostRe: The Musicals/Opera/Live Shows/Whatever Thread
by Denster » Sun Sep 28, 2014 11:57 pm

Opera on thursday. :wub:

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PostRe: The Musicals/Opera/Live Shows/Whatever Thread
by Denster » Thu Oct 02, 2014 11:18 pm

Great stuff tonight. The operas were a mixture of stunning vocal performances but in an experimental theatre/ intimate studio setting.

Very moving and powerful. Only a piano for accompaniment as well. :wub: :wub:

Never experienced Opera like that before. Won't be the last time. 8-) 8-)

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PostRe: The Musicals/Opera/Live Shows/Whatever Thread
by Frank » Fri Oct 03, 2014 9:29 pm

What did you see/where?

Semi-related, the English National Opera are doing another production of Sweeney Todd with Emma Thompson and Bryn Terfel:



Tempted to try and get tickets, as it's not that bad a musical. Still not entirely sold on Bryn as Sweeney, though. I mean, he's always been this scummy little barber, rather than a big, boomy voiced monstrosity.



He's streets ahead of Johnny Depp though. What was Tim Burton thinking.

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