West End Gossip #2

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filthycop

filthycop

my daughter and my husband are both access card holders for different reasons and they get different options at the same theatre for the same show because their needs are different (husband in a wheelchair, daughter ASD and associated sensory issues). Husband gets a carer most places (except some where they dont offer a free carer but all tickets are at a significantly reduced rate) but nearly always gets cheap tickets too because wheelchair seats are often in more expelnsive parts of the theatre. Daughter has a carer need on her card but she doesn't need specific seats so will get a free carer but not always reduced tickets. For example I went with husband to see Cabaret and the wheelchair seats are the fancy table ones that cost upwards of £250 each - they charge the rate of the cheapest ticket in the house (£30) - so for three of us it was £60 (2x £30 with free carer) a flipping bargain!!!!! Went with daughter to see it and we had to pay full price for her ticket but I went free as her carer so not so cheap.

This week I am going with daughter to see Mamma Mia and she gets a very discounted ticket and I am free so have paid £30 for her to sit a few rows back in the stalls with me as a free carer.

each card, venue and need brings forth different prices.
 
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Moaninginprivate

Thanks for the access info, I have no idea what my friend has told them in terms of her needs. I'm seeing her tomorrow so might ask 😅
 
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BingoFlamingo

BingoFlamingo

I see Tom Holland’s R&J not getting great reviews. Seems to be Jamie Lloyd doing his “plaster everyone on a screen in the theatre” thing again. It won’t close though, every house is surely full and at major prices per ticket.
 
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Mark81

Mark81

Tbh this is the only place I've seem positive comments for it 🤣

I thought the same about sunset though tbh, it may have worked better, but it was still an emperors new clothes for me
 
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FreeSquirrels

I’ve seen too many shows with screens this spring. Yes, lucky me to have gone, but just because you can do something it doesn’t need to be done. Going to see Romeo & Juliet in 2 weeks.
 
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SpellingBea

SpellingBea

FreeSquirrels said:
I’ve seen too many shows with screens this spring. Yes, lucky me to have gone, but just because you can do something it doesn’t need to be done. Going to see Romeo & Juliet in 2 weeks.
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100% agree! i spend a lot of time staring at screens and theatre is always a nice break from it... usually!
 
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Frances

Frances

I hadn't sent a play with screens before so for me it was new watching r and j. I enjoyed it but can understand some of the reviews. Def not as good in the back rows though when view of screens partially blocked!
 
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lilyannrose

FreeSquirrels said:
I’ve seen too many shows with screens this spring. Yes, lucky me to have gone, but just because you can do something it doesn’t need to be done. Going to see Romeo & Juliet in 2 weeks.
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I've become really sick of the reliance on projects in theatre. In small doses it's okay and can be effective but I worry traditional theatrical effects are going the way of the dodo due to cost and that would be so sad.
 
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BingoFlamingo

BingoFlamingo

SpellingBea said:
100% agree! i spend a lot of time staring at screens and theatre is always a nice break from it... usually!
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I saw All About Eve a few years ago, that was the first one I saw with a screen and it was novel to me then.

I wonder if this is how things are going to tear young folk away from screens and into a theatre ? Not sure, just speculating.
 
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LaBlonde

LaBlonde

FreeSquirrels said:
I’ve seen too many shows with screens this spring. Yes, lucky me to have gone, but just because you can do something it doesn’t need to be done. Going to see Romeo & Juliet in 2 weeks.
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same. ngl, i really enjoyed the use of it in sunset (especially with the whole walk down the strand into the theatre) - it was effective and worked with the material. but, beyond that, like you say just because you can doesn’t mean you should!

i also don’t know what more can be done with romeo & juliet in general though. i’ve seen so many productions of it over the years and (while it’s an iconic play) you can only try to adapt it so much. i’d rather see other shakespeares get the exposure!
 
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silkytoes

BingoFlamingo said:
I saw All About Eve a few years ago, that was the first one I saw with a screen and it was novel to me then.

I wonder if this is how things are going to tear young folk away from screens and into a theatre ? Not sure, just speculating.
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I don't think it's the shows aimed at younger folk that are doing it really. Like, the teen focused musicals don't do it at all.

I get the impression it's the directors who are trying to be artsy/new/innovative, but it's the same people relying on the same technique too much.
 
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LydiaDeetzHat

LydiaDeetzHat

First show I saw with screens was Ivo Van Hove's Lazarus and to be fair it was minimal and worked.. Newton in the movie was very into television and they incorporated in a novel way. Ditto Jamie Lloyds Sunset Boulevard and Ivos All About Eve.

But echoing here about theatre becoming all about the gimmick . Productions with nothing original to say on old pieces so lets have a gimmick like having Romeo and Juliet in the foyer/not looking at each other or taking the poison, having 2 Tom Wingfields in Glass Menagerie. stunt and star casting etc etc

Here's a radical thought.. lets see some new and innovative work both plays and musicals. I have seen some fantastic new small musicals at the likes of Southwark Playhouse that would be so cheap to mount that ppl could actually have affordable ticket prices and therefor take a punt on something you may not enjoy

on a side note to this I'd be very interested to see the figures for Guys and Dolls now the strong members of the cast have left. They can only rely on the immersive aspect to sell and I seem to be seeing the production all over socials trying to plug it in a way i never saw when Wallace, Mays and Neal were in
 
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lilyannrose

BingoFlamingo said:
I saw All About Eve a few years ago, that was the first one I saw with a screen and it was novel to me then.

I wonder if this is how things are going to tear young folk away from screens and into a theatre ? Not sure, just speculating.
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I saw a production of Carousel in 2008 and the famous, beautiful opening number with the big reveal of the carousel at the fair? The carousel was a bloody projection. It was the most disappointing, soul-crushing theatrical experience in my life, and remains so to this day. It was ridiculous. Not least because it was a production at the Savoy in London so not some poor regional theatre who might not have been able to afford better.
 
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Mark81

Mark81

lilyannrose said:
I saw a production of Carousel in 2008 and the famous, beautiful opening number with the big reveal of the carousel at the fair? The carousel was a bloody projection. It was the most disappointing, soul-crushing theatrical experience in my life, and remains so to this day. It was ridiculous. Not least because it was a production at the Savoy in London so not some poor regional theatre who might not have been able to afford better.
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I saw that one, I didn't mind it, but it didn't blow me away either
 
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lilyannrose

Mark81 said:
I saw that one, I didn't mind it, but it didn't blow me away either
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As a whole it was not a production that impressed me. Carousel is difficult though, the script/lyrics is very hard to take in modern times but the score is just so impossibly beautiful. So I do sympathise with anyone trying to adapt it these days. Just don't be cheap on the good stuff!
 
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Mark81

Mark81

lilyannrose said:
As a whole it was not a production that impressed me. Carousel is difficult though, the script/lyrics is very hard to take in modern times but the score is just so impossibly beautiful. So I do sympathise with anyone trying to adapt it these days. Just don't be cheap on the good stuff!
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Yeah, I found the leads quite wooden too. Enjoyable but flat
 
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