West End Gossip #5

[kev1974]

Next summer's big Coliseum musical.

I'm interested that at the bottom of the poster it says "songS from the motion picture by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley" so to me that implies they've recognised the error of the stage show and may be putting more than just Pure Imagination in it? I remember being so pissed off that there was no Candyman, Golden Ticket, or Oompa Loompa song in the stage version. Hope they have, and not just musical interludes echoing the classic songs.

 

[Jemimah]

Next summer's big Coliseum musical.

I'm interested that at the bottom of the poster it says "songS from the motion picture by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley" so to me that implies they've recognised the error of the stage show and may be putting more than just Pure Imagination in it? I remember being so pissed off that there was no Candyman, Golden Ticket, or Oompa Loompa song in the stage version. Hope they have, and not just musical interludes echoing the classic songs.

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Can't stand Michael Ball

 

[kev1974]

Can't stand Michael Ball

I liked him in Chess, also at the Coliseum, a few years ago.

Otherwise I can take him or leave him. He doesn't offend me, but neither do I wish to throw my pants at him.

 

[LaBlonde]

Can't stand Michael Ball

i don’t MIND him, but his frankly insane (not in a good way) vibrato has only gotten worse with age and i can barely listen to him now gorgeous voice back in the day though and always the best marius imo!

 

[bracrumbs]

I love Michael Ball. He’s a proper old camp diva who is in on the joke.

I’m not sure I’d run to book tickets just for him but the amount of old dears who filled the o2 when I took my mum means he’s defo go an audience.

 

[RedFlagsAhoy]

I've seen Sunday In The Park With George, years ago. It's not an easy musical. I can't see it being an easy sell without the big big big names so I should imagine it will get cancelled now and something simpler and more popular put on instead.

I’m praying it finds a new home at a more intimate venue (Donmar perhaps) as it’s one of my very favourite shows. I had tickets for the ill-fated Savoy production in 2020 which I’m still gutted about!

 

[kev1974]

I’m praying it finds a new home at a more intimate venue (Donmar perhaps) as it’s one of my very favourite shows. I had tickets for the ill-fated Savoy production in 2020 which I’m still gutted about!

Yes. I understand that SITPWG was (is?) effectively a private hire of the Barbican rather than a production of the Barbican itself so it may well pop up somewhere smaller instead.

 

[Tangerine Dream]

Can't stand Michael Ball

I like him but his Javert was a huge disappointment. Totally wrong for that role, it turned out.

 

[DrNooo]

Presale for onstage standing for the Drury Lane transfer of Jesus Christ Superstar opens on Monday, if it's anything like the Palladium I'd definitely recommend trying to get a ticket, for only £25 it's been my bargain of the summer this year and is an amazing way to experience the show.

 

[geneticsgirl]

Beetlejuice is closing in January instead of April

 

[Tangerine Dream]

Beetlejuice is closing in January instead of April

What a shame, sounds like it didn't sell?

 

[Popcornshovel]

What a shame, sounds like it didn't sell?

Venue was too big, the brand isn't as strong in the UK (the movie is quite old, no one under 30 has heard of it) and it's quite a niche theme - goth girl with dead mum, the musical starts with a couple dying, creepy demon ghost dude forcing a teenager to marry him.

Its one of my favourites and I've seen it on Broadway and London, but can see why it didn't sell well.

 

[Tangerine Dream]

Word to the wise for anyone who doesn't go into the Carrie Hope Fletcher thread, never give her agents money. They have just shown themselves up to be the most pathetic kind of internet clout chaser. Appalling customer service with bonus playground level nonsense.

 

[kev1974]

Word to the wise for anyone who doesn't go into the Carrie Hope Fletcher thread, never give her agents money. They have just shown themselves up to be the most pathetic kind of internet clout chaser. Appalling customer service with bonus playground level nonsense.

Nah her long-suffering agent is Curtis Brown. Nothing against them. The unprofessional hole is Lambert Jackson who are a tour promoter that she works with for her solo shows and they also do some of the "one/two nights only" concert productions typically on Sundays/Mondays in the West End that she and others have been in.

 

[ButtonDownTheHutches]

Word to the wise for anyone who doesn't go into the Carrie Hope Fletcher thread, never give her agents money. They have just shown themselves up to be the most pathetic kind of internet clout chaser. Appalling customer service with bonus playground level nonsense.

oooooh, what's happened?

 

[mrs mack handbag]

witchy replies in the comments section re axing some of her tour dates. So unprofessional from a promoter.

 

[Tangerine Dream]

Nah her long-suffering agent is Curtis Brown. Nothing against them. The unprofessional hole is Lambert Jackson who are a tour promoter that she works with for her solo shows and they also do some of the "one/two nights only" concert productions typically on Sundays/Mondays in the West End that she and others have been in.

Thanks for clearing up my error.

So it's tours they promote that might be worth avoiding, since they've apparently decided their customers are rubbish. It's crazy.

 

[MickeyMouseClubhouse]

Question: is Paddington that good?!

I follow a couple who have now seen it three times, are they completely bonkers?!

 

[historyobliterates]

Question: is Paddington that good?!

I follow a couple who have now seen it three times, are they completely bonkers?!

I went to see it with mum when we were last in London and we were impressed with it. It basically follows the story of the 1st paddington movie.

To give tom fletcher his due, the music and songs are good/solid. The stage effects and costumes are good. And the cast is excellent.

I can see why people would want to go back.

 

[kev1974]

Question: is Paddington that good?!

I follow a couple who have now seen it three times, are they completely bonkers?!

Yea I liked it. Not enough to rush to see it a second or third time yet though, once was enough. I read that they spent so much on it that it has been budgetted for an extraordinarily long recoup period of seven years or something, so it will be around for quite a bit yet so no need to rush for me to see it again.

As @historyobliterates says everything is generally good about it, I would also add that it has a decent amount of humour in it. And the bear is something else. You know full well that it's just a person in a bear suit, and someone else doing the voice, but it somehow comes off as so much more than that, I really did feel like it was an actual little bear acting and talking as good as all the other actors, difficult to explain.

The techie in me likes that much of the back wall of the set is all LED screen, but unlike other show sets these days you barely know it because they've firstly made the images on it look decent and not overly bright or AI slop, and also because when the scene changes it doesn't just change straight to the next backdrop, they've given it an animation of pieces of set / buildings lowering in or flying out like real set pieces do. Little touches like that please me, it's so subtle but effective. Great modern theatrecraft.

A tip for the Savoy theatre, the uppermost circle is actually at street level, and a hell of a lot easier to get to your seat than the insane staircases that wind down to the stalls, and cheaper, but book the front section of that upper circle otherwise you're too far away from the stage to see it properly.