(Classwork, laziness, and more have kept updates from regularity. However, since the RZ is going to a new musical tonight, it means getting old reviews out of the way.)
First off, the first time visit. The RZ had an opportunity to catch The Common Pursuit last week at the Menier Chocolate Factory, and found himself straddled on the critical fence the general spectrum of professional reviewers ended up creating. On the one hand, this is a traditional, well meaning play about what it means to hold to your ideals in the face of financial necessity, but on the other it’s very...well...upper-class, academic, and English. Telling the story of six Cambridge friends who form a literary magazine before going their separate yet linked ways in adulthood, The Common Pursuit hits the ideas of selling out and the decline of heroism, and is packed with excellent actors...but the RZ found himself wondering, despite his enjoyment, why it needed a second hour - short of the third act plot twist (itself outside the major themes) it’s blatant where everything is going by the interval.
Second, the long awaited commentary and space to potentially eat one’s words. The RZ was offered some free tickets to revisit Gone With The Wind a couple weeks ago, and took his source (not working on the production) up on the offer. So how is the show after all the cuts have been made?
Still pretty disappointing, but . The most painful bits are gone, and the runtime is almost comfortable, though a few embarrassing lines remain (see the first preview report re: soldiers and sex.) Madeleine Worrall’s Melanie is still shrill and annoying, and the cast still don’t have anything resembling realistic accents. On the upside, the music is better the second time around, though the RZ remains hard pressed to remember most of it, and the burning of Atlanta finally has a half-decent effect. In the end, though, the second act still dragged and the RZ left with a headache which means he doesn’t feel good enough about the fixed edition to actually recommend anybody except die hard chick-flick fans go and see it.
Last, the RZ went with a group of friends to take in Lord of the Rings one more time before it closes in July. Despite being a few minutes late thanks to Lastminute.com’s overly tight dinner+show reservation times, his group found themselves comfortably seated in the rear stalls (not a bad upgrade from upper circle). Visually, LotR is still one of the best things in the West End, a lush parade of mechanics and lights the likes of which won’t be seen again for years. Unfortunately, the show didn’t seem as tight the second time, and the RZ felt detached from the story and characters. Perhaps it was distraction from the late arrival or the general half-empty atmosphere of the theatre, but things just didn’t click on a return visit. That said, fans of visual theatre would be wise to get tickets before Middle Earth vanishes next month.
THE COMMON PURSUIT:
Where: Menier Chocolate Factory
When: Until 20 July. Tu-Sa @ 20:00, Sa/Su @ 15:30
How Much: £22.50 general admission
Concessions: £18, limited availability
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RZ Unofficial “Worth Paying”: £18. The RZ liked it, but didn’t love it.
RZ Other Notes: The staging is rather innovative, involving a sliding set that makes the Menier auditorium feel like the TARDIS. On the other hand, it means seats on the extreme right are obstructed as a wide portion of the stage is draped off.
GONE WITH THE WIND
Where: New London Theatre
When: Until 14 June. M @ 19:00, Tu-Sa @ 19:30, W/Sa @ 14:30
How Much: £27.50-£60
Concessions: None officially, but word is that top price seats can be purchased on the day for £25 at the box office.
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RZ Unofficial “Worth Paying”: £10 if you love the book/film/Jill Paice/Darius Danesh’s hairy chest
RZ Other Notes: The producers wised up and pulled the plug on this one. Had the show the RZ saw in June been the first preview, he’d have probably been more sympathetic, as would the critics as the show now is in a state where it can be turned into something adequate vs. being dreadful.
LORD OF THE RINGS
**No changes since the RZ’s full review. He does suggest, however, that those looking to go on the cheap book early in the week and buy in the balcony or upper circle - you are all but guaranteed a bump down to the first circle or stalls.**
Showing posts with label gone with the wind. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gone with the wind. Show all posts
Thursday, 5 June 2008
Sunday, 6 April 2008
THOUGHTS: Gone With The Wind
First Preview Power Strikes Again!
It's late and the RZ is a very tired blogger who has just sat through a particularly long and muddled musical. Some proper prose (including a worth paying) may be forthcoming, but here are some basics based on the notably unfinished show that the RZ saw tonight:
-The current runtime is 4 hours 6 minutes including interval.
-The RZ managed to hold out until 11PM before turning his phone on to check the time. He was not the only one doing so.
-There will (thankfully) be cuts.
-The cast, including Darius Danesh, are fine. Not amazing, but fine.
-Some of the accents, however, are like what real cockneys think of Dick Van Dyke
-The score is boring. Most of it is slow and attempts to be sweeping, but the RZ guesses that there isn't enough of an orchestra to pull off a properly lush sound. None of the songs stood out, but some reminded him of better songs from better shows.
-There are some laughably bad lyrics like "Wounded soldiers are physical wrecks, but at least they're members of the opposite sex".
-There is a LOT of narration. Everybody takes turns spewing dates and season changes and announcing the locations and how this or that character is feeling or what they're thinking.
-If the RZ was handling the edits, the narration is the first thing he'd cut.
-The author really tried to incorporate everything from the book. Something has to go because everything drags.
-Even though the first act is the shorter one, the RZ suggests summoning Officer Lockstock to enforce the rules on too much exposition.
-The second act is preachy. One song is the black cast singing "Every child just wants to be loved."
-The song about Haliburton...er...Reconstruction is painfully bad.
-The set is impressive when you enter, but pretty minimal by Napier's standards. There's a revolve for "interiors/house" and some platforms that are punted on and off stage. After a while the sets are as dull as the music. Is this really the same man who gave us the visual wonderments of Time, Starlight Express, and Cats? Or a reduxed rehash of Les Miz?
-The burning of Atlanta is a couple flashing lights and some fencing getting pushed over.
-The audience were racing like mad to catch their trains. Hopefully the cast made it home as well.
-The audience seemed to be OK with the show in general but almost everyone said it needed cuts.
-They hired child actors to appear in two scenes.
-Bonnie is a voiceover and has the lamest "death by horse" ever onstage. Aren't the crew from Handspring done with their run at the National yet?
-The act break is roughly in the middle of part 3 from the original novel.
-Mark Shenton was in the row behind the RZ, and the critic from the Daily Mail was also present.
-Did the RZ mention that it was four hours long?
In short: Unless you're a huge GWTW buff or a nerd for going during previews, wait until the press reviews are out because the edits could make everything more cohesive and add some much needed energy.
It's late and the RZ is a very tired blogger who has just sat through a particularly long and muddled musical. Some proper prose (including a worth paying) may be forthcoming, but here are some basics based on the notably unfinished show that the RZ saw tonight:
-The current runtime is 4 hours 6 minutes including interval.
-The RZ managed to hold out until 11PM before turning his phone on to check the time. He was not the only one doing so.
-There will (thankfully) be cuts.
-The cast, including Darius Danesh, are fine. Not amazing, but fine.
-Some of the accents, however, are like what real cockneys think of Dick Van Dyke
-The score is boring. Most of it is slow and attempts to be sweeping, but the RZ guesses that there isn't enough of an orchestra to pull off a properly lush sound. None of the songs stood out, but some reminded him of better songs from better shows.
-There are some laughably bad lyrics like "Wounded soldiers are physical wrecks, but at least they're members of the opposite sex".
-There is a LOT of narration. Everybody takes turns spewing dates and season changes and announcing the locations and how this or that character is feeling or what they're thinking.
-If the RZ was handling the edits, the narration is the first thing he'd cut.
-The author really tried to incorporate everything from the book. Something has to go because everything drags.
-Even though the first act is the shorter one, the RZ suggests summoning Officer Lockstock to enforce the rules on too much exposition.
-The second act is preachy. One song is the black cast singing "Every child just wants to be loved."
-The song about Haliburton...er...Reconstruction is painfully bad.
-The set is impressive when you enter, but pretty minimal by Napier's standards. There's a revolve for "interiors/house" and some platforms that are punted on and off stage. After a while the sets are as dull as the music. Is this really the same man who gave us the visual wonderments of Time, Starlight Express, and Cats? Or a reduxed rehash of Les Miz?
-The burning of Atlanta is a couple flashing lights and some fencing getting pushed over.
-The audience were racing like mad to catch their trains. Hopefully the cast made it home as well.
-The audience seemed to be OK with the show in general but almost everyone said it needed cuts.
-They hired child actors to appear in two scenes.
-Bonnie is a voiceover and has the lamest "death by horse" ever onstage. Aren't the crew from Handspring done with their run at the National yet?
-The act break is roughly in the middle of part 3 from the original novel.
-Mark Shenton was in the row behind the RZ, and the critic from the Daily Mail was also present.
-Did the RZ mention that it was four hours long?
In short: Unless you're a huge GWTW buff or a nerd for going during previews, wait until the press reviews are out because the edits could make everything more cohesive and add some much needed energy.
Thursday, 7 February 2008
THOUGHTS: "RENT Remixed" Closing
(Second post today, read below for more.)
So the RZ bit the bullet and went to the production of doom for a third time. It just seemed like the right thing to do - having been in the front row for the first production, he was in the back of the circles for the last. And what do you know, this time it almost clicked. Perhaps it was Jesse Wallace not being as vulgar and in-your-face as Denise Van Outen. Perhaps it was having a Mimi who could sing without gasping like she were drowning and fading into the ensemble. Or maybe it was just not caring anymore. The production retained its major flaws in structure and text, but taken as a concert of Larson's songs, it was a passable and dare the RZ say, entertaining evening. While it fails as a production of a cohesive musical, the RZ still feels there is enough interesting material here to justify aural preservation but doubts a legit CD will ever come.
Meanwhile, as far as the West End Disaster Watch goes, the internet is eagerly anticipating April's opening of Gone With The Wind, and the RZ's first preview ticket is thankfully purchased and at the ready. For the musically deprived otherwise, Stratford East have a Barbican transfer opening soon, an in-house production doing the same, and Hackney Empire are working through a musical about Sister Wendy, the great art-show Nun. Indeed, there are good times ahead.
So the RZ bit the bullet and went to the production of doom for a third time. It just seemed like the right thing to do - having been in the front row for the first production, he was in the back of the circles for the last. And what do you know, this time it almost clicked. Perhaps it was Jesse Wallace not being as vulgar and in-your-face as Denise Van Outen. Perhaps it was having a Mimi who could sing without gasping like she were drowning and fading into the ensemble. Or maybe it was just not caring anymore. The production retained its major flaws in structure and text, but taken as a concert of Larson's songs, it was a passable and dare the RZ say, entertaining evening. While it fails as a production of a cohesive musical, the RZ still feels there is enough interesting material here to justify aural preservation but doubts a legit CD will ever come.
Meanwhile, as far as the West End Disaster Watch goes, the internet is eagerly anticipating April's opening of Gone With The Wind, and the RZ's first preview ticket is thankfully purchased and at the ready. For the musically deprived otherwise, Stratford East have a Barbican transfer opening soon, an in-house production doing the same, and Hackney Empire are working through a musical about Sister Wendy, the great art-show Nun. Indeed, there are good times ahead.
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