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05.05.2007, 11:30 quote

Anonymous

London as we all know, is well know for its theatre, so whats the last show you saw and what would you like to go and see next?

 

05.05.2007, 11:35 quote

Anonymous

last show i saw in a london theatre was Romeo and Juliet at the New end theatre in hampstead
http://www.offwestendtheatres.co.uk/index.php?where=new_end

its a small fringe theatre and although it is quite small i really enjoyed that show. it was a few years ago now.

 

05.05.2007, 18:10 quote

Anonymous

i fell in love with blood brothers that i have seen it 3 times lol
There are so many i long to see though, i love musicals

 

06.05.2007, 08:20 quote

Anonymous

i am not a big fan of musicals, unless its something like grease or momma mia, as thats popular music. but i really just like theatre for a good yarn and a beer afterwards and london has plenty of theatres, west end and fringe

 

06.05.2007, 08:58 quote

Anonymous

well would love to go see some non musicals too and mama mia and grease are two that i fully intend on seeing this year. Also Lord of the rings Smile

 

07.05.2007, 18:17 quote

Anonymous

Last thing I saw was last week - 'Kiss of the spider woman' at the Donmar Warehouse ... was amazing, some of the best acting I have seen in a long time!

 

08.05.2007, 14:12 quote

Anonymous

Hugglies wrote:
I wouldn't mind seeing Lord of The Rings

As long as its not 9 hours long Confused


It is 3 hours and a bit, come with me when I go babe.

xxx

 

06.08.2007, 17:28 quote

actingskint

The last and best show ive seen in a long time for pure, original ,inventive well written,funny and well produced entertainment has to be the 39 steps.
The cast were superb all four of them.The script was tight slick and superbly delivered.The show didnt rely on million pound special effects such as the ones employed by Bored of the Rings,Intead it relied on theatre skills sadly lacking in many tired and un inspiring shows now clogging up the west ends theatres like fat in a chavs badly fitted mini skirt.

 

12.08.2007, 20:36 quote

Anonymous

Actingskint wrote:
The last and best show ive seen in a long time for pure, original ,inventive well written,funny and well produced entertainment has to be the 39 steps.
The cast were superb all four of them.The script was tight slick and superbly delivered.The show didnt rely on million pound special effects such as the ones employed by Bored of the Rings,Intead it relied on theatre skills sadly lacking in many tired and un inspiring shows now clogging up the west ends theatres like fat in a chavs badly fitted mini skirt.


Welcome to the boards Acting Skint.

Afraid I have to disagree with what you have just written though.

Whilst I agree that the 39 steps is a great piece of theatre and is indeed slick I do not think that you can say that Lord of the Rings does not use theatre skills.

I am presuming you have seen it and are not just jumping on the slag it off bandwagon and so will understand the following :

Right at the beginning bringing the cast into the audience (and again during act 2) enables the audience to relate with them and therefore brings them further into the belief of the tale being told. (the fourth wall for anyone interested in wikipedia-ing it)
Bilbo's dissapearance at the top of act 1, an age old theatrical trick employed since victorian tiimes.
The mis-direction of the audience all the way through the play to enable the cast to dissapear and reappear.
Gollum's reveal at the start of Act 2, again an old old trick with a man, a wire and a lot of skill.
Gandolf's 'death' with the wind machines and confetti, simple but very very effective and again traditional.

These are just a few examples, just because a show has a lot of capital behind it and is mainstream does not mean that they cannot and do not employ old tricks, the reasons these are still around are because they still work!

People want bigger and better to entice them to the Theatre these days and there is nothing wrong with that. The big blockbuster musicals and hollywood casting in plays enables the Theatre Producers and Owners to fund the smaller plays and new writings.

 

12.08.2007, 23:10 quote

actingskint

Yes I have seen it,I went to the press night because I know people who are working as crew as well as cast on the show.
Bigger does not equal better.The show flopped in its previous outing,so why the producers thought It was ever going to work I will never know.Pure stubborness does not equate to a show being a success ,it simply blinds you to the truth that this show lacks the appeal that it needs to survive in the west end,and that is an appeal to the masses.
True it has some big musical numbers,none of which were being whistled by people coming out of the show( The old grey whistle test) It has a fairly good story(But not easily digested when you havent been an avid fan of the whole series of books) .West end audiences are on the whole there to be entertained not to have to think.
Their are some dance numbers,but not many and most although well executed dont really stick in your mind.
It hasnt really got a target audience in mind for this show.I dont know more than a handfull of people who as well as reading the books actually want to sit through over 3 hours of theatre.And these are people who truly love the arts in all forms.
I spoke to a lot of people on that first night some of which were agents for people in the show and they were all resigned to the show closing in less than a year.Some comments such as" oh god that was long" "I'll give it until christmas" were pretty much the norm,from an audience of critics agents and friends of the cast and producers.What does that say about this show.
I wish I could feel different about it but I dont,I was thoroughtly bored through the entire show.
If you want quality theatre its out there in small scale productions all over this amazingl and creative capital.You like musicals then go and see from the Hart at the New End Theatre in Hampstead.The show is about one of the theatres greatest writers.Again it cost bugger all to produce.But its cast is dedicated and talented,equiped with a well written script worthy of a west end launch.
No one likes to admit defeat,but this is a turkey and a very expensive one at that.

 

20.08.2007, 11:01 quote

actingskint

Oh yea nearly forgot ,Gandolfs death was a laughable effect which left everybody asking why bother !

It ended the act like a damp squib.The power of the fan that blew the leaves was pretty impressive but the scene was so weak it was almost as dead as Gandolf himself.The problem being that when you mix very very expensive staging such as a huge multi level revolve with a fan and a confetti cannon,the classical theatre tricks suddenly stand out as incredibly dated.

Yes the wire work was pretty impressive and deserved the round of applause that it recieved,but it wasnt just a simple bit of wire work,a great many people were involved in that particular effect.Wire work as an art has developed along with the rest of theatre, and is used very effectively by such world renowned groups such as circ de sol.,

 
 
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