Theatre 2013

The Theatre 2012 thread seemend worthwhile, so............

I was at the final night of Quartermaine's Terms at the Theatre Royal last night, amongst a large audience who were presumably attracted by Rowan Atkinson being in the lead role, rather than the actual play itself.

I was keen to see Atkinson too, but was also interested to see the play, having performed in a local production some years ago. My memories of that am-dram event are mostly bad, from the cast, the venue, the director, and my performance to the actual play itself.

Thankfully the actors in the professional production last night were understandably fabulous compared to the ad-dram cast of which I was part, but I've got to say that the play itself was no better in my opinion. Indeed I am amazed it made it to the stage, let alone being lined up for a run in the West End.
The only reason I can think it has been revived is because it gives the perfect platform for Rowan Atkinson to play Mr. Bean with dialogue. The part of Quartermaine is a Mr Bean character, without the "hilarious" slapstick. Atkinson played it perfectly. He couldn't help but do so.

The actor playing Henry was partcularly strong I thought, as were the rest of the supporting cast.

Good to see the Theatre Royal so full. Shame that I have seen better plays there in the past twelve months attended by smaller audiences. 5/10

Folks. What's a good site for reasonable ticket prices.

Looking to go and see The Lion King.

Merci

Anyone else at Abigail's Party tonight?

Not hidden here in the dark cupboard of nsc.

I was a bit disappointed with this fabulous show. I thought the performances were patchy, Laurence in particular raced through his lines in the first half, really missing the great lines the character has.

Second half better all round, and overall still a good night out at the theatre.

I can't seem to find a more recent or active thread than this. I could have sworn there was one...


I went to see Rent 20th Anniversary in Concert at the brighton centre tonight (last night?). I knew of the play for a while, but the film was where I finally took the plunge, and I really enjoyed it, even if many of the show's fans are very disappointed with the film. I even took a risk and bought the dvd of the show live on broadway and loved it.

It is one of those musicals where everything is in song, so making a music concert of it means you end up pretty much putting on the play with no props. Which is weird because rent is really quite stripped down when performed on stage.

Starring Atomic Kitten's Natasha Hamilton and Rory Taylor from ITV's 'Superstar', it's the story of a group of bohemian artists in new york struggling to survive without selling out, dealing with aids and failing friendships. It's a fun romp!

One problem is that the actors were english, so some american accents didn't sound too natural, and some were inconsistent. From a technical stand point the brighton centre was too open a space for such a small stage, and the one open balcony, and some of the more rocky numbers sounded a but muffled. But the songs were strong enough to compensate for those flaws.

I thought the crowd took a little while to get into it, small pockets trying to thaw the main stalls, but with the second half people started to loosen up and at the end the cast got a standing ovations.