Nicole Scherzinger to star in West End Sunset Boulevard at the Savoy Sep 30
2023, 10:37:27 AM
Listener said: "
I hate this feeling I keep having that none of us will ever see the Real Sunset Boulevard again, or something equivalent. Something with a grand production design that is happy to be a period piece."
The best production I've seen of the show wasn't the original at the Adelphi, but actually a revival circa 2011 in Gothenburg. The set design was heavily influenced by the aesthetic of the Wilder movie with incredible attention to detail, an
|
Nicole Scherzinger to star in West End Sunset Boulevard at the Savoy Sep 21
2023, 07:54:45 PM
I needed to ramble about this so here my incoherent thoughts at 1am. WARNING: there are spoilers, so I've put everything in the spoiler box below. Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content First thing’s first, since this is what has elicited the most comments on social media, this Norma is not fifty. She’s forty. The line has been changed. So now
|
Is Ramin Returning To PHANTOM???? May 14
2023, 09:14:25 AM
Agree 100% with the previous post. I was there in person for the RAH event and it was painful to my ears. The post-production work fixed some of the pitch issues, but not the weird breathing issues which you can still hear (listen, for example, to the opening of 'Down Once More' ) and which take me out of it entirely...so I find it unlistenable/unwatchable. It's true, though, that he has improved a lot in the decade since then. But I don't think this role, even if it inspired him, was once th
|
Phantom Closing? Apr 23
2023, 06:35:21 PM
TBFL said:
So you're calling my friend misinformed, and yet you don't know for sure when Hal Prince was at the London production? You also stated that HP often popped in to give notes to casts etc and that I knew zilch when HP hadn't been in for years. And yet he HADN'T been in for years. Even by your reckoning, 2017 until his death in 2019 was at least 2 years without seeing the London production.
Hal died in the summer of 2019. He was at the London
|
Phantom Closing? Apr 23
2023, 11:54:33 AM
Danny1984 said:
No, sorry. You didn't say "there was at least some anger backstage at the Majestic,"you said "there is, or was, a lot of anger backstage the Majestic that that community was torn apart for no good reason other than for Cameron Mackintosh and Really Useful to open the show and hire newbies to do their jobs." [...]
I maintain your sweeping statement is completely
|
Phantom Closing? Apr 23
2023, 06:59:44 AM
Penna2 said: "
There seems to be some idea by those complaining about the show closing that there is some obligation to keep it open because people are going to be unemployed. When you work in show business that's the name of the game - looking for the next job because the one you have carries a time stamp of some sort. No job is guaranteed, particularly in theater, and those who worked for this show were particularly fortunate to have such a high level of job security
|
Phantom Closing? Apr 22
2023, 06:51:59 PM
TBFL said: "
I spoke to a friend at RUG and he said Hal hadn't been to the London production in years.
Then your friend is misinformed (which wouldn't be surprising, since RUG is frequently clueless). Hal had definitely visited the London production as late as 2017. He may have visited in 2018 but I don't know if he had been in London that year. Is your friend at RUG aware Hal died in 2019? A bit of a big ask to expect Hal to visit after that.
Since I was weirdly accused here of apparently 'making up' that there was at least some anger backstage at the Majestic, I note a few ex-cast/crew have now taken to social media to say the same thing. Here, one actor says "people have been angry that now that the show is making so much money they are still closing it", and here, a member of the crew says "I felt better as Cameron Mackintosh stood on stage and teased a revival as 100s were losing their jobs". I don't know either of these individuals personally, but their experience seems to fit in with what was told to me by others whose names I won't state here for obvious reasons. It's up to posters here whether they agree with these members of the production as to whether the sentiment was warranted, but the sentiment was there.
MCSecaur said: Just finished a fascinating two-part oral history of Phantom on Broadway and in London from The Theatre Times.
It's a shame both the interviewer and interviewee were unaware of the extent of what happened in London post-COVID, but it's clear James Paterson wouldn't have time for it. He is on the money re both LND and that 2012 tour.
|
Todd Haimes has passed Apr 20
2023, 08:18:46 AM
Very sad news. He was a visionary.
|
Phantom Closing? Apr 20
2023, 05:55:12 AM
TBFL said: "BroadwayNYC2 said: "Begging everyone to…move on."
With some of these folk? You've got no chance.
Um, it seems to be you who is repeatedly posting on this thread. I am not sure what the point is that you keep trying to make (I don't think anyone disputes that the show was losing money post-pandemic), but whatever it is, I don't know why you can't do it with more civility. Maybe you are trying to get a ris
|
Phantom Closing? Apr 19
2023, 06:07:19 PM
Danny1984 said:
There wasn't "a lot of anger backstage at The Majestic." Where on earth have you got this from? Either a single highly unreliable source I expect or you've completely made it up.
Do you expect me to divulge names here? I'm totally fine if you don't believe it, it's nothing to me. There is one cast member who's even done an interview for this very site saying the same thing, if you want some kind of external valid
|
Phantom Closing? Apr 18
2023, 06:54:08 PM
Dylan Smith4 said: "Chase Miller said: "What a slap in the face if they just revive this show in the next 2-3 years. Phantom needs to be gone for at least a decade."
That's exactly what I have been saying for a while now! Let people move on and bring it back in like a decade or so with a new creative team. Bringing it back immediately is a major slap in the face to Hal Prince and members of the OG creative team who are no longer with us."
|
Phantom Closing? Apr 18
2023, 06:13:09 AM
TBFL said: "g.d.e.l.g.i. said: "It's coming back as the NBC show, to prime the pump for the downsized London version. Then the downsized London version comes back. Likely not to the Majestic; house minimums wouldn't let them slash the orchestra."
Have you even seen the new London production? It's hardly downsized. It's had a few set pieces removed and some added and the orchestra cut in half. Unless you're an uber Phan and
|
Majestic Theatre Renovation? Apr 16
2023, 02:41:03 PM
ACL2006 said: "It's believed this will take a while as the theater isn't available even for next season to occupy. Whether or not the new, scaled-down production takes the Majestic is to be announced."
I think they'll go for a smaller theatre, it doesn't make sense to go through the hassle of planning cuts to a production to bring it back in a cheaper form only to then put it in a house with such a huge capacity requirement, not to mention a minimum n
|
Phantom Closing? Apr 16
2023, 02:33:36 PM
Jordan Catalano said: "I know it's an unpopular opinion, especially with the die-hard fanbase of this show (and others), but I don't mind switching it up after decades. If it was any other show, it would be on it's 3rd revival, looking COMPLETELY different than it did in 1986 (the OLC). And don't get me wrong, I love this show but it does feel like a show from the 80's.
When they redid "Les Mis" in London last year, people were furious but I w
|
Phantom Closing? Apr 16
2023, 01:17:52 PM
Kad said: "Cameron Mackintosh is laughing all the way to the bank and will do it again when he opens a budget version of Phantom in a year or two. And I’m sure there will be folks here still willing to hand him their money."
Sadly, you're right. I cringe at how many times the words 'reimagined', 'enhanced', 'updated', 'for the 21st century', 'contemporary', 'refreshed', 'revamped', and - Cameron's
|
Phantom Closing? Apr 16
2023, 10:30:57 AM
WldKingdomHM said: "I think the meh energy is they shall be back very soon"
They won't. The Phantom family is being decimated by this. A scaled-down version will be there very soon, but nothing will be 'back'. Cameron will fire everyone and hire n00bs. It's his business model now.
The 'meh' is also very on-brand for how Cameron treats the productions that made him rich. Don't forget the original ORIG
|
Majestic Theatre Renovation? Apr 15
2023, 04:27:27 PM
Broadway Flash said: "I hope they don’t change the color scheme, or the look of it. It’s the prettiest theatre on Broadway."
There are a few things in the theatre that aesthetically are Phantom-specific so those will presumably be changed back to how they had been or somehow redone (such as the blacked out boxes, which were Hal's requirement for the production).
|
Phantom Closing? Apr 15
2023, 11:39:39 AM
clever2 said: "The Scorpion said: "I can only hope the filming they're doing is for commercial release, but given Cameron is hellbent on bringing the butchered production over from London, it doesn't make sense for them to do that."
I don’t see why not. These people are, let’s face it, money grubbing w*ores. Why shouldn’t they cash in on a release that would most definitely sell like toilet paper in 2020. The Albert Hall present
|
Phantom Closing? Apr 15
2023, 08:33:50 AM
Phillyguy said: "Simply incredible tonight. This was my first ever Phantom show, having only watched the 25th RAH version.
Sierra and Sarah Brightman both came on stage at curtain call!"
Delighted you got to see the "real deal". What really saddens me is that, as the creatives themselves have repeatedly stress, what made this show special was the marriage of all the different elements. There hasn't been any production that has deviated from t
|
Phantom Closing? Apr 12
2023, 03:41:21 AM
Penna2 said: "Just someone who thinks in more practical terms than many here. Tell me what part of what I wrote is wrong. The show was not doing well enough to pay the bills. Then everyone is shocked when the show closes. Just because it was Phantom doesn't mean it's exempt from the laws of supply and demand.
The show wasn't doing well in the early 2000s either, but they kept it open and it bounced back and ran for another 20 years. I think if it was as simple
|
