Profile for The Scorpion

This was the only production by Jamie Lloyd that I've truly liked. The cast was great too, especially Thaxton (who deserved his Olivier for the role) and Elena Roger. I ought to have gone more than once, in retrospect.

Seb28 said: "The Scorpion said: "Explain to me which laws since you said everything was corroborated by facts. You also said Britain was lost--again, explain."Praying in the streets. Prohibited. Except for Muslims. Christians are actually being arrested for it. Slaughtering animals without anesthesia. Strictly forbidden by the constitution. Except for Muslims. Teaching in public buildings (mosques) and islamic primary schools that certain population groups must die (Jews and homosexuals). Try...

EDIT: Deleted this one because it mentioned pork.

Seb28 said: "The Scorpion said: "I would strongly suggest reviewing what media you are consuming."I wasn't going to react anymore on this, but be careful with this kind of statements. I am consuming media from all sides and also neutral platforms. The fact that the left media hides so much is very dangerous, as people will live beside reality. Everything I say is substantiated with facts. The islamic hunt on Jews and homosexuals in Europe is real. Yesterday Israel had to send 2 rescue planes ...

BrodyFosse123 said: "Sadly many don’t live their lives following Tina Fey’s mantra: “silent luxury.” Keep your personal views to yourself and make changes as you seem fit. No need to announce it to the world. Let your actions make changes, not your mouth." I think that might have worked if Scherzinger hadn't just made a TikTok showing her walking to the polls with a tagline of "making the RIGHT choice".

blaxx said: "The production is wonderful, but I found him to be overshadowed by the leading ladies' performances. They were terrific.Let's see if Broadway can appreciate Frecknall's style this time around." Agreed, their performances (particularly that of Anjana Vasan as Stella overshadowed his). I'm not sure how NYC would react to this production, though. I wasn't entirely sold by it, although the London critics were. I can't remember what it was now, but I remember there were some cuts to t...

Seb28 said: "Jonathan Cohen said: "I was watching the original Sunset Boulevard last night, and Gloria Swanson was giving one of the biggest, campiest performances I'd ever seen in a mainstream movie. Rather than being a bad actress, I think Nicole Scherzinger just understood the assignment.Desmond being ridiculous and larger than life was always part of the story."I don't think this is a fair comparison. The text (lyrics) actually matched the characters in the film. Both Norma and Joe never ...

Lot666 said: "BETTY22 said: "ALW is as huge Trump fan tooo."Where did you get that from?"Yeah, that isn't true. He had an apartment in Trump Tower but that's long gone. I wouldn't be surprised if he's tight-lipped about in the States but in the UK media he has been less than complimentary about Mr Trump. He's right wing but his membership of the UK Conservative Party has been cancelled as they went more populist and he was against Brexit. RUG has repeatedly issued cease and desist warnings to...

yahyahyah said: "Some of us didn’t think she deserved the Tony in the first place, so that amendment seems a bit over the top.Thankfully, this indiscreet peek into her quiet political machinations has allowed the several many of us who did NOT enjoy her work as much as othersin SB to have space to express our thoughts. I hate raining on people’s parades when they enjoy a show, and if something truly excites folks, energizes others, I stay mum.. but since she is being hung out to dry and her B...

Jay Lerner-Z said: "Offstage Nicole has plummeted dramatically in my estimation.Onstage Nicole still has my respect." I dunno..."toDAAAHHH is the DAAAAAAHHH of closAAAAASTTTT conjuncSHAAAAN" was not a choice that was easy to respect. The Brit cast members' reaction to what half the US thinks are "political differences" but for the rest of the world (at least outside Putin's Russia) are clearly moral ones is going to be interesting to gauge.

Or better, backstage when Patti rocks up, given she didn't earlier this week. Would love to be a fly on the wall then...

Phantom4ever said: "You're right, it is not the original Hal/Maria production, but it is based on it and it does have a lot of similar scenic elements.We have to accept that the original 1986/1988 Hal Prince/Maria Bjornson productions are gone forever. This updated tour, which is what the London production really is, is better than the Lawrence Conner mess of a tour we had to endure.My big question is what sets will be used? They could use the old 3NT sets or some of the old Broadway sets the...

Dylan Smith4 said: "The current West End production is NOT the original Hal Prince production. That version is now a thing of history." Indeed, and it's really sad. While it is "based" on it, it is not the same and reflects our times (not in a good way). No matter what ALW tries to tell you, Cameron Mackintosh is clear that this is a new version. No proscenium statues, reduced fog/candles, cheaper and less elaborate costumes, painted flats instead of sweeping curtains, a decimated orchestra (...

binau said: ""I wouldn't mind so much if this had a rewrite to set in the era Jamie Lloyd wanted it set in and Lloyd didn't have '1949' appear on the screen at the beginning. "I do feel this discussion has been had - I completely get why people can't buy the show if they can't suspend disbelief of the time period. It's an abstract representation and Norma's character is more like faded pop star vibes than a literal silent film star. If you are trying to watch the production and literally beli...

BrodyFosse123 said: "I agree. That Harold Prince Exhibit at the NYPL was crazy insane. They had actual set pieces from SWEENEY TODD and THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA along with the original model sets for the original Broadway productions of COMPANY, FOLLIES, and other shows. Heck, even Patti LuPone’s “Buenos Aires” dress from EVITA. This exhibit should be the template for how a Broadway museum needs to be. If you had the time, you could spend a day or two going thru the scripts and images from al...

binau said: "I actually saw those moments that you describe as camp more like Norma’s desperation to hold onto behaving like her youth as if she was young and famous, so there is a subtext of almost patheticness which is very Norma. Your description of it makes it sound like you don’t see any subtext and Norma is just saying that to make the audience laugh, which is in my opinion a pretty shallow read of the character and production." The reaction from the audience is clear in the recording i...

I am finally listening to this now. I saw the first performance of this production and had mixed reactions, but generally didn't like it. The hype both in London, as intensified in New York, is bewildering to me. I thought listening to this might explain to me what I was missing, with Jamie Lloyd's visuals taken away. I was all set and enjoying it until Nicole came on. She's talented. But she isn't Norma and this is either misdirection, miscasting, or both. How does someone listen to this and...

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, and the orchestra and actors were all super...

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 ContentFirst 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 you know. It does create issues, though—the rest of the cast is incredibly young, and mostly fresh out of drama school with hardly any credits. Tom Franci...

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...