Back from London. Here are my theatrical observations. (Long)- Page 2

[barcelona20]

Posted: 1/26/09 at 11:02am

Just curious, how much does a trip like this cost these days?

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 1/26/09 at 11:19am

Is Matt Rawle the same one from the recent Evita revival?

[mallardo]

Posted: 1/26/09 at 11:23am

Agree with you on Twelfth Night, Sunset Boulevard and La Cage aux Folles - the three on your roster I've seen. But if you enjoyed Entertaining Mr. Sloan - I see it this week - you missed a great one in Loot, up at the Tricycle theatre. Perfection.

[homeimp]

Posted: 1/26/09 at 11:25am

Can't speak for the original poster, but my trip (one person only) was a British Airways package deal - hotel included, 2 nights free- round trip from Toronto Canada. I believe it was something like $1500 Canadian. So maybe $1300 US? Of course the ticket prices were additional and the hotel (Royal National) was not first class but acceptable.

Oliver and War Horse were both great! Zorro was better than I expected, but the book had holes big enough to drive a Mack truck through. Sunset was brilliant!

[toanythingtaboo 2]

Posted: 1/26/09 at 11:49am

I agree, it's interesting to hear an American's POV on the UK theatre scene - especially when its a nice opinion.

On a basic level, UK talent shows are far more successful here because we simply have few of them on far fewer (main) channels compared to the US...mainly BBC1, ITV1 and Channel 4. Each channel spawing massive reality hits such as Strictly Come Dancing (transferred to you as Dancing With The Stars), Big Brother (love it or hate it, you can't deny that its succeeded at global domination) and Pop Idol/now X-Factor which we all know about...amongst those mega-reality tv shows, lies BBC's series with Andrew Lloyd Webber.

We've had 3 series, finding 'Maria', 'Joseph' and 'Nancy & Oliver(s)'. People genuinely watch it, the public lap it up and seem to properly care about these contestants and picking the 'best', and once the winner has been chosen they do a great job of selling the audience the tickets!

I agree that its not a great way of finding leading actors, but in this day in age it fits, and it gets people who would not normally bother going to see a show in that seat - bringing the whole family too.

ALW has become a celebrity thanks to his constant appearing on BBC, and currently is using his 'expertise' to pick an act to (hopefully) lead the UK to The Eurovision Song Contest.

He's like Simon Cowell, but friendlier and less of a money-grabbing opportunist.

...well...sort of.

[kec]

Posted: 1/26/09 at 12:32pm

"Is Matt Rawle the same one from the recent Evita revival? "

Yes.

BTW, with regards to the RSC production of Hamlet, which starred David Tennant, there is a petition up requesting that a DVD be made of the performance. It's got well over 5000 signatures at the moment. There has been a bit of publicity about it in the British Press, and the RSC is considering the possibility. Information can be found in this message thread on the West End Board:


Petition for DVD of David Tennant's Hamlet Updated On: 1/26/09 at 12:32 PM

[Scripps2]

Posted: 1/26/09 at 2:20pm

"I am THIS close to scheduling a London trip just to see him. How crazy is that?"

Very!

The high respect I hold for your opinion PJ is sinking faster than £ to $.

I'm having to be dragged (forgive the unintentional pun) kicking and screaming to see him in this.

[Scripps2]

Posted: 1/26/09 at 2:24pm

"Any idea what the British acting community thinks of this?"

You could try asking on the West End board.

I'm not a theatre-professional but there are plenty of people on the West End board who are.

[homeimp]

Posted: 1/26/09 at 3:23pm

Hey, I'm coming from Toronto to Hartford Conn. just to see Matthew Modine and Henry Hodges do To Kill A Mockingbird, and they're not exactly world class theatre artists - yet. I don't even know the Scout. So you're not the only crazy one. I saw Graham Norton in La Cage, without having any idea of who he is, and I thought he was really good, as was Steven Pacey opposite him. I don't think you will be disappointed if you go. I think
"kicking and screaming" may be impressed as well - albeit grudgingly.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 1/26/09 at 3:48pm

homeimp - I took advantage of the same deal from Chicago. Single round-trip ticket plus one night hotel (and breakfast) was $550. Though I'm in a huge battle with BA regarding the Terms and Conditions of the promotion. According to their own detailed Terms and Conditions, you must buy a round-trip ticket from the U.S. to qualify for the hotel promotion. The number of nights free is determined on the occupancy of the hotel room (one night for single, two nights for double or more). So I bought one round-trip ticket for myself since my partner is meeting me from Spain. Since the occupancy of the hotel room will be two, by their own Terms and Conditions, I deserve two free nights, but the website will not allow you to choose "2" when reserving the hotel if you have only bought one round-trip ticket. When I phone BA to ask about it, I was told I was stupid, greedy and manipulative by the Supervisor, who then said she would send an email to the corporate office to have to the Terms and Conditions rewritten (which is sounds like an admission of wrongdoing). She would never let me finish a sentence and just kept loudly interrupting me and saying the same thing over and over. She said there was no other person above her to speak to. Period. And she told me that in all her years of working for BA and in all the years of having this promotion, I was the only customer to have ever pointed this out.

Now, I know she may not have the authority to do anything, but she could have simply said so and directed me to the corporate office (for which she refused to give any information other than the email link on the website) and I might have dropped it. But to have received such a thorough verbal beating for simply asking them to comply by their own Terms and Conditions, I sent a message off to the corporate office detailing the conversation, date and time, and her name. Having been previously yelled at over Christmas for calling regarding a lost piece of baggage, I can only assume I will receive no reply.

It is a great deal, but flying BA always comes with a price. Compared to BA, American Airlines even seems friendly.

Check the Terms and Conditions. BA claims by phone that the number of free nights is determined by the number of round-trip tickets purchased. But they sure don't have that in writing. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the link at the bottom that says "Full terms and conditions". They pop up in a separate window. Scroll down to "Hotel offer terms and conditions". Read items 1, 5, and 6.


British Airways Redefines English Language

Updated On: 1/26/09 at 03:48 PM

[homeimp]

Posted: 1/26/09 at 4:02pm

Thanks for writing, Sister Matt. I tried the link, but it demanded a membership log-in and a PIN , which I don't have, so I couldn't check it out any further. I think I understand your complaint and what you are saying is logical. Sometimes logic doesn't work well in the modern world. Seeing as you mentioned Chicago I will tell you I saw August: Osage County on my trip. At the stage door someone asked Amy Morton the Tony nominated star of the show, how she liked the cold London weather. She replied, "Are you kidding? I'm from Chicago. This is heaven!"

[Taryn]

Posted: 1/26/09 at 5:01pm

I was just in London myself for a theatre course. We saw about 20 shows in two weeks. I entirely understand what you're saying about the British relationship to theatre. It's incredibly palpable but at the sake time I have difficulty pinpointing why I feel that it is palpable. At the same time, there seems to be much less interest in celebrity. Far less stage dooring seems to go on. I was shocked when only one other person wanted to see Derek Jacobi after Twelfth Night. There are exceptions, of course. I know David Tennant attracted hordes of fans, and there was a respectable showing even when he was out.

Because of the course, I was able to see a lot of sold out shows, including A Little Night Music, Hamlet, and The Family Reunion at the Donmar. An amazing experience, no less for the city and the culture as the theatre.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 1/26/09 at 5:13pm

I updated the link using a different browser, so perhaps it will work this time. My father once said I was a logical person living in an illogical world, which will probably cause my ultimate demise one day.

Amy Morton is right. I checked the weather in London and it's balmy by comparison!

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 1/26/09 at 7:54pm

The weather was lovely whilst I was there. I believe it was only unbearably chilly one day.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 1/27/09 at 12:13pm

Glad to hear you had such a good time, yankee! As always, thanks for sharing.

Can't wait to see the pictures!