Friday Night Is Fun Night! The Weekend Is Here!

Not really the end of a working week for me really as I've been stuck at home and working from there/here.
The first signs of my cold breaking are happening, thanks be to God! I've had enough and I HATE being ill.

FAB! your weekend cant get any better-can it? x

I've got a bit of a headache or...well..something. I'm somewhere between fuzzy and feeling like my head's full of concrete. Despite a strong coffee, a high dose of ibuprofin, plenty of water, and some time with the aromatherapy candle I'm still not at 100% (or even the 85% or so I need to be truly functional.) Some of this may be undoing a week's attempt to realign my sleep schedule, but who knows. I'm actually tempted to use my £20.09 New Year's voucher from lastminute to book a hotel room for a day just to get a proper bath (only showers in the house) and a night on a better bed.

But anyways, this is a theatre site so let's have a bit of a theatre discussion. You've just started a new theatre management company and have unlimited capital to buy five West End houses to renovate and produce in. Which venues would you take, what changes (if any) would you make, and what shows would you put into them?

My answers once I can actually think again (I only know two things for certain!)

Brrr brrrr brrrrrrr

Planning on consuming muchas vino tonight at home in the warm.

Well done Pidgeon, as youve not had the extra money before feel free to pass it over.

The theatres I like most are in pretty good shape, I'd renovate the loos at Trafalgar studios though and keep studio 2 for short runs of new work and promote the best/popular upstairs.

It would be lovely to kick WWRY out of the dominion and fully renovate/restore the place and put on a big brash feel good musical.

I'd like to spruce up the Adelphi for what purpose not sure.

"It would be lovely to kick WWRY out of the dominion and fully renovate/restore the place and put on a big brash feel good musical."

Short of the disused areas, the Dominion is actually in fantastic shape (certainly far better than, say, Drury Lane) and needs to stay that way due to being a protected building.

Ohh I like this game Mr Exedore; it's a nice theoretical blueprint for the Future Facist State of Sister George.

Ok I'd bagsy

1 - Prince Edward

I love this theatre and I love what Cameron's done to it but in it I would love to see big old school musicals.

I'd start with Mame. I'd love to see a new production (new sets, new choreography and new stars) presented with the same care and love that gets lavished on Rodgers and Hammerstein shows, complete with full Orchestra in an open pit and red curtains etc. I wouldn't want the productions to be faithful revivals or a statement that the good old days were better but rather a heightened glorification of those shows so they're are as good as time and our imagination has inflated them to be (Mame would be followed by Gypsy).


Lyric, Shaftesbury Avenue

I have a soft spot for the grand old dame theatres of Shaftesbury Avenue and in this one I would present a Night and Day season. So every day (Tues-Sun) there would be matinees of classic Coward and Wilde plays suitably performed by Peneolpe Keith, Felicity Kendal etc and then in the evening the theatre would be used to present new plays either inspired by these 'classics' or productions of the clasics that try to capture the sense of subversiveness that these plays originally enjoyed.


New London

I actually really like this theatre and even the building but boy does it need a makeover. I'd refurbish it first (if only to remove any lasting stains of Imagine This) but I'd keep it's quirks such as the escalator which I think are just about to come back into public affection. I'd be happy to have War House here but after that's finished I'd want to present new musicals, probably intially American shows but hopefully in future British shows by British composers who are not slavishy trying to copy Sondheim or the 80's power shows..


London Palladium

I'd give this the refurbishment that Cameron would and Andrew never seems to be able to afford to do as theatre has been very hard to him.....

Then I would stop presenting musicals and make it back into a variety house - presenting bands, singers and comedians as I remember going to see Rufus Does Judy here and suddenly realising how perfectly designed the Palladium, despite it's size, is for individual performers as it was actually designed for that purpose!


St Martins

I'd buy this only so I could then shut down The Mousetrap and then I'd rename the theatre Atonement and it would only be allowded to present LIMITED seasons of new writing.


I'll probably want to change those choices in about 5 minutes but within the commercial West End that's how I'd start to play!

(Oh and what DVD's have you got to watch LP?)

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Updated On: 1/9/09 at 11:42 AM

Ahh a good selection LP - and I knew I'd want to change my choices as already I now want to convert the New London so it could hold Mr G's arena production of 'Mr G The Musical'.

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I'd revert it back to being about Annabel Dickson... her parents will never know.

'She's a naughty girl with bad habit, a bad habit for drugs...'

Or maybe even a revival of Tsunamarama.

Updated On: 1/9/09 at 11:59 AM

We never watch TV and what we do watch is mostly caught up from DVDs. A few weeks back I was given the first series of US TV series 'Brothers And Sisters' to watch. It sat there unopened until 3 days ago when, full of cold and slumped on the sofa, we decided to give it ago -WOW -I loved it, loved it, loved it! We ended up watching all 24 episodes in just about 2 days. A great series that is undemanding and easy to watch but boy did it make me cry sometimes. Mainly due to the wonderful central mother role played brilliantly by Sally Field. The second series was bought today and will probably be watched in its entirety by 2mrw night! Anyone else see this and like it, dislike it? I had never heard of it before -its 2 years old now!

Updated On: 1/9/09 at 12:35 PM

Extending the B&S love, the third series started this week on more4.
I love that it has hotties of all ages and such emotional performances.

By hotties you mean this....

and this

and the best!