I Was, Who I Said I Was!!!

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I Was, Who I Said I Was!!!

Posted: 1/2/10 at 7:55pm

Yesterday now, is tinged with a little bit of sadness, as one of London's best show performed for the last time at the Playhouse Theatre.

I was lucky enough to say I was there albeit in the heavens in a 17:50 seat, however I would gladly pay top price, for a better view, however I cannot moan as it was a pleasure to be there, the atmosphere was electric.

As I said on another thread Douglas Hodge performance is the best I have witnessed on stage and I mean the best, Roger Allam was sublime too and for all his detractors John Barrowman done a very good performance, fortunately or unfortunately I did not see Graham Norton. All six performances I saw were a blast.

I think I know what the answer is going to be, but if you were lucky enough to catch more than one Albin/ZaZa who was your favourite?

Bitimore Theatre - New York, be prepared!!!

I Was, Who I Said I Was!!!

Posted: 1/2/10 at 8:21pm

Quast and Allam, without a shadow of a doubt. Quast's vocals, plus Allam's acting, combined with their fabulous chemistry... Wish I could have been there for the atmosphere but finances did not permit, plus I felt I had got everything out of the show that I could at this point. I really hope to see it in New York. Did people get emotional?

I Was, Who I Said I Was!!!

Posted: 1/3/10 at 1:11am

Longacre Theatre, not the Biltmore (which is now the Friedman).

Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.

I Was, Who I Said I Was!!!

Posted: 1/3/10 at 6:05am

I saw all the casts, but I'd probably be shot for who's my favourite! (It's not Barrowman either) :P

I Was, Who I Said I Was!!!

Posted: 1/3/10 at 5:22pm

I WILL be shot, I LOVED Roger Allam, thought he did an AMAZING job, and for me is on par with Norton... His vocals were off, but he brought that character to life more than ANYONE else!

I Was, Who I Said I Was!!!

Posted: 1/3/10 at 5:38pm

Of the two couples I saw Allam and Quast were better than Barrowman and Burke but, having said that, individually I preferred Simon Burke to Philip Quast as Simon had a more contemporary feel to his interpretation of Georges.

I Was, Who I Said I Was!!!

Posted: 1/3/10 at 5:51pm

Why would anyone get shot for preferring Allam? :P

For me, Allam and Hodge were very much on a par with each other. However, as Quast seemed to up the game for whoever he was sharing the stage with, Allam just pips Hodge for the Playhouse run, but Chocolate-Factory-Hodge draws them back to equal again. XD

Notes from the Earlham Street Gutter

I Was, Who I Said I Was!!!

Posted: 1/3/10 at 6:43pm

i saw it with norton. ok his vocals were not great but it was funny cause he couldnt sing and knew he couldnt but he did as con says bring the character to life!

No Doubt Our Paths Will Cross Again ! Matt

I Was, Who I Said I Was!!!

Posted: 1/3/10 at 9:15pm

I never saw the Quast-Hodge / Pacey-Norton pairings but I saw all the others and I have to say I found Quast-Allam by far the most entertaining and convincing of all the leads.

I thought Roger Allam was absolutely sublime and completely hysterical as Albin (even though I loved the vulnerability Douglas Hodge exhibited in the role when I saw him last week). And Phillip Quast was just mesmerising too - he had so much fun with the part of compere and his singing voice is unsurpassable. I felt they had far better chemistry than any other pairing IMHO.

Here's the bit where I might be shot: I think I'd have enjoyed Simon Burke's performance a great deal more if I hadn't ended up feeling sorry for him (both as a character and as an actor!) in having to put up with such relentless shrieking and selfish narcisissm as displayed by 'his' Albin/Zaza.

As I've said previously, I would liked to have seen Quast's performance alongside Hodge's and I am very intrigued to see / hear how Kelsey Grammer's interpretation of Georges gels with Hodge's Albin/Zaza.

Seen some shows in my time....

#10

I Was, Who I Said I Was!!!

Posted: 1/4/10 at 7:40am

I'm going to be awkward and say that i didn't really have a favourite 'pairing' as pairings where i've loved the zaza i've preferred the Georges of another pairing.
But if i HAD to pick a pairing it would be the Hodge/Lawson one. That is purely based on my idea of the characters and Hodges performance, as i did much prefer Burkes 'Georges' to Lawson. Simon was a lot more debonair and playful. Sad to say Lawson isn't even my next favourite Georges as Quast takes that honour. Brining the same kind of style as Burke, but within a more acceptable age bracket. Where i did think Burke/Barrowman were amazing, both with such powerful voices and their chemistry was sublime, unfortunately Barrowmans Zaza was a bit too cabaret for the character in my mind. Don't get me wrong i adore Barrowman, his voice is great, his audience interaction was hilarious, and when he sang 'I am what I am' never was there a dry eye. It's just he's not my idea of who Albin/Zaza is.

There is however one more pairing i'd like to add. that of Burke/Mellon (Chris Mellon who usually plays Tabarro) the only time i've seen an understudy in the lead, and he was superb. Would love to have seen how that pairing could have developed had they more time.

#11

I Was, Who I Said I Was!!!

Posted: 1/4/10 at 1:42pm

sad to see this one go-even more so as I didn't get down for any of the final shows. I loved the orginal pairing I saw-Hodge/Lawson, and though it's not popular I loved Barrowman/Burke-though it was really Burke that kept me going back and I agree I'd like to have seen him alongside another Zaza/Albin.

Fingers crossed I'll be across the pond soon enough to catch this over there.

Maybe I'm on nobody's side http://phdconfessions.blogspot.com/

#12

I Was, Who I Said I Was!!!

Posted: 1/6/10 at 2:04pm

My fingers crossed too!

"Quast and Allam, without a shadow of a doubt. Quast's vocals, plus Allam's acting, combined with their fabulous chemistry... Wish I could have been there for the atmosphere but finances did not permit, plus I felt I had got everything out of the show that I could at this point. I really hope to see it in New York. Did people get emotional?"

Not really emotional, just handed flowers out at the end, dissapointed they did not do a speech. I am not one who hangs around the stage door, but did this time, hour and a half no one came out, so I went home.

Funnily enough a hour before the performance a lady with a dog came in, I thought dogs are no allowed in theatre, only later did I realise it was Sonia Friedman!!!

#13

I Was, Who I Said I Was!!!

Posted: 1/6/10 at 2:14pm

Danny La Rue was in pantomime in Plymouth in 1984 and one day took his dog to the theatre.
He was stopped abruptly by the stage door keeper and refused entry with the dog, though the dog had been inside with him many times before.
Danny's answer. 'No dog, No Danny, No Danny, No Show!' and got back in his car to go home. The management caught up with him and show went up just 15 mins late!
'Haha 25 years'

Updated On: 1/6/10 at 02:14 PM

#14

I Was, Who I Said I Was!!!

Posted: 1/6/10 at 2:15pm

Updated On: 1/6/10 at 02:15 PM

#15

I Was, Who I Said I Was!!!

Posted: 1/6/10 at 3:14pm

^Fantastic!!!

Does anyone think La Cage could possibly return to the West End within the next couple of years? Sort of like Fame/Footloose returning?

#16

I Was, Who I Said I Was!!!

Posted: 1/6/10 at 3:42pm

Ms Friedman (her with the dog) did state when the official closing was announced that the show will return to the West End, possibly by the end of 2010.
Its their show, they wont let it go to waste.
If its a success on Broadway come April then they could use that as the guideline for its West End return.

#17

I Was, Who I Said I Was!!!

Posted: 1/6/10 at 5:15pm

It looks like we've got a new poster.

Welcome DayDream!

#18

I Was, Who I Said I Was!!!

Posted: 1/6/10 at 5:25pm

Yea, welcome.

#19

I Was, Who I Said I Was!!!

Posted: 1/6/10 at 5:31pm

Good to hear that it will possibly re-open. It must be quite a cheap production to run when you think about it.

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