ONE MAN TWO GUVNORS (Spoilers Inside) — Page 4

That happened when I saw the show in April, so I guess it's a common adlib that he uses in the event that that happens.

I saw Saturday's matinee and one of the men lifted the box as well. Also, right after Francis asked if anyone had food someone in the audience offered him a tin of spotted dick which was passed up to the stage and led to a lot of jokes. Right before the intermission someone got up to use the bathroom and James Corden called him out. After the man left he asked the man's friend for his name and had us all shout it to surprise him while he was peeing.

I was lucky enough to have been chosen to be one of the trunk lifters and was able to lift Corden up. He said the thing about it never having happened before, which I found puzzling at the time. The trunk itself is extremely light -- I'm not sure what it's made of, but the material is very light and of course there is nothing inside the trunk. Corden is not THAT heavy to lift (at least not anymore), particularly in that manner. I'm not particularly strong, but it wasn't hard to do at all. Corden made a big show of feeling how big my bicep muscles were, and I was thinking, "There's nothing there to feel." (The bicep feeling was a set up for a joke about one of my arms being bigger than the other.)

Even though I didn't understand it, it was nice to get the attention and flattery. And other audience members congratulated me (a couple asked me if I was a plant).

Then at the stage door after the show, I asked him if it was really true that no one had ever lifted the trunk, and he said, "It happens all the time." Then I asked him why he said that it was the first time, and he said, "Just trying to be nice."

Then I felt like I was tricked, kind of like finding out that the hummus sandwich and the woman from the audience aren't real. Then I was thinking about how his commenting that it was the first time when it really wasn't fit in with the other parts that aren't real, and whether the show is a commentary on audience expectations and what it means for something to be "real" on stage. And then I was thinking that I was overanalyzing and Corden is just going for the largest audience reaction he can.

It was a lot of fun to be an audience participant. And I got felt up by a Tony winner and bantered with him a bit!

(We also shouted out to someone going to the bathroom, too, although she didn't come back for a really, really long time. After she came back, we sang happy birthday to her.)

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I have a friend that went to see this the other day and raved about his improv ability. I pointed out to her that most was not really new, but it is amazing that it certainly SEEMS llike it is.

She argued with me, saying I was wrong and after all, the people she went with had seen it before and THEY knew it was brand new.

Oy. Maybe I should send her this link.

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Dramamama, there is a lot of ad-libbing. When I saw it last week, the sandwich part went in a completely different direction due to the food items that audience members gave Frances, and we never got to the hummus section at all! And subsequently both guvnors came out on stage eating said items, and I don't remember that at all from the first time I saw the show (in previews). So there is a lot that changes for each show, at least in Act 1.

The show was pretty insanely awesome! I loved it, and I want to see it again. The adlibbing was so fresh.

The highlight of the show is the scene with the two hotel rooms, and the creepy hotel assistant. He was brilliant.

justafan, it,s a combination of all those factors. The theater is already booked for a new play, Dead Accounts. James Corden is getting married so would not stay on anyway, and Daniel Rigby, who plays Alan, told me that en extension is out of the question because of all the paperwork that would entail. I'm hoping some of the cast will return to the original production which is still playing at the West End. I have no idea whether it has recouped.

I was wondering whether Corden would pick out a famous person at the Actors Fund performance to do the trunk lifting. I'm a little surprised he didn't (although he may not recognize Broadway performers since he is not from the US). That's pretty funny about the kisses -- were they on the cheek or somewhere else?

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I was sort of outraged at first that this wasn't nominated for "Best New Play" because I found "Other Desert Cities" to be trite and "Clybourne Park" to just be kind of boring. However, when I got to thinking about it, it totally makes sense. I mean, there isn't much here in way of actual "play." The show itself is fine, but it's all the adlibbing and stuff that really makes the show.

I just saw this show again this afternoon and it was pretty much identical to my first experience---but it was just as funny--we had better seats this time---4th row, center. Even tho' I knew what to expect---James Corden is still amazing and you enjoy watching his facial expressions, etc. I enjoyed the music more this time also---because, again, I was able to see the playing and the smirks, etc. Wonderful actors (& musicians) in "One Man..."---I'll miss it.

Only the hummus is a plant.

I was also at Wednesday's matinee, which was my second time (with the first time being when I got to be one of the trunk lifters). Wednesday's show was pretty straightforward, although during the "I can't believe Rachel's dead" speech, Oliver Chris broke and started laughing, which made James Corden start laughing. Oliver cut the speech short, said something like, "Believe it or not, this is supposed to be a very sad speech," and the show eventually got back on track.

One of the trunk lifters lifted up the trunk, and Corden did his stuff, although it made me realize that, in my first show, even though Corden didn't say that much more, the whole sequence was definitely longer. He was a lot more playful with us -- Wednesday's lifters weren't very responsive to him. I also thought the general energy level was higher the first time. There were a lot of events during that show (two additional people offered sandwiches (well, one was half a pretzel), an audience member went to the bathroom for a REALLY long time, we sang Happy Birthday (and gave the birthday girl half a pretzel), the suggestion for the date with Dolly was "snogging"), and I think it raised the energy level.

dtzumbrunnen, thanks for the info. I think that's great that he kissed them! I think the butt slapping is pretty common, though -- I got slapped on the butt, too, but in a non-sexual way (he said something like, "Let's go" and then did the butt slap, and he did it on Wednesday, too).

A couple of questions: Does the drummer usually get hit with the fire extinguisher foam as well? That happened the first show, but not the second. And someone said that the female ensemble members switch off who is going to be the audience plant. Are other parts switched around, too? I noticed the same ensemble member was the sandwich guy for both shows I saw.

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