The Woman in White West End Revival- Page 2

[jo]

Posted: 11/9/17 at 12:45am

I believe that song  

Thanks for the link -- very good singing voices!

[Lot666]

Posted: 11/9/17 at 2:01pm

chernjam said: "Love this- from the new cast:https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=8&v=AIR84jX7DS8"

Loved it. Have you seen the set design miniatures?

https://twitter.com/MorganLarge/status/919847535497437186

[Lot666]

Posted: 11/9/17 at 2:01pm

Updated On: 11/9/17 at 02:01 PM

[johannabarker]

Posted: 11/9/17 at 2:31pm

I didn't see this on Broadway but I was under the impression that the character of Marian Halcombe was the "leading lady". But the media seems to focus on Anna O'Byrne as Laura Fairlie.

[Justin D]

Posted: 11/9/17 at 3:14pm

I really wish this would still be playing when i Go to London next year but it ends before then.

When it first came out i really didn't like it at all and found getting through the recording difficult. It wasn't until after the Phantom Movie came out and ALW released that CD with instrumental music from Phantom and Woman in White that helped me get into the music more, I've found this helpful with other shows in the past where I got into it more after hearing instrumental versions. Eventually saw the show in London and enjoyed it a lot (except for the squeaky revolve in the stage).

It is a pity it did not come out nowadays since the projection technology has improved A LOT, I found the original to be a bit too dim because it had to be otherwise you could not see the projections properly, Also I thought that the images projected were too CGI looking.

The bit with the train was cool though

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 11/9/17 at 5:02pm

Lot666 said: "chernjam said: "Love this- from the new cast:https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=8&v=AIR84jX7DS8"

Loved it. Have you seen the set design miniatures?

https://twitter.com/MorganLarge/status/919847535497437186"

Looks like it will be a lovely set.

I'm curious if any new incidental and scene change music has been added. From what I recall in the original there was virtually none since so many scene changes just involved changing the projections.

[chernjam]

Posted: 11/9/17 at 8:13pm

Lot - thanks for sharing the tweet with the pics of the set.  When WIW first premiered on broadway I enjoyed it and saw it twice, but never thought we'd really see it again (and wasn't overly disappointed about it - it wasn't like I was going to miss it like I miss Sunset or Aspects)  Anyway I was always curious because from time to time there were reports of ALW reworking it.  Seeing those pics I'm getting excited about this to see what changes and alterations have been made to the score and the story.  

As for it closing Justin before you get back to London... if it's well received, I don't doubt that the "Strictly limited season" isn't so strictly limited after all.

[missthemountains]

Posted: 11/10/17 at 2:57am

I'm SO excited this is being seen again!! Please if anyone has any information or more clips, share with us! 

[Justin D]

Posted: 11/10/17 at 7:05am

back to the music, I've also thought (it would never happen) it would be cool if they did a movie (not a musical movie) of the show/story and have it scored by ALW with themes from the show

[Lot666]

Posted: 11/10/17 at 8:58am

This revival is giving me great pains. I desperately want to see it, but current financial factors would make it quite a reach. I so wish they'd announce a Broadway production.

Back when the ENO revival of Sunset was announced, I almost dropped a pile of money to run over to London for that limited run. When it transferred to Broadway, I was quite happy to have waited, as I got to see it several times instead of a single, very expensive experience. 

Decisions, decisions.

Updated On: 11/10/17 at 08:58 AM

[Eurotrash]

Posted: 11/10/17 at 11:26am

I'm going! One of my favourite places. It's also had Yank! and Death Take a Holiday recently, done to a high standard. It's in the railway arches at Charing Cross near Trafalgar Square, but it feels like a traditional. theatre inside, it has a rake, and some balcony seats. But beware it's very long and thin, the back rows are a long way from the stage.  

Treat yourself to the very nearby, pre-theatre menu at the Corinthia Hotel. The rooms are £600 a night, but the 'early bird' deal in the very quiet but sumptuous hotel restaurant at around £25 pounds for two courses is a delicious steal.

[missthemountains]

Posted: 11/15/17 at 12:42am

I'm curious to see what the changes made are. If it's making Laura the leading lady, that's a poor decision, because she's definitely one of the least interesting characters. Also I've actually never seen the Broadway production in full, does anyone have a way I can see it?

Has anyone seen this yet? Am dying to hear how it is!! In the meantime I've just been listening to when If It Even Runs A Minute covers "All For Laura". So beautiful.

[Lot666]

Posted: 11/15/17 at 8:11am

Was there a story published somewhere that indicated the book was being rewritten (i.e., to make Laura the "leading" lady? I haven't heard anything about that.

Updated On: 11/15/17 at 08:11 AM

[chernjam]

Posted: 11/15/17 at 9:44am

Lot - with each interview that ALW gave since TWIW closed and other productions opened and they did wide-ranging things, he's said a lot of things.  1 - In hindsight it never worked because there's nothing shocking about the story anymore (remember reading that and thinking, well I guess he'll be raiding that score for tunes in the future) 2 - that it would work better as a chamber piece and that he was re-writing the score to do that 3 - they were revising/rewriting the score and story.  So in short, it really seems to depend on what day you're speaking to him.  

That being said, it has been 15 years - so it will be curious to see what inspired him to work on this.  And with some new collaborators and creatives involved, maybe they got all the elements to work (kind of like what Simon Philips did for Love Never Dies)

[Lot666]

Posted: 11/15/17 at 10:56am

Interesting, chernjam; I hadn't heard/read that commentary from ALW. The original production had already changed the story line from the novel with respect to Glyde's secret, which Anne was privy to.

[sparepart973]

Posted: 11/22/17 at 10:31am

I saw the first preview. 

I haven't seen the original Palace Theatre version, besides the clips that are/were floating on YouTube. I can reassure everyone that this is a projection/video free zone. 

Thom Southerland made an introductory speech on how this is the first preview and how things might look strange at times because it's a first performance, or just not work altogether. Luckily, the latter never happened, but there were instances when things did look half-cooked and not quite finished. 

It's a unit sit, just like the design miniature shows.. There's a fireplace downstage, and in the middle of the stage, a wall structure that glides into the wings and back in various points on the stage while scene changes happen behind it. Though overused, it's pretty well done and is put into dramatic use quite effectively. Otherwise, the actors shift furniture, book cases or doorways to change the scenery. 

Carolyn Maitland gives it her all as Marianne, although I thought they didn't do such a great job making her the less attractive homey sister. I also feel that she didn't have the awkwardness or wallflower quality at the beginning, which would have been interesting for an audience to see her change into a stronger character throughout the piece because of the trauma and violence in her life. But she delivers her "All For Laura" pretty nicely, and that's half the work. She struggled a lot with her costumes towards the beginning and needed to be zipped up on stage. Anna O'Brien (Laura) and Sophie Reeves (Anne) look nothing alike, so it wasn't too believable that they'd be confused by anyone. Chris Peluso (Percival Glyde) is a boring villain, but Greg Castiglioni (Count Fosco) is a scene stealer. It's funny how I never realized that "You Can Get Away with Anything" is an ode to "La donna è mobile". No fat suit, and the mice are now replaced with cash. 

The music is pretty much the star of the show given it's ALW, and the lyrics are quite witty and fun. I've always thought that Love Never Dies borrowed so many motifs from Woman in White, but sitting through tonight I just thought that Woman in White is the first draft of Love Never Dies altogether. Orchestrations were very good: I'd say a piano keyboard, a synth keyboard, a flute, a string or two or three, and drums/percussion. It sounds like the string quartets and arrangements they put together for shows at the Menier. 

The scene where Marianne is snooping on Glyde and Fosco is very clunky and needs to be restaged. She's standing on tables as though she's listening from the outside while it's raining. Didn't work at all. The final scene where Glyde is run over by the train felt like a fly-less Defying Gravity. Glyde just drops on the stage in spread-eagle and there's a lot of smoke. I don't know (but hope) that there was an effect in there that they weren't quite able to pull off by this first performance. I thought All For Laura was performed in the interior of the mansion, but once the song ended they talk about how Marianne is outside, but the staging did not look like it was set in the outdoors (though they've done the interior/exterior scenes quite clearly in other scenes), so that needs to be redone. 

Poor attendance in this rather shabby theatre that is in desperate need of carpet replacement and paint. Surprisingly, the bathroom is in mint condition and looks new. There was absolutely no buzz despite it being a first preview, though from what I can see, serious ALW fans sporting their Phantom t-shirts. 

There are times that I dozed off and started thinking about work during some of the overdone recitatives, but it's an overall good show if you like the music, ALW, any of the cast, or if you just want to tick it off your list.
 

[Lot666]

Posted: 11/28/17 at 1:52pm

sparepart973 said: "Anna O'Brien (Laura) and Sophie Reeves (Anne) look nothing alike, so it wasn't too believable that they'd be confused by anyone."

I was wondering about this, because the plot hinges of their being all-but indistinguishable from one another.

sparepart973 said: "Greg Castiglioni (Count Fosco) is a scene stealer...No fat suit, and the mice are now replaced with cash."

So Count Fosco is not a heavyset man in this version? 

I'm struggling to see how the rat running across his shoulders could be replaced with cash. 

sparepart973 said: "I've always thought that Love Never Dies borrowed so many motifs from Woman in White, but sitting through tonight I just thought that Woman in White is the first draft of Love Never Dies altogether."

How so? I don't see this at all.

sparepart973 said: "The final scene where Glyde is run over by the train felt like a fly-less Defying Gravity. Glyde just drops on the stage in spread-eagle and there's a lot of smoke. I don't know (but hope) that there was an effect in there that they weren't quite able to pull off by this first performance.

Where does he "drop" from, and why? Glyde doesn't fall to his death; he's supposed to be run over by a train.

sparepart973 said:  "Poor attendance..."

This surprises me, as I've seen far more (and very positive) tweets from audience members so far than I was expecting to.

[chernjam]

Posted: 11/28/17 at 2:56pm

Lot - he was reporting from the first preview.  I read in a recent thread on another site that the evenings the people were reporting from were pretty well sold (3/4 to sold out) - From what it sounds, this is an "off-Broadway" type venue, so I'm sure things will pick up once they have their opening night and their are official reviews.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 11/29/17 at 1:14am

I love the first like 15 mins. So haunting! I still use it as cardio musical, ha.

[doritxuuu]

Posted: 11/29/17 at 5:02am

I was there last night...they had some Cyber Monday sales so the attendance was up versus what people might have seen during the first week (I think the Charing Cross is historically hard to fill despite the fantastic work Southerland has been doing).

We were talking to Carolyn after the show and she said they've been changing it a lot and will do some further changes before they officially open although sparepart's review captures rather fully what I've seen. It makes sense though given the small space/budget they work with. 

I agree that Anna and Sophie do not look like twins but it felt that they were trying to work around it for the rather important scene around the end (Chris and Anna didn't seem to stand face to face at any point during that scene). The death scene is the same as described but it is clear that he's getting hit by a train and not falling (if not by the visual elements, they do mention very clearly that they are at the station) - agree though that his fall has room for improvement. The stage is rather small so they have limited room to work with but I think they manage to do a good job with it. Agree that the promotional activities seemed to suggest Anna would be the leading lady but Laura definitely remains the supporting character, 

Overall a lovely performance but I wasn't blown away by the source material itself. Our group did point out some resemblances to Love Never Dies too so glad to know we were not the only ones.

As a bonus, we spotted Michael Grandage who was in the audience last night.

[mullein]

Posted: 11/29/17 at 9:28am

saw it last week with no knowledge of the original production... fwiw i thought the tiny stage was utilized well and the performances were good (with the exception of Chris peluso who is not at all an interesting or believable villain) but god that story is a mess.

[Lot666]

Posted: 11/29/17 at 9:34am

RippedMan said: "I love the first like 15 mins. So haunting! I still use it as cardio musical, ha."

Very. ALW does eerie quite well. 

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 11/29/17 at 1:51pm

"The final scene where Glyde is run over by the train felt like a fly-less Defying Gravity. Glyde just drops on the stage in spread-eagle and there's a lot of smoke."

Can anyone elaborate on this? Is the staging somehow similar to Defying Gravity or was the meaning here that the effect is as underwhelming as a fly-less Defying Gravity? He just drops while surrounded by smoke? Is there a sound effect at least?

[Lot666]

Posted: 11/29/17 at 1:59pm

CATSNYrevival said: ""The final scene where Glyde is run over by the train felt like a fly-less Defying Gravity. Glyde just drops on the stage in spread-eagle and there's a lot of smoke."

Can anyone elaborate on this? Is the staging somehow similar to Defying Gravity or was the meaning here that the effect is as underwhelming as a fly-less Defying Gravity? He just drops while surrounded by smoke? Is there a sound effect at least?"

That's what I was hoping would be explained. I can't picture it.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 11/29/17 at 2:23pm

Right? Wouldn't it be more dramatic if he just vanished in the smoke or something? Or would that be confusing?