Back From a Disappointing London

[tappedout]

Posted: 4/18/04 at 9:27pm

Alright just spent 2 weeks in London, great trip but i won't bore you. The musicals I saw were: Fame, Bombay Dreams, Blood Brothers, Jerry Springer the Opera and then I saw Judi Dench in the RSC presentation of Alls Well That Ends Well. I loved Blood Brothers so that is the exception to what I am about to say: The musical casts in London have become really weak. I felt like I was watching semi-professional theatre most of the time. Most of the actors had no presence and some looked almost uncomfortable on stage. The voices were ok... not fabulous but decent and the acting was so melodramatic i wanted to puke. I polled other Americans whom i met at the shows and they all agreed that the casts in NY are much stronger....don't know what's going on over there. Has anyone else had the same experience with the recent casts in London?

Side note: I loved Judi Dench and everyone else in Alls Well That Ends Well. The Royal Shakespeare Compnay is amazing.

Updated On: 4/19/04 at 09:27 PM

[DAME]

Posted: 4/18/04 at 9:28pm

I have always found the singers on London stages to be inferior.

[BroadwayKate]

Posted: 4/18/04 at 9:45pm

I agree...I just saw Millie in London and it made me want to cry. Amanda Holden is so awful as Millie. I was just so disappointed by the London production. And the worst part...I recommended the show to friends...and then took them to see it...I felt so awful for taking them.

Kate

[leomaxfrank]

Posted: 4/18/04 at 10:51pm

agreed. inferior singers, and actually often superior actors...
but that's not really musical-wise

[NYCbabe3789]

Posted: 4/18/04 at 10:55pm

Amanda Holden was dreadful as Millie. She belted through her nose, had a weak head voice, and comedic timing that left the audience going, "Huh? Was that a joke?"

Off-topic, but does anyone know why they have "safety curtains" over there? My father and I laughed at it every time we saw a show. Are they afraid of something flying out at the audience?

Posted: 4/18/04 at 11:00pm

The reason is one word babe.

FIRE!

[NYCbabe3789]

Posted: 4/18/04 at 11:01pm

Anyone know why they're not in NY?

Posted: 4/18/04 at 11:05pm

They do exist in NYC but generally kept out of sight of the audience. Safety curtains are mandatory but are raised before the audience enters the auditorium and lowered generally when the auditorium empties. I have seen them.

LocalOne would be our resident expert, I bet. LocalOne?

[StraightToHeaven]

Posted: 4/18/04 at 11:11pm

I was in the West End last month. I also saw Blood Brothers and Jerry Springer. I didn't enjoy Jerry Springer very much. I thought it was stupid. Blood Brothers was awsome. I thought the acting was amazing especially by the actor who played Michey. Actually, the actor I saw as Eddie won the Drama Desk for playing the role on Broadway.

Gotta say I love how they sell ice cream right in the theater during intermission that you can eat during the second act. Updated On: 4/18/04 at 11:11 PM

[NYCbabe3789]

Posted: 4/18/04 at 11:15pm

In London the safety curtain is always raised before the show in the presence of those who get there early, lowered at intermission, raised at intermission, and lowered after the show in the presence of the audience. There was something in the programs there saying it was a rule that the curtain be lowered in the presence of the audience.

Yes, the ice cream was great. :)

[kec]

Posted: 4/19/04 at 7:50am

Interesting what you say about musical theatre in London. I saw Chitty Chitty Bang Bang two weeks ago, and thought it was great. It looked just as grand as the first time I saw it with the original cast. The present cast only just started a month ago, with the exception of the actors playing Caractacus, Truly, Lord Scrumptious, Coggins and one or two ensemble members most of whom are left from the original cast (Gary Wilmot started last July). However, EVERYONE in the cast looked as though they were giving 110%.

One correction though about the play you saw -- Dame Judi Dench has been appearing in ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL, not AS YOU LIKE IT. I saw that show as well, and enjoyed it thoroughly. What a treat to see Dame Judi on the stage -- and a very gracious lady she was at the stage door as well. I think that production closes the end of April.

[leeinlondon]

Posted: 4/19/04 at 9:04am

"that the casts in NY are much stronger"

I don't think you can generalise like that. I see most things on Broadway and most things here and I see good and bad on both sides of the Atlantic.

By the way the voices in jerry Springer are superb I thought..

Posted: 4/19/04 at 10:41am

I love London Theater. They are not afraid to do stuff America would be shunning. I think that British Theater is still a national thing. In America, it has become an elite thing. Songs from London shows still become hits on the radio and people know the stars from the shows. Here in America, I am sure if you went to Iowa most people whould not know Sutten Foster or Alice Ripley.

[tappedout]

Posted: 4/19/04 at 12:27pm

thank you kec the message has been edited, actually it's funny because i don't know what part Judi Dench would play in As You Like It. I agree that the singers in Jerry Springer were strong but i just hated the show so much that it was hard to see good in it.....

"I don't think you can generalise like that. I see most things on Broadway and most things here and I see good and bad on both sides of the Atlantic. "
This is true but i still think there is a certain standard of performance quality i have come to expect from broadway that was lacking in London.

[bially082]

Posted: 4/19/04 at 12:40pm

I know of quite a few people in Iowa who know who Sutton Foster ans Alice Ripley are.

[Plum]

Posted: 4/19/04 at 12:42pm

BoxOfficeJon- Do you think that maybe that's at least partly due to the fact that the U.S. is so much larger than the U.K.? Anyone in the U.K. can get to London pretty easily (I'm assuming), but it's a bit tougher for the folks from Iowa to make it to New York.

I realize this is an oversimplification that doesn't take national tours and regional theater into account, but the fact is, it's harder for something that's not mass-distributed, like a book, CD, or movie, to be a national phenomenon in the U.S. Especially when there's so much noise in the entertainment world already.

I don't know about London, but I agree that theater in New York might be a bit too self-contained. On the other hand, the good thing about having such a large country is that there's a ton of people who can fix that. :)

[nyctopone]

Posted: 4/19/04 at 1:11pm

Why in the world, if you are going over to London, with so much excellent theatre to choose from, would you see an American show like Millie or Fame? What a waste.

You must also eat at McDonalds when you go to Paris.

[kec]

Posted: 4/19/04 at 4:31pm

"Why in the world, if you are going over to London, with so much excellent theatre to choose from, would you see an American show like Millie or Fame?"

How about the possibility that the person going to London doesn't live anywhere near NYC, and thus has not had a chance to see the Broadway or touring productions of these shows? For example, I'm an American, but I live abroad for work reasons. It's much easier for me to get to London for a weekend than to fly back to NYC, and less expensive -- both to fly AND to attend the theatre.

[NYCbabe3789]

Posted: 4/19/04 at 5:59pm

Or maybe *gasp* we want to see the London interpretation and compare!

How shocking we are... Updated On: 4/19/04 at 05:59 PM

[BroadwayKate]

Posted: 4/19/04 at 6:08pm

I have seen Millie six times in America...it was a safe show to recommend to friends who were visiting London. Why would I not want to see a quality American show overseas, when none of the "original" London productions really seemed to spark my interest...not to say they aren't great.... it’s just that none of them really seemed family oriented enough to take my friends to.

kate

and oh yeah.... NYCbabe.... I totally wanted to compare! Final analysis...I wish I had spent the money on a new pair of shoes instead of the tragic Amanda Holden!

[nyctopone]

Posted: 4/19/04 at 7:49pm

Shocking - No, I think boring or pathetic would be better words to describe it.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 4/19/04 at 8:04pm

"Shocking - No, I think boring or pathetic would be better words to describe it."

If you are in London for two weeks, enjoy musicals, and wanted to see those shows, it makes perfect sense. Nothing boring or pathetic about it to the person making the choices. It's about personal choices. I spent three months in London on two seperate trips and never saw Fame because I wasn't interested in seeing it, but I saw some other dreadful shows because I was curious.

[LadyMann]

Posted: 4/19/04 at 8:37pm

I was in London over winter break and I saw: Blood Brothers, Jerry Springer, Anything Goes, and His Dark Materials.
I LOVED blood brothers. so much, jerry springer i HATED, anything goes was eh. and his dark materials was so technically amazing! but i do agree w/everything you said!

[George67]

Posted: 4/20/04 at 7:15am

ANYTHING GOES is BRILLANT Fun!! high energy, sillyness with great numbers

Posted: 4/20/04 at 3:19pm

Plum--
Just a few decades ago, songs from the musical theater where popular. Songs like Send in the Clowns and many many more before that were huge hits on the "pop charts".
What I was trying to say was that that in London, the theater stars are still regarded as highly as our movie stars.
Ruthie Henshall, Elaine Paige, Barbra Dickson are household names in England.
I know that there are people in Iowa who would know Alice Ripley and Sutten Foster are....but I bet the majority of the population does not.