Live Theatre / Musicals

[Legacy]

Yeah, it's... been a morning. No cast or crew appeared to know ahead of time and found out with everyone else. The circumstances are obviously extremely unusual, so any of the obvious reasons for a closure (i.e. "they ran out of money") don't quite make sense.

That feels like a permitting or legal issue.

 

[Skipper Justin]

The West End performance of Next to Normal is streaming on PBS. It was so good. I didn’t like the actor who played the father but overall such a wonderful performance.

 

[Legacy]

The West End performance of Next to Normal is streaming on PBS. It was so good. I didn’t like the actor who played the father but overall such a wonderful performance.

I’ve got it recorded.

 

[rob@rar]

Frustrating for those of us in London who can’t stream Next to Normal as nobody seems to be carrying it the UK. I saw that production in the West End and loved it, found it very moving. I had a different opinion about Jamie Parker, who played the father, but I’m a big fan of his and have seen him a few times in different things. He originated the character of Harry Potter in the Cursed Child play, and was very wonderful in Jamie Lloyd’s version of Assassins at London’s Menier Theatre. I thought he was terrific in Next to Normal, had me in tears in the second act. Well worth watching, if you can, on PBS.

 

[Legacy]

Frustrating for those of us in London who can’t stream Next to Normal as nobody seems to be carrying it the UK. I saw that production in the West End and loved it, found it very moving. I had a different opinion about Jamie Parker, who played the father, but I’m a big fan of his and have seen him a few times in different things. He originated the character of Harry Potter in the Cursed Child play, and was very wonderful in Jamie Lloyd’s version of Assassins at London’s Menier Theatre. I thought he was terrific in Next to Normal, had me in tears in the second act. Well worth watching, if you can, on PBS.

PBS will typically have their Great Performances available to stream on their website(s) not long after the initial airing. That’s how I watched the UK’s Anything Goes with Sutton Foster (now available on BroadwayHD). You can likely VPN it.

 

[Skipper Justin]

Frustrating for those of us in London who can’t stream Next to Normal as nobody seems to be carrying it the UK. I saw that production in the West End and loved it, found it very moving. I had a different opinion about Jamie Parker, who played the father, but I’m a big fan of his and have seen him a few times in different things. He originated the character of Harry Potter in the Cursed Child play, and was very wonderful in Jamie Lloyd’s version of Assassins at London’s Menier Theatre. I thought he was terrific in Next to Normal, had me in tears in the second act. Well worth watching, if you can, on PBS.

My main criticism was that he did a ton of speak singing vs singing. I love the score of this and have it memorized basically. Like there were times I thought he sounded great and then would speak the lyrics vs sing them again.

 

[rob@rar]

My main criticism was that he did a ton of speak singing vs singing. I love the score of this and have it memorized basically. Like there were times I thought he sounded great and then would speak the lyrics vs sing them again.

OK, understand. Although I love some musicals I have little understanding of, and little ability to distinguish between, great singing or mediocre singing. I'm much more involved in the character and their story, and the emotional impact that has on me. In that respect I think seeing theatre live is much more impactful than watching pro-shot musicals, and Next to Normal really did impact me. Over the last year, only Adrien Brody in The Fear of 13 affected me more.

This weekend we'll be seeing Piaf, a play with music about the life of Edith Piaf, the great French soprano, at my favourite local theatre, The Watermill in Berkshire (UK). If you live here or are visiting the UK it's a wonderful place to see a show. Then we have eight performances booked over the following six weeks, including some Sondheim (The Frogs & Here We Are), plays featuring Ralph Fiennes, Euan McGregor, Martin Freeman, and of all things a Macbeth collaboration between Shakespeare and Radiohead! Looking forward to all of them, but wish they'd been a bit more spaced out across the year.