As suggested in another post, we went to see The Sound Of Music last night. I booked tickets for this while the BBC was still showing their 'How do you Solve a Problem like Maria?' programme. It was a bit of a gamble given that the casting was in the hands of the general public. However I think the public, in the end, went for the safe option in the form of trained performer Connie Fisher. It was almost as if the nation collectively went 'well this is quite a big part and we think it should be done by the near professional, and, by the way, this is quite a big decision you're putting on us, so we don't want to mess it up, but don't you think you could have done it yourselves? - I mean, you're the professionals here.'
The theatre programme gave the game away. They couldn't stage such a big production without a ready made star in the leading role. . . So they made one.
There were plenty of things wrong with last night's performance. At one stage a technical problem stopped the show. I think the stage machinery failed in some way. However, despite all of the glitches, it was a reasonably enchanting experience. This musical above all others has the power to be sickening and it most definitely wasn't.
Before I appear to be damning this with faint praise, I'll add that the kids were excellent, Connie herself was very watchable and sounded good, the set pieces were, on the whole, better than how I remembered them being in the film. The show skipped along from hit to hit. It's tightly written and, though I think it's a bit dated, it felt like a modern production worthy of one of our nation's most famous theatres. So a good night was had.
The producers of the show, Andrew Lloyd Webber and David Ian, the former well recognised for his general fame in all things musical, including owning the theatre we were in, and the latter famous for his appearance on the Tv programme, were both present. It was fun to spot them in and around the stalls. I bet they enjoyed the show stopping due to technical failure.
The theatre programme gave the game away. They couldn't stage such a big production without a ready made star in the leading role. . . So they made one.
There were plenty of things wrong with last night's performance. At one stage a technical problem stopped the show. I think the stage machinery failed in some way. However, despite all of the glitches, it was a reasonably enchanting experience. This musical above all others has the power to be sickening and it most definitely wasn't.
Before I appear to be damning this with faint praise, I'll add that the kids were excellent, Connie herself was very watchable and sounded good, the set pieces were, on the whole, better than how I remembered them being in the film. The show skipped along from hit to hit. It's tightly written and, though I think it's a bit dated, it felt like a modern production worthy of one of our nation's most famous theatres. So a good night was had.
The producers of the show, Andrew Lloyd Webber and David Ian, the former well recognised for his general fame in all things musical, including owning the theatre we were in, and the latter famous for his appearance on the Tv programme, were both present. It was fun to spot them in and around the stalls. I bet they enjoyed the show stopping due to technical failure.
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