Free Theatre/Concert Tickets Discussion Thread

[superhero]

Yeah sorry here's the info for schools tickets:

http://www.roh.org.uk/discover/educatio ... inees.aspx

It says it's £7.50 now, I am sure a few years ago it was free.

[Rainey]

For those that like ballet, the Nutcracker is being performed at the O2 in December, there are still a few early bird tickets left for £17 for floor level seating, £12 for L4 - not sure what you would see from there! Price then jumps to between £36- £70.

http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/The-Nutcr ... racker_PPC

[Knight N]

I am seeing Batman Live tomorrow morning.

I know Diane has seen it in manchester but has anyone else been to see this at the O2, this week? How about you Knight N?

Mr G: I'm also seeing it at the O2 tomorrow but in the evening ... I look forward to your review(s) and posting my own afterwards.


N

I had a magnificent time...at this evening show, the show you were at!

But overall I had such a blast and would rate the experience 8/10.

They seek him here, they seek him there ... that elusive Mr G they seek him everywhere! LOL

Mr G: I can't believe we were both in the O2 last night and we've missed each other again! Glad to hear that you had a great night though and 'Well Done' on getting tickets to the evening show because I completely agree that the Gotham City Seats were truly disappointing.



But before I get to that I must start at the beginning. First of all when you enter the arena and see the bat-shaped LED / Digital screen as the backdrop to the stage you can't help but get a tingle that you're in for something special. As the lights go down and the music plays the screen kicks in with a comic book style cityscape and animated bats fly across (ala the opening of Batman Begins). Impressive.

What ensues is a very clever use of the screen as a backdrop to whichever location is relevant to the plot. We have a gotham cityscape, the exterior and interior of a circus tent, the batcave and Arkham Asylum to name a few. The best is the use of perspective as characters walk from the front of the stage (which is much akin to a a catwalk) to the back as though entering a building or in one case the use of a raised stage floor as a table in Wayne Manor.

I also spotted the nod to various incarnations of Batman, from the colour of The Animated Series and the bright lights of films like 'Batman Forever' and 'Batman & Robin'. The Joker seemed to be trying to emulate Heath Ledger's performance in The Dark Knight (but dismally failed) whereas Batman's suit seemed to have been styled on his look in the latest compuer games 'Batman: Arkham Asylum' and 'Batman: Arkham City'.

For me Harley Quinn and the Penguin were clear favourites, given the actors had mastered the voices of both characters from 'Batman: The Animated Series'. The Joker was a let down but not as annoying as Robin, whose character I am not keen on in the Batman universe in any event and in this show had the majority of time on the stage. But the worst of all was Batman himself.

The actor failed to capture Bruce Wayne's playboy attitude and arrogance and worst of all Batman's confidence and aggression. Bruce Wayne was just whiney! Batman himself was played with all the charisma of a Cardboard Cut-Out! I think that not only was Batman's suit based on the computer game but so was his performance. The actor simply stomped around (very slowly) and then pulled the same pose again, threw a punch, threw a kick, held a pose! It's a bit hard to explain but needless to say the performance was wooden.

Turning to the story, it was based around the origin of Robin (ala 'Batman Forever') rather than an origins story for Batman himself. This was disappointing because there was to much unnecessary dialogue, particularly from Dick Grayson and none of it was particularly good. In fact, this felt like a 30 min episode drawn out for 2 hours with circus performances, dance troupes and even magic tricks. Clearly the writers wanted all of the Batman villans to make an appearance and the story was written (very) loosley around all of them.

Anyway, my own comments seem to relect most FMUKers view of the show as a whole. Therefore, turning to my own experience I have to say a personal highlight was the new Batmobile and the comic book animation sequence as the audienced followed the car at high speeds through the streets of Gotham City.

However, by way of complaint (like Mr G) I found the Gotham City seats to be a huge disappointment. These were the most expensive seats with the promise that the audience would be made to feel like part of the action. Not true!

I expected performers around the audience, maybe wire work above our heads or some kind of heightened experience but Nothing! Instead, the whole performance took place on the stage (apart from some clowns wandering off to walk up to the front rows). As a birthday treat I had tickets in the very centre block, five rows back from the stage. However, our seats were not tiered and so we were forced to look around the heads of the people in front of us. Lucky for me the seat in front was empty but I was concious that my poor brother kept having to twist and turn his head to get a better view, particularly as the two people in front of him lost interest very quickly and decided to have a conversation instead of watching the rest of the show.

In conclusion, though I enjoyed the spectacle of seeing Batman on the stage the performance could not take away from all its failings and I was annoyed by the poor seats (despite being the most expensive). Also a number of people were taking pictures during the performance despite being told at the start that no flash photography was allowed. Though this did not bother me as much as a boy in front of me waving a blue light wand (Yes Mr G, we had one of these annoying little blighters too) some people really got upset about it.

Two rows in front a lady actually complained to security during the interval because the man next to her kept taking pictures. In fairness to her I had also spotted him becuase he was acting like a tourist and must have taken 50 shots in the first hour alone. However, instead of justing picking one of the hundred or more empty seats in the theatre instead she asked security to move her (or even possibly him).

When this clearly didn't work she huffed and puffed and retorted "Fine! Well then I'm going to sit back in my seat and eat my popcorn really loudly to annoy him". Very mature. They didn't bill Batman Live as a kid's show but in my case this was reserved for the interval ... and (sadly) in some respect was more of the more entertaining parts of the evening! LOL


Batman Live - The Theatre Show: 7/10

Batman Live - The Experience: 5/10

The Free Entertainment during the Interval: Priceless


N

[raj101]

secnd thought, i think my favourite Batman Live character was the one clown in a fight scene with Robin who did a fantastic handstand, cartwheel, double whirl and then got knocked out by robin with one punch, which raised a chuckle from the crowd.

a noble failure of an effort!

[evilzadi]

secnd thought, i think my favourite Batman Live character was the one clown in a fight scene with Robin who did a fantastic handstand, cartwheel, double whirl and then got knocked out by robin with one punch, which raised a chuckle from the crowd.

a noble failure of an effort!

Raj, come over to the riddle game.

[funthing29]

I think the problem is people aren't aware of this musical yet.
I certainally never did but think very soon will be hearing about it. Haven't even seen adverts in the paper yet. But when wizard of oz was coming out they were selling tickets a year before

Wizard Of Oz got loads of free publicity and hype as the winner was chosen from a BBC talent show.

I heard about Rock Of Ages months ago but I love musicals, so I always like to be in the know about new and upcoming shows. I have pa*d tickets for October so I'm looking forward for a free first time viewing on Wednesday. I also like to get the best deals on tickets so it's useful to hear about shows early. I'm also going to see Matilda the Musical later in the year.

There have been rumours that Bridgte Jones has been adapted to a musical and will open in the West End in 2013. I am really hoping Spiderman makes its way to London but after all the controversy and problems the Broadway production has had, I think it is very unlikely.

[Beate]

There were some Rock of Ages ads in the Metro last week.

[a_person]

There were some Rock of Ages ads in the Metro last week.

And on the buses...and the little adverts at the side of the escalators at stations (definitely were there on Friday at Holborn). I think it's more to do with most people not noticing them unless it's something they are really into. I probably wouldn't have noticed so many until I had tickets for it! Then all of a sudden I have started noticing the adverts, left right and centre!

[superhero]

Dare I risk the wrath of ejwrank and sf, but might this musical be a little "too american" for british taste hence weak ticket sales so far?

[canadian_turtle]

Many musicals start in the US first though, think of one of the most popular ones: Wicked. If it's the storyline you're referring to, what about classics such as Grease and West Side Story? They're very American too.

And I heard rumours that will be getting Book of Mormon and How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying over here as well, both of which started on Broadway (and which would be amazing as I am very interested in those shows).