asamaic wrote:As you've seen this before in a different venue, would love to hear your thoughts on the transfer after you've seen it at the Criterion.
Well it's basically the same show but with an interval (there wasn't one at the Menier). As I suspected before seeing it at the Criterion it is far more suited to the space at the Menier which I would guess is more similar to the the original New York venue.
It has suffered with the transfer for a number of reasons, not least the reduced space available. They have managed to cram pretty much the whole set and props in, but everything is so much more cramped. For example the piano is now facing the back wall right in the corner and it's much harder to see the drum kit when in it's main position. At the Menier aroumd a third of the audience was on the sides and having seen it from both the front and the side I think it worked well. Now while they have tried by having the nominal stage seating much of the time it just looks odd when key performers have their backs to nearly all the audience. Presumably due to the lack of space the same use of the audience seating is not made (Kyle perched on the arm of an audience member's armchair several times at the Menier).
In particular the wow effect of the parts that take place above the stage is greatly reduced when the audience is not all on the same level. It doesn't really look anything out of the ordinary in a West End theatre, especially if you aren't in the stalls. I was most disappointed though with the lighting, it was quite dark at times and I don't understand why the lamps at the front of the stage were so small. The effect of the pieces of paper falling down was completely lost.
This is rather subjective but I also felt that there was a collective audience dynamic at the Menier (like a good gig) but here we were just individuals watching something.
I also found the change of name awkward. The repeated usage of the refrain 'What's it all About' seemed far more natural when it was the name of the show, which is now named after just one of the songs in the middle.
After saying all of that I have to emphasise that
I still really enjoyed seeing this again. Visually it was disappointing compared with before, but I still thought it was imaginative. And the music was the same as before. With respect to that I have to say that I would still argue with the "safe" comment. To re-arrange so drastically such famous songs, especially while the composer is still with us was IMHO very brave. And most importantly they work really well and personally I loved them.
There was also one plus on the move of venue. While we saw the cast in the bar afterwards at the Menier, they weren't singing. Having them perform on the steps of Eros was a bonus!
Misleading - it's just a fairly pleasant gig!
7/10