Musicals

I love the cast recording of this show, and am hoping that some season, Vancouver will get a touring production of it.

Happy New Year!

And now, my first wish for the coming year(ssss):

That the boys who created The Book of Mormon,

puh-lease do a musical "something" about......Scientology.

They might get this one, too.

Happy New Year!

 

And now, my first wish for the coming year(ssss):

 

That the boys who created The Book of Mormon,

puh-lease do a musical "something" about......Scientology.

 

They might get this one, too.

A musical comedy about Scientology! Yes! Count me in! (Lots of' bit parts' for thetans! And a great opening number: "Clear the Bridge!") Leah R. would love this!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Alice

NRTHWIND -

Are you going to the January 20th showing of FOLLIES? If so, enjoy! (And, hopefully, the sound system will be all GO!)

Alice

^ Actually.... .... we saw an "extra showing" of FOLLIES back on the 11th. They added it, after I had bought just one ticket to the Jan.20th showing. No matter. We both enjoyed it, and although nothing happened (sound wise) this time, I did have a couple of wee tiny critiques about a couple of spots in the production. But I'm going back to see it on Saturday afternoon. It's just awesome to see a full production of it, onstage.

Unfortunately, and I got this info from Mr. Sondheim himself, a DVD of the production will likely never materialize. "Too many unions involved" he wrote to me. Prefacing that with "I want a DVD of it, too! But..." And he went on about the unions involved etc. Must be an incredible amount of $ to put something like that together, I surmised. And it's a UK union thing, which may cause more problems production wise with transferring to a DVD and selling it in North America. Still, it's a shame it won't go farther than these few dates.

I "almost" feel like taking my little camera into the theatre and then taping what I can get from the screen.

But I won't do it. Totally illegal of course. Still...

So, one more viewing this Saturday, and then it's done and over with.

"Beautiful Girls" ~ FOLLIES ~ London National Theatre, 2017

^ Actually.... .... we saw an "extra showing" of FOLLIES back on the 11th. They added it, after I had bought just one ticket to the Jan.20th showing. No matter. We both enjoyed it, and although nothing happened (sound wise) this time, I did have a couple of wee tiny critiques about a couple of spots in the production. But I'm going back to see it on Saturday afternoon. It's just awesome to see a full production of it, onstage.

 

Unfortunately, and I got this info from Mr. Sondheim himself, a DVD of the production will likely never materialize. "Too many unions involved" he wrote to me. Prefacing that with "I want a DVD of it, too! But..." And he went on about the unions involved etc. Must be an incredible amount of $ to put something like that together, I surmised. And it's a UK union thing, which may cause more problems production wise with transferring to a DVD and selling it in North America. Still, it's a shame it won't go farther than these few dates.

 

I "almost" feel like taking my little camera into the theatre and then taping what I can get from the screen.

But I won't do it. Totally illegal of course. Still...

 

So, one more viewing this Saturday, and then it's done and over with.

So glad you got the double viewing.....but oooooooh nooooo.....how sad that this will never become a DVD!!! I was SO sure that it would be available, but if you heard it from Mr. Sondheim, himself, I guess I'll have to give up the ghost of ever adding it to my musical show collection. (I DO understand the complications with unions involved. And the UK/US AEA policies of actor exchanges have ALWAYS been a major headache.) Well, at least you got to chat/email with SONDHEIM! Would enjoy hearing your couple of small critiques on the production.

Alice

^ Heya! Just got back from my second viewing of FOLLIES, onscreen. I actually (and if this were live theatre, it would be in VERY BAD TASTE) got into the theatre a good hour after it started. Although I love all the score from Follies, except for the opening number ("Beautiful Girls") I'm not much with the book, up to "Who's That Woman?", so I got into a seat near the back of the house, and watched the rest of it.

Here's my two "hmmms" about this production. And I see this with other productions from the past.... the change to LOVELAND, after "the 8 person argument" has gotten intense and loud (check the libretto, for how it all escalates); and the end of this production.

The conversion to a Loveland setting is always wierd and "iffy" in that...can it be pulled off? etc. This version went alright, but not as spectacularly as I thought it should. Some drapery hung here and there, candleabras, and everybody in sort-of Louis XIV costume. And the leads got "led off" (ha) by chorus members. Readying themself for their individual "Follys". Oh, that was another thing that kind of irked me. A chorus girl would come out with a valentine-shaped sign and on it would be "The Folly of Youth"; "Buddy's Folly"; "Sally's Folly" etc. etc. I felt that the audience was smarter than that, instead of having the concept fed to them in this "signage".

The other thing I thought was ill-timed, was the actual end of the whole thing. Ben and Phyllis leave first on their lines, eventually followed by Buddy and Sally. And then the end music happens with the four youthful selves with the classic lines "Hi ~ Girls ~ Ben? ~ Sally?"...music out. But this pause in Buddy and Sally leaving, was long enough for audience members to start applauding. And they did for several seconds. Then, there was a brief pause, and the final bit was (finally) done. Applause comes up again. It definitely felt awkward and "not right."

The final music and lines should have started as Buddy and Sally turned to leave. Immediately,. Would have made more sense as their four ghosts watched them leave. And then they said those four final words. Fini.

That's my bit of a rant about it, heh. I still would love both a CD and a DVD of the production. Hmmm. Maybe a Kickstarter Fund....

EDIT: But, but, but, BUT!!! I must say, the most astounding bit I couldn't believe, in my second viewing too, was Ben's Breakdown during his number, "Live, Laugh, Love". It seemed so real, and I really thought it was the actor getting angry and getting in the audience's "safe space". Very scary and almost too real for comfort. That was awesome! Kudos to the actor and the director for that!

"Phyllis, Ben, Sally, Buddy." The four leads from the recently closed FOLLIES in London. NOT as they looked in the production. (o;

^ Heya! Just got back from my second viewing of FOLLIES, onscreen. I actually (and if this were live theatre, it would be in VERY BAD TASTE) got into the theatre a good hour after it started. Although I love all the score from Follies, except for the opening number ("Beautiful Girls") I'm not much with the book, up to "Who's That Woman?", so I got into a seat near the back of the house, and watched the rest of it.

 

Here's my two "hmmms" about this production. And I see this with other productions from the past.... the change to LOVELAND, after "the 8 person argument" has gotten intense and loud (check the libretto, for how it all escalates); and the end of this production.

 

The conversion to a Loveland setting is always wierd and "iffy" in that...can it be pulled off? etc. This version went alright, but not as spectacularly as I thought it should. Some drapery hung here and there, candleabras, and everybody in sort-of Louis XIV costume. And the leads got "led off" (ha) by chorus members. Readying themself for their individual "Follys". Oh, that was another thing that kind of irked me. A chorus girl would come out with a valentine-shaped sign and on it would be "The Folly of Youth"; "Buddy's Folly"; "Sally's Folly" etc. etc. I felt that the audience was smarter than that, instead of having the concept fed to them in this "signage".

 

The other thing I thought was ill-timed, was the actual end of the whole thing. Ben and Phyllis leave first on their lines, eventually followed by Buddy and Sally. And then the end music happens with the four youthful selves with the classic lines "Hi ~ Girls ~ Ben? ~ Sally?"...music out. But this pause in Buddy and Sally leaving, was long enough for audience members to start applauding. And they did for several seconds. Then, there was a brief pause, and the final bit was (finally) done. Applause comes up again. It definitely felt awkward and "not right."

 

The final music and lines should have started as Buddy and Sally turned to leave. Immediately,. Would have made more sense as their four ghosts watched them leave. And then they said those four final words. Fini.

 

That's my bit of a rant about it, heh. I still would love both a CD and a DVD of the production. Hmmm. Maybe a Kickstarter Fund....

 

EDIT: But, but, but, BUT!!! I must say, the most astounding bit I couldn't believe, in my second viewing too, was Ben's Breakdown during his number, "Live, Laugh, Love". It seemed so real, and I really thought it was the actor getting angry and getting in the audience's "safe space". Very scary and almost too real for comfort. That was awesome! Kudos to the actor and the director for that!

Nrthwnd,

I really 'get' your couple of critique points. That visual of "a chorus girl coming out with a valentine-shaped sign and on it would be "The Folly of Youth"; "Buddy's Folly"; "Sally's Folly" etc. etc"....for some reason I can't get out of my mind the image of boxing matches with those scantily-clad ladies parading center ring, holding up the Round numbers.

As for the 'applause awkwardness,' wonder if that was the desired ending....or if the audience simply didn't obey the time-honored "wait 10 seconds before you applaud!" tradition.

It's an actor's dream to affect the audience as you say the performer in Ben's Breakdown accomplished. A literal "breaking down" of the theater's Fourth Wall. Quite a coup!

And, alas, as for a CD or DVD...well...I will forever keep my eyes open for a reversal of our fortunes!! (A SONDHEIM Go Fund Me page?!?!....)

Alice

....for some reason I can't get out of my mind the image of boxing matches with those scantily-clad ladies parading center ring, holding up the Round numbers.

Exactly! That's what I felt, too. Also, at the beginning of "Loveland," they had chorus girls with each letter of L-O-V-E on a valentine sign. And LA and ND on two other signs. That was wierd to me.

And that final pause with Sally and Buddy leaving was really too much time. A truck could have driven through it, LOL!

Also, one thing I don't think they'll ever put back into FOLLIES, is the ballroom number "Bolero D'Amour." It was in the original production, but either left out entirely or trimmed down to just a few minutes' time. The whole number had three couples dancing: the older couple (who now runs an Arthur Murray Dance Studio); a younger couple at the party, also; and the ghost couple. It was definitely a Michael Bennett dance number, and supposedly quite a number in of itself. But now, you hardly see any version of it. BUT - the Paper Mill Playhouse production (1998) did include "Bolero" in it, and if you can find a copy of the cast recording (two cd set), it's included on Disc 1 - Track 9. As well, on the cd they've included the three numbers that were written for Phyllis' Folly, with "Ah, But Underneath" (UK-1987) being the main number for Phyllis in this production, and not "Lucy and Jesse" the original Brdwy cast number.

Ah well. Such is the way with musicals.

The original "Bolero D'Amour" in FOLLIES, 1971.

Cover of the Paper Mill Playhouse cast 2CD of FOLLIES (1998).

....for some reason I can't get out of my mind the image of boxing matches with those scantily-clad ladies parading center ring, holding up the Round numbers.

 

Exactly! That's what I felt, too. Also, at the beginning of "Loveland," they had chorus girls with each letter of L-O-V-E on a valentine sign. And LA and ND on two other signs. That was wierd to me.

 

And that final pause with Sally and Buddy leaving was really too much time. A truck could have driven through it, LOL!

 

Also, one thing I don't think they'll ever put back into FOLLIES, is the ballroom number "Bolero D'Amour." It was in the original production, but either left out entirely or trimmed down to just a few minutes' time. The whole number had three couples dancing: the older couple (who now runs an Arthur Murray Dance Studio); a younger couple at the party, also; and the ghost couple. It was definitely a Michael Bennett dance number, and supposedly quite a number in of itself. But now, you hardly see any version of it. BUT - the Paper Mill Playhouse production (1998) did include "Bolero" in it, and if you can find a copy of the cast recording (two cd set), it's included on Disc 1 - Track 9. As well, on the cd they've included the three numbers that were written for Phyllis' Folly, with "Ah, But Underneath" (UK-1987) being the main number for Phyllis in this production, and not "Lucy and Jesse" the original Brdwy cast number.

 

Ah well. Such is the way with musicals.

Thanks for the info about the Paper Mill Playhouse production CD sets. In the meantime, I see that You Tube has some videos I can check out for "Bolero D'Amour"!! Good ole You Tube. It's amazing how whenever revivals come out, the powers-that-be always feel the need for "improvements!" In one of the tours I did, our director would always fly in from NY once or twice to check that we had not added any of what he called "actor improvements."

Alice

^ I didn't know a YouTube video existed for "Bolero"! Thanks for letting me know, on that. Will check on it...

EDIT (After viewing it): I did not know there were more than three couples involved in that dance!

The one photo from the original production number, only showed three couples in it. (But now that I look

much more closely, there is a 4th couple behind the one on the left. Huh.) Thanks YouTube!

"In Other Musicals News..."

Got our Subscription Package for the new 2018-19 season of "Broadway Across Canada,"

this week. Three shows in it. One of them not really a "musical." But it will be interesting to see:

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical ~ Yay! Definitely wanted to see this one.

The Illusionists ~ Should be interesting to see. Anybody seen this show and how was it?

Come From Away ~ It was supposed to open the series, but schedules change. No matter.

Really REALLY loving the cast album, so I hope the touring cast is just as awesome.

And.....yesyesyesyesYES! Book of Mormon's coming back in September!

As an add-on show, which means extra $$$ to pay, but that's okay...

We need some "Mormon" every year, I say!

Of the two options available, no contest in choosing "Mormon."

Could only afford one of the two, sorry "Les Miz." Maybe when it

gets here, there will be (still) good seats available we can afford, etc.

And this is awesome. too!

A Sydney Theatre Company And Global Creatures Production Release The Original Cast Recording For Muriel's Wedding: The Musical! Book By PJ Hogan, Music & Lyrics By Kate Miller-Heidke & Keir Nuttall, With Songs By Benny Andersson, Bj rn Ulvaeus & Stig Anderson Originally Written For ABBA Sydney Theatre Company Presents A Sydney Theatre Company And Global Creatures Production About: Muriel Heslop is back! In this highly-anticipated world premiere, the iconic Australian film is now an equally iconic laugh-out-loud musical. Stuck in a dead-end life in Porpoise Spit, Muriel dreams of the perfect wedding - the white dress, the church, the attention. Unfortunately, there's one thing missing. A groom. Following her dreams to Sydney, Muriel ends up with everything she ever wanted - a man, a fortune and a million Twitter followers. That's when things start to go really wrong.

 

The film's original writer-director PJ Hogan has updated his screenplay into a dazzling new stage show, bringing the story into the present but keeping all the irreverence and naughtiness of the film along with it's dark edge. There'll be a bunch of the beloved ABBA hits that so beautifully embody Muriel's hopes and dreams, as well as an incredible soundtrack of addictive new songs by award-winning singer-songwriters Kate Miller-Heidke and Keir Nuttall.

 

Director Simon Phillips (Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Dream Lover) leads a stellar cast including Justine Clarke (ABC TV's The Time of their Lives and Play School, STC's Children of the Sun), Helen Dallimore (WICKED the Musical, Into the Woods), Madeleine Jones (ONCE, Ladies in Black), Gary Sweet (Police Rescue, House Husbands) and. Introducing Maggie McKenna as everyone's favourite anti-hero, Muriel! With eye-popping sets and costumes from Gabriela Tylesova (Love Never Dies), a phenomenal ensemble of hilarious characters and live band, This is the theatre event of the year!

The CD supposedly comes out today, on Amazon. And other places of course, Import that it is, lol.

New this year! First in Australia. Then to.....?

^ I didn't know a YouTube video existed for "Bolero"! Thanks for letting me know, on that. Will check on it...

EDIT (After viewing it): I did not know there were more than three couples involved in that dance!

The one photo from the original production number, only showed three couples in it. (But now that I look

much more closely, there is a 4th couple behind the one on the left. Huh.) Thanks YouTube!

 

"In Other Musicals News..."

 

Got our Subscription Package for the new 2018-19 season of "Broadway Across Canada,"

this week. Three shows in it. One of them not really a "musical." But it will be interesting to see:

 

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical ~ Yay! Definitely wanted to see this one.

 

The Illusionists ~ Should be interesting to see. Anybody seen this show and how was it?

 

Come From Away ~ It was supposed to open the series, but schedules change. No matter.

Really REALLY loving the cast album, so I hope the touring cast is just as awesome.

 

And.....yesyesyesyesYES! Book of Mormon's coming back in September!

As an add-on show, which means extra $$$ to pay, but that's okay...

 

We need some "Mormon" every year, I say!

This season looks AMAZING!!! Beautiful and Come From Away are both on my must-see list! Over in San Diego, our 2018-19 season is looking pretty nice too.

Definitely excited for Beautiful, Wicked, and Waitress! Hopefully, I'll be able to make them all.

On a separate note, how many people have seen The Greatest Showman, and what are your opinions on it? I saw it a while back and loved it, but reviews for it have been mixed. I thought the music was amazing (seriously, can you ever go wrong with Pasek and Paul?) and the plot, while not perfect, was pretty strong. Anyway, interested to hear what Y'all think.

^ We saw TGS and enjoyed it. Quite loud at times. Visuals were awesome. And here's the movie thread for all this, too...

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=247

And HOW MUCH does your seven show season cost? We have a three show subscription and it's $335 Cdn.each.

Which is a lot for us. But they're good Center Orchestra seats. Do they have a payment plan? We have one

that covers an initial payment, then three more monthly ones. Our Book of Mormon tickets were "add-ons."

So worth it, though.

Our third time seeing a tour of this awesome musical! With every new cast, it's still amazing to watch and enjoy.

Which of course, then makes it a star-proof musical. That is, the book carries the show and that's great.

Available this coming weekend! Show to open soon on Brdwy as well.

Costs are quite interesting. Prices depend on seating, so better seats cost more, but it can be anywhere from $205 to $822. I'll put a picture below.

This is for all 7 shows of the season

^ Cool to see! I believe that since we were fine with Wed.night showings,

our cost would be ....(gulp) $782.50....each. I assume Level 1 that is in the Center Orchestra Seating?

I am basing this on our current seating here, Row 10, Seats 41-41. Wed.night showings.

And for us both here in YVR, the total is $770.00 ....Cdn. For three shows I think we're fine here.

For now. The other "four shows" will eventually catch up to us, through future seasons.

P.S. Where the heck is LEVEL 3 in that seat pricing scale? Just curious. Still, with what we pay here for our season,

this would be our "Probable $ Level", for your season.

I guess it counts as a Musical?

 

my Hubby bought as an Xmas present for us, tix to see Cirque du Soliel's "Crystal"

 

I'm not familiar with this show at all (and avoiding the urge to look it up, as I wanna be surprised), but Nick said it's on ice?

 

so sounds wonderful.

 

our tix are for Feb 18th, so will report back after we've seen it!

I'll write up a full review, with pics to post (when I have time). . but initial impression:

underwhelmed.

the show is clearly targeted at a much younger audience (I'd say pre-teen), and the toddlers in the crowd were absolutely wowed, so it has that going for it.

but it's basically Ice Capades, some fine skating, but at the end of the day, they mainly used the idea of an ice-set show for what you're seeing in the winter olympics. Impressive, yes, but not really up to my standards for a Cirque show.

^ Hmmmm. I'll have to think a bit about it, if Crystal comes to town. Thanks for the review, Bert.

And, coming to Broadway, end of March....

Three actresses to play (l. to r.) Diva, Disco and Duckling Donna!

Opening Night is in April.

My full review of Cirque Du Soliel's Crystal

So we went last weekend to see the latest Cirque Du Soliel show, “Crystal”

As noted in my initial take away, my main impression is that it’s a great show for the younger set (and if you really like ice skating), but overall, I was underwhelmed.

Some really clever standout moments, but it's basically Ice Capades, but not really up to my standards for a Cirque show.

So let’s look at this at a Positives/Negatives with a rating on a scale of 1(eh) - 10 (Fantastic):

Set Design - 9/10

a really stunning set, that makes great use of an overhead rig that projects onto the ice, so as the skaters move the projections “follow” them onto the ice. The projection also allows them to change the ice rink into multiple different environments/settings.

There’s also snow machines on the rig, so thruout the show, there’s snowfall in the area (which makes it very cold as the show progresses), but also is a really stunning visual, and the crowd loved it the several times the effect is utilized.

The main backdrop is kind of a mountain, but has steps and ramps, and a train set that moves around the top. Doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but that too gets some projection mapping done on it, and is used very well thruout the show to forward the storyline.

Merch Tables - 9/10

I think this is actually the 1st Cirque show that I’ve been to where I didn’t buy anything from the merch table (I tend to wait until after I’ve seen a show, and I went into this one knowing nothing about it). . . but the variety of things offered is very good (the standard shirts, sweatshirts, magnets. . but also crystal paperweights, crystal capped pens, earrings/jewelry, LED flashing Snowballs, and stuffed dolls of the main girl character, Crystal).

Obviously they know (or expected) their audience is going to be younger for this, and things were priced accordingly. I have *never* seen a merch table with such reasonable prices (the most expensive thing was the Sweatshirts for $50, which is a smart move because I’m sure those sold as the arena got colder ). It really did seem as if every other child was walking around with the Crystal stuffed doll. And those that didn’t had the LED snowballs. Really smart merchandising, and pricing.

Quality of the performances - 7/10

There were a couple of standout performances, with near the top being the clown for this show. He was extremely well versed in pantomime, and interacted very often with the crowd (the preshow, throwing snowballs back and forth with the audience, and the “ice-dancing” with the lamp being the two standouts, but he was great thruout).

the hanging ropes couple, the chair balancer, and the Ice Dancers / Ice Gymnast stunt players were all stellar as well.

Not quite as good (but still great) were the trapeze act, the gymnasts, the pole vaulters, and the speed/stunt team skaters.

but the Jugglers, the lead skater, and the majority of the main company were only decent to middling, with lots of missed cues and dropped props. It’s a live show (and on ice), so I am willing to give a wider berth for errors, and even a “decent to middling” cirque performance is still ahead of most other performances, sod didn’t hold it too much against them.

Appropriateness of the performances within the context of the show - 2/10

Other than two exceptions (one in each act), the company makes very poor use of the fact the show is based on *ice* (there is a pretty spectacular set piece themed to hockey with lots of ramps/jumps, and in act 2, the "hanging ropes" makes great use of skater on the ice interacting with the hanging performer). .but for the most part?

Most acts seem to just be transported into this show with no concern how/why it interacts with the ice.

The chair balancing act is spectacular. But why is it in THIS show? And why is it on the ice? (and it’s not even ON the ice, it’s on a table in the center of the ice. . . it makes no sense).

Same with the jugglers. . why is it on Ice? They didn’t really do any skating while juggling (a large set piece during this segment is them on steps that are pushed out so they can do the “bounce off the floor” juggling. Again, impressive, but I don’t get why in a show set on ice?

The “pole climber” act – the poles are suspended from the ceiling rig over the ice, so yeah, impressive the stunts they are doing between the poles (in particular when they start them swinging back and forth and jump between them. But interacting with the ice? Nope, not at all.

Same said about the gymnasts, as well as the hanging trapeze – the performers working with the “catcher” on the single trapeze was wearing skates, as he picked her up from the ice, but they pretty much all worked over pads laid down on the ice so they could get good traction (I assume).

I know I sound as if I’m picking, but why set a show on Ice, if the vast majority of the acts don’t make good use of that fact? The Ice Dancers / Ice Gymnasts were great, but they were only 2 segments of the show?

Story/Costumes - 3/10

the story is VERY broadly sketched – I THINK it was: "girl who is teased for being herself, falls thru the ice, and into a world where she fights her "expected" self, to see who she really is by interacting with the creatures undersea" (or something like that).

Really needed some tweaking. Most cirque show storylines are “dreamlike” , “non-linear”, or slightly non-sensical.

but this one kind of lost us. . .there are large segments where she’s fighting her twin (not sure why), where she’s put to work in an underwater office typing with dozens of other businessmen (not sure why), or – speaking of those businessmen/women – she’s skating among drones carrying large metal briefcases.

is it a statement on that’s her ‘expected’ life? Grow up and get a boring job? No idea.. and confusing.

as to the Costumes, they for some reason went with very muted/bland cosutumes, lots of whites, greys and blues. . . so instead of "popping" a lot of the performers just blended in with the backgrounds, as the projections overhead overlayed the ice. It seems to have been on purpose, but not really sure why. . it didn't help with the storytelling at all.

Music - 1/10

I think, perhaps, the biggest disappointment to me was the soundtrack (which before the show, was discussing with a table-clerk how odd it was that the CD was not on sale at the merch booth. . . and honestly after seeing the show, I would not have bought it if it had been.

A *huge* part of the Cirque experience for me is the live, original, music.

There IS some original music here – mainly “bluegrass”/”40’s style” music. This show seemed to have several live musicians playing during the show (mainly violin, sax, and woodwinds), but performing along with pre-recorded tracks (if there was a full orchestra anywhere, they did not come out for bows, nor did any live singer take a bow).

Not necessarily a negative to me. . but the covering of more current pop songs, and mixing in non-original songs was a huge negative to me.

This cast performed to covers of songs by: Sia (Chandelier), Beyonce (Halo), U2 (Beautiful Day), and even Nina Simone (Sinnerman).

I really wish there had been more original music

overall score: 31/ 60 . . . not a great score.

oh well, the kiddos really liked it, so if you’ve never seen a Cirque show, or you really enjoy watching skating, then I’d recommend it.

but otherwise, it would rank somewhere outside the top 10 Cirque shows I’ve seen, and I wouldn’t see it again if I had the opportunity to (and only two other shows have that distinction: we didn’t care for Zumanity in Vegas, and were not all that impressed with Verakai either, tho I like the soundtrack to that one).

Pics are from thruout the show. . I tried to take at least one for each act/set, just to give an idea of what it looked like since I had planned to post a review.

in front of the Merch booth before the show started.

VERY reasonable pricing, I was impressed with that.

Nick and I in our seats before the show. (we had very good seats, as you can see from the angle of the rest of the pics).

the place really filled up too, I'd be surprised if it wasn't a sell out.

^ Definitely something visual, I must say! Actually, I used to enjoy the old Ice Capades shows that toured through here.

They even used to do production numbers to opera in "the old days," lol. I might actually enjoy this, an ice show

that's not Disney-themed.

Thanks for the review Bert. and all the great photos, too.

^ Definitely something visual, I must say! Actually, I used to enjoy the old Ice Capades shows that toured through here.

They even used to do production numbers to opera in "the old days," lol. I might actually enjoy this, an ice show

that's not Disney-themed.

 

Thanks for the review Bert. and all the great photos, too.

I, too, remember Ice Capades. It was quite innovative then.

Bert, thanks for the interesting review & pix of Cirque Du Soleil's "Crystal." I would normally be drawn to anything involving "snow," so I'm sorry that it proved to be less imaginative than the company's usual stellar productions.

(Nice pic of you and Nick!)

Alice

^ Definitely something visual, I must say! Actually, I used to enjoy the old Ice Capades shows that toured through here.

They even used to do production numbers to opera in "the old days," lol. I might actually enjoy this, an ice show

that's not Disney-themed.

 

Thanks for the review Bert. and all the great photos, too.

 

I, too, remember Ice Capades. It was quite innovative then.

 

Bert, thanks for the interesting review & pix of Cirque Du Soleil's "Crystal." I would normally be drawn to anything involving "snow," so I'm sorry that it proved to be less imaginative than the company's usual stellar productions.

(Nice pic of you and Nick!)

 

Alice

thanks Alice.

as I noted tho, even a So-So Cirque show is better than a lot of what's out there.

the biggest disappointment was the Music, and although I wish there was more interaction with the acts and the Ice, if you enjoy skating/ice dancing, the show will satisfy that itch

^ Definitely something visual, I must say! Actually, I used to enjoy the old Ice Capades shows that toured through here.

They even used to do production numbers to opera in "the old days," lol. I might actually enjoy this, an ice show

that's not Disney-themed.

 

Thanks for the review Bert. and all the great photos, too.

 

I, too, remember Ice Capades. It was quite innovative then.

 

Bert, thanks for the interesting review & pix of Cirque Du Soleil's "Crystal." I would normally be drawn to anything involving "snow," so I'm sorry that it proved to be less imaginative than the company's usual stellar productions.

(Nice pic of you and Nick!)

 

Alice

 

thanks Alice.

 

as I noted tho, even a So-So Cirque show is better than a lot of what's out there.

 

the biggest disappointment was the Music, and although I wish there was more interaction with the acts and the Ice, if you enjoy skating/ice dancing, the show will satisfy that itch

With the Winter Olympics just over, I have, for now, TOTALLY "satisfied that itch" for skating/ice dancing AND every bit of skiing and snowboarding. By Week 2, my eyes were crossing! (Hmmmm...wish the Summer Olympics could find a way to incorporate Cirque style events. Talk about 'Big Air!')

Alice

Our new summer season of Theatre Under The Stars was just announced: Cinderella and 42nd Street, alternating performances.

We've decided to see only "42nd Street". We just saw "Cinderella" as part of this past Broadway in Vancouver Season. And as much as we

enjoyed it, we 're not interested in seeing it again. Like Flashdance. Like Once. Like The Sound of Music.... All One-And-Dones for us.

Also, the night we're seeing "42nd Street," will be the annual TUTS Alumni Night as well, of which I am a member. (Did shows from 1969-1977)

But we have to wait until May 5 to get single show tickets. Which is fine with us. We can wait.

https://www.tuts.ca/

I think that's HAIRSPRAY on stage, done a couple of summers ago.

Our new summer season of Theatre Under The Stars was just announced: Cinderella and 42nd Street, alternating performances.

 

We've decided to see only "42nd Street". We just saw "Cinderella" as part of this past Broadway in Vancouver Season. And as much as we

enjoyed it, we 're not interested in seeing it again. Like Flashdance. Like Once. Like The Sound of Music.... All One-And-Dones for us.

 

Also, the night we're seeing "42nd Street," will be the annual TUTS Alumni Night as well, of which I am a member. (Did shows from 1969-1977)

 

But we have to wait until May 5 to get single show tickets. Which is fine with us. We can wait.

 

https://www.tuts.ca/

It's nice to see "42nd Street" making the rounds again! Such a lively, colorful show. Worth another look-see, for sure. (I hadn't thought about this in years, but one of my old college friends was in the chorus of one of the early Broadway productions of the show. The first one of our friends to "make it" - exciting days!

Your TUTS Alumni NIght sounds like fun. What shows (1969-1977) did you enjoy doing the most?

Alice