January 22, 200718 yr Sounds as if Will did himself proud. :cheer: Why do we worry he thrives on pressure. :yahoo: Post from Claire on Devoted. WOW!!!! I had to leave the party early and left the others in the bar, I'm sure they will have a lot more to tell you later. I'll leave doing a proper report till the morning when I've got myself back together. But bloody hell, tonight he was unbelievable in that last scene. I held my breath at that bit where people laugh... and nobody did. I really felt like punching the air with a big YESS!!! And OMG!!! he was really sobbing I'm so very proud of him tonight. Claire xxx He's in the bar with Conor both wearing suits. :wub: Edited January 22, 200718 yr by truly talented
January 22, 200718 yr It took forever it seemed to get through the D thread tonight pages and pages were being added by the minute - but oh was the trawl worth it!!! :yahoo: :yahoo: Edited January 22, 200718 yr by chrysalis
January 22, 200718 yr Author It took forever it seemed to get through the D thread tonight pages and pages were being added by the minute - but oh was the trawl worth it!!! :yahoo: :yahoo: I know, I'm loving reading the thread, there's over 170 online now, love Will to bits and I'm so happy Conor's there and Will's mum and dad. :wub:
January 22, 200718 yr Another bit posted by Claire:- A few random thoughts.... I noticed a man with a bowtie sitting in the front row of the 1st balcony and I think he was a critic... lol I'm not 100% sure he was but he certainly looked the part! The good news is he stayed right till the end ... and left like greased lightening the moment it finished. Off to do his review I presume. And there was a man in a suit in the foyer writing on his laptop after it had finished. I think the girls were going to investigate and find out what he thought but I had to leave. If they don't give it a good review after tonight they want shooting. Celebs everywhere!! We were sat in the Corrie block. Antony Cotton was sat infront of me. next to him was Roy Cropper and Richard Fleeshman was behind me with his mum. And Curly was there with Fiz It was bizarre!!! Maggie and I were sat in Row C either side of the aisle where he comes on stage which was nice Oh and I think Will's throat must be better because he smoked more than he did on Saturday and took a huge drag in the darkness as he walked past us on his way out after the 2nd scene. I don't know why but that had me Claire xxx
January 22, 200718 yr And another posted by will4me:- will_4_me wrote: Just been googling and found this just posted on Digital Spy: I've just got back and IT WAS AMAZING I was on stage level (thank you Mummy and Council connections! ), I was starstruck enough seeing Will up close who I LOVE ( SUCH a dark horse! Who knew he could act like that??) As well as that I was sat behind Richard Fleeshman (literally, could have taken off his hat that was blocking my view! Even spoke to him briefly in interval ), and 90% of the cast of Corrie including Sean Tully and Roy and Norris! I was well starstruck, a fab fab fab night! hehe my Mum's the Head of Cultural Strategy for the city council so have been to some fab evenings. I'm sure the reviews will be great! Especially for Will and Diana Hardcastle who played the mother, they were fantastic at the end! Completely forgot "Bunty" aka Laura Rees was in Love Actually, mind you it was a very small part at the beginning with Bill Nighy singing ... Lets hope she's right about the reviews! Julie x
January 23, 200718 yr Another this time from Maggie on D:- Will was so brilliant tonight!!! The first half went as well as Saturday if not better but Will totally excelled himself in the last scene it was very powerful stuff...I still have nail marks in the palms of my hands from clenching my fists. There was no laughing at the part where people have laughed before in the last scene. Will had noticeably changed the emphasis in the sentence so obviously he and the director were aware that they didn't want to encourage laughter at that moment and had thought it through. Instead of saying "I'm seeing for the first time how old you are - it's horrible - pause, which is where people have laughed in previous performances - your silly fair hair - and your face all plastered and painted...." he almost whispered the word horrible and ran straight into the next part of the sentence without a pause. There were quite a few other little changes of emphasis that I noticed in the last scene and I thought even Diana Hardcastle's performance was better than Saturday...if that were possible. We saw her husband, Tom Wilkinson in the bar before and after...bet he was proud. The audience did seem impressed and gave a great reception at the end. Will looked really happy at the end so I guess he must have been satisfied with his performance tonight...he's obviously worked hard to improve it. I'm not good at over hearing conversations in noisy environments but I believe some of the others overheard some positive comment. Bring on the reviews I say, I can cope with minor criticism and nit picking but if any are completely damning I shall personally be writing to the authors!!! OK Will's not perfect but he easily held his own with the other actors and gave a pretty dramatic performance by anybody's standards. The pictures from scenes in the play on the poster in the in foyer are stunners. I didn't have my camera with me but Carly has taken a pic. There were some actual photo prints on the table with the press ticket envelopes so I guess they'll be the ones that the press will use with their reviews. They weren't for sale sadly we asked
January 23, 200718 yr And yet another from a unknown blog:- Just back from seeing Will Young in The Vortex by Noel Coward at the Royal Exchange considering it's his first play he was very good - very well cast not sure if I enjoyed the play it's the story of a mother and son both addicted her with youth and he with something that becomes apparent as the play develops the second act seemed to finish rather quickly so much so that one the way home we wondered if there was an act three taking place while we were scraping ice off the car not much, but a little something to tide us over til the proper reviews come in! http://richardfair.blogspot.com/2007/01/will-young.html Just had a look at this and the chap is in communications/media -so looks like it may be a professional as well as a personal opinion! Edited January 23, 200718 yr by chrysalis
January 23, 200718 yr Will4Me:- MORE GOOGLING! The Vortex and Will seem to have travelled around the world - lots of reports in Indian Media - stuff we've read before but loved some of the headings such as HOLLYWOOD NEWS! Also found this from an Online Mag -posted today and the only out of London production mentioned! worth checking the link to see properly -with Will pic etc. http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/index.php?menuID=4&subID=10 88 WORTH THE DETOUR The Vortex Pop idol Will Young makes his stage debut as wasted musician Nicky Lancaster, Noel Coward's extraordinary portrait of the artist as a mixed up young man in the 1920s. Drink, drugs and celebrity are nothing new: "One gets carried away by glamour, and personality, and magnetism - they're such beastly treacherous things," says Nicky, a sort of Pete Doherty figure with class and articulation. Can Young convey the dark side as Rupert Everett once did? For Nicky is also Hamlet with a mother fixation; Diana Hardcastle's the latest in maternity fashion. MC?Royal Exchange, St Ann's Square, Manchester, 0161 833 9833, royalexchange.co.uk As I said earlier it will be interesting to see if the critics compare Will's performance to other recent Nicky's such as Rupert Everett.
January 23, 200718 yr Author Not a very nice one in the Telegraph but the Times gives it three stars. The Telegraph one is a bit sh!te isn't it? but the Times and Independent are pretty decent and I'm sure Will will take on board some of the criticisms and learn from it, I'm going tonight and I can't wait to see it. :dance:
January 23, 200718 yr Author The Times: thanks to badgirlJo. The Vortex Sam Marlowe at the Royal Exchange in Manchester In 2002 an unknown called Will Young was catapulted to fame by the television talent show Pop Idol. In 1924 Noël Coward became an overnight sensation when his play The Vortex simultaneously became a scandal and a huge hit. Now their stories intersect, as Young makes his stage debut in the role originally played by Coward himself. But the results fall far short of revelation. Young’s performance is no disgrace, but as Nicky Lancaster, the play’s desperately unhappy but irresistibly charming leading man, he displays considerably less glamour and urbanity than he usually does in his more familiar persona as intelligent yet unassuming pop star. Lez Brotherston’s set is a chic, hectic Art Deco swirl of black and white, and the glittering creatures who pose and cavort upon it inhabit a world of elegant artifice, in which people hide behind wit, fantasy and ostrich-feather fans. Queen of them all is Florence Lancaster, Nicky’s beautiful mother, terrified of losing her youth and looks and burying her anxiety in a carefully preserved appearance of hedonistic insouciance and the arms of a young lover. Misdirected emotions ricochet amid the bitchy epigrams, the frenetic dancing and the heat of jazz music — and Nicky, returning from Paris with a newly acquired fiancée and cocaine habit, detests the deceit of this futile scene while recognising that he is its product and its collaborative participant. Jo Combes’s production is occasionally clumsily staged, and it has an over-effortful quality; it needs to convey a stronger sense both of the virtuoso social brilliance of Nicky and Florence, and of their private agonies — vital if we are to peer into the frightening void that separates their reality from glossy appearance. Young’s Nicky is very youthful, very camp and rather prissy, virtually skipping onto the stage in huge baggy tweed trousers. That the character’s arrested emotional development, caused by lack of parental, and specifically maternal, input, has kept him childlike is valid. But Young never shows us the rage that drives Nicky to violent confrontation with Florence. He gives us petulance rather than pain, self-pity rather than rage, and his light voice often seems underpowered and lacking in colour. What’s more, because we never feel Nicky’s despair, his attack on his mother begins to seem shallow, spiteful, even faintly misogynistic. But if the production’s heart feels hollow, there are still moments to relish. As Florence’s acerbic, steadfast confidante Helen Saville, Alexandra Mathie excels, hiding a poignantly hopeless repressed passion for her friend behind arid humour and bitter candour. Diana Hardcastle’s Florence is a dazzling ice angel in beaded pale aqua, her banter underlaid with the chill of narcissism and self-concern. She meets her antithesis — and her nemesis — in Nicky’s fiancée, Laura Rees’s delicious bohemian Bunty Mainwaring, vampiric with her bonnet of shiny black hair, her mouth the colour of a bruised damson, and filled with bruising truths. They bring to the production the right brittle sense of style; but we need to see more of the suffering beneath the shiny surface. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Independent: thanks to badgirlJo. First Night: The Vortex, Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester Young struggles to match the mastery of Coward By Lynne Walker Published: 23 January 2007 Noël Coward's early play The Vortex was the talk of London for its daring subject matter and the "whacking good part" which Coward wrote and created, launching himself as a social and theatrical celebrity. That was 1924. The buzz surrounding the Royal Exchange Theatre's revival is less to do with the writer's exposé of the hedonistic goings-on and fashionable depravity of the idle classes than with the stage debut of another celebrity, the former Pop Idol, Will Young. It was a gamble rather than logical casting by the director, Jo Combes. Young - who came out of drama school to take part in Pop Idol - is an unknown quantity who made no more than a decent enough impression in the film Mrs Henderson Presents. However, his success as a songwriter and vocalist and his winning self-confidence suggested that, if any contemporary pop performer could recreate Coward's beguiling charm, deft wit and mellifluous rhythms, it would be him. In many ways Young is perfect in the part of Nicky Lancaster, the spoilt, heroin-shooting boy, emotionally adrift from his resigned father and flighty mother, and weary of the nebulous life he's drowning in. But, where Coward surely dazzled in his understated, subtle delivery, signalling cracks in a shiny exterior with a mischievous sentimentality, Young merely veers between a bright smile and a crumpled expression, pouting petulantly. His slightly fey mannerisms convey just about enough of the complex sexuality of his latently homosexual role, but there's little hint of the boyish bubbliness or urbane veneer which might have attracted him a fiancée such as Bunty Mainwaring (given a feline gloss by Laura Rees). Young is greatly helped by the rest of the cast. Diana Hardcastle gives a compelling performance as his calculating, socialite mother, Florence - her selfish vanity and weakness for extramarital affairs with younger men blinding her to her son's vulnerability. Their final, wretched encounter, as they teeter on the brink of descending "into a vortex of beastliness" is searing in its intensity. As they tear at each other's failures, you feel mother and son deserve each other. The dry, droll wit of Florence's long-suffering friend Helen is perceptively captured by Alexandra Mathie and David Fielder's camp, eccentric "Pawnie" Quentin cheers up the cocktail hour. But, as a play, The Vortex suffers from its awkwardly underdeveloped characters, not least Florence's limp-brained, chumpish military lover. Combes brings out the darker elements of this spiralling whirlpool of devastating revelation and confrontation, her interpretation only occasionally at the expense of Coward's spirited wit and bitchy brittleness. The hurly-burly of the tricky weekend house-party dance is seamlessly handled, although splitting the three short acts into two parts makes for an awkward break. The stage is a ziggurat construction, on several levels each featuring extravagant black Art Deco shapes and squiggles on a white background dominated by an ugly decorative vortex. Designed by Lez Brotherston, it's suitably over the top for Florence Lancaster's fashionable London apartment but far less appropriate for her country house drawing room and, still less, for her bedroom. The modern Philippe Starck Louis "Ghost" chairs, ideal for an in-the-round setting, are quite wrong for the era but his costumes, a riotous celebration of period style, nearly always hit the target. A lot like this production really. ITV.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quote: Will Young's theatre success 7.51, Tue Jan 23 2007 Will Young received a standing ovation after his first professional theatre stage debut. The singer-songwriter, who first shot to fame as a Pop Idol winner, gave a confident performance in Noel Coward's The Vortex at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester. The 27-year-old made his first acting appearance in the musical comedy Mrs Henderson Presents, starring alongside Bob Hoskins - who suggested he try his hand at theatre. Young took the play's lead role, Nicky Lancaster, a messed-up, drug-addled and self absorbed spoilt brat in England's Roaring Twenties. Former public schoolboy did not look out of place, in a play about repressed sexuality and the decadence and degeneracy of high society in the 1920's. It is a major departure for the singer, who has won two Brit Awards and had four number one singles. Edited January 23, 200718 yr by suggy
January 23, 200718 yr Manchester Evening News :cheer: [ Thanks to maggie on D] The Vortex @ Royal Exchange Kevin Bourke http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y208/sunday20/C_17_Articles_233998_BodyWeb_Detail.jpg WHEN Noel Coward took the lead on the London stage in 1924 in his breakthrough play The Vortex, it was variously described as "a dustbin of a play" and "the most decadent play of our time". Eight decades or so later, references to homosexuality, drugs and promiscuity might not seem quite so scandalous but it’s undeniably a bold move for former Pop Idol star Will Young to make his stage debut as the dissolute and tormented lead character in such a play. To do so outside London at the Royal Exchange serves further notice that he has every intention of being taken seriously. And so he deserves to be. Young puts in a powerful and sensitively adept performance in a searing and fearless version of Coward’s play, wonderfully directed by Jo Combes and memorably designed by Matthew Bourne’s collaborator Lez Brotherston. Coward himself characteristically observed that his original motive was to write "a good play with a whacking good part in it for myself" but this production is blessed with a quite terrific ensemble of performers quit apart from the obvious publicity magnet of Young, especially Diana Hardcastle. She splendidly plays Florence Lancaster, a socialite given to such observations as "it’s never too early for a #bolges#" and prone to taking younger lovers such as Tom Veryan (Sam Heughan) as if they can inoculate her against growing older. Her social whirl also includes the waspish Pauncefort Quentin (David Fielder), the appallingly self-absorbed Clara Hibbert (Rhiannon Oliver) and the relatively sensible, if still acerbic, Helen Saville (Alexandra Mathie, nominated last year as MEN Theatre Awards Best Actress for her turn in Separate Tables at the Exchange). Returning to this decadent scene after an apparently even more debauched year in Paris is Florence’s musician son Nicky (Will Young). Along with an unexpected new fiancée Bunty Mainwaring (Laura Rees), Nicky’s new Bohemian trappings also include an addiction to drugs and a penchant for "odd dancing" that even his strait-laced and long-suffering father (David Peart) can’t help but notice . As the brittle , and still very funny, witticisms of the opening scenes turn into something far darker, a withering indictment of the "vortex of beastliness’ that afflicted fashionable London society between the wars, Young, whose comic timing has already been a revelation, really comes into his own. His character’s petulance and selfishness starts to peel away when assaulted by the acidic mores of his mother and her cronies and the desperation he reveals as the play moves towards its climactic moments is genuinely, unexpectedly moving. All in all, something of a triumph for the Exchange and a splendid riposte to anyone who might have accused them of cynical "gimmick-casting" by giving the lead role to Will Young, although it should be interesting to see what his devoted fans make of the show later in the run. What did you think of Will's performance? Have your say below. HEAT MAGAZINE No one would ever guess this was Will's debut. He was extremely convincing and kept the audience spellbound Thanks to badgirljo Edited January 23, 200718 yr by BanYellowm+m's
January 23, 200718 yr Thanks for bringing all the reviews over. It's lovely to have a really positive MEN review to redress the Telegraph one. :D The Independent & Times reviews aren't too bad. Neither state Will can't act but this production's portrayl of Nicky seems at odds with theirs. I'm sure there's many positives & constructive criticism Will can take from these reviews. Pleased that the critics are reviewing him as a serious actor & not someone given a part just because of his celebrity status. Considering his lack of experience I believe as Diana Hardcastle says Wil's stage debut is a triumph.
January 23, 200718 yr CEEFAX pg 505 " Singer Young makes theatre debut Will Young received a standing ovation following his professional theatre debut in Manchester. The singer is starring in Noel Coward's The Vortex at the city's Royal Exchange Theatre. Young, 27, who has two Brit Awards, plays the lead role of self-absorbed spoilt brat Nicky Lancaster. Young, who started out on the ITV show Pop Idol made his acting debut in the film Mrs Henderson Presents with Dame Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins."
January 23, 200718 yr Thanks for bringing all the reviews over. It's lovely to have a really positive MEN review to redress the Telegraph one. :D The Independent & Times reviews aren't too bad. Neither state Will can't act but this production's portrayl of Nicky seems at odds with theirs. I'm sure there's many positives & constructive criticism Will can take from these reviews. Pleased that the critics are reviewing him as a serious actor & not someone given a part just because of his celebrity status. Considering his lack of experience I believe as Diana Hardcastle says Wil's stage debut is a triumph. I agree I don't think they are to bad... :D Even The Independent had good things to say Their final, wretched encounter, as they teeter on the brink of descending "into a vortex of beastliness" is searing in its intensity. As they tear at each other's failures, you feel mother and son deserve each other.
January 23, 200718 yr Thanks to Rosie on the O/S :D Sky News have just shown Will and said he gave an assured performance and got a standing ovation
January 23, 200718 yr Love this bit from the MEN review. To do so outside London at the Royal Exchange serves further notice that he has every intention of being taken seriously. And so he deserves to be. Young puts in a powerful and sensitively adept performance in a searing and fearless version of Coward’s play, wonderfully directed by Jo Combes and memorably designed by Matthew Bourne’s collaborator Lez Brotherston. I think this is an interesting observation by Carrie B on Devoted. Is it just a coincidence that in exactly the same pattern of his tour, the broadsheets are critical, often making observations in line with his own sexuality and the locals and tabloids and the people are supportive? I haven't seen it myself but I have expected from the reports that Will's portrayal of Nicky wouldn't be exactly as I understood Nicky as I didn't see the comedy, I saw anger, and I expected evidence of Nicky's sexuality to be suppressed just like the broadsheet reporters expected of the role but I do think it's interesting that Will has had a different approach and I'm looking forward to seeing his version. I need to make my own judgement before I can really comment, but I am wondering whether Will's portrayal does in fact diminish the role, as he didn't diminish his tour for me by not being like Robbie Williams or Elvis. Love this posted by Abbie. Wow!! Thanks Maggie. My boss actually said yesterday that he wouldn't get a good review from the MEN as they always give bad reviews!!! Abbie Puts things into perspective & shows just how well Will has done with virtually no theatrical training. Hope she gives her boss a copy. Edited January 23, 200718 yr by truly talented
January 23, 200718 yr It was always to be expected that the words "pop idol" would appear somewhere in the reviews - Will will never get away from that soubriquet, although as the years pass it gets less and less. But on the whole I think the reviews seem to be fair and constructive, with always the exception!!! Sounded as if Charles Spencer from the DT wanted us to believe he was around in 1924 so knew exactly how Coward played the role, but as he obviously wasn't, he really wouldn't know, any more than we do. I hadn't really thought deeply about Carrie B's observation vis-a-vis London/Provinces press, but she's right. I don't mind so much the London broadsheets being critical, so long as it's constructive criticism, and I think on the whole that's what they've done. Overall the good outweighs the bad. It was never going to be an easy ride for Will, we knew that, but I think he comes out of it with his reputation intact. The words of Stronger come to mind - "I'll prove myself I'll stick around....." and he surely has - to those that matter.
January 23, 200718 yr Whats on stage :cheer: [Thanks to willisking on d] http://www.whatsonstage.com/dl/page.php?pa...=E8821169546716 WHATS ON STAGE RATINGhttp://www.whatsonstage.com/wosimages/redstar.gifhttp://www.whatsonstage.com/wosimages/redstar.gifhttp://www.whatsonstage.com/wosimages/redstar.gifhttp://www.whatsonstage.com/wosimages/redstar.gif USER RATING http://www.whatsonstage.com/wosimages/redstar.gifhttp://www.whatsonstage.com/wosimages/redstar.gifhttp://www.whatsonstage.com/wosimages/redstar.gifhttp://www.whatsonstage.com/wosimages/redstar.gifhttp://www.whatsonstage.com/wosimages/redstar.gif http://www.whatsonstage.com/dl/res_images/Vortex_WYoung-LR_jan07.jpg Pop star Will Young is taking a real gamble making his professional stage acting debut, and even more so in taking on a character like rich and misunderstood musician Nicky Lancaster in Noel Coward’s savage 1924 play about London #bolges# society. The Vortex (the title refers to the "youth vortex of beastliness") launched the then 25-year-old Coward’s career as a playwright and leading man. Boldly stepping into Coward’s shoes, Young delivers a much better performance than you have any right to expect. It’s not an easy role to carry off. But, while Young displays a considerable amount of charm and bite, in equal measure, he fails to muster any sympathy for his character’s situation and resultant inner turmoil. Though privileged, Nicky is desperately unhappy. His mother Florence is a sophisticated but shallow, party-loving woman. Her predilection for the company of toyboy young men leaves her husband emasculated and emotionless. And her son doesn’t fare much better. Young plays Nicky as a petulant, bitchy fop, a spoilt child, as opposed to a troubled young man, etched with pain. He rows with his wayward mother alright, but he may as well be whingeing for sweets rather than launching a desperate attempt to salvage what’s left of their relationship. Still, if the depths of emotion aren’t plumbed, there’s plenty to appreciate on the surface. Coward’s dialogue positively crackles, and Young relishes each line in his verbal spars with socialite Bunty Mainwaring, his ‘intended’ (a rich portrayal from Laura Rees). Lez Brotherston’s opulent design exposes the shallow lives of these pretty young – and not-so-young - things. On a round, black and white set, complete with a dance floor, each character circles their prey buzzard-like, spitting out insults and waiting for the moment to swoop in for their next kill. Alexandra Mathie gives the evening’s most accomplished performance as the sturdy, witty, yet deeply sad, confidante Helen. The actress embraces Coward’s acerbic wit, yet also manages to convey Helen’s deep-rooted respect and love for queen bee, Florence. Likewise, Diana Hardcastle captures Florence’s self-centred absorption with ease but also lets us glimpse the vulnerability beneath the immaculate hair, make-up and party attire. As her spouse, David Peart excels in the small but pivotal role of David. A master of dejected restraint, Peart expertly disguises his character’s pain; in a scene with Nicky, a simple tap on the shoulder means so much more. Overall, director Jo Combes’ delicious production oozes quality from every pore. And, from the emptiness of the party scenes to the rage of the vitriolic emotional confrontations, we discover that, even if this group isn’t the most likeable bunch, there’s something deeply touching about them. Including the former Pop Idol winner. Yes, Will Young fans can rejoice: he acquits himself admirably, aided and abetted by more seasoned, and undeniably brilliant, performers. You’ll be drawn into this Vortex too, and not simply for its celebrity casting. - Glenn Meads Edited January 23, 200718 yr by BanYellowm+m's
January 23, 200718 yr Well done to Glen Meads for his totally unbiased review. Will has taken on a demanding role & acquitted himself admirably & as this critic says both he & his fans should be proud. Thanks for bringing it over BYM&M's.
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