29 April

Gone With The Wind

 

Well, I'm blown away lol. This production has had stinking reviews everywhere but I went to see it last night (Drury Lane) and I LOVED it!!! Darius Danesh has THE sexiest voice in the world, and nearly had me in tears at one point. The man can sing with some emotion I tell you!! And Jill Paice as Scarlett O'Hara was amazing. How someone with a waist that small can fit lungs that big in I will never know. Powerful, clever, engaging. Even though it was about four hours long and my butt was starting to go numb, I didn't want it to end. Loved it.

 

 

I'll agree with that review - seems right - apart from the length as she's added 30mins.

Variety had a very bad review - the worse of all the bad reviews.

thats nice to read, I think people are now finding it somewhat better than the reviews!

There are a lot of good reviews from people who have seen it but immediately they are shot down by people wh havent, does that not tell you something remembering the chicago reviews. After a list of good reviews for D, someone is saying its closing and its now gone to tickets.

Variety had a very bad review - the worse of all the bad reviews.

 

Really? Is there a new one ?

 

The Variety one on here speaks of Darius having star power and a resonant voice.

there's 2 themes in the posts I see, its either people who saw an early preview - or those who read the reviews and are piling in with their opnion on something they havent seen, just because they want something different to do well, or they don't like Darius.. and there's positive reviews from people who seem to have seen the show at a later date.

 

I read about TKTS but that has tickets for all the shows, and its buy on the day..so its obvious they will want to clear any unsold tickets monday to Fridays, I find it odd a show would be announced to be closing after a week! before the holdiay period has even started. There are always some all to willing to try to put the boot in something,

 

I am going again at the beginning of June!! booked earlier online! just hope Darius is there that day! or it will mean another trip LOL..

Edited May 1, 200817 yr by prettyinpink

There is definitely a degree of jealousy there but not only on that site. Someone posted how much better Hugh jackman would have been in the role yet she hasnt even seen it.

I suppose to be expected, his fans were c**k a hoop he may be up for it so are bitter he isnt I suppose, I felt a lot of disappointment from the media over that fact too when D was announced..everyone is so hung up over the same big movie stars having to do everything!

Not a good review at all. I didn't bother bringing it over. Here's the link. Jujst people who REALLY want it to fail.

 

http://www.variety.com/article/VR111798489...categoryId=2062

not really a review at all, just someone typing out a few snippets of others reviews. money for old rope springs to mind

 

having said that, there is a far more interesting and intelligent post under comments there..well said!

Edited May 1, 200817 yr by prettyinpink

Are Jackman's fans suggesting that the critics wouldn't have quibbled about the politics, racism, lyrics, narration, songlets, first time writer etc. if he'd been Rhett instead of Darius? He might even have got worse reviews. Think what fun it would be for UK critics to take down a Hollywood star along with the show.

 

The resounding chorus from the critics both dailies and Sundays was that Darius's Rhett was one of the rare strong points of the show.

Edited May 1, 200817 yr by Baytree

Comment on the indieLondon review

 

I’ve been reading and listening to all the critics reviews on GWTW and find that the views are mixed, some are very positive and some negative. Whilst some think it’s rushed others feel it’s too long. The negative reviews are the ones being regurgitated

 

It’s interesting that the reviews by friends and the public who post in blogs and on forums are mostly positive and speak of standing ovations. I haven’t seen GWTW but I don’t intend letting the critics put me off when the paying public appear to be thoroughly enjoying it!

 

 

— Ken May 1 #

 

 

Ticket News seem to think it'll go to Broadway.

 

“Gone with the Wind” could play Broadway

Thu, May 1st 2008 1:57 pm EST

By Carol-Ann Rudy

A new musical version of “Gone with the Wind” opened late last month at the New London Theatre in England, and it could be bound for Broadway in the future. The musical was written by Margaret Martin, a Los Angeles-based writer with a Ph.D. in community health science, and based on the Pulitzer-prize winning novel by Margaret Mitchell.

 

Few stories have captured the imagination of Americans like “Gone with the Wind.” The 1939 film version of the book starred Vivien Leigh as Scarlett and Clark Gable as Rhett, and smashed box office records at the time and won 10 Academy Awards. Martin presents Mitchell’s heroine of this Civil War epic from a different point of view than the blockbuster film, making a special effort to be truer to Mitchell’s original story. The theatergoer is likely to see this central character as a teenage single mom and admire her strength of character as she plots to save all she loves.

 

It is not the first time that someone has tried to bring the story to the stage. An earlier musical version called “Scarlett” was launched in 1970 in Tokyo and made it to London in 1972. It was headed for Broadway, but upon reviewing the Los Angeles run, the critics didn’t like it and it closed. That’s the last time anyone tried to present this story of the late 19th century South. According to published reports, reviews of Martin’s musical version were mixed, and it was running close to four hours in previews. It was whittled down to three and a half hours, and producers have promised to cut even more.

 

Director Trevor Nunn, well-known for his direction of T.S. Eliot and Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Cats, knows first-hand what it is to craft a novel for the stage: he adapted “Nicholas Nickleby” and Les Miserables.

 

http://www.ticketnews.com/Gone-with-the-Wi...Broadway5815166

 

Rachel has posted a bit from the New Statesman today - slightly less critical - He liked the show up to the burning of Atlanta.

 

However he seemed to think a lot of the 2nd half was unnecessary esp. the political bits ..............but Margaret Mitchell gives over a lot of pages to describing the Republicans and Democrats in those days and how Rhett worms his way back into the men's good books via politics. I think he didn't view the emphasis on the slaves favourably either

 

He had praise for Jill, Darius and Edward.

The whole cast deserves praise. They keep saying the songs aren't memorable - why are they always in my head then?

The point is I can never remember a song that well after ONE hearing of it as proved with pop songs, they have to be played two or three times or even more before they stick so why do they harp on about the songs not being memeroable when they have only heard them once. Meg has them in her head because she has heard them a few times. I have been very upset today because I bought the mail early this morning and saw that article and it is so unfair that the critics can try to bring a show down when other people are really enjoying it especially when they obviously have an axe to grind because they keep on about it long after their review.

To me this writer has the critics sussed.

 

 

http://www.spectator.co.uk/the-magazine/ar...ump-fever.thtml

 

 

he does.

It's good to see some equally knowledgable people fighting them with their own weapons - the pen and the laptop.

I like the fact that although the first lot of critics have given bad reviews, they are followed by people who are wondering what they were going on about.