Julia W

Nina and Meg on TV again!! :D You lucky ladies - I will just have time to watch the show before I have to go out Darius was very good on this show last time - and so were you Nina!! :D I will be with you in spirit!! :D Julie

Sorry!!.........Can't decide :no: :( Julie

Neil was driving home at about 8 p.m. tonight listening to Heart fm and they had a long advert for GWTW 'starring Darius Danesh'. :D - NO-ONE MUST MISS THE GREATEST LOVE STORY OF ALL TIME!! They were interviewing people coming out of the theatre and they were all saying how much they had loved the show!!! :cheer: I always listen to Heart when I am driving and I will be out in the car most of tomorrow so will listen out to see if I hear it again. Julie

Gotta Know Tonight acoustic for me too please! :D Julie

I see you've managed to post them over there now Paul - they're excellent photos!! :dance: I see that you've posted Natasha's video over on her site too - isn't she just lovely!! :D (I must tell Allison that she's managed to appear with Natasha on film - she'll be thrilled!! :D ) Julie

Vote now, vote now, BT :dance: ...... I don't 'do' suspense!!!! :lol: Julie

:???: Is there something going on then??? !!! :rolleyes: :D 'Sliding Doors Live' for me Julie

Wendy rang me at 8a.m. this morning to tell me that she had the Daily Express review - very good for Darius - apparently it was only he who saved the show!! Hopefully someone will post it soon!! :D Julie

Hello!!! :hi: Easy for me......definitely 'Sliding Doors' live please :dance: :D Julie

Here goes (I've just posted this over on .net)..... I enjoyed the show on 7/4 but last night was much, much better. Darius somehow seemed to be more involved in the first half and one of the characters even introduced him onto the stage, which was much better as last time he just blended in with the performers and was insignificant for a while! He sings 'I'm your Man' but it isn't a complete song and then he sings more of it in the second half. If it was elaborated on I feel it could be the 'stand-out' song of the show that people would remember!! :D They have lightened the mood of the story by adding several comedy lines - a few of which are D's - and the audience responded well. Because there are snippets of humour it seems OK to smile at the actors portraying horses and the scene where Melanie gives birth - pretty 'basic-acting' but really the only way it can be done!! :D The sound effects are excellent and the burning of Atlanta was much more spectacular The stairway near to us caught fire and had to be extinguished at the end of the scene!! :o It seemed more of a 'musical' to me this time. D's singing was 'spot-on' - especially the lullaby - that was beautiful!! :wub: :D I don't think I could fault anyone's performance at all. I think Jill was on stage slightly less than last time but I don't think they have cut any of her songs!! The finale was excellent - they now repeat 2 of the songs, getting the audience to sing and clap along It finished to a standing ovation and everyone feeling good!! :yahoo: I think this show is now looking very good and they may have even more 'bits to tweak' before Press Night on Tuesday! Well done to all the cast :cheer: Julie

Quote from a post over on Broadwayworld from someone who went to yesterday's matinee: "The knock-out for me in the whole show is Darius. He was a revelation and I wished he had been on stage more. He gives a commanding and assured performance which was for me the highlight of the afternoon." GWTW the show is getting such mixed reviews - I pray that Trevor Nunn has it 'just right' by press night - apparently yesterday afternoon's performance was still 3 hours 45 minutes!!! Julie

A poster on Broadwayworld.com has written a review of last night's show - he only gave it a C+!! If anyone is curious about 'who sings what' he has listed all the songs but not much about what he thought of the performances individually (except Ashley). It seems there was a mulfunction with one of the props last night and they had to stop the show and start again!! :D Julie

WOW!!! What's going on - what have I missed?!!! There are 1315 Users over on Rachel's site atm!!! :cheer: :D Julie

Just posted this over on .net.... Sorry for delay but didn't get in until 1.30a.m. last night and had a busy day today!! I really enjoyed last night. I have never seen GWTW or read the book so everything was new to me apart from the few snippets I may have seen. All the cast work very hard - some take several roles and because of my ignorance I did get a bit confused occasionally! Even though the first half had been cut, I was just thinking I was ready for a break when the lights came on. The first half had held my attention but Darius had only sung one real song - he sang it well but the song was not memorable!! Mammy and Prissy (I think) had both sung solos and they were amazing, they had really powerful voices About 10 minutes into the second half I was beginning to get depressed and wondering when D was really going to get his chance to 'shine'. But.... from then on the show really picked up! His acting was amazing - I had tears running down my face at one point when he was singing to Bonnie and the passion, frustration and anger shown when singing to Scarlett was very impressive. Their duet was beautiful - their voices really complemented each other. D's acting in the first half reminded me of Billy Flynn but he excelled himself in the second half :cheer: :wub: Scarlett was amazing throughout - she was hardly ever off-stage!! Apparently she has signed for a year - she will be worn to a frazzle!! :) My only worry is that although the music is good I cannot think of one song that will stick in people's minds!! I was really hoping that Darius would have a powerful song that could be sung generally out of context of the show, but he didn't! :cry: When he made his exit near the end of the show, he left me wanting more and judging by the cheer he got when he came back onto the stage to take a bow after the final song, the audience wanted more of him too!!! :cheer: :D Still... this was only the 2nd preview - a lot can change between now and 22/4. I'm looking forward to seeing the difference when I go again on 23/4 - I'm hoping that D will get more to sing and maybe Scarlett a little bit less so that she can get a bit more needed rest occasionally! :D Julie

Thanks Pam!! Will report back asap but probably not tonight unless they have cut the show running time down considerably!!! :D Julie

Incredible please Julie

Six o'clock at the stage door it is then!!!..... You can't shake us off that easily....see you both there :D Can't wait!!! :dance: Julie (Allison and Wendy)

Just been over there and seen that Preston - they are just obviously a lot of silly kids!!! I don't know if anyone is registered over there or it's just best to ignore it. I feel so upset for Darius that this sort of thing just keeps coming back to haunt him yet someone as obnoxious as Robbie Williams can get away with it!! :angry: (and he does it on purpose!!) Anything seems 'to go' these days - it will probably draw a lot more interest to the thread and maybe inadvertently to Darius and GWTW!! I'm sorry if I sound 'blase' but I don't think we can do anything!!! :( Meg?? BT?? Julie Of course, the moderators on the site may see fit to delete the offending picture - we can but hope!!

OOooer!!!! Why Meg?!!! We have E23-25 for tomorrow night!!! What's going to happen!!?? :lol: :dance: Julie

The poster on Broadwayworld.com has elaborated his review, if you click onto the link at the bottom of his post. He was obviously one of the Darius doubters....... ' all the cast, including Darius Danesh, were fine, not amazing, but fine' :D Julie

Thanks for typing that up Bramley :D There is a constructive review over on Whatsonstage.com now! It seems that the first part of the musical is the weakest and Trevor Nunn was making lots of notes during this part - hopefully work will be done during Sunday to remedy the long running time of 4 hours 10 minutes including interval!! This reviewer had praise for Jill and Darius and gave the production 7/10 (not bad for first preview!) Julie

A poster on Broadwayworld.com has just given his hurried brief review... he wasn't very impressed!! Running time 4 hours 6 minutes so a lot will have to be cut! He said that the audience seemed 'to dig it' but he thought the score and the set were dull (even though it seemed impressive at first!). The cast, however, were fine....not amazing, but fine. I don't think that this particular reviewer was particularly looking forward to this new show though!!! he just went out of curiousity!! Julie

Very well put BT ....... especially the bit about D being 'too darn polite'!!! :) It seems to me that some interviewers just don't want to help boost his career in any way at all!!! Julie

There was another small item in the Daily Mail yesterday under Ephraim Hardcastle's column: 'A new musical version of GWTW opens in the West End tomorrow. Director Sir Trevor Nunn is a brave man. Cast in Clark Gable's Rhett Butler role is former Pop Idol contestant Darius Danesh, 27, who lists his hobbies as collecting kilts. The show's score has been written by 53 year old Dr. Margaret Martin, who describes herself as a 'maternal health specialist'. I am told it is a combination of gospel, folk and Irish melodies. Look out!' I wonder what the tone of some of these advance notices would be like if Hugh Jackman was playing Rhett!!??? :rolleyes: :angry: :) Julie

I haven't got the magazine myself yet but have just read the article on Rachel's site....... and..... I don't believe that any woman once having met Darius could not be totally 'besotted' by him!!!! She admits that he is extremely good looking, has exceptional eye lashes and is very talented, etc, etc, but seems to totally bored with his intelligence!! :rolleyes: I admit Darius can waffle and be evasive if he wants to - he makes me annoyed sometimes when he doesn't answer one of my questions directly and he also makes me chuckle when I know he is being purposely evasive!! :D As you say, Preston, I too think that the interviewer could not be totally positive about Darius as she has 'loyalties' towards someone else!!! :rolleyes: :D I expect the reviews on GWTW to be a total mix - depending on the bias of the critics/reviewers, and this will be no different for any new show/performer!! Julie