Preston

Another snippet which you wont want to hear Last night switched tv on late when got to bed and it was bbc review of the year fronted by Kirsty ? cant think of her surname., She does the serious programmes late forties I would think, scottish. Anyway they were going through the musicals etc and showed Darius and Jill singing in a very short clip and then said GWTW was blown away. So I held on and they interviewed a large number of people about their highlights and lowlights of the year mostly I would think journalists, critics etc. Anyway you know whats coming. They interviewed this dark haired woman who I did not recognise at all and thats unusual or me. She said GWTW was worse than having a baby and she would rather have a baby than sit through GWTW again. Sorry. Cant possibly agree with her having done both.

Although Imagine appears to have had a shorter run than GWTW, it seems that it will get a cd which is so annoying.

From WOS today - WOS TV: Polycarpou Hits Back at Imagine This Critics Date: 19 December 2008 On the eve of the early closure of so-called "holocaust musical" Imagine This (See News, 8 Dec 2008), here's an exclusive interview with leading cast member Peter Polycarpou, who shares with Whatsontage.com his reactions to the raft of poor reviews the show received and comments on the wider issue of musicals and the critical establishment. Imagine This follows in the footsteps of many new musicals which have struggled to survive in the West End this year. Other notable casualties include its predecessor at the New London theatre, Trevor Nunn's epic musical retelling of Gone With the Wind. which closed after only two months (See News, 31 May 2008). Polycarpou was speaking at the launch of the Whatsonstage.com Theatregoers' Choice Awards 09, held on 5 December at the London Hippodrome, where the shortlists for this year's awards were announced. Imagine This is nominated in four categories, including Best New Musical (See News, 5 Dec 2008). Imagine This producer Beth Trachtenberg recently placed blame for the show’s “forced” early closure squarely on the shoulders of critics, many of whom attacked the musical for exploiting and trivialising the Holocaust (See Review Round-up, 20 Nov 2008). In a recent statement, Trachtenberg said: “Night after night we have seen audiences stirred to the depths of their emotions by this show. Fundamentally I do not think the critics should be making a moral judgment over the subject matter and moreover that they are generally not prepared to embrace musicals.”

Yes meg but would she or her voice have stood the pace and length of GWTW even in her heyday. much prefer Jill paices voice.

I saw the film with mia farrow but it did nothing for me either.

I srtil think there is more to this than meets the eye. Imagine this has had a shorter run at the new london than GWTW, had similar bad press yet they on there are praising it up as they did for marguerite just because one of their favourites was in it ruthie henshall who I wouldnt go down the road to see, jill paice had far more talent and staying power voice wise when you think how long she was on stage but she wasnt a name or one of their favoured ones.

I think it all made me realise that these theatre sites with their praising of a n umber of these artistes who because of their praising must have gone to theatre school or come up through the ranks so i n their eyes must be good doesnt hold water, in fact it doesnt mean because you did that you are any good. As I have seen their are a n umber of amateurs in my area who would outdo them.

quote - Douglas Hodge (La Cage aux Follies), 23.8% Ryan Molloy (Jersey Boys) 24.9% Matt Rawle (Zorro) 17.0% Well I was about to comment on the fact that I saw the first and last of the above two on the royal command and I wasnt impressed. Douglas hodge I have seen in plays etc on tele before but he didnt impress me as a man in drag but his singing voice impressed me even less. I was expecting great things of Matt rawle him being one of those feted on WOS but although his singing voice was adequate his characterisation didnt impress me as I dont know why but felt he was a bit immature perhaps not in age but in his portrayal, I expected someone in command but didnt get that impression at all., there appeared to be alot of what I would call leering. Now to another name feted a lot on WOS kerry ellis, Absolutely hated her voice, shouting was more like it and wouldnt be able to stand listening to her during a whole performance .ryan molloy is also a name feted on WOS from the jersey boys, although I saw this exert dont know if he was one of the group but they surely surely were miming.

Thanks for that!!

Iv e posted everything I had to.

Gosh, thats a surprise.

Sorry Im hopeless at this. Its under discussion board.

Have a look at closing of imagine page 5,musicals, WOS. gwtw mention.

There is a write up of the launch party for these awards where many many stars and producers attended including ALW ETC ETC but no mention of D. Also mentions stars from various shows who attended but again no mention of GWTW.

Just voted elsewhere. Not at home.

I hope that was true meg because when I read the evening standards review of a little night music by trevor nunn, they are falling over themselves to praise it like the complete opposite to GWTW and it makes you wonder if their reviews past were a sutle way of getting at D through the show knowing their history with him. I do think that they generally are not helping keep shows open. .GWTW was far superior to any of the musicals I have seen this year but it is not a feel good show but a more deep thinking one and musicals like joseph and hairspray which are "go go" shows seem to be the ones favoured at the moment. The story for GWTW for instance is far far superior to Flashdance which I saw recently yet that which also has an american flavour is rumoured to be going to America. We all know that GWTW didnt get much promotion but how much was that to do with the media chosing not to.

But its nice to know he has nothing against them.

Its been announced that Imgine this which went into the Newlondon vitually after GWTW has suffered the same fate = quote - Last perf Dec 20th. As I said here 2 weeks ago, they were to be given notice for next Saturday the 13th but the producers pushed for the extra, final week! 37 perfs plus 15 previews. Its beaten 'Gone With The Wind' hands down! Regarding Trevor nunn and the reality mention re D its interesting to note that Trevors production of Little night music also includes another reality contestant in the form of Jessie buckley who came second in the search for nancy for Oliver on Tv.

I agree that it would havce done better i n America first. The fact that it was about the civil war wouldnt grip the younger people in this country as perhaps the book also wouldnt as it was published some time ago and they may not be familiar with it.Had it come over here with a lot of buzz from the states, maybe but defnitely think it would have done better there first especially when one heard that quite a few americans went to the westend production.

I have been sitting today down by the sea looking across Torbay with the most wonderful view on a beautiful day. Even a little tea hut was open and has been right through the summer and november and is still open and doing a roaring trade with people who just want to stroll in the sunshine and admire the view. That is one thing this area has beautiful scenery and I count myself lucky. It has been unusual to sit outside in December like this for a long period but it was lovely an d the grandchildren skated up and down the promenade on their scooters and loved it as we watched a huge white balloon carrying people go up and down above Torquay like something from the Prisoner tv series. Bet the owners didnt expect to be still doing trips in December. A bonus for them.

We have a laptop as well. Seems a bit unfair as there may be more than one person per household who want to vote.

Thanks. Have voted.

I realise Baytree he likes to lay low between projects, its just the length of time he does compared to other artists which is losing him fans etc and as meg says something would be nice. It reminds me of another couple, the actor Greg wise who was doing a lot of tv acting, then he married Emma thompson and was virtually never heard of again but she went from strength to strength.I saw him recently in something and it was the first time for ages and ages. I know I sound negative but there it is.

Thanks Meg. quote -and has now been duly expunged from his programme biography), but he’s now back on track with a show worthy of his talents. Be interesting to know if woman in white was expunged from his biography also. He can just carry on as normal but I would think it will be harder for D. even though he gave a great -performance. I noticed that a few people are panning the new Carousel in the westend but Nicholas jong one of the so called top critics has gone the opposite, surprise surprise. If many more shows close hopefully the critics will be out of a job.!!

Quote baytree - I think the " I will record my OWN songs" is really deep in his psyche and it'll take some inducement to shift it. I don't think money would ever entice him. Maybe that is what is causing a holdup with the album. In this economic climate labels may not be happy with that concept. I would be happy with an album of covers if it meant it would be coming out NOW especially if it included From a distance, pretty flamingo, etc etc and the songs were well chosen not ones that have been done to death. That is not to say I wouldnt love an album of his new songs but something in the meantime would be great.Loved your replies Baytree on DS re D. If he is in charge of his own PR then I think he has got it sadly wrong.