re: 'Spend Spend Spend' to get the Horwood treatment...?

[Clark_MD]

I happen to be pottering around the house today with alan titchmarsh show on the box (don't ask!) and craig revel horwood was on chatting about Sunset in town...when concluding the interview, alan asked what was next for craig .. And amongst other projects he said he was working on 'Spend spend spend' as an Actor/Muso show for the future....hmmmmm

Whilst on the subject of 'Spend', some of you may know i'm doing a regional production up north..i'm off to Castleford on saturday to meet up with Viv nicholson for a photo shoot for the press call haha....i'm very excited!
x

[MamasDoin'Fine]

WOW WOW AND WOW!
How absolutely fab.
Full report required as to how our Viv is getting on these days.

[MamasDoin'Fine]

Very Barbra Windsor above....
....more Pat Butcher today!

[bob8rich]

Yes, "Spend, Spend, Spend" will be this summer's musical at the Watermill.

[Clark_MD]

haha i'm one for promo.....i will post my pics when i get back home....i'm very excited!!! that first pic you posted is being used as my show cloth merged onto the daily mail!!! can't wait till saturday....only 3 more sleeps!!!

[MamasDoin'Fine]

Besides the already announced 'Bubbles' or instead of?

[bob8rich]

Mama, "Bubbles" is only on a very short run (12-16 May) and will be directed by Kate Saxon. "Spend" will be the Watermill's main summer show (July to September) - actor/muso, directed by Craig Revel Horwood and musical direction/orchestrations by the amazing Sarah Travis.

[MamasDoin'Fine]

Fabulous and thanks!
'Spend Spend Spend' is one of my favorite West End flops.

[Clark_MD]

and mine...i love it lol!! despite having the soundtrack playing everyday since september! The score is fantastic (and bloody hard to play!!)

[bob8rich]

I have to admit I don't really know the show at all - I never saw the original and have never heard anything from the score. But I'm already really looking forward to seeing it at the Watermill!

[alterego]

Haven't we had enough of this actor/muso gimmick? Let's put it to bed.

[Clark_MD]

maybe a little biased, but the score is brilliantly written and the role 'young viv' is a fantastic part! I just wish i could find a naughty copy or video clips from the original...i miss it badly lol!!!!

[Clark_MD]

yeh alterego - i wish it wasn't actor muso - rather the orignal - but i shall remain open minded until i see it..

[alterego]

I've never seen this show and know very little about it. If it were revived I wouldn't go near it (much as I'd like to see a new show) purely on the basis that it is actor/muso thing.

Tell me, in this new SUNSET what does Norma play? An accordian? A cello? Cymbals?

[Clark_MD]

the bag pipes probably...no i don't believe norma plays any instrument (lol) in boulevard

[bob8rich]

"I've never seen this show and know very little about it. If it were revived I wouldn't go near it (much as I'd like to see a new show) purely on the basis that it is actor/muso thing."

It's a shame you dismiss seeing something just because you don't like actor-muso - though I appreciate that it's not everyone's cup of tea. Every show - even each individual actor/muso show - is different, so it could turn out to be either awful or brilliant. I will admit that I was very skeptical about actor/muso before I saw my first one and was tempted not to bother. But after I saw John Doyle's "Sweeney", which I thought was simply stunning, I came to regard them as a quite special theatrical world of their own. And each one I've seen since has added to and even sometimes greatly enhanced the original production ("Martin Guerre" and "Sunset" in particular were far better as actor/muso shows than in their more traditional format.)

"Tell me, in this new SUNSET what does Norma play? An accordian? A cello? Cymbals?"

Actually, Norma does not play an instrument. And Kathryn Evans is so amazing in the role even if someone hates the actor/muso concept, her performance is genuinely too great to miss.

[alterego]

But why? It is just a gimmick. A cheap way to do a show. Now don't get me started on how I think tickets should be cheaper!

[bob8rich]

It is not just a gimmick - it is a serious alternative interpretation of a show, a different way of presenting a piece of art. And for me, what makes theatre exciting is trying to bring something different to a piece of theatre than previous productions have done. Will everyone like an actor/muso version of a show? No - just as some people will not like even a traditional staging of some shows. But also some people will find them to be an exciting theatrical experience - just as I found the actor/muso Martin Guerre and Sunset to be some of the most exciting nights of musical theatre I've experienced in the last few years.

And with all due respect, if you refuse to go and see a particular production, you cannot condemn it out of hand as a "gimmick". If you don't like the concept - that's fine, it's your right. But those who do like the concept have an equal right to do so, just as the people who work hard to put an actor/muso production on stage have the right to have their artistic integrity respected rather than condemned as a "gimmick".

[MamasDoin'Fine]

Barbara Dickson 'The Scars Of Love' from the West End production of 'Spend Spend Spend'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYBk7yQG56o&feature=PlayList&p=2F298A5C918E56E6&index=0&playnext=1

[bob8rich]

Thanks, Mama! A hauntingly beautiful song! The prospect of seeing this show gets better and better.

[alterego]

I have no interest in seeing this type of presentation. To each his own.

[Scripps2]

I don't have a problem with A/M productions in theory and I love Spend, Spend, Spend too, but I can't see it as an A/M production. To my mind the problem with the West End production was that there wasn't enough contrast between the rags and the riches - how are they going to achieve that at the Watermill? Have the actors put down their instruments when the Nicolson's win the pools and say "Hey, we can afford an orchestra now!"

Clark - keep us posted on when and where you're doing it up North.

[Clark_MD]

:) i most certainly will...and i'll post (if i can manage to work the bloody thing) pictures of my day with Viv Nicholson tomorrow (ooo how exciting!!) if anyone would like to see em... :)

[Boybooshka]

have wanted to see this for years. Maybe this will be the show that finally gets me to the Watermill.

Out of interest does anyone know how easy it is to get to if you don't drive? Have toyed with the idea of paying a visit for a few shows, but it kinda looks hard to get to without a car, even if staying fairly locally.

[MamasDoin'Fine]

Thats why i've only ever been twice because it is impossible to get and from without driving.

[hotjohn]

Re: Have the actors put down their instruments when the Nicolson's win the pools and say "Hey, we can afford an orchestra now!"

They may well be able to afford an orchestra they just don't have the sufficient space for one - The Watermill is tiny!