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Kim
Valinor
Jul 4 2014, 9:26pm
Post #26 of 48
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Maybe we could try crowd-sourcing for the funds for our flights - I'm sure many people would consider this a worthy cause, after all, it's to support the arts.  
"Jagatud rõõm on topelt rõõm - a shared joy is a double joy". ~Estonian saying
“As such, you will address His Majesty as His Majesty, the Lord of Silver Fountains, the King of Carven Stone, the King Beneath the Mountain, the Lion of Erebor, the High King of the Dwarves, the True Treasure of Erebor, the Face that Launched 10,000 Sighs, or Thorin the Majestic..."
http://newboards.theonering.net/...forum_view_collapsed
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Avandel
Half-elven
Jul 5 2014, 12:48am
Post #27 of 48
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You guys are killing me - all I can do is sulk since I live in a great big country with, like, Broadway, D.C. and Boston on one side, and Hollywood and Portland and 'Frisco on the other, Chicago right in the middle (just SOME of the places with great theaters) and why is this ensemble not coming to our shores? *Sobs hysterically and thinks about how to fund a trip to Europe...*
Maybe I'll get lucky and they'll film it and put it out on DVD - sigh.
Seriously, like anything you never can tell about the press and audiences, was delighted to read that Ian and Orly had been in an audience - that's lovely - and even more delighted to see praise from the press, as it seems entire cast has worked very hard and are giving tremendous performances. I personally think actors cannot do better than have a theater background which carries over into TV and film re quality of performance.
Happy for RA as remember reading he wanted to do some theater, and it's lovely he is having, from the sound of it, a spectacular success. Thanks to all for posting links and reviews!
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Old Toby
Grey Havens
Jul 5 2014, 3:14am
Post #28 of 48
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Thanks for your review Shirehorse
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I wish I were close enough to London to be able to go to these fantastic plays.....The Crucible with RA, Richard III with MF, Hamlet with BC. sigh.....an embarrassment of riches as far as superb plays with superb actors is concerned. I'm so envious of those of you who can go! Meanwhile, I love hearing about it through those who can!
"Age is always advancing and I'm fairly sure it's up to no good." Harry Dresden (Jim Butcher)
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ShireHorse
Rohan
Jul 5 2014, 12:38pm
Post #29 of 48
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The advantage of a small country, Avandel,
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is that, if we really wish, we can all get to London. But, every city and even town in the UK has at least one theatre and they are usually well supported.
Here, where I live in York which is quite a small city, there are two large Victorian theatres which put on professional dramas throughout the year and receive touring companies from around the country and from London. An hour's drive to the coast is the smallish resort of Scarborough which has a fabulous theatre in the round, so good that people travel up from London to see plays there. An hour in the other direction is the city of Leeds which has two or three beautiful theatres and is the home of the West Yorkshire Playhouse, a nationally recognised company. We are not short of good theatre and I haven't bothered with London for some time. The Crucible and RA are worth making an effort for.
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Avandel
Half-elven
Jul 5 2014, 4:34pm
Post #30 of 48
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I'm wondering if all tickets are sold out at this point?
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Just curious will these performances just continue until attendance drops, or is this already something that has a set time period? Because imagine w. these articles the ticket sales will go way up (tho I am sure they are high already!)
I'm not sure how this works. England is definitely on my travel-to list, but I fear I have quite a ROMANTIC image of the country as a whole  . E.g I was horrified reading Terry Pratchett/Neil Gaiman's "Good Omens" which parodies among other things a beltway around London - the M-25? as being created by a demon because we have any number of satanic beltways and road issues ourselves.
PS. If you need any evil voice to side with you about going a second time, my own personal belief is that for some things (assuming bills are paid and we are just talking about a mild financial stretch) is that since it's a special memory that will never come again, go for it.
Because the bills will always be there, but the times when I've just "gone for it" are the times I remember.
PS2 And I bet you would not be the only person who goes twice.
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ShireHorse
Rohan
Jul 5 2014, 5:16pm
Post #31 of 48
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lasts until 13th September: pretty exhausting. I've been checking the ticket situation and, even before the 'opening night' (when the critics came) and there was a 'preview week', the play was either sold out or nearly sold out every night. Tonight,(Saturday) it is sold out, I believe, but there are still a decent number of tickets to be had although they are going fast now. My daughter was visiting this afternoon and after listening to my enthusiastic report, she whipped out her tablet and booked two tickets plus train tickets for a matinee in late August there and then! I was able to advise her on a good pair of seats.
Here is the Old Vic web site where you can 'pretend' to book and thus see all the available tickets on certain dates. Just choose a date and click on Book Tickets.
http://www.oldvictheatre.com/...n/2014/the-crucible/
Yes, people who have never been here have a very romanticised view, LOL! But we have our sordid, nasty places as much as any other country. The M25 is the London Ring Road and is often called The Road to Hell or the Biggest Parking Lot in the Country because of its traffic jams. But, it does run through some beautiful countryside in places. And, if you try hard and plot your route, any visitor to England can avoid all the nasty spots and just travel from one beautiful place to another!
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elaen32
Gondor
Jul 5 2014, 9:11pm
Post #32 of 48
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There was a reasonable number if tickets left
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when I booked yesterday. I looked at several days and all had availability. I think, though, that only the top price and cheapest are plentiful overall.
Agree with you re regional theatres- our local one is excellent too
Is there a Tolkien topic that you have wanted to look into more deeply and write about your thoughts on it? If so, we'd like to hear from you for the next TORn Amateur Symposium- coming in July. This is the special LOTR 60th Anniversary TAS- for details, see the TAS threads in the Reading Room
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Avandel
Half-elven
Jul 5 2014, 10:27pm
Post #33 of 48
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Shire Horse! thank you - Sept 13 sounds exhausting to me!
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But still, I am happy for RA in that something like this seems like what he wanted. Rarely do I pay attention to an actor beyond the performance, as for me they are doing a job like we all do, so past that, much is none of my business.
But re his interviews (like Lee Pace) if it's possible to like someone just through media and interviews, I just plain like RA, there is something charming yet very deep and appealing about him, an interesting study in contrasts. Above all, seemingly pure class. I am grateful he chose to share what getting cast as Thorin was like for him - so refreshing was his joy, and his appreciation. Sometimes I idly picture in my mind, PJ & co. ruthlessly going through audition tapes, thinking about interviews with all these actors.
As RA has said PJ really didn't know that much about his work, and evidently many actors read for Thorin. IMO re RA's talent, capacity for focus, seriousness about his work, and yet warmth and courtesy, no way could PJ have picked a better Thorin.
So I am genuinely happy for RA! *Wistful* I am not rich, so I could hop in my Lear jet and pop over the Atlantic. Thank you for the ticket link, that will be fun, and I am curious!
PS. LOL:
The M25 is the London Ring Road and is often called The Road to Hell or the Biggest Parking Lot in the Country because of its traffic jams. Laughs - so, I guess England isn't James Herriot's fragrant, rolling-green-hills Yorkshire with cobblestone streets and happy smiling people selling strawberries and flowers everywhere?
Hmmm - U.S. stereotypes. Well, we do have hot dogs (including gourmet hot dogs smothered in other stuff - never let it be said that U.S. businesses don't know how to pile on the calories and get you to spend more). And apple pie. And we do love our barbecues. And we are often rude to one another especially on the highways.
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The Grey Elf
Grey Havens
Jul 6 2014, 1:09am
Post #34 of 48
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No wasting time, just gets right down to business and gets the tickets. Is one for you? I hope you get to go back again to see the whole play.
I wonder if Richard will be taking a break from the play in order to promote Into The Storm? Promotion should be going full throttle in just a couple weeks. He's the star so I would think he's contractually obligated to be available. But if I bought a ticket to the play primarily because of him, I'd be beyond miffed if it was his understudy performing instead. So later in August should be good for your daughter since the movie will already have opened.
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dernwyn
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Jul 6 2014, 2:51am
Post #35 of 48
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From what I've been able to gather, it's set to premier in NYC either August 3rd or 4th. No tickets for The Crucible are being sold for the 4th, and fans have been told that "no tickets are being sold for dates when Richard is not available".
But it looks like he won't be at Comic-Con, he appeared at the San Diego con instead. That's too bad for Comic-Con!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
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ShireHorse
Rohan
Jul 6 2014, 1:30pm
Post #36 of 48
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really know how to pull their finger out, LOL! And she's not even a fan of RA. She likes him well enough but she is always on the look-out for good theatre productions. And when I said that I thought that The Crucible would be one of those memorable ones that you still talked about years later, she just immediately booked a pair of tickets. It will cost quite a lot but the other ticket is for her partner - it will be his birthday. I hope to book another pair and go with my husband because he's quite keen to see it again too. The play itself is brilliant and absorbing and I knew he would enjoy it when I first asked him to come with me..
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ShireHorse
Rohan
Jul 6 2014, 1:39pm
Post #37 of 48
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to promote ITS, dernwyn, because he is the leading man and it also looks as though the film might be the unexpected hit of the summer - much better than we first thought it would be,
Since the play has been cancelled on the Monday to accommodate this promotional appearance, I reckon this is why they were slow to announce that he had been chosen for John Proctor, even though there were rumours - there was a lot of negotiating to do with WB.
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ShireHorse
Rohan
Jul 6 2014, 2:02pm
Post #38 of 48
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in The Sunday Times.
After its 5 star review (one of six that the play has attracted) earlier in the week, The Sunday Times has, first, added a further brief review together with a photo of John Proctor:
http://did-you-make-these-bunssss.tumblr.com/...raising-the-crucible
And the Arts Magazine includes a double page spread on RA with a very good photograph of him. It's by Tanya Gold who can be very sharp-tongued and some of her remarks are a bit snide. But she gets some interesting comments out of him - like the one about his naked dream.....What?!....What?!....which I think is a reflection on the stress he feels about returning to the stage after 12 years.
Someone has transferred the article to their blog because it cannot be accessed fully on the net:
http://did-you-make-these-bunssss.tumblr.com/...a-in-the-times-again
My long-suffering husband went out to buy it for me this morning and it is already up for sale on ebay (not mine - someone else's, LOL.)
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Avandel
Half-elven
Jul 6 2014, 4:14pm
Post #39 of 48
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Sigh - but misery loves company re NOT being able to do Comic Con
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Not saying CC isn't worth going to even whether PJ & co. are there or not. But I was considering TRYING to go - e.g. read on some blogs and some articles that due to the explosive popularity of the event, now worldwide, getting passes is difficult re the limited number, and that the hosts of CC have opted to stay in the same location for a while, even tho attendance has the building straining at the seams.
E.g. re the crowds it's not an easy time, necessarily? Came across some very sad posts from the international community from folks desperate to go and willing to travel, but all the passes were gone.
That said, I can understand if RA can't be there, and even if it's silly of me I was so proud of PJ for not going and working on DOS. But find it hard to believe there won't be a major Hobbit showing for CC 2014.
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The Grey Elf
Grey Havens
Jul 6 2014, 5:11pm
Post #40 of 48
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I've had one or two like that and I know exactly how it feels. One I remember vividly was when I was in a stressful work situation, had no comfort level with my boss and was about to take a risk with him. In my dream, I felt both audacious and deeply vulnerable.
I wonder if the interviewer would have been so quick to assume his dream had sexual overtones if he weren't so attractive? Hate it when he's objectified. 
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ShireHorse
Rohan
Jul 10 2014, 12:12pm
Post #41 of 48
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The play (and RA's performance) is receiving such immense praise all round and there must be at least seven 5 star reviews by now. It has become the play to see and I am so very pleased for him. Perhaps it will transfer to NYC!
It's interesting that people are finding it very moving - and that includes the men. Here's a tweet from one bloke, a soccer/football fanatic:
Craig JJ Hilton ‏@Craigloves
@oldvictheatre Last night was fantastic. So moving. People around us were actually weeping.
And in this video from The Anglophile Channel which takes you on a little tour of the theatre from Marlise's POV as a member of the audience, note the older man on the right at the end when RA gets a standing ovation: he appears to wipe a tear from his eye. Another poster on C19 said her husband was also moved to tears and Marlise, when she comes out of the play, appears very shaken and has tears in her eyes. There have been nothing but excited tweets about the impact of the play ever since it first came out, many from fellow actors, directors and producers and TV personalities.
Marlise's filming of the queue at the stage door is also very sweet.
https://www.youtube.com/...plreRWIbQ&sns=em
And here is a photo-shoot done for The Sunday Times from the theatre the other day. He looks gorgeous but it's very posed and I think I prefer the more natural shots:
https://www.profilebynews.com/...d-armitage#157030401
I was so annoyed that most of the last scene was obscured for me because of an actor standing in my way that I have bought another couple of tickets (my husband was very keen to see it again) for the end of July.
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smtfhw
Lorien
Jul 11 2014, 10:20am
Post #42 of 48
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It does seem to be being very well-received, certainly the reviews are all pretty much 5-star. I'm expecting my tickets in the post any day now for this. It's been several years since I saw it last so a revisit seems timely anyway.
(This post was edited by smtfhw on Jul 11 2014, 10:21am)
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ShireHorse
Rohan
Jul 11 2014, 10:20pm
Post #43 of 48
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has just given it a glowing review.
This one is beautifully written and by a very influential critic. Of course, he loves it, LOL, although why I'm saying 'of course', I'm not quite sure. Shouldn't we be a little apprehensive of showing a Brit revival to an American audience?
He is admiring of RA who gives to JP 'full sensory existence':
"John is usually played — as he was by Daniel Day-Lewis in the 1996 film — as a sort of cerebral variation on the conflicted sheriff in “High Noon", Gary Cooper as drawn by Miller while looking in the mirror. Mr. Armitage, known for playing Thorin Oakenshield in the “Hobbit” movies, gives us a John who is first and foremost a physical being, a farmer who has spent most of his life fighting against privation.
His rumbling voice comes from his viscera, and he stands like a man who feels undressed without his plow. His first instinct, like that of his fellow townspeople, is to survive, and in “The Crucible,” surviving and doing what’s right are not synonymous. Mr. Armitage gives palpable, sinewy force to John’s struggle, making the moral instinct feel primal, something that’s genetically coded but hard to bring into dominance."
http://www.nytimes.com/...he-old-vic.html?_r=0
I wonder if this is an indication that this production night cross the pond?
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Avandel
Half-elven
Jul 12 2014, 1:06am
Post #44 of 48
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Thank you for posting that link
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I wonder if this is an indication that this production night cross the pond?
I don't know how these things work, but IMO some Broadway producer would be a fool not to be taking notice of the stellar reviews, and be trying to work a deal. Or a DVD/BR production company. Plus on DVD it could be part of a literature curriculum in classes.
Sigh.
Love the Anglophile channel, so for those of us who want to know what it feels like to be at the Old Vic (they can't film the production, but seriously RA is grand to come and meet the fans, can't believe it after a play like that...)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPplreRWIbQ
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The Grey Elf
Grey Havens
Jul 12 2014, 1:28am
Post #45 of 48
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I didn't know American papers even reviewed British plays
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but it's great to discover that this interpretation of The Crucible is not just powerful to a British audience and that Richard's performance is universally impressive. Love love love reading all this praise for him! I know he loves New York, so availability permitting, perchance we could see him take this across the water for a run if some savvy producer sees fit to bring it "home." If so, I'm definitely buying a plane ticket as NYC is only an hour away from me (as opposed to eight for London, haha!).
Thanks again for this review, ShireHorse, and keep 'em coming.
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dernwyn
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Jul 12 2014, 2:46am
Post #46 of 48
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Yes, it's been busy out there! Here's another one, just put up yesterday or today I think, and I'll just leave it here and whistle innocently as I walk away...
http://www.embassy.de/...tage_960x540_MP4.mp4
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
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ShireHorse
Rohan
Jul 13 2014, 1:02pm
Post #47 of 48
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This is from The Sunday Times. The Times had already given it 5 stars in the week and now the ST comes back with a short but really well-written second review. Great to hear that RA is 'mythic'!
"Yaël Farber’s revival of Miller’s witch-hunt classic feels conjured, rather than directed. “I have a sense for heat,” says John Proctor’s wife when she accuses him of still hankering after another woman. So does this production: it’s as if all Farber and her powerful cast have had to do is hold a touchpaper to Miller’s ever-apposite portrayal of rampant political paranoia and let it rage like a forest fire. By the time it’s burnt to its bitter end, the audience can smell the falling ashes. Miller wrote his drama – both a warning and a lament – during the Cold War suspicions and McCarthyite purges of 1950s America, but set it in 17th-century Salem. Richard Armitage’s imposing Proctor knows how to use the heft of his shoulders and his stormy eyes — at times, he seems like a mythic figure out of Lorca. The staging uses little more than wooden chairs, a whiff of woodsmoke and a long corridor of hazy light. People are forever moving in and out of darkness here."
Maxie Szalwinska
For all my American friends, I do hope they are thinking of bringing it to NYC wit its full original cast. One problem might be which theatre they would use because it would have to be transformed into the round. Here's a time-lapse film showing how they did it at The Old Vic:
http://www.oldvictheatre.com/...ce/time-lapse-video/
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dernwyn
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Jul 13 2014, 3:20pm
Post #48 of 48
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I love that transformation video!
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It's fascinating to see how the theater was changed, and how they managed to re-do the seating.
And since this thread has dropped to page 2, I think no one would mind if you wanted to start a new thread using your post here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
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Greed LOL
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