RE: London Rocks! (2014 to Present)
I have been reading the thread and many people are basing their opinions on a video recording (which I personally do not mind because most have given that disclaimer); however, I just wanted to reenforce the fact that these are technical dress rehearsals this weekend. I am sure many guests read these forums looking for the latest news and reviews and I would not want anyone to think the show is completely finished and debuted because honestly it just isn't.
With that in mind, people have mentioned that shows on Sunday had changes in them compared to shows on Friday. I saw a show each day and saw no changes, then again I am not trying to be overly critical of the show and I wasn't really looking at the minor details. I was looking for things that stood out, then the general public would be able to really tell.
I am really trying hard to not post my final thoughts on the show until after next weekend because changes will probably take place. Mainly because the creators of the show saw audience reaction, and the full show for the first few times. I'd expect they did maybe a week of these rehearsals already with just the creators and I have always noticed that directors will give certain recommendation or changes to characters and technicians after this many dress rehearsals, mainly because they might want to see if those changes will look better or not.
BGW Family, I do not want you to take this as a 'bashing', I just wanted to give a reasonable response to address some of the things you mentioned. you have your right to those thoughts and I am okay with that, but in an attempt to try and explain why some of those things may not change or were done the way there were to give a better understanding of the show and perhaps maybe a different view. If you still feel the way you do after my post, I am perfectly fine with that.
I noticed your first few comments regarded mismatched time periods and honestly I do agree that those are issues that should have been addressed during the initial creation of the script and designing of the show. I think Slash was only playing that part because the scene change is very quick and it would have been too difficult for a costume change. With that in mind, I know many people, myself included that honestly can not tell British Invasion music from the 70's and 80's music. Up until just the other day and thought the British Invasion was part of the 70's and 80's. So I feel as those issues are more centered around appealing to those who may not know the time differences. I would venture to say people who have lived through the 60's, 70's, and 80's would be able to clearly point out these time errors and those born in the 90's and closer to today may not care to much because they may not know the difference. It can be seen as all older music. It is no excuse for the park still and I understand that, I personally don't think these choices will make or break the show for me, but if they had kept a consistency within the time periods that would have been really neat and could have educated me a bit more.
I fully agree with the puppetry. I think it is terrible that you actually see the puppeteers, unless done more like The Lion King on Broadway (which I have seen and felt the puppetry there was excellent). That said, I expect them to be hidden much better this coming weekend. I have a feeling this is something that may have been planned, as others have suggested with these being dress rehearsals, they may have still been working out what they are going to do to cover up the puppeteers.
I had no issues with the We Will Rock You/Octopuses Garden/Come Together scene because it sounded fine to me. If you pay attention you will hear the boy on the left sings We Will Rock You, the girl in the middle sings Octopuses Gardens, and the boy on the right sings Come Together and personally I felt Octopuses Garden was the only song out of place until the switched to being under the sea.
I feel like the Queen Elizabeth II bits were supposed to be comedic while the story of Lucy the main character was more serious in tone. I felt like it gave a nice balance between being serious and comedic. I do agree that it is not offensive, this type of comedy has been done consistently. If SNL did a bit about Queen Elizabeth II in a similar manner, it would not be an issue and I think the same thing applies here as well. There is no holding back when it comes to comedy.
You made mention about short bits of songs and someone else made mention of this earlier as well. I do not expect this to change at all really. Mainly because as Zachary said, these songs are expensive to use, even if you just want to use parts of songs it is still very expensive. I am sure if they spent the budget on being able to use the full songs we would be left with not much else. I also feel like a lot of the songs being mixed have been done so well that for someone like me, I really can't tell the difference. I am sure people who have more experience in music and those who are really into British Invasion music can tell the differences, but for someone with untrained ears and with no real understanding of the music, it flows together fairly well.
I have noticed the video mapping has gotten much better over the weekend. I know part of the reason as to be because the curtains they project on are not static and flow and wave slightly. You can only do so much to fix this issue. There were some really great parts that were very well done with the video. They will have to adjust their timing with closing curtains and how fast they can drop them in an effort they will stay still as much as possible. But I feel the final show Sunday handled the video very well.
The last scene was up in the air for me. I was really hoping for even just a slight bit more of Bohemian Rhapsody singing, but I guess adding All You Need Is Love was important so that you could get the overall theme of the show. Plus I am sure Bohemian Rhapsody may have been one of the more expensive songs judging solely by it's extreme popularity.
I don't want to give too much opinion just yet, as I said, I am still waiting to make my final thoughts this weekend after the show officially debuts in it's entirety. I really wasn't trying to bash you BGW Family, I was just trying to hopefully explain a few things. I did agree with you on a handful of things as well.
