Merthyr Imp

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Posts posted by Merthyr Imp

  1. March 1993 and a play that I do remember.

     

    A group of people in a hotel room in Italy (I think) watching the England v West Germany World Cup semi-final on TV - some interested in football, some not.  I particularly remember the part when it came to the description of the penalty shoot-out - '...and Stuart Pearce steps to take the crucial penalty...'  A rueful groan went up from the audience!  But then the play went off into what Captain Mainwaring would describe as the realms of fantasy.

     

    It was really good, but I don't believe the play ever gets performed these days, as it wouldn't be as topical as it was in 1993 when memories were still fresh and Gary Lineker was still playing.

     

    Theatre was nearly full.

     

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  2. Opera North later in May produced Rossini's 'The Thieving Magpie'. You can't go wrong with Rossini.

     

    Musical theatre of a different kind then came with a three-week run of '42nd Street' - the stage adaptation of the 1930s film with musical numbers interpolated from other films involving Warren & Dubin.

     

    Marvellous stuff. I normally couldn't stand Bonnie Langford but I had to admit: 'That kid sure can dance!'.

     

    Theatre was not far short of being full.

     

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  3. Opera North's autumn visit produced 'L'Etoile', a fairly obscure comic opera by Chabrier and 'Don Giovanni'.  Theatre was nearly full for the latter but only about two thirds so for the less well-known piece.

     

    The next week was this play about C. S. Lewis, now forgotten by me. Theatre was only about one quarter full but for some reason I had to sit in the Balcony seat I'd paid for.

     

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  4. September 1991 and the play about Mozart.

     

    One or two notable names in the cast, including Helen Baxendale before she was famous - 'Helen has just completed a three year acting course at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School'.

     

    And who else remembers Terence Longdon as Garry Halliday?

     

    I remember being impressed by the piano playing of Richard McCabe as the composer.

     

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  5. At the end of May I saw Opera North's production of 'Faust' by Gounod - theatre not quite full. For some reason I didn't see 'Carmen' - can only think it was given in French.

     

    More opera came the following month with two new productions by D'Oyly Carte - 'Iolanthe' and 'The Gondoliers', the latter being rather controversial, not say eccentric. I also found it didn't lend itself to repeated viewing - servce it right the theatre was no more than three quarters full. 'Iolanthe' did better.

     

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  6. April 1991 and a play which I DO remember something of. It was very well done with minimal scenery, and of course a cast of two (plus the ghost!) would be popular with touring managements.  The most effective moment was the rocking chair going by itself.

     

    Theatre was nearly two thirds full.

     

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  7. Later in February it was Opera North which meant just 'Cosi Fan Tutt'e for me - an almost full theatre.

     

    Then in April it was another of those plays I can remember nothing about:

     

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    Theatre was about three quarters full so I had to sit in the seat I'd paid for.

     

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