Jeff Waynes Musical Version Of The War Of The Worlds?

senordingdong

Is anybody else going to see this on Sunday?

I've seen it before and have to say, it's a must see for all, even if you're not a huge fan.
It's a spectacular show with great performances etc...but above all else, it's a break from the norm in terms of typical musicals.

Definitely worth a look.

gipi

Yes, I'm going - I even dug out the LP (yes, kids, I said LP - ask your parents ) for a listen a few weeks ago! I'd forgotten that Phil Lynott was on it!

lods

Yip, me & a mate going tonight. I haven't been in the O2 yet. Interesting to see how Jennifer Eliison & Shannon Noll will do in it. Pity Phil isn't still around.

chughes

Yes, I'm going to it. I was in my late teens when the LP came out and it was absolutely fantastic. Myself and a friend listened to it over and over. Justin Hayward was on the Late Late a few months ago talking about this show and it sounds like a brilliant experience. I must say I'm looking forward to it.

senordingdong

So what did you folks think?

To be honest, I was abit dissapointed.
Justin Hayward wasn't in the Eve of the War for some reason.

I didn't think that Shannon Noel was very good, his accent kepy fluctuating and breaking out during his singing. And I thought Jennifer Ellison was awful.
Alexis James was amazing again though, and totally saved that element of the show.

Also, I didn't really like the new piece with Beth's spirit flying away, that was a bit naff.

What did y'all think?

lods

senordingdong wrote: »

So what did you folks think?

To be honest, I was abit dissapointed.
Justin Hayward wasn't in the Eve of the War for some reason.

I didn't think that Shannon Noel was very good, his accent kepy fluctuating and breaking out during his singing. And I thought Jennifer Ellison was awful.
Alexis James was amazing again though, and totally saved that element of the show.

Also, I didn't really like the new piece with Beth's spirit flying away, that was a bit naff.

What did y'all think?

Obviously sound problems with the eve of the war

Jennifer ellison's accent was a bit strange

Chris Thompson was very good .

Alexis James was brilliant.

The Black Smoke Band made it for me, some great guitar playing.

chughes

I thought Justin Hayward struggled a bit and all the singers voices were drowned a bit by the sound levels of the music. Having said that, I thoroughly enjoyed the show. The monster decending on the stage was impressive although I'm not sure what the bridge was for. The band was brilliant. Was the lead guitarist introduced as Chris Spedding ? (As in Motorbiking from the 1970's ?) It was my first time in the new O2 and it's a seriously impressive venue in comparison to what was there before. One small complaint, €15 for a half litre bottle of Coke, half litre bottle of Sprite and a packet of M&M's was a bit steep.

senordingdong

Yeah, the venue was great but there were clearly problems with the sound.

I thought that was the first thing they were supposed to have fixed with the venue make over.

deanodrummer

I thin they had sorted the sound problems by the second half of the show, which was by far the best half. All in all I was very impressed and really enjoyed it. Musicians were top notch.

LoLth

sound was terrible! couldnt hear the voice of richard burton at all in the intro and the balance was so far off that the signature piece was almost unrecognisable.

I went with someone who had never heard it before and while I enjoyed the show i have to admit that , in retrospect, my friend was right. It was terribly put together. huge opening that basically just repeats fizzles then ends... If I hadnt explained the story he would never have picked it up from the show itself. Pity, i've always loved JW:war of the worlds but this has somewhat spoiled it for me now - i was especially disappointed with the rendition of thunderchild..

senordingdong

That is a shame.

Because I went to see it in Belfast two years ago, and it was fantastic.
Couldn't for the lifr of me, find a fault with it.

lods

http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/music/review-the-war-of-the-worlds-1766456.html?service=Print

Independent.ie

Review: The War of the Worlds

The O2, Dublin
By Aidan Coughlan
Tuesday June 09 2009
THIRTY years on from the release of the seminal concept album, Jeff Wayne has taken 'The War of the Worlds' back on the road.
Little has changed on the musical end, as the Moody Blues' Justin Hayward reprises his role as The Sung Thoughts of the Journalist, and the massive on-stage ensemble reflects the sweeping prog-rock original in great faith.
Even the late Richard Burton makes an appearance in the form of a computer-generated hologram, synched to the acting legend's original narration track.
A nice idea, though the stiff facial movements do little justice to the former Mr Liz Taylor, and the constant, shifty eye movements bear a striking similarity to a certain Fr Dougal Maguire.
In fact, it seems that almost every problem with the show stems from the computer graphics filling the giant screen behind the Black Smoke Band and the ULLAdubULLA string section.
Bearing the appearance of a Nintendo game from the turn of the century, the poor visuals are an unwelcome distraction to the powerful sounds.
Badly composed crowd shots -- consisting of real-life actors set against painfully artificial backdrops -- alternate at random with pastel-drawn still images. Justin Hayward inexplicably fails to appear for his first number, and when he does take to the stage, his performance is horrendously disappointing.
A shaky voice, devoid of volume, simply can't give the underwhelming show the lift it needs.
Meanwhile, a tripod descends from the ceiling, resting directly above Wayne and Hayward.
And try as one might to resist the thought, it's impossible not to conjure up wishful images of the infamous heat ray being unleashed and bringing an early end to the night.
To close the eyes and merely listen, this show is breathtaking in places. But as the audiovisual experience it aspires to be, there are simply a few too many excruciating moments.
- Aidan Coughlan

gipi

Overall, I enjoyed the show but there were some serious failings - as others said, the sound balance between the Strings, the Band and the singers/narrator was way off. The Black Smoke Band drowned everyone else out, including Richard Burton's classic narration. The only singer I could hear clearly was Jennifer Ellison......and I thought she couldn't sing!

The complete repetition of the "Eve of the War" section went on for far too long - I know it's a great tune, but there are limits!!

I liked the background graphics and the monster & bridge/tunnel entrance. The famed "11 ft Richard Burton" was very off-putting, it didn't look very much like him at all!

I think the best review was one I heard as I walked back towards O Connell St....a group of people were discussing the falling leaves (a nice touch!) and one woman said "it was so tacky, so 70s".....eh, wasn't that the whole point

pullandbang

As an owner of the original LP I thoroughly enjoyed it - despite the shortcomings in the first half.
There were quite a lot of "young" people there and some of them who didn't seem to get it. I heard one chap (about 20'ish) ask "what was the parson all about?"

All in all, I'm glad I went - however that place is a complete rip off - €5.50 for a small bucket of popcorn! Glad I brought my own drinks (complete with spare bottle caps in my pocket)

senordingdong

I would have imagined the show would be a treat, even if you wren't already a fan.

But that's just me.

Broxi_Bear_Eire

Well I enjoyed it granted the sound especially in the first half could have been better as an aside did anyone get the live cd and what did they think of it especially the photograph one

Sparks43

back in the O2 in november cant wait to see it again

think i might make a trip to england to see it if the o2 production was poor last time i seen it in london and it was amazing

http://www.thewaroftheworlds.com/tickets/default.aspx

kelly7898

chughes wrote: »

I thought Justin Hayward struggled a bit and all the singers voices were drowned a bit by the sound levels of the music. Having said that, I thoroughly enjoyed the show. The monster decending on the stage was impressive although I'm not sure what the bridge was for. The band was brilliant. Was the lead guitarist introduced as Chris Spedding ? (As in Motorbiking from the 1970's ?) It was my first time in the new O2 and it's a seriously impressive venue in comparison to what was there before. One small complaint, €15 for a half litre bottle of Coke, half litre bottle of Sprite and a packet of M&M's was a bit steep.

I also think so.
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magnumlady

I've booked tickets for November, but I'm gutted that Jason Donovan has replaced Alexis James.

Also not sure about Rydian being the parson.

Freddie59

magnumlady wrote: »

I've booked tickets for November, but I'm gutted that Jason Donovan has replaced Alexis James.

Also not sure about Rydian being the parson.

Anyone at this last night? Great gig. I was surprised that Jason Donovan was really good as the Artilerryman, but the guy doing the voice of humanity was awful. Sounded like laryngitis.

Liz McClarnon very good, but sound was off on her mic some of the time.

Overall a superb show, ruined in part by a couple of twats behind us who insisted on shouting at each other in conversation during the show, obviously full of bottles, and knew sweet FA about the production.

magnumlady

I thought it was great. Jason was very good although I still prefer Alexis. Chris Thompsons voice isnt as good as it was last year. We heard Liz well. I thought the whole production was brilliant.

The_Drums

Yep, I was there last night!
I was really impressed with everyone's performances (except for the voice of humanity - you're right Freddie59, he was terrible). I was surprised by how good Rhydian was (even though he looked a bit... weird), and ditto for Liz McClarnon. I think Justin Hayward can be forgiven for not being perfect - though he was also quite good - he's about 60-odd, after all. I couldn't help but be slightly transfixed by the hologram of Richard Burton, though... it was so strange-looking...
Jason Donovan was also excellent, though I wondered if the copious cheering and screaming (mostly girls) coming from the centre was aimed at him or Scott Robinson...
I completely underestimated the brilliance of Jeff Wayne before last night.
I was on such a high after the show, it was so amazing. I'm definitely going again!

Freddie59

The_Drums wrote: »

Yep, I was there last night!
I was really impressed with everyone's performances (except for the voice of humanity - you're right Freddie59, he was terrible). I was surprised by how good Rhydian was (even though he looked a bit... weird), and ditto for Liz McClarnon. I think Justin Hayward can be forgiven for not being perfect - though he was also quite good - he's about 60-odd, after all. I couldn't help but be slightly transfixed by the hologram of Richard Burton, though... it was so strange-looking...
Jason Donovan was also excellent, though I wondered if the copious cheering and screaming (mostly girls) coming from the centre was aimed at him or Scott Robinson...
I completely underestimated the brilliance of Jeff Wayne before last night.
I was on such a high after the show, it was so amazing. I'm definitely going again!

Oh yeah! Me too. Yes, was impressed with Rhydian also. But did you think Richard was a bit, ahem, Max Headroom?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z52uxxyEy0E

magnumlady

The_Drums wrote: »

Yep, I was there last night!
I was really impressed with everyone's performances (except for the voice of humanity - you're right Freddie59, he was terrible). I was surprised by how good Rhydian was (even though he looked a bit... weird), and ditto for Liz McClarnon. I think Justin Hayward can be forgiven for not being perfect - though he was also quite good - he's about 60-odd, after all. I couldn't help but be slightly transfixed by the hologram of Richard Burton, though... it was so strange-looking...
Jason Donovan was also excellent, though I wondered if the copious cheering and screaming (mostly girls) coming from the centre was aimed at him or Scott Robinson...
I completely underestimated the brilliance of Jeff Wayne before last night.
I was on such a high after the show, it was so amazing. I'm definitely going again!

I want to go back again too!
Loads of photos here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/magnumlady/sets/72157625375432631/

The_Drums

Freddie59 wrote: »

Oh yeah! Me too. Yes, was impressed with Rhydian also. But did you think Richard was a bit, ahem, Max Headroom?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z52uxxyEy0E

Hahahaha yeah, I see where you're coming from with that, but I got more of a 'Dreamworks/Pixar human' vibe from it - I think I preferred the frozen upper face + moving mouth combo from the earlier performances.

magnumlady wrote:

I want to go back again too!
Loads of photos here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/magnuml...7625375432631/

Wow, those are fantastic photos! I am quite jealous right now. Quite jealous indeed.