Yorksheather Posted June 23, 2012 Report Share Posted June 23, 2012 We had a brilliant day today going to Loserville . I met up with Katie and Renait at Halifax train station , lots of trains had been cancelled because of the flooding from last night , and the platform was heaving , but luckily an empty train arrived soon after we had gone down to the platform . At Leeds railway station it was straight onto the shuttle bus which is outside the station entrance, which took us to the bus station which is just across the road from the West Yorkshire Playhouse . We could see Gareth's white Range Rover so knew Gareth was already in the building, although it was very early. We went inside and the first thing we did was buy a programme ( £3 . 50 ) . We decided to spend our time waiting in the cafe , which is just beyond the bar , and buy a drink and have something to eat . After a while we noticed that Elliot Davis was at the table next to us . James Bourne kept coming out and chatting with him , the rest of the people at the table were the Band, but didn't know that until we saw them on stage . Just behind us in the cafe was a light green door , arriving performers put in a security code and entered that way , so we realized that would be where Gareth would be coming out . An announcement was made when we could start making our way into The Playhouse . On our way we met Andrea , Sarahjane and Maria , all looking very pretty in their blonde wigs . The stage is in the bottom , the the rows rise up from there , we had to go down lots of steps to get to row 2 where our seats were . As June has already posted , the front row is on the same level as the stage , really really near the performers . I felt very near on row 2 , don't think I've been so near to a stage. Gareth was extremely good as Eddie, it really showed his strength in acting , and should really impress those who have never see Gareth perform before, and I thought it showed Gareth's potential , Gareth really suited the part .There was a lot of comedy in the show, which brought lots of laughs from the audience. James Bourne was on the front row watching, and was laughing as much as anyone else. He was also looking at the audience for their reaction . All the cast were excellent , L'l' Chris and Aeron Sidwell were particularly good . The whole show was fabulous and I was quite disappointed when it ended as I could have watched more. After the show, we made our way to the green door at the back off the cafe , and out came Gareth . He was just as lovely as usual , signing programmes and having photos taken, I think Gareth was in a hurry to get off but he was very patient with the group of people who were waiting fro him. It was a great day out and thanks to Katie for guiding us to the shuttle bus and train again, making it all so easy for us . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GPG MY IDOL Posted June 23, 2012 Report Share Posted June 23, 2012 Thank you for your lovely report Heather, glad you all had a great time and enjoyed the show Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SueEl Posted June 23, 2012 Report Share Posted June 23, 2012 Thank you June and Heather for your reports, lovely to know how it is going, seems to be a roaring success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val4Gareth Posted June 23, 2012 Report Share Posted June 23, 2012 Thanks for your great report Heather. I'm so glad you all had a good time at the show. Can't wait to go myself. That shuttle bus sounds good as when I go its going to be all in the same day there and back and won't leave me much time before or after the show. Can you tell me roughly what time the matinee finished so I can gauge how much time I'll have to get my train back. I thought maybe Maria and SarahJane had gone today as I didn't see Maria around. Looking forward to reading their reports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KGates Posted June 23, 2012 Report Share Posted June 23, 2012 I'm not very good at writing report type posts and don't have much more to add to what Heather has said... but just wanted to say to everyone who is still yet to see the show you are in for such a treat because WOW! What a fantastic funny show! - Apologises to Heather if I was laughing too much it really was a fun show. I couldn't quite believe how close we were and we had good central seats too (thank you Heather). I think the show was so good it deserves to do really well and I hope in future it gets to play at other theatres around the country. The cast and crew must have worked really hard. I loved all the staging and props. Gareth was brilliant in the role as Eddie, and the other characters were great as well. It was great to be able to meet Gareth again and get our pics and programmes signed. I really want to see the show again now! - Hope I can Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val4Gareth Posted June 23, 2012 Report Share Posted June 23, 2012 I hope you'll post up your pics Katie. Look forward to seeing them. Can tell by your report what a good time you had. I'm sure Heather didn't mind you laughing so much. Quite a different character part for Gareth to play. He seems to be very versatile in what he can do. I knew his acting would be good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khelda Posted June 23, 2012 Report Share Posted June 23, 2012 Love your report Katie, so pleased you all had a good time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khelda Posted June 23, 2012 Report Share Posted June 23, 2012 Thanks Heather for your great detailed report. The show sounds fantastic, and I also hope it will be a huge success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorksheather Posted June 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2012 Of course I didn't mind you laughing Katie , I'm sure you know that anyway I'm not too sure of the times Val , I hope Katie comes back on that one , but the show wasn't long and it must have finished 4pm - 4.30ish . The shuttle bus seemed to me to take a while to get there as it seemed to go around the houses , but prob wasn't that long , Coming back from the bus station was a much quicker direct route . I think you can take it that the door at the end of the cafe is the stage door , so the performers have to walk through the cafe , then the bar area to get out . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val4Gareth Posted June 24, 2012 Report Share Posted June 24, 2012 Thanks for that Heather. That should give me plenty of time to get back to the station. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowdrop Posted June 24, 2012 Report Share Posted June 24, 2012 Maggie and I went on Friday night - but what with travelling and everything, this is my first chance to post. Friday was officially the first proper show, as prior to that it was still in previews, and I know they'd been making changes all week, and even on Friday they were in all day rehearsing new bits - apparently they'd even changed the ending! Overall, I thought the show was very good, with a cleverly put together plot, and a good balance of humour and drama. And of course Gareth was aces! The rest of what I'm going to write will contain some references to the plot and the themes, so if you want to remain entirely spoiler free - don't read! Although you probably wouldn't come into a thread for reports in the first place! The basic premise is that it's set in an American high school, around the emergence of computers, and the story's hero, Michael Dork, is a computer nerd, who hangs around with a bunch of sci-fi fans and general geeks who like to quote from Star Trek and don't know how to talk to girls. If you watch The Big Bang Theory, it's familiar territory. Although this show is mainly about Dork's mission to invent email, his best friend, Lucas, has this idea for a book with a working title "Galaxy Battles". There are a lot of jokes playing on how he gets his ideas, which are cleverly inserted throughout the show. They are best friends, but they have another pair of friends who are a lot less serious and are obsessed with making a model space ship, and provide a lot of the comedy. As we all know, Gareth plays Eddie, who is the top jock and school bully. His dad owns the big computer company, which is just one extra excuse for coming into conflict with Dork. Then there's the new girl, Holly, who is conveniently already able to write computer programmes, who is also very pretty, and fed up with being treated as stupid because of that. I don't think I'm being biased when I say Gareth was brilliant! He played the role of the "baddie" incredibly well. He wasn't an outright evil baddie, more someone who is spoilt, shallow, and vain with a sense of entitlement, who thinks it's OK to make Dork's life miserable for his own entertainment. This meant there was a lot of humour in many of his scenes. There was a reasonable amount of singing from him in the first half, which I was pleased about. Not so much in the second half, which I did find disappointing, not least because some of the songs would have been sung much better by Gareth! However, Gareth was on stage for a lot of the show, and his character was much more interesting than the deliberately boring Dork, so he was more fun to watch! I thought the girl playing Holly, Eliza Hope Bennett, was really good. She was vocally very strong, and presented her character convincingly. The comedy duo of Marvin and Francis (Lil' Chris and Daniel Buckley) were great fun. It's in the second half that Eddie realises he needs some drastic action to impress his father, which is what moves him from regular school bully mode into manipulating everyone so that he can claim credit for Michael (and Holly's) work on the invention of email. The music was good, but there were times when the band were too high in the mix compared with the singers, not dissimilar to how a lot of bands in the ilk of Busted or Son of Dork do it. IMO, that's fine, and often preferable, when the person on lead vocals isn't so much a singer, but someone who shouts a bit along with the tune. However, it's a waste and frustrating when you have proper singers, and especially when you need to be able to listen to the lyrics because they are driving the plot. The band were very good, and I liked how they had them on stage and worked them into the show. The set was very clever too. It was simple, but it worked incredibly well. There was fun use of big picture cards to represent props. On Friday night, the theatre was almost full, and there was a good mix of ages although there were more girls in their late teens than you'd normally get at the theatre! Everyone seemed to really enjoy it and there was a lot of laughing and enthusiastic clapping. At the curtain call (there is no curtain), Gareth comes on for his bows after the comedy side-kicks Marvin and Francis, and before Michael and Holly. He's the only one to do his bows on his own, and got a big cheer. There was a lot of dialogue for Gareth, and he was brilliant. Not just that his actual speech was good, but he brought a lot of charisma to the role, and gave it enough charm that it was plausible he'd be the classic popular jock in the first place, and made sure he was funny when he was supposed to be. I bet he had a lot of fun playing it. The bar stays open after the show, so it's easy stop for a drink and watch the cast leave. As others have said, the cast leave (and arrive) through a door just beyond where you pay for your food in the food bit. Maggie and I arrived fairly early to managed to be surrounded by a few of the cast and crew as we bought, then ate our dinner. I missed Gareth darting in as I was too pre-occupied by what the wine was. There were quite a few people catching the cast on their way through the bar, asking for photos or for autographs. Gareth didn't get as far as the bar before being surrounded! There were loads of teenagers eager to get their photo and/or autograph, and he was very good with them. It's a joy to watch him with them, and how everyone reacts to him. By the time Gareth worked his way as far the bar the rest of the cast had either left or sat down with their drinks, but he was very patient and tried to make everyone feel special, but in the end he did have to explain he had to go, so just gave a few quick autographs then made a dash for it. Based on twitter, he was keeping his sisters and cousin waiting! We loitered for a bit in the lobby, where there is a series of pictures from the show. Gareth's one was getting a lot of kisses from some kids. It was a bit high for them, so they got around this by kissing their hand, then jumping up to place it on him! If you arrive early, you can eat in the theatre "diner", or sit in the bar. The programmes were £3.50, and have some nice backround to the show, and a few rehearsal photos, but none of the more recent ones we've seen with the cast in costume. It tells you who wrote each song, but not who sings them. 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Khelda Posted June 24, 2012 Report Share Posted June 24, 2012 What a fantastic detailed report Snowdop, I like to know all the little and big details. So pleased Gareth is coping well with his speaking part, and that the show is funny and entertaining. And its great that the young girls and older ones love him in this show. Well deserved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val4Gareth Posted June 24, 2012 Report Share Posted June 24, 2012 What a great detailed report of the show. I really enjoyed reading it all. There were loads of teenagers eager to get their photo and/or autograph, and he was very good with them. It's a joy to watch him with them, and how everyone reacts to him. This is what I love to watch when I go anywhere to see Gareth. I much prefer to stand back and watch him with his young fans. And there does seem to be more and more returning and not afraid to say they still love him even after all these years. Thanks very much Snowdrop for typing up all those details from the show. I still have a couple weeks before I will get to see it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floz Posted June 24, 2012 Report Share Posted June 24, 2012 Fabulous. Great to get such detailled information. All sounds just brilliant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowdrop Posted June 24, 2012 Report Share Posted June 24, 2012 It's odd how we see things differently. I just thought I was reporting that Gareth was popular with a load of teenagers who had just seen a show in which he was brilliant. While the rest of the cast were popular, he was obviously the person that most people wanted their photos with. I wasn't trying to make a point. For starters, the youngest girls who were jumping up at the photo were too young to have a realistic clue of who he was ten years ago. I think they just took seeing him at face value - and based on what they know of him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barbara Posted June 24, 2012 Report Share Posted June 24, 2012 Really enjoyed your report Snowdrop. Nice and detailed as always. I am looking forward to seeing this next week and have been following the cast and their antics on Twitter all week. My tickets are for Friday next week (I had better remember as for some reason I thought I had booked for Saturday!) Judging by the clips on YouTube I have a feeling this isn't going to be my husband's cup of tea, but he is used to "enduring" our trips to see Gareth with patience. I do hope the press reviews are favourable next week as it sounds as though they have put so much hard work into trying to get everything right to make it successful. Fingers crossed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorksheather Posted June 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2012 Thanks for posting your in depth report Snowdrop , letting everyone know how the story goes .Gareth did look to be enjoying himself , it was a shame that Gareth didn't get any of the big songs , but he shone out anyway , he lit the stage when he came on just as Cameron McIntosh said when talking about Les Mis . It is a show which a younger audience will enjoy , but I loved it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahjane Posted June 24, 2012 Report Share Posted June 24, 2012 Looserville britney spears geeks dress up lol. andrea came to brum to get me to take me to manchester to get train to leeds we missed gareth going in but we bumped into yorks heather and katie and another girl which was nice.sorry i not say much its just way i am we was sat in row c maria was row a so we had good seats.the shows was amazing i thought the cast was great gareth was amazing as eddie he sure knows how to play the baddie lol.gorgeous as ever word perfect cheeky great acting.the back ground consisted of metal things that was moved in and out by various cast and crew including gareth sometimes holding up a wooden card as they used those also and these giant pencils.i must say the cast/ crew sure work hard cause all the stage moving around as well as acting i mean it was fantastic.great outfits worn by all phwoor especially eddie waves.there was some quite good actors lil chris was quite funny the way he put voice on quite amusing but no character was as entertaining as eddie arc the music was great it had brill lyrics and great music to it well written by james bourne such a great musical i think it will deffo take off its fantastic.the yorkshire playhouse a nice place feel so close to the action if you know what i mean.great cafe there to get food and no stage door so you meet gareth etc near the cafe inside i was feeling unwell my ibs but i tried not think about it and hided my darkend eyes with foundation haha.gareth signed my programme but sadly later realised i placed it on table and it was wet and back was ruined so i later got him to write on another one had a piccy with him he asked what we thought of the show i told him it was brilliant i forgot to have words though with him about him putting himself down with his speech.i think his amazing young man so talented and inspiring.he thought we looked great.we had two pics with him each in total as we waited for him to come back from his break or wherever he went as we had gifts for him and he said he come back for them which he did.told him we would not be there after night show as we got get train.was a long day but worth it i was nervous going so far and to a place id ever been but i did my best for gareth just to see him.i took pics of the posters best i could as your not allowed to of show so i hope they help those unable to go enjoy love sarahjane xxx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khelda Posted June 24, 2012 Report Share Posted June 24, 2012 SarahJane, thank you for your report and the great photos, I love them all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest NicolaJayne Posted June 24, 2012 Report Share Posted June 24, 2012 Thank you for your fantastic very detailed report Snowdrop. Also for explaining the storyline. Lovely to hear of the young girls swooning over Gareth who would have been too young to remember him from Pop Idol, the Gareth magic is still very much in evidence. Thank you also Sarahjane for your report and fab pics, love them all and you all look great with your pigtails,Gareth must look forward to seeing you all in costume. and having so much fun. Forgot to say you really look great Sarahjane and no one would ever guess that you were not feeling well. I think you are very brave and always manage a big smile to greet Gareth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val4Gareth Posted June 24, 2012 Report Share Posted June 24, 2012 Thankyou for your great report SarahJane. Sounds like you had another fantastic day seeing Gareth. The show sounds really good and I really can't wait to go see it. Love all your pictures and your outfits look great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahjane Posted June 24, 2012 Report Share Posted June 24, 2012 your welcome glad you like the pics and report i did remarkable how makeup can hide you looking unwell without the foundaton i look like i been thumped lol plus very pale haha glad i put on the makeup lol.in the end eddie is single so i said can i maybe tame eddie lol turn him good gareth laughed lol.hope everyone who goes thoroughly enjoys it deffo a great show and so much work and effort put into it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maria_1981 Posted June 24, 2012 Report Share Posted June 24, 2012 Thank you so much for your report Heather and Katie for adding yours was lovely to see you both I felt the same as you Katie last time I wrote a report but you wrote it well (Its why Sarahjane writes our reports usually when me and andrea go with her) Thank you also Snowdrop for your report and I'm glad you was able to make it I love the way you put the story across. I absolutely love your report Sarahjane as always I couldn't agree more how hard the cast work, not just on the acting/dancing and singing, but them moving the set round. It was very well done I really hope so too it ends up in the West end. Thanks for posting all the pics too love them and you look gorgeous x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garethsdreammum Posted June 24, 2012 Report Share Posted June 24, 2012 Thanks for your report Heather it was lovely to see you and Katie there, Great report Sarahjane as always and thanks for putting up the pictures too, you did well going there with you feeling unwell am glad i was able to take you there and i agree the cast do work very hard doing everything from singing/acting and moving the set around it would deffo be great if it went to the West End Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorksheather Posted June 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2012 Thanks for posting your great report Sarahjane , I always enjoy your reports , it was lovely to meet you again, I didn't know you were feeling unwell , you all looked lovely in your outfits especially the wigs . Thanks for posting up all your gorgeous pics . It was also good to meet you again Andrea and Maria , I had a feeling you were going Saturday , what a brilliant show it is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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