#sofakartoffel

[max-jens]

FIREABEND.

[howglorygoes]

sofakartoffel replied to your post “HOLY SHIT FUNNY GIRL WAS SO GOOD”

who went on as fanny?

Sheridan Smith! She was amazing!

[howglorygoes]

sofakartoffel replied to your post “Charlie and the chocolate factory is the show I’ve liked the least...”

what's not good about it? (Never seen it nor listened to the recording)

i took notes at intermission so i’m ready for this question (though full disclosure i’ve never read the book) 

the entire production was completely plastic and surface and relied on nostalgia from the book, and the success of matilda the musical and the two films (quite literally, in that they utilize “Pure Imagination,” which is the most affecting song in this adaptation)

the characterization of Wonka is all over the fucking place and is grounded in nothing. maybe a different actor could elevate the material but i think it would still fall flat (good luck borle). He’s literally just super mean to children and yells at them and charlie and grandpa joe spend the whole show being like “yikes @ this dude what’s up with this” but then at the end, charlie has no reservations about continuing the tour after mike’s demise. The Tim Burton film did a great job of having a really out there characterization that was based in something. you see Wonka’s relationship with his father, and as a result is this emotionally stunted man-child who escaped to a chocolate factory of his own imagination. There is an arc, the story is about him growing up, mending his relationship with his father, and finding a new family in Charlie. In the stage adaptation, when he’s not dressed in his Wormwood best, he’s dressed in rags as a beggar that befriends charlie in the junk yard where he scrounges for scraps - and the entire golden ticket scheme seems deliberate to just give the factory to charlie from the get-go. like he basically hands him the money and says buy some chocolate. And yet there’s no, like, gleam in the eye or sense of intent Wonka is putting his hand in, just some beggar guy.

the pacing is really belabored. Act one is just a string of scenes to cover up the set changes for the Ticket Discoveries. We don’t see Wonka (as Wonka) until the end of the act, there’s two charlie songs about being poor but being imaginative (they just serve the same purpose and are unnecessary except to make the act long enough), and his parents sing a duet that makes it sound like the other has died. The grandparents’ song about Wonka would be cool if they didn’t literally copy Matilda’s shadow puppet projection style (also why do the Buckets have a projector?) 

The modernization of the kids just seemed off? like Mike still felt outdated and they could’ve made some kind of commentary with the modernizations (like “Miracle”) but they didn’t. 

Lyrically, Wonka’s entrance sets up the fall/roll that Gene Wilder originated, but it’s just a light cue? (the lighting is great though)

Augustus’ song spoils the whole joke about him being made into fudge because they keep singing about fudge and then oh surprise “he makes tasty fudge hahaha” - LAZY

Violet literally explodes. she explodes into confetti that rains down on the audience. she explodes. 

I really wanted some sense of reprisal with the Oompa Loompa songs to the Ticket Discoveries but there wasn’t ?? 

The moral is really weird? like “it’s all the things you aren’t that make you what you are” ?? it’s empty. the whole show is empty. they went big, they went splashy, and i get why, i just wish they had more to back it up. I know people like to discredit the Burton adaptation but it really succeeds where this falls flat.

look, i still got chills when charlie found the ticket and pure imagination is really sweet (ha) but the storytelling just isn’t there. hopefully, the revisions they’re making for the transfer help fix it.

this is really long i’m sorry

tl;dr go see matilda

[non-binary-laurie-strode]

sofakartoffel a réagi à votre photo :The back of my shorts ripped. Siiigh.

Just when you thought you had everybody on your side… :0

I MISSED A CHANCE TO HAVE A CLASSIC SPONGEBOB REFERENCE ON MY BLOG. I am ashamed of myself.

[non-binary-laurie-strode]

sofakartoffel a réagi à votre billet :You know, I’m surprised that old-time radio plays...

It’s still a thing in the UK and Germany (I don’t know about other countries bc I live in Germany and am only fluent in English) - example: bbc.co.uk/radio/p…

Oooh, thank you for showing this to me! :D

[bachsbooks]

Fredagstræt. Gider ikke engang rejse mig op og hente en bog🙈📚😴#fredagstræt #fredagsbog #bogblogger #sofakartoffel #godtdeterweekend #shelfie

[godlessondheimite]

2, 23, 24, 31, 38.

2. Least favorite musical(s) When I stripped away the amazingness of DWSA, I realized that I probably wouldn’t like the musical itself. 

23. A flop you love: lmao well one time I was on the bus blaring the Merrily cast recording...

24. A flop you disliked: What I saw of Leap of Faith embarrassed me.

31. The first show that made you become interested (or obsessed…) with theatre In high school I wanted to kill everyone so I loved Sweeney and Assassins. Those were my gateways, and around the same time I loved RENT, as high schoolers must, and the Producers.

38. A character from any show you’d say you are most like (whether it be for personality or physical appearance) Mama Rose

[quantumtardis]

Yay, RTD re-watch! I hope you document that extensively on here :> (I'd be especially interested in your thoughts on the things I've never seen you talk about before, like "Mine All Mine" maybe.)

That’s the plan! :D Mine All Mine is probs my least favourite thing of RTD’s I’ve watched. I’m also curious what I’ll think of it upon re-watching and paying more attention. Philip Pullman said that’s his favourite. If nothing else, I’ll be entertained by ~Yanto Jones~.