Hi Sarah BIB Yes the thing I miss most about Alesha is her sense of fun and her laugh!

No need to apologise, I like that we can happily discuss our differences of opinion here. One of the things I love most about this thread.

I do think Joanne is a very genuine person, she seems confident when dancing and teaching but nervous at other times when presenting on TV or being interviewed. Perhaps overcompensating for her nerves by exaggerating her enthusiasm can come across as false.

Thanks for understanding Ochre. I am also like you, if people don't like my favourite,
I don't get offended. Then there are some others, can't say anything about a celebrity,
they are up in arms as if we had insulted their family, real kill joy. Different views is what makes this forum interesting, if we all agreed, it would be so boring.


BIB True people can overcompensate for their nerves.

Another very hot day, too hot for my liking.

I can't help it, I really don't like the way Kevin dances. He reminds me of Mark Ballas and I didn't like his dance style either. I appreciate they are good but I would rather watch Alijaz. Same way I like Karen as a person - she comes across as a total sweetheart - but I wouldn't care if I didn't see her dance again. Unlike Joanne who, like Alijaz, I could watch all day. Personal pref and all that

Same here regarding Karen on the personality/dancing front. Lovely person but she looks ungainly to me - her charlston with Mark Wright was awful to watch.

I've not been a big fan of Karen's dancing on Strictly. I loved her Paso Doble with Kevin at the Proms though, she was so dramatic and engaging.

Aljaz and Janette are a lovely couple but they're not a good match for ballroom. Aljaz is such an accomplished ballroom dancer and in addition to the height difference being distracting when they're in hold, Janette just can't match him technically. I don't think they should have had Janette dancing ballroom alongside Joanne at the Proms, Natalie with Ian would have been fabulous.

It seems the Kevin, Karen, Aljaz, Janette, Joanne and now Giovanni (due to being Joanne's partner) seem to be the dancers always chosen to represent strictly.

Maybe it's because they are dancing partners but it would be nice to see the others get their chance.

I agree, I loved the whole Strictly Prom but it is a slight shame a larger group of past and present pros with their different specialisms weren't able to take part. I did particularly enjoy watching Joanne and Aljaz though.

Today's announcement of the further three new pros has got me even more excited about the new series and also made me think of this thread. I think it's fantastic it was Strictly that inspired Chloe as a child to take up Latin and Ballroom dancing. And now she and AJ are British and European Youth Latin Champions and joining Strictly as pros!

I do love Aljaz and Joanne is excellent but the rest I am not bothered about.

Think it's excellent that Strictly have taken on these new young pros. Getting so excited about the new series.

Morning all. Same here, I have no problem with any of the Cliftons (auto spell just changed that to "a muffin" &#128514 or their dance partners but there is a disproportionate amount of coverage for them in my opinion. Very excited about the new pros although I agree with Aggs else thread and now feel like the Ancient Mariner. So are all the pros who have been announced going to have a celeb partner? If so we are looking at an earlier start 😃😃 I hope this thread keeps going throughout the next series, I have really enjoyed reading everyone else's views, links and polite disagreements 😘

Ricky Whittle is appearing in an American sci-fi series American Gods based on the novel by Neil Gaiman.

Trailer

Been looking at Pixie's Twitter, sounds like the BAT press night went well. Alesha and Laura Whitmore have posted lovely messages to her, Laura saying Pixie 'is truly Holly Golightly'

Unfortunately the press were less than impressed :

This one is quite kind :

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/20...oyal-haymarket

This one from 'The Stage', which is normally very kind is very critical of Pixie's performance :

https://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/2...ampaign=buffer

I hope they take the production into heavy rehearsals before Georgia takes over the role.
The central performance obviously needs reviewing.
Looking at the sale of tickets and the plethora of cheap deals being offered BAT may not finish its West End run.

I was about to post those reviews myself, have been enjoying reading a few now the house is quiet

The Independent "It’s a big part for a stage debut, but one Lott brings her own distinctive charm to. With doe-eyes flashing naughtily and a host of golden curls, she’s more glamourpuss than gamine. At first, the seductiveness seems effortful: her mannered delivery has an oddly over-emphasised relish, her quirkiness heavily telegraphed; there’s little of the light airiness of Miss Golightly. And yet… Lott brings a particular magnetism to the part."

I enjoyed The Telegraph review . . . "After yonks on tour and a month into the West End run, the critics have finally been let in. A cynic would suppose that the producers had their doubts about their leading lady and wanted to cash in as much as possible on Lott’s fan-base before the harsh truth came out.

But there is no harsh truth to reveal. The 25-year-old performer acquits herself commendably well in a part that requires her to carry a tune (tick), sustain an American accent (tick), and generally look rather fabulous (double-tick)."

"At limited moments, she’s allowed to sing – the Henry Mancini song specially written for the film gets a smoky-voiced, seductively drawn out rendition, with Lott strumming her own guitar accompaniment, as if at some unplugged session. Nice."

And for Bob the Cat . . . "The one cast-member who appears fully at home is Bob the thespian rescue cat, playing Holly’s rashly abandoned moggy Slob; the adorable creature steals the show at the end by padding along the back of the stage. Even the Downing Street cats don’t have that level of chutzpah." Well done Bob

The Sun would pick photos from those scenes . . . "At other times she is flirty and playful, flashing her legs while wearing a dressing gown and stripping off for a bath with Fred (Matt Barber) seconds before she is accosted by the police." It's actually a lovely write up for Pixie though and ends with "the leading pair do enough all by themselves to transport the audience back to 1940s New York. This musical won’t be Pixie’s last." I hope not!

Reviews for the play itself first on tour and now in the West End have been mixed, Pixie has generally received a positive response. She's clearly worked very hard to make a success of the role and I say well done to her. I think her performance and also the work ethic she's shown will mean this opens up new opportunities. I hope for all the cast and backstage team that the play completes it's run in the West End.

Why wasn't Georgia at the press night to support the cast? I presumed she would be as she takes over the Holly role in a few weeks.

Pixie at press night, gorgeous.

Trent and Gordana were at the BAT press night to support Pixie

Trent also gave his thoughts to the Mirror on who will replace Len, he sees Anton as a dead cert. Time will tell if he's right!

Georgia was filming for her TV Seres 'Trollied" in Bristol !
She has been for several weeks.
She sent her apologies - although I am not sure what the protocol is for someone taking the part on tour - she is not at the moment part of this production.
(One might say thank goodness!)
However, as the rest of the cast got fairly good notices I hope the Director will use Georgia's proven acting skills and improve the play in rehearsal before the tour continues.

Having watched Mrs Clinton accept the Democratic Party Nomination for President I came back and read your post again ... your choice of quotes are too kind !

Try this one :

" ... those literary precedents would be hugely welcome here, as would the charisma of a Liza Minnelli (the original screen Sally Bowles). Instead, however, we're served a cliche-ridden mess of dull scenes, and duller performances. Lott's performance is all one-note, except when she employs a few more to sing some gratuitously inserted classics – Moon River; the Rodgers and Hammerstein standard People Will Say We're in Love – which at least play to her only strengths as a stage personality.

As the everyman writer Fred, Matt Barber has some more effective moments, but he cuts an isolated figure on stage, having no one to spark with.

It all feels intensely mechanical, and even reliable West End regulars such as Melanie La Barrie and Sevan Stephan are forced into uncomfortable caricatures. The only truly truthful performance comes from the seemingly unphased, and appropriately unengaged, Bob the Cat.

No wonder the producers have contrived to keep the press away for so long. The show began a regional try-out at Curve in Leicester in March, and has toured since, before beginning a full month of previews. It only has eight weeks more to run. And it truly can't end soon enough."

For anyone who can't be bothered to actually read the reviews a true cross section of quotes is a little more representative !

What does fill me with optimism for Georgia on tour in BAT is how popular she is on social media - I was amazed to see how few people 'like' Pixie's instagrams when I followed your link - thousands and thousands less than Georgia regularly gets.

Although this is quite exceptional - I have no idea why :

https://www.instagram.com/p/BIXZQCdAcxI/

The 67.5 k views are in contrast to the 3,765 likes Pixie got for her beautiful Press Night photo - but Georgia generally gets many thousand more likes than that !
I do hope that translates favourably into the number of people willing to buy seats to see her in BAT.

If you click on the number of views it will show you that the actual 'likes' on that video are 3,471, so currently less than Pixie's photo. The views count several views by one person, so are not the same as individual likes.

An excellent point.

Interesting I didn't know that but Georgia's instagrams either side of that one have 7,539 'likes' and 9,741 'likes' - somewhat more than Pixie's Press Night photo which has 3.769 'likes' - obviously you will have seen that too !

Not that it matters except for ticket sales hopefully, we know Georgia is very popular and current.

So Georgia was meant to be there? I'd expected so, shame she couldn't make it to support everyone. I would presume she's been travellling backwards and forwards in those filming weeks.

Radio Times review. The writer likes the 'bluesy feel' of Pixie's Moon River and everyone loves Bob it seems

A number of Strictly alumni were at the press night. In addition to Alesha DVO, Kimberley Walsh and Rachel Stevens attended as did Hannah Spearitt. I wonder if we'll see her and Laura on Strictly in a few weeks.

No, because I'm not interested enough in either of them to trawl through all their posts comparing likes. I just looked at that one because I knew views on videos are different to likes. Considering how many followers Georgia has, all that proves is how few of them actually even look at her posts, let alone like them - but that is true of a lot of celebs with a lot of followers if you look at the view counts on their videos, especially as a lot of them will be multiple views anyway.

It seems they have long recording days in Bristol - I don't think it would be possible to travel from there to the West End in time would it ?
She has been staying in Bristol during recording weeks leaving for home late on Friday night.

I am sure Pixie managed to carry on as best she could without Georgia being there
Georgia tweeted her apologies to the Company not to Pixie particularly, after all she won't be working with Pixie.

I think 9,000 plus is rather a lot of people actually - Just as I find 67.5 k a lot of views - even if some were multiple views !

But I am not on instagram and bow to your superior knowledge on these matters.

BIB No she won't, it would perhaps have been nice to show some professional support to her fellow leading lady though as Emily Atack and Pixie did.

Social media is a closed book to Mrs Dinasaur me , but can't folk 'buy' followers and likes - I seem to remember when social media presence was being discussed for Mark Wright and Peter Andre as an unfair advantage due to their many followers it was pointed out that numbers mean nothing?