Toy Show the Musical - Farce or Triumph

Brock Turnpike

That Indo article in the OP finishes with "The musical WAS set to run until December 31 at The Auditorium, Convention Centre, Dublin with tickets priced at €25."

Considering that the rest of the article reads like an RTE press release, I'd say that last line tells us where this is headed

Larbre34

There's a competition you can enter for this.

Second prize is two tickets to Toy Show the Musical.

First prize is no tickets for it.

Was intriguing listening to Claire Byrne’s interview with Simon Coveney’s brother, Rory, who was the decision maker who encouraged this farce to go ahead.

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120015329#Comment_120015329

That's about the best idea, just flog them out free to anyone who txts. Duffy and D'Arcy can shift a few as well. One for everyone in de audience and yer friends.

ButtersSuki

Coming in 2023, not one but 2 Joe Duffy Musicals:

1. A centenary of cemeteries - join Joe as he visits some of his favourite graves from around Ireland. “You’ll be dyin’ to get into dis show” he he he he he
2. FunnyFryday De Musical - do you miss racist jokes, terrible impressions, and “old style comedy” performed by amateurs paid more than professionals? Then join Joe and friends as he revisits “jokes” from the 1930s with special guests June Rogers and Doc Savage.

Tickets from €5,000. Coddle available on request.

GAAcailin

Looked on the website and can only see tickets for either €45 or €50 not including booking fee; very pricy.

We went to Beauty and the Beast in the Bord Gais and it was a really fab production, was €60 a head and so much more worth it than that farse .

hamburgham

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120015667#Comment_120015667

I see Rory Coveney is ‘Director of Strategy’ at RTE. I wonder how much he is on.

THat kid's voice in the ad with it's nauseating inflection makes me want to throttle the singer as well as the twat that cast it.

furiousox

I haven't seen a review of the show anywhere.

Very strange, or perhaps not.

Brock Turnpike

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120016107#Comment_120016107

Irish Times gave it 2/5 stars. And were not kind.

Larbre34

RTÉ have no business being in Theatre production. The T stands for Teilifís.

If some private entity wanted to licence the concept from RTÉ and take on all the risk of such a saccharine, puke inducing idea, then good luck to them. In fact a seasoned panto maker likely would have made a far better fist of it.

The losses of this thing must be clearly detailed and the responsible Producers sanctioned.

Gen.Zhukov

Next year:- RTE's - 'The Black Death, the musical' to run at both the Aviva and Croke Park simultaneously from Nov 18th 2023 to Jan 10th 2024 at an approx cost of €14m (of your money)

Buy your tickets early to avoid disappointment and customer quotas apply

SuperBowserWorld

They should rename this to:

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

Or

RTE has a hard on for aping shite British entertainment. The musical.

In true RTE fashion TSTM just had to feature a death, a sadness. The chief protagonist child has lost her mother, the premise for trying to get her bereaved father to get enthusiastic for the Toy Show. Now, riddle me this, what child wants to be subjected to a sorrowful back story on a night out of entertainment. For bereaved children it will only bring them right back to their own reality on what might be a night of respite, and for non-bereaved children in the audience it is a fearful reminder of the mortality of their own parents, and for some children this might become a constant rumination after seeing it as the foundation for their night out of Christmas entertainment.

head82

Not sure how reliable this is but I saw a comment elsewhere claiming if a performance is cancelled due to illness amongst cast/crew.. insurance covers any losses.

However, if a performance is cancelled due to poor ticket sales.. nothing, nada, zero!

No doubt misinformation as I'm sure RTE wouldn't resort to such underhanded tactics.

StupidLikeAFox

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120015510#Comment_120015510

Bring back Al porter as the villain, "he's behind you"....

the_pen_turner

how could they think this was a good idea.

the toy show is in major decline and watched by adults for nostalgia reasons mostly. kids arnt watching it voluntarily. then its after christamass for some of it.

then ad in that it a musical , they couldnt make it any worse if they tried.

heads should roll for this disaster

bigroad

Where is the toyman now with all his promotion of this.

Hiding away in his crap radio show trying to distance himself ,like a slimy snake that he is.

Where are his two airhead producers, probably in the same sesspit with the fabulous Dee forbes.

One eyed Jack

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120016566#Comment_120016566

Ach, I dunno how true that is either, Annie and Oliver Twist are regular Christmas favourites, don’t get me started on ET and, dare I say it - It’s a Wonderful Life 😬

It could well have been those stories which the producers were hoping to cash in on by what appears to be a common theme relating to Christmas stories… Jesus Christ now I think of it - Pinocchio, Snow White, Cinderella… definitely a theme there 😂

I think ‘twas more just a case of RTE believing in their own hype that caused them to imagine after the last few years of wringing the absolute shyte out of the Late Late Toy Show on social media, they imagined it could translate to bums on seats as a full-on musical theatrical event… they appear to have judged the relationship between social media and reality about as well as the ability of their intended audience.

amlinopta

Something strange about a cancellation due to sickness when the audiences are in their seats ready for the show, as happened on Saturday

Allinall

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120016710#Comment_120016710

What's it got to do with him?

Naked Lepper

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120017178#Comment_120017178

possibly a mental health related sickness?

Expunge

This debacle is going to haunt RTE for years. The stench of failure is very strong.

I just can't understand why they got into Musical Theatre production. Even the most successful producers fail badly in the West End and Broadway from time to time.

They could have asked anyone from the crappiest amateur Musical Society in this country about this and they would have been told that:

A. Dublin is a graveyard for new musicals and has been for years. Anyone remember the premier of JFK The Musical at the Olympia more than 20 years ago? Thought not. It was a very well resourced American production which, when adored by Irish audiences (it was assumed), would transfer to Broadway. It died a death not dissimilar to JFK himself.

B. Don't try and compete at the same time with traditional Panto (with tickets at half the price in some cases).

C. If you're going to put the thing on, make sure there's a "hit" song that can gain airplay on your many crappy radio stations and put the show on in November, leading up to the broadcast of the Toy Show itself while the hype is there. Once the Toy Show on TV is over, it's over (except in the mind of Ryan Tubridy).

Finally, Dee Forbes comparing a totally untried and untested musical with no real connection with the TV show as we know it and the Top Gear or Strictly live shows is just daft and dishonest. The, ahem, star of the Toy Show was not in the cast (wisely for him). Compare that to the Beeb live shows where you'll get at least some of the people on stage you're used to seeing on screen.

They deserve to be hammered relentlessly by the Public Accounts Committee with every cent to be accounted for and a value put on all the not paid for advertising across RTE.

Furze99

People need to be fired.

ButtersSuki

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120017293#Comment_120017293

+1 on all of the above, and more.

You're also forgetting one thing, they did this when the country and world at large are in the middle of a sustained cost of living crisis and an imminent global recession. As Tubs would say, it's "bonkers". These €25 tickets are a new thing, because when it launched they were all €50 + booking fee of €6-something on Ticketmaster; so a family of 4 would be out €224-225 before you accounted for travel, parking, food, and likely a hotel stay in Dublin if you're from out of town.

On the ads - yesterday morning between approx. 8:25/8:30 and the news at 9:00am there were 5 ads for TSTM on Morning Ireland.

Expunge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120017318#Comment_120017318

Going by RTE's own Rate Card, I'm guessing that would be a substantial cost for the non-RTE connected "Butters The Musical"?

Aren't there rules about this sort of thing?

cml387

I still remember the musical that Shay Healy wrote, "The Wireman" that got exhaustive advertising on RTE and was by all accounts a disaster.

The history of Irish written musicals is not good.

ButtersSuki

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120017340#Comment_120017340

Coveneny covered that in his interview with Claire Byrne yesterday. They are allowed to advertise their wares on their own platforms (incl. website and social) for free. It explains why almost ALL of the ads on Liveline are for other RTE shows/ventures, or the orchestra.

Expunge

RTE really needs to learn to pick a lane and stay in it.

Content delivery, which is patchy and uneven at best, or event delivery, which in this case is a disaster?

They are all over the place and this might be the catalyst for some proper reform of what they are to do and, more importantly, not do.

Forget about Household Broadcast Charges and the like until a serious reform process is undertaken.

DoctorEdgeWild

There's probably nobody on Boards who loves musicals more than I do. I've been to 98 shows so far this calendar year. (Yes, I am that sad)

Even I wouldn't touch this with a bargepole! RTE is where creativity goes to die.