Thursday, August 14, 2014

Benedict Cumberbatch Is A ROCK STAR

A couple of days ago The Crucible officially sold out and members of Richard Armitage's fandom did a happy dance for everyone involved with the production. I mean, how cool is that? While there has been some grumbling about silly fangirls it's mostly been drowned out by the sound of rave reviews and standing ovations.

Tickets went on sale Tuesday for the 2015 production of Hamlet at the Barbican Theatre starring Benedict Cumberbatch and 100,000 tickets went in ten minutes. You know who does that? Rock stars do that. Music festivals do that. And now, apparently, Cumberbatch does that. And the grumbling about his fandom's behavior for an event that's STILL A YEAR AWAY has already started.

Josh Dickey from Mashable took aim at them last night in an oh-so-Shakespearean fashion. Hi, Josh? Wishing that Cumberbatch's fanbase would suicide en masse so that "normal people" might get to see him doesn't make you a sharp cultural critic, it makes you a mean spirited jackass. It doesn't matter if you thought you were being facetious, frankly, and given the three separate articles with your byline about the death of Robin Williams it was breathtakingly tone deaf. And "normal people" like what, Josh? People who don't write fan fiction, maybe? You might want to discuss that with Mark Gatiss. People who aren't female, maybe?  Because, wow, that's a new one. People who realized that these tickets are a hot property and scored before you did? I'd be willing to hazard a guess that that's a little closer to the truth. Oh, wait, did I just make an assumption about you based on something I read online without knowing anything else about you? Huh. Who would do something like that?

To any of you who managed to get tickets, congratulations and have a great time. I may not be part of your clan but I get your excitement and I'm thrilled for all of you. I have no doubt that he's going to be as fantastic as he always is. Total ninja, that one. I think some Cumberbatch might be in order here, don't you? Have a great day!

12 comments:

  1. Wow, what a jerk. I wonder if he knew anything about the requirements for buying those tickets. I had a friend who got in the online queue to buy some and it was not easy. Among other things you were limited in the number of tickets you bought, I believe six total for the entire run. And guess what -- a lot of people bought tickets because they like the Barbican Theater (first chance to buy went to people who'd bought various memberships to qualify to get those tickets) and would be there anyway. Do your research, man.

    Apparently this whole "we hate Cumberbatch's fans because they clog up the theater" has been going on in parts of tumblr as well this week. I've seen a couple posts about it. It turns out the act of hating on fans who go to the theater "for the wrong reason" (to see an actor, as opposed to the whole package) has been documented since at least the eighteenth century.

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    1. I really truly don't get that level of snobbery. If there are butts in the seats then the theatre has more money to do other things and that can only be good, right? Or are theatres supposed to starve so that a select few can have a rarified experience?

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    2. I think the theaters encourage it; it's the fellow theatergoers who get their noses out of joint, and I don't understand it. Afraid that people will group them with "those fans"?

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    3. That's a possibility. But that says more about those doing the grouping than it does about who or what they're afraid of, you know?

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  2. Wow. the jerk store called for that guy. I bet there are lots of people who want to see him in this role -- I mean, that the play is as important as who is playing the lead. I'm always interested in what actors do with roles made famous by other actors and I'll be very interested to hear what Ben says about that very challenging part of this gig. Good on the fans for supporting theatre and jumping at a tremendous opportunity to see this production!

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    1. I was thinking this morning about when Ralph Fiennes did Hamlet in the 90s and how CNN covered it because it was such a phenomenon. Demi Moore flew to London to see it...so the difference between Demi Moore and those who snapped these tickets up is what, exactly?

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  3. Jazz,

    Do forgive me for disproving this article's sensational headline with something as mundane as ACTUAL NUMBERS going into Monday's Hamlet ticket sales. ;)

    The Barbican theatre lists an 1160 seating capacity - breakdown is roughly: Stalls (690), Circle (200), Upper Circle (130), Gallery (140) so the 100,000 tickets is roughly based on the 88 scheduled performances between Aug 5 and October 31, 2015.

    I'd bought my tickets Aug 1 (when ticketing opened to Barbican members), but out of curiosity decided to check on seat status on Aug 10, before tickets opened to non-members, and here is what I saw: 5 shows (first 3 performances, Press night, final show) were already SOLD OUT. Of the remaining 83 shows, Stalls seats were already SOLD OUT. Circle was 98% SOLD OUT. I won't even count Upper Circle and Gallery seats here... but before tickets even went on sale on Aug 11 to non-members, 80,000 tickets had already been sold or were allocated to authorized resellers!! So anyone queuing on Aug 11 were battling it out for less than 22,000 upper deck seats across 83 shows... and with a queue of over 30,000, it is easy to see that not everyone is going to get a ticket via the barbican ticketing website.

    I am not a Cumberbatch fan, but I did see him perform in Frankenstein in 2011 and knew it was worth planning for if I wanted the pleasure of seeing him perform again on stage.

    I was also tipped off by this excellent article on what to expect surrounding the madness of Hamlet ticket demand, so it comes down to being prepared, I guess. So is this author hating on those who know what they want and come prepared to get it? :D

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/10878608/How-much-would-you-pay-to-see-Benedict-Cumberbatch-in-Hamlet.html

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    1. Thank you so much for taking the time to break that down for us, UKExpat! Dickey linked to the London Evening Standard article and was if he'd stuck to just reporting their facts I wouldn't have thought twice about it. What tripped me was the attack on his fanbase as being less deserving of the tickets than "normal people." I'm so glad you were able to get tickets!

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  4. Jazzy, I was looking up Cumberbatch articles today, and found this VERY INSIGHTFUL INTERVIEW that Cumberbatch gave to actor Gary Oldman (who asked some really great questions!):

    http://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/benedict-cumberbatch

    You can just tell that Cumberbatch already knew of his future Hamlet gig at the time, but still wasn't at liberty to mention anything.... ;)

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    1. Ahh, I am SO GLAD you appreciated it - I REALLY enjoyed it... as much for what it told me of Oldman as Cumberbatch!

      I loved how it started with a very standard expository opening, before suddenly detouring (very wikileaks style, I guess) into a transcript of dialogue between two actors. It gave me an oddly humorous outlook on Oldman's take of interviews, actually, with his constant mention of conducting it from a fishing vessel while on family holiday somewhere in Western France. :D

      I also loved the little Cumberbatch family details... of growing up witnessing the realities of acting as a profession watching his parents' lives (not very glamorous)... and how he (Cumberbatch) burst into tears when his father gave him his blessing to pursue a career in acting.

      It was like getting to eavesdrop on two adorable actors (Oldman referred to them as 'lovies'?) - but with the advantage of it being ON THE RECORD. Finally it helped me to REALLY appreciate the meticulous care and preparation that Oldman will put into ANY role he takes on... whether that role is as an actor...or in this case, as freelance interviewer of another fellow actor! ;)

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    2. Cumberbatch always gives good interviews. An interviewer once said of either him or Hiddleston that he speaks in paragraphs rather than sentences, and whoever was actually the subject of that observation it's definitely true of both of them. :)

      Speaking of great Cumberbatch interviews, he and his mother Wanda Ventham appeared on the French and Saunders radio show a couple of years ago, right before "Frankenstein" opened, and it was HILARIOUS. It's on YouTube but YT isn't working for me this morning, unfortunately. Thanks again for linking the Gary Oldman interview!

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