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Old Posted Mar 22, 2014, 8:19 PM
Pretext Pretext is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by New Brisavoine View Post
Subjective views again. In "your" world they are not as famous or influential as London's West End or Broadway, but hundreds of millions of other people think differently.
As I have already pointed out, London has some superb theatres' and a magnificent theatre land, and London has been at the creative hub of lots of world wide hits. The first outing for Les Miserables was at the Barbican, where it was panned by critics, which shows you how much critics know.

Quote:
Originally Posted by New Brisavoine
Irish playwriter Samuel Beckett or Romanian playwriter Eugène Ionesco thought so poorly of the London theatrical scene that they came to Paris to write their plays in French and stage them in Paris, which according to you cannot compare to London's West End of NYC's Broadway.
I suggest you read Samuel Beckett's life in relation to why he chose to live in Paris. London has seen plays by many great playwrights on it's stages and London and the UK have been home to many fine writers and playwrights, indeed it was George Bernard Shaw who eloquently made the case for the original National Theatre in London.

Samuel Beckett

And there were also many reasons for Romanian playwright Eugène Ionesco to settle in Paris. Paris being a very beautiful city with a lot of culture, it does have some wonderful theatres like many cities, although it doesn't quite match Broadway or indeed London's West End, which are among the best in the world and certainly the best in the Western World.

Eugène Ionesco

You can find info on Londons theatres on a number of sites

London's West End

London Theatre Venues

The Music Hall and Theatre History Site - Dedicated to Arthur Lloyd, 1839 - 1904

Quote:
Originally Posted by New Brisavoine
And Maria Callas, the greatest of all opera singers, lived in Paris, not London. She must have missed that London was the "most influential" opera scene in Europe.
Why should Maria Callas live in London, she wasn't British and can live wherever she so wishes. She certainly performed at the ROH in Covent Garden but that does necessitate that she live her permanently.

Quote:
Originally Posted by New Brisavoine
A sense of measure and humility wouldn't be too much to ask for.
The thread is about London, you asked what was so significant and I told in relation to a mix of history, culture, art, knowledge, business and diversity all mixed in to one. It is you who has been going on and on about Paris in a thread about London, yet as soon as I try to post the mix of attributes that I believe together make London unique you start to become ultra sensitive and critical. Why should I show any humility on a thread specifically about London, especially one in which others have gone on about the virtues of rival cities, I merely felt it was time to put the case as to why London was comparable with other great cities, or as you put it, to justify why London is up there with Berlin, if I recall correctly.

Last edited by Pretext; Mar 23, 2014 at 11:17 AM.
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