July 2014 Reviews - London

Reviews of the show
User avatar
Billy Whiz
Gallery Admin
Gallery Admin
Posts: 5537
Joined: Sun Mar 15, 2009 11:26 pm
Location: England

Re: July 2014 Reviews - London

Post by Billy Whiz »

Here are a few photos from Mitchell's and Zak's last night.

Image
Zak, Mitchell, Small Boy, Billy and Kyria

Image
Zak, Mitchell, Small Boy, Billy and Kyria

Image
Mitchell outside the Victoria Palace after his last show

Image
Zak outside the Victoria Palace after his last show

Image
Littleton Ballet Girls outside the Victoria Palace last night

Image
3 of the Littleton Ballet Girls with the brilliant Deka outside the Victoria Palace last night
.
Billy Whiz is the Gallery Admin. Please send your photos, articles etc to forum.gallery[at]billyelliottheforum.me.uk Please replace [at] with @

In the email can you also please let me know the date where and when the photo(s) was taken, who is in the photo(s) as well as your forum name.

When you send photos to the gallery can you also please PM me to let me know that you have sent them. If I don't receive them after a couple of days I can then chase them up.
dancingboy
Billy
Posts: 2573
Joined: Tue May 31, 2011 5:52 pm
Location: (near) London

Re: July 2014 Reviews - London

Post by dancingboy »

Great pictures as usual, David.
dancingboy
Billy
Posts: 2573
Joined: Tue May 31, 2011 5:52 pm
Location: (near) London

Re: July 2014 Reviews - London

Post by dancingboy »

Saturday 19 July ( evening)

My apologies for the late posting of a review of Mitchell and Zak's last show. Due to a family Sunday lunch, at which I was the cook ( and bottle washer) I have only now had time to get to my computer.
Leaving shows are always emotional, for both cast ( particularly the young ones) and fans alike and this was no exception. Both Mitchell and Zak played their parts to the full and, if I am honest, which I try to be, I think this was Mitchell's finest hour. I have seen him many times during his seven months in the show in London and doubt very much that he has danced better.
The show was off to a good start with both of them 'hamming it up' during the Boxing scene and from then on the adrenalin was flowing through Mitchell for the remainder of the show. The fast spins and pirouettes at the end of Solidarity have, surely, never been spun at a faster rate. For the last time we heard Zak's ''c'est moi'' during Expressing Yourself, together with the usual ''time to look in ze mirror'', which brought much applause from the audience. The tap dancing from both during this number was excellent.
Mitchell is/was the expert at bringing out the emotion during The Letter scene, although there were very few actual tears, he did, once again, ensure that many people in the audience had the tissues handy. It is not often that you get a faultless round of skipping in Born to Boogie, but that is exactly what happened, so top marks to Ruthie Henshall, David Muscat and Mitchell for that. The first half ended with an explosive Angry Dance, with some very fast tapping, from Mitchell, that sent the audience to their half time comfort break in wonderment.
The Winter scene between Mitchell and Zak had some funny moments. For example, after Mitchell took the Sindy Doll and spun it around ( as per usual), not only did it slip from his grasp and flew several feet across the stage, but Sindy's red cloak came away too. This had both boys full of laughter.
One of the highlights of the show is, of course, Dream Ballet and this was danced to perfection by Mitchell and Barnaby. Once more this led to prolonged applause from the appreciative audience.
I have commented previously that Mitchell's forte is his dancing and this showed to great effect in a sumptuous Electricity, which finished in the traditional Mitchell style of more fast spinning pirouettes. Last night or not, that rendition fully deserved the standing ovation it received.
And so to the goodbyes. Both Ruthie and Mitchell had a few tears in their eyes in their farewell scene and it was particularly moving when Ruthie cupped Mitchell's face in her hands. Both Mitchell and Zak manged to hold themselves in check as Mitchell left the stage and Zak was left sitting on his bicycle in the middle of the stage, for the last time.
A quick word about the Alternate brother Tony ( unfortunately I cannot recall his name), who is playing the part for about the next week. He is about the right age that you would expect Billy's brother to be, he is not too big either, and his acting and line delivery was spot on.
Although it was a bit late in the day, about 11.30, Mitchell and his family came out of the front of the theatre to meet the fans that were still there, including some Ballet girls, which enabled Mitchell to sign programmes and have some photgraphs taken and I, for one, was most grateful to have the opportunity to say my own farewell to the young man from Florida. My thanks to Mitchell and his family for that.
''Well Done'' to both Mitchell and Zak on their last evening and I wish them both well for the future.
mikey2573
Tall Boy
Posts: 164
Joined: Thu Apr 22, 2010 7:52 am

Re: July 2014 Reviews - London

Post by mikey2573 »

Did Mitchell and Zack change their final lines?
dancingboy
Billy
Posts: 2573
Joined: Tue May 31, 2011 5:52 pm
Location: (near) London

Re: July 2014 Reviews - London

Post by dancingboy »

mikey2573 wrote:Did Mitchell and Zack change their final lines?

No, they said '' See ya Michael and Billy''. I don't think the Company allow the boys to change the lines nowadays.
User avatar
patc
Mrs Wilkinson
Posts: 1406
Joined: Fri Mar 20, 2009 5:26 pm
Location: Dublin, Ireland

Re: July 2014 Reviews - London

Post by patc »

It was an eventful few days in the UK combining a visit to the Farnborough Air Show with a 4-show Billython. There was plenty of high flying and high jinks at both venues but there is one thing I must say first of all. These amazing and totally unique Billy boys are tasked with playing the most demanding role ever created for the stage. They do it day after day but what an effort it must require when we get conditions like we got in London this week. On Thursday evening as most of you will already know both Matteo and Elliott had to come off. I’m willing to bet a fortune that, knowing what big hearts they have, they would have had to be dragged off but we all know how well the company looks after them and would never take the slightest chance. Whilst it was, for obvious reasons, exciting times for fans of the show present to see three Billys for the price of one, my heart went out to Matteo and Elliott and I’m sure all of the Billys know how much we appreciate each and every one of them. And another 4,000 plus showed their appreciation for them over the four shows that I saw with long standing ovations.

Excitement was very high prior to the Thursday matinee when Mitchell’s name appeared on the Board as Michael. We ARE spoiled are we not? We heard later that Mitchell had not played Michael anywhere before in his previous Billy life but you’d never have thought it. He was brilliant and I’m sure that he and Elliott must have thoroughly enjoyed their sessions together onstage. Elliott himself was his usual sensational self with the most brilliant dancing, acting and singing in his own inimitable style and I loved every single second of it.

Mitchell did most of the Thursday evening show (I suspect he might have had his feet up for the night when he got the call). What an unbelievable performance and we got a foretaste of what was to come on Saturday night when the goodbyes with Ruthie turned into a tear fest. Zak B in his penultimate show was the one to royally entertain us as Michael.

Saturday matinee had two surprises. I hadn’t seen Bradley’s name on the cast all week and thought he might have been away while Ollie debuted so was thrilled to see him perform again after 9 shows without him. This was another stunning demonstration of Billyship full of passion, grit, superb acting, singing and dancing. Bradley is one of those Billys who never comes out of the role. Even when the audience is going ballistic after his Electricity he holds the pose and he decides when the applause shall cease before he runs off. Like Elliott and Mitchell on Thursday he got a full standing ovation at the end. Zach A did the Michael honours so you all can imagine what fun we had.

The other surprise was Chris Jenkins making his Tony debut and he was magnificent. My goodness what a debut and he looked so much the part of Billy’s older brother. He did the evening show as well and everyone I spoke to afterwards was truly impressed. We ARE lucky are we not?

And so it came to the evening show and the farewell to two great boys who have served the show so well and provided us and so many thousand others with so many wonderful lasting memories. Resident Director, Simon Pollard, spoke very highly of them before the show and both were cheered to the rafters when they came onstage. I had a feeling we were in for quite a night and so it proved. The entire cast went for it bigtime, raised their game even higher and ensured that this last night was a night to remember. Probably, I shouldn’t go to last nights. I find that the already emotional show full of emotional characters takes on an additional identity. When the characters are saying goodbye the players are, too. This would have been Ruthie’s first experience of a last night. The first time she has “lost” a Billy. If Thursday’s goodbye scene was a tear-fest then this was a waterfall. I doubt that there was anyone in the theatre who wasn’t deeply moved. If there was, they are not of the human race. Thank you Ruthie. Deka did a great job of cheering Mitchell up during the packing of the suitcase. I needed much more time, LOL.

That was not the only tearful moment. Mitchell’s desperately emotional Letter as always had tears running down his face. Zak went all out and gave us the most memorable of fun nights, smoking guns and all. I will never forget the look on his face when Mitchell sent his beloved Sindy spinning out of control across the stage floor. Whether it was planned or just an accident I don’t know but it was a PRICELESS moment. At the final curtain I was trying to guess how Zak was feeling and I think his eyes said it all.

No review of a last night would be complete without a mention of the final Electricity. On Thursday evening, Mitchell had already danced his way into Billy history with the most unbelievable performance of this great dance. So many spins my eyes were dizzy. Would he go for it again? The answer was yes and the result was the same. Everyone on their feet, cheering like crazy and the most fantastic yet so humble smile from himself, his eyes lighting up with such joy. It was a sight I shall always remember.

A few more things to mention. I’ll probably forget many more for which apologies. We have three absolutely brilliant Debbies in action in Dayna, Demi and Kyria and, like everyone else in the show, nobody is allowed to be doing nothing when on stage. The Ballet Girls, in addition to their dancing duties, have so much to do in Solidarity and it doesn't end when Dad arrives in to the hall and discovers Billy dancing. They all have very imaginative and deliberately exaggerated individual poses and shapes to adopt all over the stage as the anger increases. You’d need twenty eyes to see it all but never in one sitting. Once again this scene has been upped and antied by degrees. Something else worth looking out for which I have not seen before is the demeanour of David Muscat (Mr. B) in the scene just after Tony and Dad have finished the fight at the pit and the Scab has come and left the money behind. Watch how David’s facial expressions change ever so slightly as the will-we-take-the-money-will-we-not scenario develops. Brilliant stuff. I notice, too, that David has now expertly adopted the original monotone version of the Diaghilev speech in B2B.

No amount of words can ever thank Mitchell and Zak enough. They have given of their all maintaining the high standards they set for themselves. We shall miss them very much. We ARE positively lucky.

Pat

PS 1: I was so pleased that both of them came out afterwards so we all had an opportunity to say thanks directly to them. It means so much.

PS 2: I have uploaded the latest "Memories of Billys" video up to and including Mitchell. The link is in the Multimedia and Gallery section above.
Image
User avatar
Billy Whiz
Gallery Admin
Gallery Admin
Posts: 5537
Joined: Sun Mar 15, 2009 11:26 pm
Location: England

Re: July 2014 Reviews - London

Post by Billy Whiz »

Thank you John and Pat for those great reviews.

They were so well written I almost felt I was there. Oh, hang on a minute, I was :D :D :D
.
Billy Whiz is the Gallery Admin. Please send your photos, articles etc to forum.gallery[at]billyelliottheforum.me.uk Please replace [at] with @

In the email can you also please let me know the date where and when the photo(s) was taken, who is in the photo(s) as well as your forum name.

When you send photos to the gallery can you also please PM me to let me know that you have sent them. If I don't receive them after a couple of days I can then chase them up.
User avatar
CJ-Rochester
Site Moderator
Site Moderator
Posts: 4671
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 4:35 am
Location: Rochester, NY

Re: July 2014 Reviews - London

Post by CJ-Rochester »

Thank you all for the excellent reviews and photos of Mitchell's and Zak's leaving show. They are much appreciated. :D
:/
Todd
Dad
Posts: 1664
Joined: Thu Mar 19, 2009 6:05 am
Location: Kansas City, USA

Re: July 2014 Reviews - London

Post by Todd »

dancingboy wrote:
mikey2573 wrote:Did Mitchell and Zack change their final lines?

No, they said '' See ya Michael and Billy''. I don't think the Company allow the boys to change the lines nowadays.
What could they do . . .fire them ? :lol:
Westletonion
Miner
Posts: 414
Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2009 10:46 am
Location: Suffolk Coast

Re: July 2014 Reviews - London

Post by Westletonion »

Excellent and well written reviews John and Pat. Wish I was such a wordsmith! And thanks David for the fine pictures.
It was indeed an incredible evening. The whole atmosphere of last nights moves one to the very core. What a wonderful stroke of good fortune that we have this brilliant show that maintains its superbly high standard with such constancy.
Post Reply

Return to “Reviews - London”