March 2015 Reviews - London

Reviews of the show
User avatar
Darth_Revan
Ballet Girl
Posts: 281
Joined: Mon Nov 11, 2013 11:35 am
Location: Dublin, Ireland

Re: March 2015 Reviews - London

Post by Darth_Revan »

Bridget40 wrote: Deka did his normal Olivier awards routine where he says, while pointing at Billy.....
[...]
It seemed to mean a lot to Matteo.
That what matters!
---
István
theatrix15
Audience Member
Posts: 11
Joined: Sat Dec 27, 2014 7:45 pm
Location: London

Re: March 2015 Reviews - London

Post by theatrix15 »

Hi everyone - my first review on this forum :) Was running late as usual, but made it to VPT just in time to slip into my seat in the stalls. Didn't look at the board on the way in (as is now usual) - and out walked Thomas with Deka ... I was well pleased as would get to see him early in his role as Billy. He was great - his acting is top notch, his singing is good, and will get better and better over time, and boy can he dance! He seemed to be loving it on stage, in only his fifth show - there was no sign of nerves whatsoever.

Ruthie was magnificent as usual, and performed on one of the dates listed on the VPT website as her off dates. I love her as Mrs Wilkinson, to me she (and Deka) are the true life and soul of the show. Reading some of the other threads on the forum it appears she has extended her contract beyond 16 May 2015, which is fantastic news for all of us, and also the BETM cast who must get such a high from performing alongside this mega Westend star.

Deka was also fantastic as ever, his comedy routine with the Glasgow dancer seemed more pronounced than usual. Thomas and he seemed to already be gelling very well together.

The ballet girls seem well settled and Shine and Solidarity were both fantastic. I always try and spot the things going on on the sides during Solidarity and the detail that is put in place is amazing - things most people would miss if they were watching the show for the first or second time. It's an incredible number...

I was looking forward to both Angry Dance and Electricity with a new Billy, and on both counts Thomas was incredible. His Angry Dance was similar to Matteo's in terms of pace and anger, but measured and restrained at the same time. Maybe over the weeks he will really let loose. Electricity was superb - done ballet style, and leading to a standing ovation from the audience. It's surely got to be the shows most famous number, and though I have seen it numerous times, it leaves me with goosebumps every time.

When we were kings was great - the miners (and their families) always leave a lump in the throat as the miners 'head down the hole'. The closing number is another of my favourites as the cast seem to have such a good time all the way through.

Other observations:

- the VPT was probably at 95% capacity which I was thrilled to see. Shows in January and February seemed to urn at about 60-65% (at least the days I went) - it could be that Easter holidays are upon us, but nonetheless, we'll take that! The audience was involved right from the time Billy climbed up on stage to open the show, and stayed with the talented cast right to the very last bow.

- pretty much the whole cast was on, which I haven't seen in a while.

- there was a moment in Boogie, when Mr Braithwaite swung his trousers and they landed on the light on stage (above and to the right of the red door which serves as the door to Billy's house). Ruthie spotted it within a few seconds (whilst I thought - fire hazard!!) and without missing a beat of the song, moved to tried and tug the trousers off the light.. she kept singing but paused the dancing so Billy just watched her :) Ruthie gave up in the end (probably fearing she would pull the light down!) and went right back to the dancing (how did she know where to pick it up? What a pro!!). Luckily there was no fire, and the trousers were removed as soon as the song ended by an efficient stage hand.

- Todd who played Michael seems to have grown in height, and it was a bit odd / different to see Billy shorter than Michael (Thomas must be at least a few inches shorter than Todd) - especially as they danced next to one another in Expressing Yourself - usually the Billys I have seen tend to be taller than the Michaels. Not bad, just different!

- The RBS receptionist (?) didn't do the usual 'flirting' with Deka when he says he is a miner, instead she held up a fist in solidarity. Not sure I liked that, but it may grow on me if they keep it.

- Deka closed the evening with a request to the Audience to vote for BETM for the Audience Award at the Oliviers - no change to his speech there, and I was pleased to see some people voting as they left the building on their smartphones (or at least starting the process).

All in all, a fantastic evening - pleased to see my favourite show again!

If anyone is interested, I have tickets to the show I can't use for later this month, as now travelling for work. One is for 8 April 2015 (seat B18 in Stalls) and the other is for 16 April (seat C7 in Stalls). I don't want any money for them (too complicated to sort!), just a good home for them if any forum members are around in London and want to visit the show.
User avatar
angelenroute
Billy
Posts: 3831
Joined: Thu Mar 19, 2009 1:05 am
Location: Malverne (Long Island), NY

Re: March 2015 Reviews - London

Post by angelenroute »

theatrix15 wrote:Hi everyone - my first review on this forum :)
Thank you for writing this! It was a great read!
theatrix15 wrote:The audience was involved right from the time Billy climbed up on stage to open the show
I think you mean small boy, but great! :)

Sean

"Good writers define reality; bad ones merely restate it." -Edward Albee
User avatar
jtsw1
Tall Boy
Posts: 111
Joined: Sat Jan 17, 2015 3:46 pm

Re: March 2015 Reviews - London

Post by jtsw1 »

March 31, 2015
Thomas / Todd / Connie

April 1, 2015
Ollie / Nathan / Kyria

So this is it, the review of my first trip to the VPT - rather some personal obervations than scene-to-scene-reviews, though, so don't say you haven't been warned! Writing it to the soundtrack of the show, smelling the smoke again.

Excitement, fear and a thrill of pleasant anticipation all mixed up inside me for months now, never sure what was strongest, and it surely didn't help that the whole trip (my first flight in, like, 10 years) was not only overshadowed by the leaving of my two favorite Billys, but also by a tragic plane crash and a giant thunderstorm that terminated the whole train-traffic in my country for the day of my departure! So the fear got stronger and stronger, mixed with a little bit of disappointment because I wouldn't get to see Elliott and Matteo. Having missed his final performance by just three days still bothers me.

But well, I wasn't sick or something, so I headed off to the station in haste, seeing all the money I spent on the trip going down the drain already because of this stupid storm, just to find the one and only (!) train that was heading towards the airport there waiting for me! It didn't make it all the way, though, I had to take a cab for the last 20km, but there I was at the airport, finally. Everything went rather smoothly from there, and besides from getting pissed off by the total shit-hole of a hostel I'd booked I started to look forward again to the evening.

My first impression at the theatre was: oh my, maybe it's a special show after all, there are so many people here! But it wasn't. Despite the fact that this was the 10th anniversary of the first preview, nothing special happened. Apart from the show (and B15 being unoccupied, that must be unusual as well?), that is, being special in itself. The theatre, too. I absolutely loved it from the first moment on - the looks of it, the intimate atmosphere, even the smell. I get what Lee Hall means when he speaks of the play bringing back the days of the proletarian "good night out" in the programme - this place is perfect for that! I felt at home instantly, and so I can add another reason to my list of answers to the question why you'd want to visit it again and again. I was so overwhelmed by it (and worn out by my journey, okay...) that I forgot to look for the famous cast board. The guy I bought the programme from then told me that it would be Thomas in the role of Billy that night. I must admit, I had hoped for Brodie, having read so much of his grace and skills, but of course every Billy is a good reason to visit this theatre over and over again; now I was about to experience a rather new one, which made me look very much forward to it.

These two evening's main reasons for me, however, turned out to be Todd Bell and Nathan Jones. As you may know, I have watched the dvd of the show four or five times, and from that I would have not expected that it would be the role of Michael that would win my heart in a live performance. But it did - on both evenings! I loved Todd's flamboyance, mixed with sombre undertones that made his inner conflict very clear (a great mixture of the Michaels of musical and movie), and Nathan's comic timing and enthusiasm - both boys loved every second on stage. There are too few of them (seconds, mostly). There also were some facets of the role that I haven't seen on the dvd - for instance, the bit when Michael points at one member of the audience (on wednesday it was the young guy sitting on B15, I think...) and just says "call me" - it's so sweet and hilarious! Nathan was not only enthusiastic but he seemed to have reached perfection after only a few weeks on stage. His special "just a little bit"-bit has to be seen! Todd also managed to play a very unique Michael, and he broke my heart with the look in his eyes at the end. (He didn't drive off on his bike, by the way, making the whole scene even sadder.)

The chemistry between Todd and Thomas also was near perfection, particularly in "Expressing Yourself" when Thomas managed to get his "shut up you poof" out in a way that I couldn't help but get the impression he felt a little bit uncomfortable with it - they just had so much fun together. There were a few timing issues in the dialogues, though, too much haste in it at times. Nathan and Ollie had no problems with that, but here the chemistry somehow wasn't perfect. That said, Ollie was a great Billy; he didn't touch my heart like Elliott did on the dvd (maybe because of the difference in singing, some of it was too weak, some of it "too much"), but his acting and dancing were great, of course. You could see his experience, he's a real pro. And Thomas, being a new Billy and only 10 years old, was almost as good already. He plays a serious Billy and is able to usee his eyes very well for that, producing creepy glances of dread - but he also is funny in the right moments. The few percent he still needs to be in order to become one of the best were made up by his enjoyment and enthusiasm. Seeing how much he enjoyed the flying made me smile big time, for instance. (And when he's a wee bit older he will think about Debbie's offer a little longer, I guess...)

The boys are not all that is fantastic in this play, the adult cast is just as special (although I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to see any understudies - I think Chris and Deka overact too much - pleased to see Chris at leasn't doesn't shout "PHILISTINES!" anymore - and I would have loved to experience a different approach to their roles. Well, another time!) Particularly outstanding in these two performances: Ruthie Henshall and David Muscat! You may have heard that Ruthie has prolonged her contract, but David hasn't. He's on a final tour of triumph and seems to get mocked here and then by Ruthie on stage who appears to just have the time of her life, and that leads to a comic chemistry that's a lot of fun to see. Also, on Tuesday, Mr Braithwaite threw his trousers onto the lamps on the side of the stage, earning a laugh by Mrs Wilkinson who then failed to get them down there. On wednesday, well, he threw them right on top of her!

I don't envy the next Mr Braithwaite. These are very, very, very big footsteps left by David.

I found the girls to be very important as well. Not only Debbie, but all of the ballet girls make a difference to each show. For instance, there was a very small girl in the group on wednesday, so Deka had a girl to "exploit" (Deka) afterwards when he was begging the audience to vote for Billy to win the Olivier Award. Having seen this with Small Boy on tuesday, this variation came, like, as a shock to my system. But a pleasant one. However, Small Boy didn't seem as pleased as me.

Well, what else can I say. I made some funny observations (two guys who I identified as "regulars" wearing red VIP-wristbands, for example), but I didn't really manage to talk to anyone. On the second night I even tried not to overhear any conversations because I didn't want to know who was playing Billy until he made his entrance. I succeeded, but the suspense was almost killing me for sure... Furthermore, I didn't expect the stage to be *that* high, but I still think row B is good value - 40 pounds difference between rows B and C seems just crazy to me, they should sell C for, like 35 or something, because you can't see the feet from there either. But I'm absolutely amazed by how well the existence of cheap tickets in the first row(s) fits the message of the show.

And my addiction is back. I'd lost it after the last viewing of the dvd - now I want to see the show every week again just for the little differences and because I just wanna experience each and every Billy and Michael. I just wanna! (You see, this show seems to make a boy out of me again. It even brought back my nervous bladder from when I was a schoolboy... Yeah, that's creepy, but I warned you about personal observations, didn't I...? ;))

Some last words: I was very pleased to read some words about the political message of this show in the programme. Lee Hall has created a masterpiece with it, the (almost) perfect political musical. The moment when Billy kneels before the banner is just so powerful - or when he jumps into Dad's arms to the words "the battle's lost but not the war"! It would be interesting to know how many people in the audience get any of this or how they perceive it. All these more or less rich tourists, I hope they do feel a little bit of the workers' struggle that still goes on and on in this shithole of a world. The fate of the workers is still bleak, and therefore this is no "feel good"-play for me at all. The feel-good-factor is there, but it's intertwined with all the sadness of being the miserable caricatures of humankind that most of us still are. I, for sure, can identify with that. It's the old motif of beauty blossoming in a dumpster brought to perfection. I can't wait to experience it again!
- A. -

- What do I do??
- Follow the others... marching forward to socialism!
User avatar
Billy Whiz
Gallery Admin
Gallery Admin
Posts: 5537
Joined: Sun Mar 15, 2009 11:26 pm
Location: England

Re: March 2015 Reviews - London

Post by Billy Whiz »

WOW!

Two fantastic reviews. It was wonderful to read and disgest all your comments and observations.

Thank you theatrix15 for your first review - and hopefully the first of many.

Thanks also to jtsw1 for the review on their first visit to the VPT. The first visit is always something special and never forgotten. I hope you manage to make many more visits.

As always - Keep 'em coming :)
.
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.
theatrix15
Audience Member
Posts: 11
Joined: Sat Dec 27, 2014 7:45 pm
Location: London

Re: March 2015 Reviews - London

Post by theatrix15 »

angelenroute wrote:
theatrix15 wrote:Hi everyone - my first review on this forum :)
Thank you for writing this! It was a great read!
theatrix15 wrote:The audience was involved right from the time Billy climbed up on stage to open the show
I think you mean small boy, but great! :)

Sean
I meant the actor playing Small Boy - called Billy isn't he?
User avatar
Bridget40
Tall Boy
Posts: 140
Joined: Tue Jul 15, 2014 1:27 am

Re: March 2015 Reviews - London

Post by Bridget40 »

Thank you for the reviews Theatrix15 & Jtsw1.....

I can understand your frustration about just missing out on seeing Matteo Jtsw1. After what was by all accounts, a somewhat inauspicious start to his Billy run, he soon found his feet, and judging by his final performance last Saturday, he had evolved into an amazing Billy! It is a shame that just as he was beginning to peak in the role, his run came to an end, and lots of people like yourself didn't get the chance to see him.
User avatar
patc
Mrs Wilkinson
Posts: 1406
Joined: Fri Mar 20, 2009 5:26 pm
Location: Dublin, Ireland

Re: March 2015 Reviews - London

Post by patc »

A (re)View from the Ridge

Having watched the show from just about every part of the VPT except the Grand Circle I thought it would be interesting to give it a go and, so, for the Matinee of Elliott/Zach’s leaving day I sat in K39 the furthest back left hand side.

Entrance

Entrance to the Grand Circle is on the left hand side as you enter the front doors of the theatre and before you go though the second set of doors. The staircase is quite spacious and airy and the large posters from many of the previous older shows that played there are a delight. Recognising the names of so many of the greats of English theatre who appeared there is most interesting. Cardew Robinson, anyone? :D. It was a pleasant climb and, surprisingly, I was not at all out of breath when I reached the top where the spacious bar area greets you with a large side window looking up Victoria Street. A few more steps and you are up at the back of the Grand Circle.

The View and the seats

Looking down the view is quite steep but unless you suffer from a really bad dose of vertigo it should not be a problem. I was surprised that no part of the stage was out of view. The full width and depth of the stage could be seen (unlike some of the extremities of the Stalls). Only a tiny portion of the stalls seating area could be seen, a few seats in A and B on the far front right. The seats themselves in the GC were small and the space not really suitable for long-legged people. My aisle seat did provide extra space to stick a leg out. During the show I noticed that those in the front row were leaning forward to avoid the rail obstructing their view.

The Show Experience


The sound was excellent despite the lofty position. There were some wall speakers nearby but they were in use only occasionally (e.g., the RBS questions to Dad and Billy) but, to be honest, they were not required. I didn’t miss any lines. Interestingly, I thought the music had a fuller sound with the volume of each instrument more evenly distributed.

I had brought a pair of compact binoculars but hardly had to use them. Bradley was Billy and I did watch both Angry Dance and Electricity through the glasses and this was a brilliant experience. In Angry Dance I focussed initially in close up on Bradley but then was able to pan across the riot shields with him in the foreground and the effect was stunning. Trying to keep up with his superb street Electricity in close up was hard work on the body and arms as he danced back and forth across the stage but fantastic to see it from a different perspective.

A bonus from sitting up there was seeing some of the stage management goings-on behind the scenery but not nearly as much as I thought I would see. Example: As Deep into the Ground progresses some of the actors start to push back the set but, in fact, just before they do, five men in black come out and appear to take the brunt of the effort and drag it back into position with the actors ensuring it remains straight. Another example was when Billy runs off right having called his Dad a bxxxxd he immediately runs around to the back of the toilet and enters to be ready when Mrs. W pulls the set out. There were others but you can try it yourself if you're curious.

At that distance and height I didn’t feel detached from the show but there was a feeling of being detached from the main audience from the Stalls and Dress Circle below.

If I’m being honest I wouldn’t choose to sit in K39 again although it was a well-worth-trying novelty. If I did sit in the GC I probably wouldn’t choose the front row A due to having to lean forward and look under the rail and probably B as well but C – F I think would not be a bad place to watch from (particularly an aisle seat) provided you don’t mind lesser room for your legs.

The one thing I can definitely say is that I enjoyed the show as much as ever with young master Bradley Perret at the height of his Billyship delivering a cracker.

Pat
Image
theatrix15
Audience Member
Posts: 11
Joined: Sat Dec 27, 2014 7:45 pm
Location: London

Re: March 2015 Reviews - London

Post by theatrix15 »

Great review patc! I'm in one of the side seats of the GC for the 16 May show, should be interesting!
User avatar
patc
Mrs Wilkinson
Posts: 1406
Joined: Fri Mar 20, 2009 5:26 pm
Location: Dublin, Ireland

Re: March 2015 Reviews - London

Post by patc »

Thanks, theatrix15, I will be interested to hear your own thoughts on the GC after you have seen the show on 16th May.

A couple of other points. In Dream Ballet Billy will probably disappear from view as he spirals up. I say "probably" because, funnily enough, I don't remember exactly what happened because, on the day, there was a problem at that point and the show had to stop for a short while.

You also have a great view of the intricate kaleidoscopic-like patterns weaved by the Ballet Girls in dancing action. Try squinting your eyes as it happens :D .

Pat
Image
Post Reply

Return to “Reviews - London”