September 2015 Reviews -London

Reviews of the show
Westletonion
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Re: September 2015 Reviews -London

Post by Westletonion »

Pat's creative genius always leaves me almost speechless! He must search the entire cosmos, and beyond, to find such inspiration with his descriptions! Not only that - his generosity extended to letting me have his B15 seat on Thursday afternoon! (instead of B16).
Flyin high
Small Boy
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Re: September 2015 Reviews -London

Post by Flyin high »

After saying I wasn't going to see BETM again for a while, I changed my mind and decided to take advantage of a work trip to London, and so popped over the the VPT for my 5th time. Five shows, five different Billys. I feel very lucky. This time it was Nat Sweeney. Imagine my excitement after reading all the glowing reviews on here!

This being my fifth show, I genuinely didn't think it would still be wowing me, and leaving me emotionally charged. But it did. It felt as fresh as ever.

Nat Sweeney's delivery of his lines is quite different to some of the other Billys I've seen. Using interesting intonations and very long dramatic pauses in places, he commanded the stage from start to finish. He clearly enjoyed Express very much, along with comrade Tomi. They were grinning from ear to ear, and it's the first time I've seen both boys sit down for the shoe race. Nat was tapping with such energy that his tap shoe fell off during the number and he had to stop at the side to put it back on!

What impressed me most about Nat's acting was his brilliant balance between grumpy pre-teen and vulnerable boy. He's got moody attitude to a tee, using his face and whole body to convey his mood. But at times he also seemed so tiny on stage. He strikes me as someone who knows how to use his body very well. And his dancing....? Well it blew me away! Are the billys told to save up their very best for electricity? Do they hold back during dream ballet? Nat seemed to hold back just the right amount during solidarity and dream ballet. And then he just took it up a whole few notches for that wonderful wonderful performance of electricity. It's his precision and his strength that alllow him to perform moves that others just can't attempt.Have they added an extra bar or two of music for his pirouettes? I wanted to watch it over and over.

The rest of the cast were on top form and the audience was with them right from the start. How do Deka and Chris pull off such humour and drama night after night? The new ballet girls were full of energy and character. They are so professional for ones so small. I'd forgotten just how good Tomi is as Michael. What a seasoned performer with excellent comedy timing. I honestly think that the Michaels should get way more air time in the finale. In my opinion they deserve a longer bow and applause for the pivotal role they play.

All in all a wonderful night at the theatre!

And just to end on a question....does anyone know what the actors 'chat' about when they are doing silent talking scenes? I noticed Nat and Deka talking and interacting a lot as they were packing the suitcase and wondered what they might be saying. Do they stay in character? Also, what do Michael and Kevin chat about before the scab comes in to grab him? If you turn up the DVD really loud you can hear Elliott whispering something to Deka during the whispering bit in the audition, and Deka says something back afterwards which I can't quite makeout. Would love to know what it is!
Todd
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Re: September 2015 Reviews -London

Post by Todd »

Flyin high wrote:And just to end on a question....does anyone know what the actors 'chat' about when they are doing silent talking scenes? I noticed Nat and Deka talking and interacting a lot as they were packing the suitcase and wondered what they might be saying. Do they stay in character? Also, what do Michael and Kevin chat about before the scab comes in to grab him? If you turn up the DVD really loud you can hear Elliott whispering something to Deka during the whispering bit in the audition, and Deka says something back afterwards which I can't quite makeout. Would love to know what it is!
I guess only the actors know these answers for sure, unless someone here is a lip reader who can make out what they're saying ! From my limited performing experience, I can tell you that during crowd scenes when we were supposed to be engaging in casual conversation with other ensemble members, we were often talking about things that our characters wouldn't be discussing . . . such as, "The audience seems really into it tonight" or "I was in the bathroom and almost missed the announcement to report back stage" or "I'm going to be up so late tonight . . . I still have a lot of things I need to do after the show."

As for the scene where Billy whispers into his dad's ear, I asked one of the actors who played Jackie Elliot in one of the U.S. productions if Billy was actually saying words to him or if he was just whispering jibberish, and he said, "The Billys have an actual line that they're supposed to say into my ear, just to make sure the length of the whispering is not too long or not too short. Once in a great while - when the actor playing Billy has done a ton of performances and they think it would be funny to say something different - they'll say something unexpected into my ear to try and make me laugh. Once the scene's over and we have time to talk about it back stage, I tell them, 'I know you thought it would be funny to try and make me laugh during that scene. But keep in mind how that would ruin the mood of the scene and would take away from what we're trying to accomplish there . . . not to mention that it would be unfair to give the audience something less than what they paid good money to see if we were up there joking around and not respecting the show.' And that's usually the last time something like that happens !"
dancingboy
Billy
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Re: September 2015 Reviews -London

Post by dancingboy »

Todd wrote:
Flyin high wrote:And just to end on a question....does anyone know what the actors 'chat' about when they are doing silent talking scenes? I noticed Nat and Deka talking and interacting a lot as they were packing the suitcase and wondered what they might be saying. Do they stay in character? Also, what do Michael and Kevin chat about before the scab comes in to grab him? If you turn up the DVD really loud you can hear Elliott whispering something to Deka during the whispering bit in the audition, and Deka says something back afterwards which I can't quite makeout. Would love to know what it is!
I guess only the actors know these answers for sure, unless someone here is a lip reader who can make out what they're saying ! From my limited performing experience, I can tell you that during crowd scenes when we were supposed to be engaging in casual conversation with other ensemble members, we were often talking about things that our characters wouldn't be discussing . . . such as, "The audience seems really into it tonight" or "I was in the bathroom and almost missed the announcement to report back stage" or "I'm going to be up so late tonight . . . I still have a lot of things I need to do after the show."

As for the scene where Billy whispers into his dad's ear, I asked one of the actors who played Jackie Elliot in one of the U.S. productions if Billy was actually saying words to him or if he was just whispering jibberish, and he said, "The Billys have an actual line that they're supposed to say into my ear, just to make sure the length of the whispering is not too long or not too short. Once in a great while - when the actor playing Billy has done a ton of performances and they think it would be funny to say something different - they'll say something unexpected into my ear to try and make me laugh. Once the scene's over and we have time to talk about it back stage, I tell them, 'I know you thought it would be funny to try and make me laugh during that scene. But keep in mind how that would ruin the mood of the scene and would take away from what we're trying to accomplish there . . . not to mention that it would be unfair to give the audience something less than what they paid good money to see if we were up there joking around and not respecting the show.' And that's usually the last time something like that happens !"
When I spoke with a former Billy some two to three years ago, I was told that the Billys at that time had to learn a 10-15 second script, which they then whispered to Dad, in the audition scene.
Whether that still applies I am afraid I don't know.
Flyin high
Small Boy
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Re: September 2015 Reviews -London

Post by Flyin high »

Thanks for the insight. On the DVD it sounds like Elliott says 'thank you' to Deka during the whispering, and then afterwards Deka says something like 'you're welcome, likewise' to Elliott.

Anyway, back to the topic of reviews. On Monday, Nat stopped whispering after 10 or so seconds and then decided to whisper some more - not something I've seen before, but it did get an extra laugh!
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PLuto
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Re: September 2015 Reviews -London

Post by PLuto »

Flyin high wrote:Anyway, back to the topic of reviews. On Monday, Nat stopped whispering after 10 or so seconds and then decided to whisper some more - not something I've seen before, but it did get an extra laugh!
I have same experience with Nat on performance on beginning of this month.
dancingboy
Billy
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Re: September 2015 Reviews -London

Post by dancingboy »

Flyin high wrote:Thanks for the insight. On the DVD it sounds like Elliott says 'thank you' to Deka during the whispering, and then afterwards Deka says something like 'you're welcome, likewise' to Elliott.

Anyway, back to the topic of reviews. On Monday, Nat stopped whispering after 10 or so seconds and then decided to whisper some more - not something I've seen before, but it did get an extra laugh!
Most of the Billys do that and have done for some time.
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Bridget40
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Re: September 2015 Reviews -London

Post by Bridget40 »

dancingboy wrote:
Flyin high wrote:Thanks for the insight. On the DVD it sounds like Elliott says 'thank you' to Deka during the whispering, and then afterwards Deka says something like 'you're welcome, likewise' to Elliott.

Anyway, back to the topic of reviews. On Monday, Nat stopped whispering after 10 or so seconds and then decided to whisper some more - not something I've seen before, but it did get an extra laugh!
Most of the Billys do that and have done for some time.
Was Ollie J the first Billy to do that?
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tzwicky
George
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I just realized something due to this conversation.

Post by tzwicky »

The Billys have been practicing ASMR on stage for all these years.

Look it up if you somehow do not know what this sorta flakey ASMR thing is about: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomou ... n_response

But I think that a Billy or a Dad would be the people who need to chime in on this thought.

On the other hand, I think it's obvious that ASMR works since Dad is always happy when he leaves the stage after all that whispering (OK, and dancing) that Billy does.

Ya think?

tzwicky
Barry Appleby
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Re: September 2015 Reviews -London

Post by Barry Appleby »

THURSDAY MATINEE 17th SEPTEMBER

Thursday matinees are a bit notorious for having sleepy audiences but not this week they certainly showed their appreciation throughout, enjoying all the gags, and were so respective for the hard work put in by the cast.
Wendy Sommerville was standing in for Ruthie, she gave a really strong creative performance, showing the rough edges of Mrs Wilkinson.
Deka is incredible as Jackie Elliot, he shows the hard side of Dad, yet in Expressing Yourself a very emotional and proud dad at his sons determination.
The first time for me to see Beatrice Bartley as Debbie, I was very impressed, a great addition to the wonderful Debbies, also the first time to see the Ashington ballet girls, a real enthusiastic bunch.
Nathan was Michael, actually it was only the second time, I've seen him, a real bundle of fun, loved the way he plays up George in the boxing scene, I'm surprised Howards voice didn't go up a notch in the, left, right boxing session, you know what I mean!! Oh! By the way he looks like another dangerous one, on a bike.
Its a while since I last saw Thomas, he soon had the audience in the palm of his hands with his antics in the boxing scene I thought he was outstanding throughout, his dance routines were 1st class, full of fun with Nathan, in Expressing Yourself, a powerful Angry Dance, you could see he so enjoyed Dream Ballet, also a faultless Electricity, a great ovation from the audience which produced a great smile, lap it up! Thomas you deserved it. His acting for a lad of his age, is brilliant, remembering he just 11 years old, I could write paragraphs about his expressions, here is just a couple, his rendering in The Letter scene, showing his emotions, practically in tears, it so got to the audience, plenty of hankies out, secondly in the pre Ballet scene, when Michael says “you wont tell anyone will you” he then walks away with a grin and picks up the tutu (difficult to put this in writing) he gives threatening Ah! Ah! Ah! Lastly his cheeky look at the examiners when repairing the tape in the audition scene.
For me he plays a natural cheeky loveable Billy.
A big Thanks to Gillian, Chris, Howard and the rest of the wonderful cast for all your hard work, great memoires for that 220 mile journey home.
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