January 2015 Reviews - Denmark

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ERinVA
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January 2015 Reviews - Denmark

Post by ERinVA »

Here's a thread for January reviews of the Danish production.
Ellen



"I don't want people who want to dance; I want people who have to dance.”
-George Balanchine 1904 -1983


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thm
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Re: Reviews - Denmark

Post by thm »

Thursday 22 january - Opening Night

Billy: Carl-Emil
Michael: Magnus
Debbie: Mathilde
SB: Carl Schelling TB: Frederik Rose Christensen

Firstly in short: I'm impressed how they've done this 'non-replica-show' of Billy Elliot - the songs translations and modifications. And most impressive the clever-clever highly sophisticated and detailed scenery. Outstanding acting by Mrs.W, Dad, Tony, Michael and Billy - well ok - everyone.
There were TV cameras in the foyer waiting for the VIPs but else no hint that this is a premiere - no speech whatsoever. The show startet with an audio explanation w/o video. Then the pit lift came up with the miners singing. That's the picture on The New Theater's facebookpage https://m.facebook.com/detnyteater/phot ... 6&refid=17
This scene happens outside - everything is a little different. After small boy snatched the coin Billy threw onto the floor, Billy (Carl-Emil) started his 'Løft mig op' with a crystal clear and sonorous voice. The Kitchen scene: The first occasion when we got to marvel at the moving scenery. The house - like an actual little house with front door just lacking the facade on 2 sides - moved like swimming on the stage towards the orchestra pit. It turns as the action takes place in different rooms of the house. It's rather like the set for a TV series. On the downside it's too small for all the many miners to have breakfast :lol:
Grandma's song: Billy sits on the kitchen table listening to her - there's no reflection of her dancing with granddad - just the two.
The audience was very awake and didn't hesitate to show their appreciation throughout the show. For the boxing scene the house moved backwards whilst it was foldet out and the inside-entrance to the boxing hall/working men's club appeared being aligned with two parts from the side resulting in kind of an inclined sectional view of the boxing hall limited by the stage portal. The choreography of shine is a bit different. Much different is Solidarity. The ballet class doesn't mash up with the miners/police - not at first - the right side of the boxing hall opens and turns - thus inside and outside action is displayed side by side. In my opinion they succeeded to come up with a very different yet brilliant arrangement and choreography of this scene. The riots happen outside. The scenery can be turned so that we see the village's streets. Btw. Billy lives in Ascot Street - I didn't find that street in google maps though :lol: A funny bit: first toilet scene : before Mrs.W. enters the Gents-room few people leave it like small boy who heads towards the washbasin then stops and with a gesture like saying "naaa-who cares" refrains from washing hands. Express: the costumes are very extraordinary, Michaels dress is much more elegant and decidedly feminine. They both had much fun dancing and prancing and received and extra loud appreciation from the audience. Angry Dance: Billy kicks the interior of his room in anger goes downstairs and out tapping then off stage. The riots outside - they run through the streets confront the police, a police car is rolled in, the policemen dragged out,n Billy tap dances on it. An explosive flame - black.
Admittedly I like the pure angry tap (London version) more. I also felt the dance choreography was not angry enough. Or the scenery (the house) is to precious to ruin it already at the opening night :lol:

to be cont.
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ERinVA
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Re: Reviews - Denmark

Post by ERinVA »

Thanks for kicking off the reviews, thm. It sounds like another very original, yet top notch production. I look forward to many more reviews to come!
Ellen



"I don't want people who want to dance; I want people who have to dance.”
-George Balanchine 1904 -1983


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Re: January 2015 Reviews - Denmark

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Thursday - opening night - Act2

The second act starts with the x-mas party with a x-mas tree and George at the mike. There's a small band onstage also revealing that the piano is a real one. Then the Ballet Girls come in, wearing Blue Maggie Thatcher dresses and wig and handbag singing 'Merry Christmas M.T.' 'Deep into the Ground' well performed by Kristian Boland ending in a duet with Billy. The Billy-Michael scene was good and believable acted. Billy's reaction after Michel kissed him was a bit more prompt. He jumped a step back "eh eh eh!!!' The nutcracker (nøddeknækker) bit was as funny as everywhere else. This scene like a few others are shorter than in the London version. But they don't feel rushed - I think the Danish just come more straightly to the point. Dreamballet beautifully danced of both Billy and Older Billy yet the choreography is new. Billy is connected to the wire off stage while Older Billy gives a little solo. To finish Billy paced towards a mirror, placed where Dad usually stands. First then enters Dad the stage. Scene change 'What's it gonna cost..' Dad:" I saw him dancing and did a lot of thinking" Mrs.W.:"We better not overstrain the system" :lol: :lol: No falling snow btw.
Roll call scene on the streets with a giant steel portal in the background were the miners enter after passing the picket line. Jackie is recognised but also goes to work. Scenery change: Front of Elliot's house. Dad and Tony meet and finally get to fight - quite intense choreorgraphed - until Billy jumps between them being hit and going down on the floor. Tony played by Sebastian Harris, who first had my attention in the kitchen scene leading to 'Angry Dance' gives a believable strong and emotional rendition of the role.
Scene change for the RBS - I thought 'Hvad fanden laver de?' Ehm I mean 'What the hell are they doing?'(sometimes I think even danish ;) ). As if they move the boxing hall in again - but suddenly the wall decoration flaps away and - Tadaaaa - the golden stageportal of the RBS was there (a few meters behind the real stageportal since there is no proscenium over the orchestra pit) with a red curtain coming down. This scene is quite like the american/dutch version but we do see the panel people. Billy swings a right to Posh Boy's stomach seen by one panel-lady who approaches another one of the panel whispering (audible) then the one turns to the next and whispering and the next... :D leading to the last one talking towards the Elliots "Such displays of violence..."
'Electricity'('Som et stjerneskud'-'like a shooting star') is more ballet-heavy, less running around at first - which works for me perfectly. Carl-Emil's singing really stands out and there's nothing to complain about his dancing skills. The latter part contains more acro bits but seemed to me not fluently or powerful enough. Ok, ok the original London/Aussi/America version sets really a high standard but I still think he can do better. And please, the ugly pants don't add to the dancing grace!! Anyway well done Carl-Emil, the audience loved it! Dad waited off stage like 'Dreamballet'.
We can see the postman with his bag casting a letter through the front door right as grandma comes down the stairs. She walks with it through the house into the kitchen, where Dad and Tony are sitting. A very funny acted scene. The final scene is in one go since there is no way for Billy to get over the orchestra pit - well he could jump ;) - but would land in the audience since there's no aisle either. Billy comes straight to the point: A kiss on Michael's cheak and good by. Micheal rides some circles and off before the mesh-wire fence comes down.
Finale: Guess who also can tap!? Small Boy! He's leading the Ballet Girls and starting off the Finale instead of Billy. All wear Union-Jack dresses/jackets etc. Billy, like the rest of the ensemble join them in a completely different choreographed number. I really enjoyed that.
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Re: January 2015 Reviews - Denmark

Post by angelenroute »

Thank you very much for the comprehensive reviews, thm! I don't follow Billy reviews for London too much, as I'm not very familiar with the cast, and I've seen the show enough times to appreciate the same things over and over again without one more over again, but when these new productions start up, whether in Europe or regional ones around America at the moment, I'm always interested to see how things have been changed due to budget or other reasons. The Maggie Thatcher dresses for the ballet girls had to have been sewn just for them, it seems, so that's a lot of work they did right there--besides just all the unique set creations--and though having the miners wearing them would have been even funnier, it would have also meant more fabric at more of a cost. Who knows of course what the exact reasons behind these decisions are, but it's wonderful to see how different productions of Lee Hall's beautiful show continue to express themselves!

Sean

"Good writers define reality; bad ones merely restate it." -Edward Albee
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Re: January 2015 Reviews - Denmark

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An article from Kulture:

http://www.b.dk/scene/selv-benhaarde-so ... ailyfix.dk
Even tough , Socialist ministers wept at Billy Elliot premiere

It is the song to follow his inner voice. The song is about doing what you need to do, even though it has not quite know what it is. About daring to be who you are .

When the boy Billy, a miner's son who discovers that dance must be his purpose and meaning in life , first sings with his bright boy's voice about the feelings that move and grow in him , about everything that draws in him despite a background which does not understand him, and embarks on his energetic dance that mixes everything from hip hop to ' Swan Lake ', there is not a dry eye in the musical " Billy Elliot ."

We would really like that it goes well for Billy. And we do want success for the boy who plays him , getting more than saved through the difficult challenges in what is the musical's emotional climax .

We can not but be touched and thrilled by seeing kids try to be the best they can - and succeed with it .

At the New Theatre, on opening night, the clever and cute Carl -Emil Lohmann , not only did the number ' Electricity ' (in Danish ' Shooting Star '), but in general met the genre's many , relentless challenges with moving concentration , uncorrupted playing talent , an unerringly beautiful singing voice and a dance that was good enough to convince the talents that are in the boy.

And let's just say it like it is : " Billy Elliot " stands or falls with the little man in the middle. If you do not see him succeed , it all falls apart. Let's hope the other Billys - three shared the role - is just as good .

This evening was gloriously seconded by equally young Magnus Sterling Borchert as Billy transvestite -sidekick who helps Billy to believe that it is okay to be who you are .

On the whole, Elton John and Lee Hall's world success ' Billy Elliot ', is a musical with heart in the right place . An everyday adventure of becoming a swan despite much adversity - here first of all the forces in the environment that do not have much understanding that a boy would rather dance than go to boxing , which in general are made by matches.

The musical, based on the movie of the same name , is in fact set against the large miner strikes in the 1980s and the then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's class-divided Britain, where street fighting rages , solidarity is put under pressure , and mass unemployment threatens - portrayed with good old-fashioned passion .

It is against its beautifully tense backdrop that, while Billy follows his dreams, and through his talent, gets a ticket out of the futile environment from which he comes , there is another world that goes by . Two lines that meet in the scene towards the end where the broken miner gang with Billy's father in the center literally sinking into the ground behind the mine elevator's wire mesh, while Billy has his packed backpack , ready to venture out into the world just, as the piece of coal transformed into a diamond , he is .

At the New Theatre is across the broad musical machinery in impressive revolutions is Lisa Kent gesvindte (?) staging. It all runs - including Paul Farnsworth meticulous set design that evokes the worn northern England to live down to the smallest detail .

The large musicalekvilibrisme (?) makes the show might not really use - riot police and demonstrators in dancing confrontation is a matter of taste - and Elton John's music is not on the original . On the other hand full glare characterizations and to tell the shamelessly sentimental , but in turn honest and not crafty history that makes the evening for a good experience.

Kristian Boland is all he must be like the proud and inflexible father who slowly dry up and if primitive reactions covers a sensitive interior. Heavily . And Julie Steincke will gradually its tough dance teacher inside , Billy's fairy godmother , inoculated with an infectious warmth and great mediated indignation.

By and large, functioning ensemble of miners , ballet girls and strikebreakers will also find precise interventions of Lane Lind, who as granny with beats taking the plunge into the senile demented character types , by Anne Suppli as Billy's dead mother, who goes back and Jesper Asholt as småtumpet boxing teacher.

Yes, " Billy Elliot " has enough heat to replace HC Ørstedsværket . It has paid off for the New Theatre , where one must believe in his dreams .

Even tough , Socialist ministers wept at the premiere . It comes a large audience also to make the season out .

What : " Billy Elliot ."

Who : Manuscript and song lyrics: Lee Hall . Music: Elton John . Translation: Jesper Malmose (dialogue ) and Karen Hoffmann ( songs). Staging and Choreography : Lisa Kent. Scenery: Paul Farnsworth . Musical direction : Per Ensström .

Where: The New Theatre . The rest of the season.
Sorry for the rough translation......is the 'tough Socialist minister' the one seen at the opening show?
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Re: January 2015 Reviews - Denmark

Post by thm »

She was on the guest list. But I didn't happen to see her from my seat or in the foyer
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Re: January 2015 Reviews - Denmark

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thm wrote:She was on the guest list. But I didn't happen to see her from my seat or in the foyer
Thank you!
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Re: January 2015 Reviews - Denmark

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Fr 23 Jan

Billy: Nicolas
Michael: Helmer
Debbie: Frida
SB : Lucas TB: Mads

Well this time I sat front row. Imposing to see the house come rolling closer towards the stage rim.
In one of the videodiaries (or was it an artikel I read?), I think it was Carl-Emil, who said that he was afraid of falling into the orchestra pit. Well now I see why: The stage rim is irregular serrated and there is no stopper plank and no net.
Althoug the stage floor is low, the ground floor of the house is about half a meter higher, but one can still see everything (sitting first row).
Nicolas gave a fantastic Billy. He acts like an old pro. By his looks he reminds me and others to Liam Mower. His dancing skills are top - I noticed when in line with the ballet girls doing a fast routine he could perfectly keep up with them.
I like the way Lane Lind - Grandma- puts the bastard line - not angry but turning from smile to sad as she said the word: "..røvhul"(a**hole).
There's always the moment before 'Express' when you lean back and think yes! That's what I'm here for. In this version Michael's room comes rolling in with Michael - of course - wearing a dress and it's much more a real dress than the London apron dress. Helmer is fantastic in that role. It was a huge pleasure to watch the boys having fun. Their tap skills are no less in comparision to London.
'Born to Boogie': Mr.B.'s excuse for coming late: There was a queue at the candy store. :lol:
What nobody noticed: Nicolas sprained his ankle in that scene. But he carried on . I noticed first at the end of 'Electricity' and at the Finale and only when he walked off. But you couldn't tell while he was dancing. He later said he hoped nobody would notice. It wasn't that bad finally - he did the sunday show though. Then again the Danish aren't that weepy anyway. :D
A thing I noticed: Dead mum doesn't use the door or the wings in 'The Letter' but (seemingly) walks in, through the boxing hall's wall (behind a buttress ledge).
'We were Kings' : There's no lantern for Billy from Tony - just a piece of a coal brick! From Grandma he gets a pasty (back?) :lol: .

A fantastic show again, I look forward to see it one more time or 2 or 3 ... will see...
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Re: January 2015 Reviews - Denmark

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Sat 24 Jan Eve

Billy: Carl-Emil
Michael: Magnus
Debbie: Frida
SB: Lucas TB: Mads

Now that I've seen the show for the third time, I like the first scene ('The Stars look down') more and more and I think they even improved it a bit in comparision to London. When the miners went off and Michael asks about the strike. Billy explains it has do with M.T. intending to close all the pits. The question is, how can a strike be useful - Billy doesn't know either. As Billy starts his solo he hops on numbers - drawn with chalk on the floor. He casts a coin on the numbers and this time it rolled on and on and swoop .. gone :lol: Small Boy, who is supposed to pilfer it, just pretended to have caught it. He runs off stage and Billy after him.
I was told Oscar lost a shoe that fell out of his bag down the orchestra pit this matinee. :shock: :lol:
'Shine': This time I realised the first part of it is all about Billy trying to give Mrs.W. the keys but doesn't succeed in finding a way through that constantly altering labyrinth of Ballet Girls. Like in a slapstick comedy Mrs.W. is avoiding it or a ballet girl pushs him in the last moment.
The Danish language contains a rich choice of swearwords yet contemporary etiquette let them refrain from using these in everyday life. Unfortunately I therefore don't seem to recognise the most of them here in the show. I sounded out a few though: Billy's reply when Mrs.W. asks him to come again:"..er du åndssvag?" (..are you mentally deficient?). Toiletscene, Debbie:" Vil du se min tissekone?" (Wanna see my beaver/f**ny?)
From the reaction of the audience I can tell there's a good share of strong language in this version of the show. A shame I still don't understand what Debbie replies to Billy at the end of 'Shine' or Small Boy's reply to George when he leaves the box training - but telling from his puzzled face expression, he didn't believe nor like what George just called him - thus, unlike London version, he has a good reason to insult George back.
Solidarity: I really like the choreography: "Over here, Baryshnikov!"- just after Billy pirouettes towards Mrs.W. and tumbles at the end, the miners enter the stage - pirouetting (impeccable ;) ). The ballet class freezes in their positions as the miners dance on, later the miners/police freeze while the ballet class moves on.
As much as I admire the scenery but the latter part of 'Express' (after "Sådan!" = There!/Done!/Finish!) fell victim to the scene changing whilst the last notes play. Thus there's no Michael solo.
A funny bit: Kitchen-scene before 'Angry Dance' Mrs.W. to Tony "... piss his wages up the wall like the most of you" looking at George and Big Davey who feel offended and react like " Hey, hey, hey!"
If you accept 'Angry Dance' to be just an ordinary scene than this version is very well solved and rich of datails. Yet there's not much of the tap dance left. Often the click sound is missing in the house and on some props outside it.
Second act, the miners christmas party: Santa brings presents for the kids who unlike London unwrap these as they get them : Michael gets a rugby shirt, Tall Boy gets a Nurse-Barbie to both their disappointment - then they swap.
The acting of all the cast is top-notch, the timing, face expressions, all the characters are well, believable and authentic interpreted. Did I already mention that I love the Finale!
At the stage door the cast - adults and kids - were surprised about a few fans waiting for autographs. It's not costum in Denmark. They were all nice and signed and posed for photos.
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