Dublin Reviews

Sheffan
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Re: Dublin Reviews

Post by Sheffan »

Review of the show on Friday 12 August and both performances on Saturday 13 August. I flew in from Manchester, arriving mid-afternoon on the Friday. Having found the hotel and checked in I thought I would introduce myself to Dublin again (first visit since 1999) by having a stroll along the river to Grand Canal Square, where Billy is located for the Irish leg of the tour. The venue is located on a plaza next to the canal basin and strongly reminded me of my trip to see the show at the WMC in Cardiff as the theatre is very modern dating from 2010 with hardly a right angle in sight with a striking glass fronted foyer. There were plenty of restaurants nearby and it was easy to find somewhere to dine between the shows on the Saturday.

I had originally planned on seeing only the Saturday shows, but on impulse I couldn't resisting buying a seat for Friday night from the theatre and I'm glad I did. I managed to get a good seat in the front circle, a single seat between two large groups which had remained unsold.

Despite being one of the largest venues on the tour (over 2000 seats), I found that the theatre felt surprisingly cosy and intimate with a bright red colour scheme matching the illuminated red poles outside, fitting very well with the tour graphics.

Despite being somewhat removed from coal mining, I found the Dublin audiences met Billy with the same emotions the tour has generated everywhere. Like in Cardiff, I found them very respectful by not rustling or talking too much but their applause and appreciation of the cast where phenomenal. It was the first time I had seen the tour show in the circle. I had a chance to fully appreciate White Light's lighting for the first time. As noted by another reviewer, the stage is quite low with very good sightlines from all over the theatre and the sound quality was really good. The drum sound was very crisp and clear.

Friday's show marked my second time seeing Samuel as Michael (and fifth time seeing Haydn) out of 10 shows seen by me so far. I hadn't seen him as Michael since Sunderland in April and wow, how he has blossomed. The energy and charisma he gives out is remarkable and the audience met the end of Expressing Yourself with a massive roar. Haydn to me is a very consistent Billy, a very convincing actor and is not afraid to display his emotions. He sometimes looks too 'nice' for the character but before long he acts as if he is fighting for his life and dreams. The kids on this tour are some of the luckiest children around and their experience will stay with them forever. There were quite a few loud sobs in the audience as Once We Were Kings started. The show was met with a very solid and long standing ovation. I overhead one woman at random in the foyer on leaving which sums up this show in a nutshell. She said she had never felt so much energy given out by a cast in a long time and felt drained but uplifted..exactly my experience.

Sarurday matinee marked my second time seeing Adam who seemed a bit listless at times, with more muted applause in places. Such a shame – apparently he was taken ill a while later so this was understandable. Hope he gets better soon. This was also my first time seeing Bradley which was so fitting as like myself he comes from near Sheffield and having never seen in him London was a revelation to me. He instantly won me over with a surefooted performance and hugely confident tap skills. I was surprised that there we lots of young children about 6 years old at this matinee. Many of them had difficulty following the story.

There was a real buzz at the evening show. I saw Matthew for only the second time, my first being the memorable last night at Sunderland. He was incredible and got his own standing ovation after Electricity. He looked quite amazed and emotional. I also saw Elliot for the fifth time. I really love the way he comes on to Expressing singing lines from Girls Just Want To Have Fun and playfully goads the audience to chear louder at the end of the number. What an absolute star, charisma by the bucketful.

All the adult cast put in solid performances. Martin in particular was very moving during He Could Be A Star and was tearful when he said “He's MY son!” and Scott looks to have recovered well from his torn calf. The show is looking very slick now and flows well.

Although the most memorable tour location so far to me is Sunderland, Dublin comes a very close runner up. In any case Billy Elliot is a universal story and a important parable for our times. There aren't many shows that make you laugh and cry at the same time. This tour has rekindled my interest in theatre in general and healed and comforted me. Billy belongs to the whole world and not just to the narrow world that is the West End.

I stayed at a hotel in the Rathmines area, which on reflection was a bit too far out, being around 25 mins by bus from the theatre. There is a large chain hotel near the theatre which I will use if I visit the Bord Gais Theatre again.

In the daytime, I explored Dublin - on one day a very interesting and good value guided tour of Dublin Castle. On another day I did a similar tour of Trinity College including seeing the Book of Kells and exhibition.
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Billy Whiz
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Re: Dublin Reviews

Post by Billy Whiz »

Thanks for the reviews. They are the next best thing to being there.
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Barry Appleby
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Re: Dublin Reviews

Post by Barry Appleby »

" Big Thanks from me also Pat and Sheffan for your comprehensive reviews, they are so appreciated, from the audiences reaction the touring show has been a huge success, to be honest I never had any doubt.
Looking forward to Edinburgh, haven't seen Lewis yet!!!
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patc
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Re: Dublin Reviews

Post by patc »

As the final show at the BGE approaches I thought I’d put a few thoughts together in a general review.

Firstly and foremostly, the Billys. All of the Billys that ever graced the VPT stage, were already of an excellent quality when they started but six months down the line had brought their performances to stunning levels. It has been exactly the same with the tour Billys and, with six months touring under their belts, their performances are, indeed, stunning. I would go even further and say that during the past six weeks in Dublin they have all pulled out even something more out of their respective hats as those weeks went by. Edinburgh folk don’t know what’s going to hit their city in a few weeks time.

In alphabetical order, Adam, Haydn, Lewis and Matthew have risen to the challenge in truly magnificent style and, speaking to friends and also many other audience members whether it was in the auditorium, foyer, at the nearby train station or on the train home the one thing that has dominated the comments is that none of them could believe what the Billys are asked to do and were incredulous at the phenomenal performances and levels of fitness.

It was a good move to slightly change the format at the end of Electricity. That final pose is probably a painful one to hold for any length of time and, so, the Tour Billys relax the pose quickly and walk forward to front of stage where the applause goes on and on and on as they smile and take it all in. It must be quite an experience to stand there on that stage looking up at a soaring mountain of 2,000 souls roaring their appreciation and applauding for ages. The only way to end it, it seems, was to lower the lights.

Bradley, Elliot, Henry and Samuel are quite magnificent Michaels and the audiences have loved every second of their acts. With the schools out on their (much longer than UK) summer holidays every audience was packed with children of all ages and the “laughter and squeals of delight” from the little girls on seeing the Michaels wearing women’s clothing were infectious. The roof of the BGE must be pretty strong to withstand the roars that greeted the finish of Expressing each and every time. Having seen Bradley for so long only as Michael in London I couldn’t have imagined him as Posh Boy until I saw it and he was positively brilliantly posh as posh could be.

I’m sure that the Debbies would love to have more scenes but Evie, Italia and Lilly were outstandingly and cheekily everything you would want from the character. Bonnie, Isobelle and Nicola were excellent in their dual roles of Small Boy and Ballet Girls.

The three Ballet Girl groups were OUTSTANDINGLY BRILLIANT in contributing both simulated bad dancing and real dancing as well as having a real presence in other important scenes.

The adult principal cast, each and every one of them, have been mega. Each one has brought their character alive in a particular style and they are winners all the way. We Billy fans are so lucky in that, unlike some other shows, there is no mould for actors to be set into. Annette, Martin, Scott, Andrea, Leo, Daniel and Nikki have all chosen a different approach and have reaped their rewards. Older Billy, Luke has given us absolutely majestic Dream Ballets. Likewise, Jack when his turn came and I quite enjoyed his somersaulting style bow.

When Scott was out injured and Martin in hospital their stand-ins, Tom and Leo, did fantastic jobs as did Jonathan who stood in as George.

The Ensemble cast is the fittest and certainly most athletic I have seen. Their dancing has been remarkably brilliant and in complete synch. The magnetic and powerful energy coming off the stage has been second to none. “Once we were Kings” makes the hairs bristle every time.

The gang behind the scenes have done Trojan work in ensuring no glitches that I am aware of. The co-ordinators of all of this are geniuses (or should that be genii?)

On the subject of Irish audience reaction which has been, otherwise, phenomenal it is interesting to note that there are some small oddities such as:

Wayne Sleep appears to be an unknown personage here as nobody gets that comment. I admit I hadn’t heard of him before Billy either!

Sunderland Poly and B-tech also gets no reaction as we use different educational terminology.

The wxxxxr word from the SB’s doesn’t get (m)any laughs. We’re a funny lot over here!

As the weeks went by the new music versions and arrangements grew on me every bit as much as they did in London for all those years as changes came and went. There are tiny and beautifully delicious intricacies everywhere in the score that leave the original CD music very much in the shade. The young MD, Patrick Hurley (that’s a great Irish name) and his merry musicians have been superb.

When I see how the Tour moving set works, so simple really, it makes you wonder why the original London production chose the underground route that, ultimately, proved so troublesome. Perhaps the VPT stage area didn’t have sufficient width to do that. I’d still love to know how they manage to get the kitchen/stairs to move into the various correct positions without anyone appearing to shove it along.

The standing ovations have been incredible. Every show was like a Billy last night at the VPT. The cast have been deeply moved by the reception they have received. Despite my own personal love of the show I really never expected anything like this, though.

As I write this there are only 5 seats available for the final show tomorrow night. It should be a cracker of an evening.

Pat
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kport
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Re: Dublin Reviews

Post by kport »

This is not a review, per se, but 10 interviews with those associated with BETM: What it takes to create BETM:

https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/cast-and- ... t-musical/
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ERinVA
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Re: Dublin Reviews

Post by ERinVA »

The same article has already been linked here in the Chat section: http://www.billyelliottheforum.me.uk/fo ... 01#p117401
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