Edinburgh Reviews

Sheffan
Tall Boy
Posts: 147
Joined: Tue May 03, 2016 11:18 pm
Location: Sheffield, UK

Re: Edinburgh Reviews

Post by Sheffan »

Thanks for the amazing reviews Real Geordie, Patc, Barry Appleby and Westletonion.
It is instructive to note that there has only been one bad professional review so far - one of the Irish papers.

Noticed that now Bradley has joined the cast, Elliot has also reverted to the earlier script during the Christmas night scene i.e. "It's f***** freezing in here!!"

Later tonight I will post a belated review of my time in Sunderland - therefore completing a review of every venue I've visited.

Will next visit the show on 10,11 and 12 November in Bristol and Dec 17 matinee in Manchester. Next March I'm visiting Newcastle Theatre Royal for the Blood Brothers tour. While I'm up there, on March 15 I will visit Easington again and also Dawdon where Angry Dance and the Welfare Hall scenes were filmed for the 2000 movie.
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patc
Mrs Wilkinson
Posts: 1406
Joined: Fri Mar 20, 2009 5:26 pm
Location: Dublin, Ireland

Re: Edinburgh Reviews

Post by patc »

Thursday matinee 20th Oct

The main reason I snuck back to Edinburgh on Thursday was to go on the Royal Yacht "Brittannia" Tour. (If you believe that you’ll believe anything). However, with loads of time between (very) early arrival at EDI and show time, I did venture down to Ocean Terminal for the Tour and it was exceptionally good. They give you a neat user-friendly handset so you can listen to the history as you proceed and you can then see it all at your own speed. Very cleverly, instead of having to climb down steep ladders/steps you enter and exit each level by separate gangplanks. You’d need at least an hour and a half to see it all properly but two hours is better. Highly recommended.

So, then, back to the Playhouse and, of the four shows I had already seen there, the attendance was the largest, probably as close to a full house as you will get. That’s 3,000 folk.

Everything got off to a great start with the audience lovin’ it. Then, just as Mohammad Ali was being introduced to Cassius Clay, a Man in Black was seen to enter from the rear of the set and stop proceedings. I could see that the stairs had not fully gone off to the right and seemed to be stuck. The curtain couldn’t drop straight down so another stagehand ran up the stairs to free it. Ominously, the safety curtain followed it down. The usual “technical fault” was signalled which was explained as a problem convincing the computer to do what it was supposed to do with the set. Ten minutes passed and then another ten when it was announced that the fault had been found and would need rectifying. Not too long afterwards we were advised that the bar was now open.

Longtime fans at the VPT will, of course, have seen this type of problem occur before and I recall on one occasion the Thursday matinee had to be abandoned when the Toilet got stuck and refused to be moved out of the way. It didn’t feature at the evening show. On a few other occasions the stairs or the rising hut misbehaved and the remainder of the show continued with the cast improvising where the sets were omitted – with some clever moves that made you wonder why bother with the stairs at all. Back to Thursday.

A further announcement was made that they were having to uproot the floor in order to get the set out of the way and it would not be used again during the show. Eventually, we got going again at about 3.35pm with the Boxing scene restarted from the beginning. Leo was just the ideal man to get the audience going straight away and, from there on, it was trouble free. The interval arrived at 4.48 but, surprisingly, it went the usual 20 minutes. For Part 2 Tony arrived through the curtain rather than the side door. The show ended at 6.20pm which, at 50 minutes late, may well be a record.

The good news is that it was yet another phenomenal show with the brilliant Matthew at the helm. It must have been difficult to pick things up after such an inordinate delay but he and the rest of the cast got on with it in impeccable style and fully deserved the resounding applause, cheers and standing ovation. His Angry Dance and Electricity were stunning gems of sheer quality.

The improvisations worked fine. For the angry scene between Dad and Tony, Scott came on stage from the right and continued, as usual towards the door and Dad’s can of drink was on the small secondary kitchen counter. The pre-Angry Dance Kitchen scene began with Billy off stage. We heard the alarm going off and he came in from the right. When he jumped off the table for the dance he choreographically angrily threw his bag, shoes and jacket off stage to the right and danced the initial part as usual but just right of centre stage. When the RBS letter was to be opened Dad, Tony and Grandma “made approaches” in his direction but he sent them reeling away before walking to front of stage and throwing the letter to the floor. Grandma’s “rented your room out” finished with Grandma walking off stage right where she usually goes up a few of the steps. Anyone who hadn’t seen the show before would nary have noticed.

It was my first time to see Amy as Mrs. W and she did a fantastic job. My word, the alternate cast in this show are superb. This also meant that longtime BETM stalwart (and Tour Assistant Resident Director) Deborah Bundy came in and took over Amy’s usual scenes. I hadn’t seen Deborah on stage for a long time and it was a joy to watch her perform in the show again. I especially enjoyed her RBS Receptionist part.

Bradley was as brilliant as ever and got extra applause for his bit o’ ballet. Lilly and the Ballet Girls were absolutely top class. Samuel was as posh as it gets and new Small "Boy" Olivia was full-o'-beans and made sure she got noticed.

Despite the delay I didn't actually hear anyone complaining and the buzz coming out (it takes a long time if you are near the front at the Playhouse) was palpable. This most enjoyable day concluded with a beautiful flight home on one of Ryanair's brand new shiny 737's with its redesigned seating and elegant futuristic interior... and all for only 34 Euro return including preferred seats :D.

Pat
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