Birmingham Reviews

Sheffan
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Birmingham Reviews

Post by Sheffan »

A place for fan and press reviews of the BETM UK tour stop in Birmingham
Real Geordie
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Re: Birmingham Reviews

Post by Real Geordie »

Not a review as such, just a few random thoughts from first night of BETM at Birmingham Hippodrome. Compared to some of the theatres on tour the Hippodrome is smart and modern inside, although the auditorium remains traditional. There is plenty of space to move around and stretch your legs both before the performance and during the interval . As best I could see it was more or less a full house - certainly the stalls were all fully occupied, and the upper layers looked full .The Billy/Michael pairing was Adam/Henry (does Henry always look so happy ?) For the first few scenes I thought that the curse of Southampton that others have referred to still had its dead hand on proceedings. The first few scenes of course introduce the characters, and lay the foundations of the journey ahead. Even so, the lines which normally produce laughs out loud raised only a few polite laughs, or even worse silence. Titter they not as Frankie Howerd might have said. Had the magic stopped working ? I wonder what was going through the minds of the cast ? However, this was to be misleading. Slowly the hooks were sinking in, the lines were tightening, and the cast started to reel them in. The dynamics of each audience is fascinating to observe. What had started out as a muted response in the first quarter steadily built to overt enthusiasm , and Adam received a great response to Angry Dance. I booked my seat many months ago, when this was supposed to be the last venue, and for some reason which I cannot now remember, I chose to sit in the front row, centre. Out of preference I normally sit six to ten rows back which I think gives a better sight line. However this front row seat gave me a better close up on Angry Dance. The members of the ensemble really - and literally - throw themselves into the action, and the tsunami of smoke which billows across the stage when the police are revealed behind the placards, and which then continues into the audience is impressive. The lighting really adds to the whole. Some people like the VPT version, but I think the tour version is much more dramatic. The audience loved Dream Ballet and applauded parts that I have never heard applause for before. Prolonged applause for Adam at the end of the sequence. Great appreciation for Electricity, performed by Adam at his best. Yes, he did step forward to front of stage and slowly open up with a wide smile, and yes the audience did respond by cheering him to the rafters. The tried and tested toilet scene with Debbie (agreed, the delivery of the line has been slowed down, and to effect) , the nutcracker comment by Michael, and the Esquire/is queer were all very well received, particularly the last. Having heard this so many times, it is amusing to hear audiences hearing it for the first time, and taking a second or two for the penny to drop, before they start laughing. Many times I’ve heard the comment about how clever that joke is. A standing ovation (the front row certainly, I assume the rest of the theatre as well) when Martin and Annette came out with the rest of the cast, and again when Adam appeared by himself before being joined by the rest of the cast to wave their goodbyes. All in all an enjoyable evening.

Incidentally, just across the road from the Hippodrome is The Old Fox pub which classes itself as a theatre bar. If you fancy a drink after the performance it’s open till midnight weekdays and 2.00 am weekends. The bar is a bit “spit and sawdust” but the lounge bar is not too bad. Both Martin Walsh and Andrea Miller dropped in for a quick drink after the show. I may partake myself before attending press night tonight. I wonder what the audience will be like tonight ?

Panorama of Hippodrome

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/uv?hl=en& ... b=panorama

The Old Fox - photos and panorama

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/uv?hl=en& ... gQoioIczAK
Real Geordie
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Re: Birmingham Reviews

Post by Real Geordie »

Expect some highly complimentary press reviews following the performance on 8th March. From arrival, and being greeted by a ten piece brass band (not from Easington), to the final curtain this was one of the most enjoyable performances of BETM on tour I have had the pleasure of witnessing. The cast were flawless on the night, Lewis was just awesome, and the audience were magnificent. What a difference a day makes ! This was a truly appreciative and supportive audience from the outset, and one of those occasions when you feel that a bond develops between performers and audience. We even had Haydn showing his class as tall/posh boy. Tonight was like seeing BETM for the first time - just so refreshing. Absolutely loved it.
kport
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Re: Birmingham Reviews

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Real Geordie
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Re: Birmingham Reviews

Post by Real Geordie »

A review from the Worcester News. As the article is laden with advertising and pop-ups, the plain text is reproduced below . Because the review is lengthy it has been broken into two separate posts.

http://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/151 ... _UK_Tour_/

Venue: Birmingham Hippodrome
Production Run: Tues 7 March - Sat 29 April 2017
Performance Reviewed: Wed 8 March (Press Night) ****** 6 stars

Upon approaching the Birmingham Hippodrome for the reviewed performance, it was difficult not to notice the theatre proudly adorned with a new tagline - ‘The West End in the West Midlands’. It’s a bold, confident mission statement, and one the Hippodrome has more than capably demonstrated countless times over. But perhaps nowhere has it been truer than with it’s current tenant, the debut UK Tour of smash-hit Billy Elliot the Musical. Reviewing both West End and touring productions, it’s always a joy to see productions that sacrifice little in the way of ambition or scope by dint of going on the road, shows that can confidently go shoulder-to-shoulder with their London peers. It’s downright thrilling, then - not to mention rarer than a cheap seat at Hamilton - to witness a show that actually manages to be even better than it was in the Capital. Yes, Billy Elliot the Musical is a stunning achievement on every conceivable level.The core show - adapted from the BAFTA-winning 2000 film of the same name - is as moving, memorable and impactful as when it first debuted some twelve years ago. The premise is charmingly high-concept yet utterly irresistible - in the midst of the mid-1980’s miners strikes and community upheaval in Northern England, talented young Billy Elliot (Lewis Smallman in the performance reviewed) finds a passion in the most unconventional of callings - Ballet. What follows is a story that not only masterfully interweaves the wider political zeitgeist of the time (just you wait for ‘Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher’) with an intensely personal and intimate journey for Billy and his family, but also makes for an almost incomparably good musical in the process. It’s almost overwhelming to think of the sheer number of ways Billy could - and arguably should - misfire, jumping as it can one moment from a cross-dressing young boy tap dancing on stage with oversized women’s dresses to a devastating, cacophonous depiction of police brutality and communal suffering. Billy runs the full spectrum of what you can feel in the theatre, and none of it registers as false. In fact, it just all feels so authentic. The plight of the miners. The aching absence of Billy's mom. The joyful expression of dance. The infectious community spirit and camaraderie. That it manages to do so very much, pull it all off spectacularly, and remain not only a satisfying and cohesive whole, but a downright thrilling one at that, is a testimony to how special a show this is. It helps that the cast assembled for this debut tour are just as exemplary as the show around them. Annette McLaughlin is fantastic as the dry, world-weary Mrs Wilkinson, the local dance teacher who spots the promise in young Billy. McLaughlin imbibes the character with just enough salt and grit, whilst also mining plenty of heart and humour from the lighter beats the character is afforded, including cutting a fabulous rug in her showier song and dance moments. Martin Walsh, meanwhile, is powerful and moving with faultless conviction as Billy’s gruff, pragmatic father, carrying much of the emotional weight of the second act in particular, whilst Scott Garnham impresses as Billy’s older brother Tony - a young man full of pent-up anger and rage at the socio-political injustice his community faces. But the show truly belongs to its young cast. From a hilariously sassy turn from Lilly Cadwallender as mouthy young Debbie through to a scene-stealing tour-de-force from Elliot Stiff as Billy’s hyper-expressive best friend Michael, the talent on display is nothing short of astounding.
Real Geordie
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Re: Birmingham Reviews

Post by Real Geordie »

IMPORTANT - read the first half of this post immediately above. The article has been broken into two as it is so lengthy :-

And nowhere is this more apparent than with Midlands-native Lewis Smallman, one of four young actors who rotate the titular role. Smallman acts, sings and dances up an absolute storm - commanding the stage with a performance and conviction way beyond his years, so exquisite and practically faultless in technique, and so moving and earnest in its truthfulness that he, like many of the talented young performers around him, has no doubt a glittering future ahead. Elsewhere, particular credit has to go to Elton John and Lee Hall, whose powerful and striking music helps carve Billy Elliot into a treat of a musical experience. The show’s bigger musical moments - see the booming clout and genius ensemble workings of ‘Solidarity’ or the no holds-barred theatrical exuberance of ‘Expressing Yourself’ - not only blow most of their competition completely out of the water in terms of impact and clout, but also indelibly make the case for Billy Elliot as a musical where it easily could have been conceived as a straight-up play. It’s not all John and Hall’s glory to claim, though - Peter Darling’s original choreography remains not only razor-sharp but brilliantly clever and, as with almost every element of this show, remarkably diverse. Sequences such as Billy’s audition and some of the aforementioned ensemble moments rank with some of the most exquisite uses of dance in the genre. Similarly, Ian MacNeil’s set design, Rick Fisher’s lighting and Paul Arditti’s sound are all equally praiseworthy; wonderfully evocative of place and character, cannily subdued and understated where necessary, yet also bombastic, grandiose and vigorous when not. That all of this praise is richly deserved is notable, that it belongs to a touring production is remarkable. All involved in this debut tour have pulled off a tremendous feat - a show that actually looks, sounds and plays even better than it did in London. It may sound like hyperbole, but let’s put it this way - when the original West End show was already a stunning, beautiful treat of a musical, to take it on the road not only with complete fidelity but also give it that little something extra, then it makes quite simply for not only the most impressive touring theatre production in recent memory, but also quite simply one of the best things you could hope to see on stage. So, not just the West End in the West Midlands. Something even better. Something truly electric. I guess that deserves a mythical ‘6th’ star, then.
Real Geordie
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Re: Birmingham Reviews

Post by Real Geordie »

Review from Breaking The Leg. The reference to Martin Walsh and Adama Abbou is an error, and should of course read Martin Walsh and Scott Garnham

https://breakingthelegblog.wordpress.co ... ippodrome/
Real Geordie
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Re: Birmingham Reviews

Post by Real Geordie »

Review from the Express and Star
http://www.expressandstar.com/entertain ... me-review/

PUBLISHED: March 9, 2017 8:41 am
Billy Elliot, Birmingham Hippodrome - review

Standing ovations have become, in my opinion, overused and routine. They are far too readily applied to often very average productions - I rarely take to my feet to applaud as the curtain falls.But when the whole audience leapt up triumphantly to praise the cast of Billy Elliot the Musical last night I was one of the first out of my seat, with tears still wet on my cheek and a large smile on my face. This show is breathtakingly good. Funny, emotional and totally absorbing – it was a rollercoaster evening. Comparisons will predictably be made with the hugely successful film of 2000 starring a young Jamie Bell in the role of 11-year-old Billy. But this is not the film. Perhaps necessarily so, some of the scenes are not quite as powerful as portrayed in the film and it does not have the popular eighties tunes and T Rex favourites seen in the movie. However, the music for this show was written by none other than Sir Elton John himself. He offers an eclectic mix of beautiful ballads, big show numbers, catchy dance tunes, emotional anthems and even a bit of a folk and a Spitting Image inspired comedy number. In truth the stage show, also written by Lee Hall, lacked some of the grit, turmoil and the grim reflection of the dark times endured by communities in the north during the 1984 miners strike which was portrayed so dramatically in the film. But the powerful performances by this cast – particularly the astoundingly talented younger members – offer a much deeper level of humanity and emotion which rips out your heart strings and ties them intrinsically to the fate of the Elliot family and the adorable young Billy.

There are also a lot of comedy moments and tension-relieving characters with the politics applied with a little more subtlety and humour. Without a doubt, the star of the show last night was 12-year-old Lewis Smallman in the role of Billy. It was a hometown gig for the young actor who hails from West Bromwich. Lewis gave a remarkably convincing performance as the troubled young boy who is mourning the death of his mother and living in hard times in a struggling family with both his father and brother striking miners. During this difficult time Billy discovers by accident that he has a talent for dancing but problems arise when he is encouraged by dance teacher Mrs Wilkinson to pursue that dream. There is an impossibly moving scene when Billy shares with his teacher a letter written by his dying mother in the heart-breaking song The Letter.

As well as demonstrating his confident, mature acting ability, Lewis performs several lengthy, mesmerising dance numbers with energy and grace. He is an incredibly talented young star and is one of four boys playing the role during the run.
There are a number of important roles for children such as Billy’s friend Michael and Mrs Wilkinson’s daughter Debbie, as well as the rest of the dance class, and all were performed with a maturity and apparent ease far in excess of their years.

Martin Walsh gave a strong performance as Billy’s dad as did Scott Garnham as his brother Tony. Annette McLaughlin is excellent in the complex role of the brusque dance teacher with the soft heart. On the fringes are the real comedy characters such as Andrea Miller as Grandma, Leo Atkin as boxing coach George and Daniel Page as the surprisingly lithe Mr Braithwaite. The Merry Christmas Mrs Thatcher number, incidentally, was a particular highlight. Billy Elliot the Musical is, quite simply, unmissable – but make sure you take your hankies.

Runs at Birmingham Hippodrome until April 29.
By Diane Davies
Real Geordie
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Re: Birmingham Reviews

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Real Geordie
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Re: Birmingham Reviews

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