Milton Keynes Reviews

Sheffan
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Re: Milton Keynes Reviews

Post by Sheffan »

http://www.stagereview.co.uk/theatre-re ... al-review/

EXCERPT:

It is the end of the road for showbiz Billy. Its three week residency at Milton Keynes is the last time the show will be seen in the UK although I can’t believe that it will stay away forever.
After its June 17 closing in Bucks the show moves to Germany and then this dancing juggernaut will pirouette off into musical theatre history.
So it seems particularly disappointing that this colossus of a show has only toured the UK this one time.
But Milton Keynes has it for three weeks and this blockbuster should not be missed.
Sheffan
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Re: Milton Keynes Reviews

Post by Sheffan »

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Chris
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Re: Milton Keynes Reviews

Post by Chris »

Saturday 3rd June – Evening

Billy – Lewis Smallman
Michael – Buster Mayfield
Tall Boy – Samuel Torpey
Full adult cast

This is not a review, as such, but more of a collection of my thoughts.

This is the first time I had seen the UK tour, and, indeed, my first visit to Billy since the “Billy Live” show. Having been a regular visitor to the Victoria Palace over the years, it seemed odd to be seeing Billy in the modern Milton Keynes Theatre, as opposed to the spiritual home of the show. I knew the show was based on the USA production, and I am aware of the fact that many of the changes introduced in the US did eventually make their way into the London production – the shadow dance, the restaging of Expressing Yourself and the skipping in Born to Boogie, for example – but I was surprised at the number of changes, some of which I liked, some of which I was less keen on. As well as the changes to the staging I noticed quite a few musical changes, mainly re-orchestrations, but in some places the music seemed different (the shadow dance). I thought the set was very effective, and did not seem like a simplified version of the London set.

The cast worked well. It was good to see a number of familiar faces in the company, Mr Phil Snowden, for example. Anna-Jane Casey may only have been back with the show for a few weeks, but she seems to have slipped back into the role of Mrs Wilkinson comfortably. She is by turns brash, sarcastic, bitter and soft. Andrea Miller makes for a spritely Grandma, Buster was really enjoying himself as Michael. I liked Lewis’ performance as Billy. He was warm and engaging, I thought he danced particularly well and Electricity was a real highlight of the show. His singing was fine, but not the best I’ve heard.

In terms of the show, I did miss the opening newsreel and the scrim dropping down onto the small boy, but I understand that technically this would be very difficult to achieve on tour. I thought the changes to “The Stars Look Down” with a single voice at the beginning building up the company singing worked well. Billy’s first line has now been toned down. In the breakfast scene, Grandma gave Big Davy a fork from the table draw to eat his breakfast.

The ballet girls were on good form and Anna-Jane Casey is a great dancer, so Shine was a real tour de force. I am not sure that I liked Mr Braithwaite lifting Mrs Wilkinson about the ballet girls on the trolley at the end – I think it made the attention of the scene too much on her at that moment, although perhaps that’s what was intended. I really enjoy Grandma’s Song. To me this will always be associated with the late, great Anne Emery (although I certainly saw Tessa Worsley, Dianne Langton and Romy Baskerville play the role in London, too). Andrea did a good job here, mixing the pathos with humour well.

Solidarity remains a great number, and the audience loved “Expressing Yourself”. Buster’s experience as Michael really shines through and he has a cheeky, infectious personality. A great, engaging performance from the boys here: you could really believe that they were two friends having a good time together.

In The Letter Billy’s special things no longer contain the TV Theme Tunes LP but a Star Trek album, and Mrs W changed her line to a dance about “Cuppa Soup, Baked Beans and Klingons”. Anna-Jane and Nikki Gerard had great harmonies in “The Letter”, which I think is my favourite part of the show. “Born to Boogie” is a great crowd pleaser, and whilst I don’t like the skipping version as much as the earlier version, it was executed clearly without Daniel, Anna-Jane and Lewis becoming tangled up in their skipping ropes. I though the spinning bedroom at the start of the Angry Dance and the way the cage was made were both very effective. Again, I thought there had been some music changes here. Up to this point, Lewis had been so smiley as Billy, the angry Billy was a real transformation. He performed the dance with energy and passion, brining Act 1 to a thrilling climax.

It is Act 2 where most of the changes seem to have been made. The curtain scene seems to be much shorter now. Tony seemed to have a bigger part here, trying to tell a joke but George didn’t make his announcements. Martin began the first line of “Deep Into the Ground”, then said “I’ll Start that again”. I’m not sure if that’s a directed change, to highlight his emotional state, or because he had got the key wrong? The accordion was present for the opening part of the number, which I think always adds to the intensity of the number. Martin seems to be the first Dad since Tim Heley to sing “I was only 47 when they took her down from me”, all of the others I’ve seen were 37!

The Winter Scene was played with great sensitivity by both young actors and then there was a wonderful Swan Lake from Lewis and Luke. I was not keen on the changes to “He Could Be a Star”, or “He Could Go and He Could Shine”, as I suppose I should call it. In the London production it was always quite ambiguous as to whether or not Dad put in a shift before being confronted by Tony. In the tour, it is clear he does do a shift and the confrontation takes place in the miners’ welfare. I think that the confrontation was more powerful between Dad and Tony in London with the rest of the striking miners behind the gate. Having it in the welfare with the rest of the miners getting involved lessens the impact for me. I am also not keen on the way Billy gets shoved about. However, I did quite like the miners putting money into a miners’ hat, rather than the jar.

The curtain scene at the Royal Ballet seems to have three posh women and three children now (a boy and two girls) although the dialogue is the same as it was in London towards the end of the run. The ballet dancer who offers dad a cigarette was from Liverpool, the Milton Keynes line obviously got a particularly loud laugh, I wondered how many people realised that the line was written as MK, not just added for this leg of the tour. Whilst I missed the humour of the tape in the London audition scene, I didn’t mind the changes to this scene, showing the end of a few exercises. The audience went wild for “Electricity”. I really think that Lewis is a far better dancer and actor than singer, but this number showed off his skills, and he seemed really pleased with the audience’s reaction.

The arrival of the letter was not much different from London, although Grandma ran down the aisle with the letter. I do like the Goodbye scene. Anna-Jane played it really well. Her Mrs Wilkinson is a tough cookie, who had managed to keep her emotions in check up to the very end, then she finally lets them go, crying as Billy says “Good luck as well, Miss”.

I do like “Deep Into the Ground” and the miners getting into the lift at the back of the stage worked well. Then we were on to the reprise of The Letter, a touching duet between Lewis and Nikki. After Billy says goodbye to Michael and the curtain descends, I think the clapping kicked in a little early, I prefer Michael to stay there on his bike looking out on the audience in silence, and the clapping to start when the curtain is down. A personal thing, I know, but the silent lowering of the curtain emphasises that Michael is now alone, as the only outsider in Easington.

Overall, an enjoyable performance, reminding me of why I love this show so much. I did spend quite a lot of the time playing spot-the-difference and I think would like to see the show again and just appreciate it for what it is now, before the tour finally wraps up its UK leg in a couple of weeks.
"In everything you do, always be yourself"
accessmenj
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Re: Milton Keynes Reviews

Post by accessmenj »

Thank you Chris for your detailed observation of the show. I know that it took away some of your enjoyment of this performance. I hope that you can attend at least one more time without this distraction.
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jmh2014
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Re: Milton Keynes Reviews

Post by jmh2014 »

Saturday 3rd June

The MK theatre was pretty full for both shows and is very much a modern theatre, spacious foyer with plenty of room outside too. The sound system is superb and the opening to Angry Dance in particular sends shockwaves down your spine.

Anna Jane Casey was superb as Mrs W, and as mentioned above, by Chris, brings a new dimension to The Letter. Not only does she have an incredible voice, but the one hand cartwheel at the end of B2B is quite special too.

The scouse dancer delivering the MK line naturally got a good laugh from the audience. I do think they missed a trick by not making this line unique to each venue.

The beginning to Act 2 has changed since I last saw the show in Birmingham, and I think it works much better.

No matter how many times you see the show, there is always something new to discover. I never noticed before the desk and lamp in Billy’s bedroom.

Martin received a round of applause at the end of Deep into the Ground during the matinee, which is a very rare event. During the evening he seemed to start off in the wrong key, but calmly started again.

Milan van Weelden dwarfs everyone on stage and adds a new dimension to the performance. Even though I don’t like the reworking of “He could be a Star” Milan very much comes into his own during this scene.

Samuel and Bradley gave us two distinct but equally humorous Michael’s. Samuel’s antics while putting on the tutu have never been better.

Emile has matured into the role since I first saw him in Southampton and seems much more at home on stage. His beaming smile at the end of Electricity certainly endeared him to the matinee audience and the ovation was a long one.

Lewis, yet again, displayed his all-round excellence and I really like his interaction with Daniel Page during B2B. He draws you into Billy’s plight with ease. His engagement with the audience at the end of electricity is second to none.

It is going to be a very strange feeling in two weeks when Billy plays for the final time in the UK.
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angelenroute
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Re: Milton Keynes Reviews

Post by angelenroute »

Chris wrote:Shine was a real tour de force. I am not sure that I liked Mr Braithwaite lifting Mrs Wilkinson about the ballet girls on the trolley at the end – I think it made the attention of the scene too much on her at that moment, although perhaps that’s what was intended.
I think this device helps the audience get into the show, as very often it can feel dark up until this number. When the musical finally reaches this big number, people relax a bit and begin to feel more comfortable about the entertainment to follow. I always enjoyed the lift mechanism in the U.S. shows, as it helped make for a big ending to that number, which helped highlight all of the performers' faces at the end.
Chris wrote:In The Letter Billy’s special things no longer contain the TV Theme Tunes LP but a Star Trek album, and Mrs W changed her line to a dance about “Cuppa Soup, Baked Beans and Klingons”.
I don't remember the Klingons line, so that may be relatively new. It's cute. Guess they try these things out to see how well they go over.
Chris wrote:Martin seems to be the first Dad since Tim Heley to sing “I was only 47 when they took her down from me”, all of the others I’ve seen were 37!
I *think* Philip Whitchurch did, too, at least when he appeared in the Broadway show.
Chris wrote:In the London production it was always quite ambiguous as to whether or not Dad put in a shift before being confronted by Tony. In the tour, it is clear he does do a shift and the confrontation takes place in the miners’ welfare. I think that the confrontation was more powerful between Dad and Tony in London with the rest of the striking miners behind the gate. Having it in the welfare with the rest of the miners getting involved lessens the impact for me. I am also not keen on the way Billy gets shoved about. However, I did quite like the miners putting money into a miners’ hat, rather than the jar.
This point has been discussed before to great length, so I don't want to belabor it, but do want to mention that you'd have no trouble finding forum members/fans who agree with you. When exactly Jackie crosses or does not cross the picket line is a big deal to many. I've always felt it's about Billy, and people should see how grueling a decision it was for Jackie regardless of the timeline.
Chris wrote:The arrival of the letter was not much different from London, although Grandma ran down the aisle with the letter.
Ha! I love it! :lol:
Chris wrote:A personal thing, I know, but the silent lowering of the curtain emphasises that Michael is now alone, as the only outsider in Easington.
Beautifully put!!!
Chris wrote:Overall, an enjoyable performance, reminding me of why I love this show so much. I did spend quite a lot of the time playing spot-the-difference and I think would like to see the show again and just appreciate it for what it is now, before the tour finally wraps up its UK leg in a couple of weeks.
I enjoy hearing about differences from production to production, so thank you!

-Sean

"Good writers define reality; bad ones merely restate it." -Edward Albee
cheltonian
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Re: Milton Keynes Reviews

Post by cheltonian »

Chris wrote: Michael – Buster Mayfield....

Buster was really enjoying himself as Michael.....

Buster’s experience as Michael really shines through and he has a cheeky, infectious personality.
Is there some insider wierd reason for calling him Buster? His name is Bradley.
Chris wrote: The arrival of the letter was not much different from London, although Grandma ran down the aisle with the letter.
That's new for Milton Keynes. She's entered stage left at the earlier venues.
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patc
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Re: Milton Keynes Reviews

Post by patc »

Is there some insider wierd reason for calling him Buster? His name is Bradley.
Perhaps the reviewer accidentally mixed Bradley Mayfield up with Buster Merryfield of Only Fools and Horses fame (Uncle Albert) :D. Nicknames have never been allowed on this Forum.
That's new for Milton Keynes. She's entered stage left at the earlier venues.
It has varied slightly at different theatres. Where the steps up to the stage have been on the right hand side Grandma has come out the red door side with the letter. In a few other venues she has come down the extreme left hand aisle and skipped up the steps left, as I saw in MK last week.

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Real Geordie
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Re: Milton Keynes Reviews

Post by Real Geordie »

Perhaps the reviewer accidentally mixed Bradley Mayfield up with Buster Merryfield
More likely to have been Buster Bloodvessel ? Nothing more frightening than the Brits at play. What the Hell ............ it's nearly end of term for BETM UK !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8dTwmycLv0
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Chris
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Re: Milton Keynes Reviews

Post by Chris »

patc wrote:
Is there some insider wierd reason for calling him Buster? His name is Bradley.
Perhaps the reviewer accidentally mixed Bradley Mayfield up with Buster Merryfield of Only Fools and Horses fame (Uncle Albert) :D. Nicknames have never been allowed on this Forum.
Yes, clearly got confused with Only Fools and Horses!! I know his name is Bradley.
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