November 2009 Reviews - London

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ERinVA
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Re: November 2009 - Reviews

Post by ERinVA »

The NY Finale is basically what it was in Oz, from what I can tell.
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porschesrule
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Re: November 2009 - Reviews

Post by porschesrule »

ERinVA wrote:The NY Finale is basically what it was in Oz, from what I can tell.
How does that differ from the UK version, though?
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pexcornel
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Re: November 2009 - Reviews

Post by pexcornel »

The music is totally different at the beginning, after the rhythm prelude.
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StevenKing
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Re: November 2009 - Reviews

Post by StevenKing »

The banging(actually fast slapping on the floor) of the hands at the start of Finale works fairly well i think. Overall Finale still works better in London...flows better, but even there it has problems which they obviously will never work out(timing for individual bows etc). Other adds seems like taking the good from Broadway...mostly. However I LIKED the w**ker line by Mr. B...but he does have 2 of those in there so kind of redundant...but I like that one better then the second!

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Re: November 2009 - Reviews

Post by Todd »

Glad to hear I'm not the only one who likes the Finale in London better. Haven't heard it discussed much on here, but it does seem more rushed (i.e. shortened) in the Broadway version. I love that number so for me, the London version is more of a good thing.

I also wish the Broadway show would follow the original version in London with the way they sing the beginning of "The Stars Look Down" . . . with the miners singing the opening lines in unison, rather than one miner singing it as a solo. Just seems a bit too understated when you only hear one voice singing.

Other than that, I'm pretty happy with the changes in the Broadway show - especially "He Could Shine" . . .with the creative way the fence morphs into the bus that carries the scabs and the "take this and this" part which seems to make it more clear about how the community rallied around Billy even before the scab came in with his wad of money. Still not sure why they didn't just keep the title of the song "He Could Be A Star" though. I was also never a big fan of the RBS audition scene so changing it for Broadway was fine with me.

The toned down Geordie accent and dropping some of the slang words to make it easier for American audiences to understand only make sense. For example, the small boy shouting "w***er !" at George in the boxing scene is something I wouldn't be surprised to eventually see changed in New York. I've never heard it get more than a few scattered chuckles since many Americans aren't familiar with that term. .. .whereas in London it always gets a huge laugh.

I would suspect that the reason why the London show is changing to fit more with the Broadway show is because I read that Stephen Daldry and company made the changes that they did in New York because they were ideas that they'd been wanting to try which they felt would make the show better (otherwise, why change anything?). Whether audiences (and fans on the Forum) agree that they are indeed improvements appears to be up for debate.
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StevenKing
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Re: November 2009 - Reviews

Post by StevenKing »

I'm convinced that Billy is one of the most tinkered with HITS of all time..for good and bad. :lol:

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ERinVA
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Re: November 2009 - Reviews

Post by ERinVA »

A good example of a thing that had to be changed for Broadway was Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher. I saw the whole first week of previews and watched as they tried out different things. If they had left it as it is in London, it would have fallen completely flat. Americans do not have the Christmas pantomime tradition to draw on, for one thing, so the audiences did not "get" it. Also, for one performance, they tried having a Ronald Reagan puppet (a reference to the friendship between Reagan and Thatcher) pop up out of the handbag, but that went over like a lead balloon. Americans who see the show in London usually get into the spirit of the banter at the beginning of the scene, but without a British audience to carry it, as they are used to doing when they attend pantos, Americans who are not familiar with the idea would be lost.
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: November 2009 - Reviews

Post by andrewcraig »

I have not liked the changes that the US have made, but Ronald Reagan. OMG

Next thing we will hear they are planning to call it Betty Elliot and Michael will become Margaret

Stop playing with the original.

Fot those US fans who have not seen the UK finale I have posted and can again, the UK version.
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Re: November 2009 - Reviews

Post by elliot1 »

I have not liked the changes that the US have made, but Ronald Reagan. OMG

Next thing we will hear they are planning to call it Betty Elliot and Michael will become Margaret
:lol: Love reading the forum! :lol:

The shadow dance sequence was also in the Oz production, and you can see it in this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x--om56tzGs

Aus finale would be similar to the UK one, from the sound of things (where can I find the UK version?). Definitely no banging the floor!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_CzAdQa5q8

It's interesting reading about the differences between productions. Mr Braithwaite was the one who said "You look like a right w***ker to me" in Aus and John X's delivery of this line was just hilarious. Has it always been Debbie who said this line in the US/UK productions?

The Aus 'Born to Boogie' used a barre as a prop, so no skipping rope tripping, the barre worked well!
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Re: November 2009 - Reviews

Post by Clazzimay »

I don`t like that version of angry dance at all! There is far too much going on..... :x
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