December 2010 - Reviews - London

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Billy Whiz
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December 2010 - Reviews - London

Post by Billy Whiz »

A place for December's reviews
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Billy Whiz is the Gallery Admin. Please send your photos, articles etc to forum.gallery[at]billyelliottheforum.me.uk Please replace [at] with @

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dwallen
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Re: November 2010 - Reviews - London

Post by dwallen »

Thursday December 2nd - Evening

Billy: Dean Charles
Michael: Reece Barrett
Debbie: Emily Smith
Dad: Martin Marguez
Tony: Tom Lorcan
Garndma: Romy Baskerville

This was probably one of the best shows I have seen and I liked the new cast very much. The show was certainly enhanced by most of the minor changes in both dialogue and choreography.

Dean Charles was at his very best. He quite obviously thrived on his new routines and acted superbly. His version of Electricity tonight was full of power, excitement and dancing skill not to mention his beautiful voice. He was so expressive and focussed on the role at all times.

I really liked the new version of Expressing Yourself which came as a bit of a surprise to me. For the two boys it certainly extended their skills. More complicated footwork is required and they were superb in the scene. The musical arrangement is now more dynamic and that
combined with what looked like, larger dresses, produced a great spectacle. The audience really enjoyed it. Incidentally, the audience was quite small tonight which is not surprising considering the appalling weather.

This is the first time I have seen Martin and Tom and I was very impressed. They made the characters very real for me. Reece was a dream tonight, very funny but also a good deliverer of lines. He looked particularly sad while sitting on his bike saying goodbye to his close friend, Billy.

Roomy played Gran tonight, very well I must say, but I would have liked to have seen the new actress.

As I said, I loved Dean's performance tonight, but I still haven't seen Scott or Aaron. Maybe next time.

I am very glad to report that there was a large group of younger teenagers on a school trip in the Dress Circle behind me and they were very behaved and quiet during the performance.

It was a great evening at the V P and as was said in an earlier review, it is hard to believe the new cast have only been performing since Monday. What superb professionals they all are. This was my 48th show and I can't wait to get to 50 asap.
67 wonderful shows
21 marvellous Billys
Travis, Sam, Layton, Corey, Josh, Hogan, Fox, Brad, Tom, Tanner, Ollie, Dean, Rhys, Scott, Ryan, Josh Baker, Adam, Harris and Kaine, Harrison and Tade
2 First Nights - Ollie and Dean-Charles
8 Last Nights - Layton, Hogan, Brad, Fox, Tom, Ollie, Scott and Dean.
6 Anniversaries - 4th, 5th plus the second 5th Anniversary (May 12th 2010), 6th (March 2011) 7th (May 12th 2012) 8th (May 11th 2013)
1 Gala Night - May 30th 2012 - celebrating 7th Anniversary and 3,000 show.
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maria
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Re: December 2010 - Reviews - London

Post by maria »

Go home Billy wrote: 
 • Instead of the Tall Boy it was a female member of the ensemble who stuck her head through the door to announce that 'They're bussing the scabs in early'.
 
Perhaps another US change finding its way into the original production? In all the US versions I have seen, Tall Boy does NOT carry this line!

By the way, thank you everyone for the fine reviews!!! I miss BETM UK and the VPT so much, this helps me keep in touch!
maria
<- A new use for the Billy Bag!!!
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Billy Whiz
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Re: December 2010 - Reviews - London

Post by Billy Whiz »

I'm not 100% sure but I think it was Tall Boy that said it on Monday.
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Billy Whiz is the Gallery Admin. Please send your photos, articles etc to forum.gallery[at]billyelliottheforum.me.uk Please replace [at] with @

In the email can you also please let me know the date where and when the photo(s) was taken, who is in the photo(s) as well as your forum name.

When you send photos to the gallery can you also please PM me to let me know that you have sent them. If I don't receive them after a couple of days I can then chase them up.
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patc
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Re: December 2010 - Reviews - London

Post by patc »

Thanks dwallen and Brian (collector's item :D ) for your reviews. Must have been very strange with no regulars at the matinee. Looking forward to seeing the new cast next week.

Hopefully, Tall Boy does not lose that line. Maybe his train was delayed and he didn't quite make it in time. If they knew in advance he wasn't able to get there at all I'm sure that one of the standby Billys/Michaels would have stood in as happened before when there was a shortage of Tall/Small Boys. Probably wasn't worth it for one line.

Pat
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athadj
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Re: December 2010 - Reviews - London

Post by athadj »

Billy Whiz wrote:I'm not 100% sure but I think it was Tall Boy that said it on Monday.
He did say it on Monday AND on Tuesday so hopefully a one time thing.
Athina

London
Liam x 1, Ollie x 4, Dean x 11, Rhys x 8, Aaron x 4, Scott x 9, Josh x 10, Ryan x 10, Adam x 6, Kaine x 7, Harris x 6, Harrison x 2
New York
Peter x 1
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Chris
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Re: December 2010 - Reviews - London

Post by Chris »

athadj wrote:
Billy Whiz wrote:I'm not 100% sure but I think it was Tall Boy that said it on Monday.
He did say it on Monday AND on Tuesday so hopefully a one time thing.
I thought a female member of the ensemble said it on Tuesday, but I may be wrong.
"In everything you do, always be yourself"
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athadj
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Re: December 2010 - Reviews - London

Post by athadj »

Chris wrote:
athadj wrote:
Billy Whiz wrote:I'm not 100% sure but I think it was Tall Boy that said it on Monday.
He did say it on Monday AND on Tuesday so hopefully a one time thing.
I thought a female member of the ensemble said it on Tuesday, but I may be wrong.
Oh? Really, maybe I'm getting too old, I dunno :oops: I'll see today then....
Athina

London
Liam x 1, Ollie x 4, Dean x 11, Rhys x 8, Aaron x 4, Scott x 9, Josh x 10, Ryan x 10, Adam x 6, Kaine x 7, Harris x 6, Harrison x 2
New York
Peter x 1
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athadj
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Re: December 2010 - Reviews - London

Post by athadj »

Well, I must be getting senile or something 'cos looks like I was so wrong! Yes unfortunatelly tall boy does not have this line anymore and it is the blonde girl (Leslie?) who delivers it now. Why? I dunno.....
Athina

London
Liam x 1, Ollie x 4, Dean x 11, Rhys x 8, Aaron x 4, Scott x 9, Josh x 10, Ryan x 10, Adam x 6, Kaine x 7, Harris x 6, Harrison x 2
New York
Peter x 1
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jacob
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Re: December 2010 - Reviews - London

Post by jacob »

Saturday December 4th matinee

Scott
Joe
Emily Smith
Romy Baskerville
Martin Marquez
Tom Lorcan

I was six days late getting into the new Show, but better late than never.
If it had been my Show I would have closed it after November 27th and reopened a fortnight later on December 11th in time for the Christmas rush. This would have reduced the pressure on what is essentially a new production of BETM. But I guess that Working Title would not have liked to lose the income from 16 Shows. Glad I didn't have to rehearse it in time for November 29th though :x

The new version of Express is apparently a mish mash of the Broadway and London versions. Michael's whistle was all good for me. However the dancing dresses seemed to have messed things up rather by taking away the main focus from Michael and Billy. Not only do they physically occupy most of the stage, I feel they dreadfully overact. There is an initial visual impact which is amusing but by extending it across the scene it all becomes a tad boring. For me this is Michael's scene not just for the hilarious sight of him cross dressing and drawing Billy into the action but also for the underlying serious message that it gives the audience. The lyrics of the song say it all and they reappear in the finale.
'What the hell is wrong with expressing yourself ,
For wanting to be me'

Michael is making a point here and this is in danger of being lost.

The front of curtain pantomime scene was played in a Music Hall style. Come to think of it, this is what the Victoria Palace was originally. Some will like this and no doubt others will not. Many of Trevor Fox's lines have now been edited out and the political stuff in particular. Some will feel that this dilutes the political element of the Show .............but it does speed things up ;)
I rather think that the lighting program has been partially redesigned with some changes in the rigging. I could be wrong about this of course.

The theatre was very busy at the Saturday matinee with the audience laughing along like nobody's business. I am sure this would have been very welcome to the cast who have apparently played to reduced houses earlier in the week. The snow falling outside Mrs W's house brought spontaneous laughter! Scott was magnificent. He has such a strong, natural balletic talent that he is a believable Billy. I loved his Electricity and Angry Dance. The latter was played in a more restrained way than some of the other Billys but no less effective for that. There are more ways of expressing anger than shouting and stamping. For me the police with their shields are a metaphor for a Society which labels all boys who do ballet as 'poufs.' Billy is railing against this all pervasive attitude. If I were to make one positive suggestion to Scott it would be to inhabit the sadness of the character with a little more emphasis. Billy can be seen as a deprived and under privileged kid.

Like all long running shows BETM needs to continue to attract new audiences. Unlike we forum members they will not be fussed about the minutae of who delivers which line. :)
I am so looking forward to the Tuesday matinees over Christmas.
'Are we human or are we dancers?' The Killers

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