Billy Elliot the Forum

tankntonic wrote:Thanks jmh2014 and Bridget40 for two awesome reviews, it must be really great to be able to just "pop over" to the VPT for special nights like this.

Luckily the tickets had been booked several weeks earlier. We had no idea Matteo was leaving until David Massey made the announcement. The only clue that something was different was seeing Bradley, Ollie, Brodie & Todd outside the theatre beforehand.

Bridget40 wrote: It was the best, most enjoyable, most emotional Billy show I have seen in the time I have been attending The VPT.

jmh2014 wrote: The finale, with the pressure off, was Matteo having fun. Fun that infected the entire cast and produced the most enjoyable show that I’ve seen. David Massey had said in his intro that last nights should be a celebration and it was. A celebration of the incredible talent that is Matteo Zecca.

I completely agree - I've seen the show eight times now, and Matteo three times, but this was the show I enjoyed the most. He was faultless from the off, an incredible Angry Dance, graceful Dream Ballet and a perfect Electricity.

No more leavers for a while please - don't think my bank balance can support it!

Thank you very much, Bridget40 and jmh2014, for those reviews! I was especially touched by your descriptions of the goodbye with Tomi! Thank you!

Sean

Did anyone happen to take some photos of Matteo's last night?

Bridget40 wrote: It was the best, most enjoyable, most emotional Billy show I have seen in the time I have been attending The VPT. In fact, it has been a long, long time since I have enjoyed something that much on any West End stage. I wish that I had got to see more of Matteo, and I have no idea why his run has come to what I think is a premature end, but I hope he knows how much that audience loved him last night. I think he must..... It was a magical performance Matteo, truly magical.

thank you for sharing your wonderful experience.

jmh2014 wrote: he left at the top of his game delivering a truly magical performance that will never be forgotten.

And there's no debate about that!

Thanks for the great review!

In the reviews, both of the reviewer mentioned that Deka Walmsley said farewell to Matteo at the end. Does he always say a few words to the leaving boys on stage?
Somebody else played Dad when Elliott had his final show and it ended as usual.

Darth_Revan wrote:In the reviews, both of the reviewer mentioned that Deka Walmsley said farewell to Matteo at the end. Does he always say a few words to the leaving boys on stage?

No, Deka doesn't always say a few words. The reason he spoke this time was to actualy ask (beg) the audience to vote for BETM in the upcoming Olivier Awards.

http://www.olivierawards.com/

He has spoken in the past when a large number of people have been leaving though - and he does a great job of it as well.

You could tell that the words from Deka really meant a lot to Matteo.

Darth_Revan wrote:In the reviews, both of the reviewer mentioned that Deka Walmsley said farewell to Matteo at the end. Does he always say a few words to the leaving boys on stage?
Somebody else played Dad when Elliott had his final show and it ended as usual.

David did not say anything at the end of Elliot's show, and Deka didn't for Mitchell's.

Deka did his normal Olivier awards routine where he says, while pointing at Billy....."We should win the award for this kid alone." He then did the usual skit with small boy. It was after that that he brought Matteo forward. He actually carried him. He seemed to be quite emotional saying the words he did. It was very nice of him, and very well done, and Jmh2014 is right..... It seemed to mean a lot to Matteo.