25/01/2010
Billy: Ollie Gardner
Michael: Jake Pratt
Debbie: Emily Smith
With the premature end of the Melbourne season, Australian fans must now face the torrid journey to the UK or USA for another hit of Billy. Hence with an equal mixture of excitement and trepidation I have travelled to the far shores of Mother England, ostensibly for a sightseeing holiday but with one or two (or more...) BETM shows thrown in. And after a seven month plus drought, it’s good to be back and adding to the tally. Here are a few thoughts about Monday’s show dispatched from the Eurostar:
The first Billy the mother theatre put on was Ollie and what a thoroughly excellent performance he put on. He’s certainly the most expressive actor I’ve seen in the role, always switched on. Great facial expressions really conveyed Billy’s emotions, there’s no doubt that Ollie really understands the part well. A particular favourite is in
Solidarity where he looks well pleased after learning to pirouette only to be told he the worst of the bleedin’ lot and the expression changes completely. Also, the real tears in the
Letter were particularly wrenching from the front row vantage point.
I found Ollie’s singing and ballet to be quite proficient and his tap is exceptional combining nicely with the livewire Michael for the night, Jake. That kid has got terrific comedic timing and was a riot on stage.
Ms. Riding is a marvellous Mrs. W. Though I do think Genevieve is a superstar (and you can judge for yourself when she comes over in June), Joanna plays the part more tenderly with the Billy which is nice and is just a little bit more agile in
Born to Boogie .
Barnaby Meridith dances like a dream, such a pleasure to watch.
Dream Ballet was all the more moving when you can see what a world class dancer Billy will become. After seeing Matthew Bourne’s
Swan Lake the previous night I’ve drawn the conclusion that there is a surfeit of brilliant male ballet dancers in London.
The music director (Matt Malone, I’m told) put in an astonishingly virtuoso performance of conducting. He was at times amusing, other times much less so and as baffling as the Paris metro system, very different from Stephen Amos back home.
There are few but noticeable differences in the London show, most I have to say are very good. Some different lines and the pauses inserted work well, blood when Dad hits Tony was a fine (shocking) touch and the audition sequence is a corker.
Angry Dance is more dance than angry though Ollie gave it a good shake, liberally peppering the scene with four-letter words. However it’s not quite the earth shattering Oz version which remains one of the best scenes in theatre I’ve seen but now, unfortunately, is history. Here’s hoping for an unlikely reprise in Chicago.
Expressing Yourself is longer and much more camp which is less to my taste. The drums are given more prominence is the UK arrangement: good, bui the guitar is more subdued: bad. Overall I would’ve liked it louder especially in the first verses of
Solidarity.
A further farrago of thoughts will be in the offing when I see the show again. Thanks to ‘burtond’ for the company and sparring
. Hope I’ll get to see more fans in the one or two (or more...) BETM shows I’ve booked. If the other boys are as good as Ollie was it will be very well worth the trip.
burtond wrote:
I wonder why Mr Braithwaite in the Born to Boogie scene makes a pause before saying ‘..you little w**ker’. The pause is totally out of place and is pointless. When Phil Snowden played Mr Braithwaite, there was never a pause and the phrase seemed totally in context.
It does seem out of context. In the Oz show, instead of Debbie saying 'you look like a d***head to me' (which is a good line) we had Mr. Braithwaite say 'you look like a right w**ker to me', and thus the follwing line and pause made more sense.