Billy Elliot the Forum

Hopefully when I next see you, YOU will be wearing the Blue Suede shoes and drainpipe trousers.

LOL, John, I'll have to check in the other wardrobe and see if they're still there .

As regards the genuflecting, I wonder if the answer might be in here somewhere - probably not.
http://www.minersadvice.co.uk/reviews_dust.html
http://grist.org/article/obama-ends-150 ... 24-states/

Pat

There was one Broadway Billy that knelt with his suitcase facing the banner before he turned to leave the stage. That was David Alvarez.
But he is the only Billy I have ever seen do it among all the Billys I've seen.

I really love that Elliott genuflected during Billy Live and I'm glad to hear it has been kept.

One thing I don't think you see much of during the show is how much the community means to Billy, and that simple act in front of the Lodge banner really shows it.

I'm from a northern town and my family were personally affected by the strike, so this is a little addition that really hit home.

ERinVA wrote:There was one Broadway Billy that knelt with his suitcase facing the banner before he turned to leave the stage. That was David Alvarez.
But he is the only Billy I have ever seen do it among all the Billys I've seen.

Interesting that David did this, since you wonder what life experience he drew that from. Maybe he - and perhaps other American Billys - did more research on the British miners' strike than we realized.

Thursday Matinee 23rd October

Who needs Halloween? At yesterday’s matinee we got “OllieWeen” a super show with fireworks and charms galore. I was totally bewitched.

As Ollie’s upward progress in the role continues unabated this was the best performance I have seen from him. It was spellbinding. There is no standing still. He has brought both his Angry Dance – introduced with blood curdling screams of frustration - and Electricity to new levels of excellence, the latter giving me goosepimples watching Deka watching Ollie. All down to hard work and sheer determination combined with great talent. His crystal clear voice and great acting was breathtaking. There was no hocus pocus here. Billy isn’t required to wear a mask. He calls it like it is. Even the little things were brilliant. The “ My Mam’s dead” interaction between Ollie and the class and excellence of Dayna's Debbie was never done better with pauses and timing 100%.

Since I first saw this show I have always marvelled at the courage of these Billy boys to walk into the cauldron of a West End theatre and win over hearts and minds night after night. That glass of Volvic (with a touch of strawberry) will be raised again tonight to the latest in the line.

Very, very delighted to see Tomi back again. He waltzed onto the stage in Expressing but didn’t need the help of Jackie Strauss to charm the pants off the audience. Tomi has his own unique and magic Michael brew cooked up for us and I enjoyed every second of it.

BTW, on the subject of the gentle soft music that plays on the transistor player after Michael leaves before Dream Ballet, I sensed that it had changed ever so slightly but would have to hear it again to decide. Perhaps, those seeing the show over the next while might care to check that out.

I'll second Barry's congratulations to Lewis on his 101st show. He milked his scenes for all they were worth and, one of these days, I expect he will be demanding extra scenes for SB.

In BETM there are no tricks only treats. Fangs to all concerned for another fangtastic and emotion-filled brilliant show.

Pat

Saturday 25th Matinee

Okay, so this was my very first time seeing Billy in person and I was totally amazed! I was sincerely hoping Elliott was as good in person as he was at Billy Live last month, and I wasn't disappointed! There was a Standby Wilkinson (I believe it was Wendy) and I was quite disappointed by her performance in fact. Her accent wasn't believable and her singing wasn't great. Her acting however was on point!

Todd was on as Michael and of course had everyone in fits of laugher!

Personal highlights for me were; Angry Dance, Dream Ballet, Electricity and the heart-warming standing ovation Elliott got at least four times during the performance. EVERYONE was on their feet at the curtain call!

The onstage relationship between Deka and Elliott is amazing and I know Elliott is going to KILL West End stages when he's older!

On a more audience-related note, I just want to add how angry I was at two particular groups who I was sat near. One group was a drunk-party who had to be told to settle down by an usher more than once. One of them fell asleep (how disrespectful, right?) which caused the rest of the group to start taking pictures of him... And the other group, a bunch of teenage girls took it upon themselves to upgrade to Premium seats as there was a few empty seats.

Nethertheless, it was a spectacular show and Elliott is a credit to his family, to Liverpool and to the show!

Glad you enjoyed your first show so much Jamie. It's kind of hard not to right? Not even a group of drunks can ruin it. That being said, who gets drunk before going to see BETM? Crazy tourists...

Jamie. wrote:a bunch of teenage girls took it upon themselves to upgrade to Premium seats as there was a few empty seats.

This has always been a temptation for me, I must admit . . . .whenever I have seats with a poor view on the sides or towards the back, and I see some good seats going un-used down close to the stage. To be honest, I have moved down to the better seats several times, although I do draw the line if it means blocking a short adult or a child whom I would be moving in front of. Wonder if moving to better seats is more or less common in the West End than it is in the U.S. ? Any thoughts ?

Todd wrote:

Jamie. wrote:a bunch of teenage girls took it upon themselves to upgrade to Premium seats as there was a few empty seats.

This has always been a temptation for me, I must admit . . . .whenever I have seats with a poor view on the sides or towards the back, and I see some good seats going un-used down close to the stage. To be honest, I have moved down to the better seats several times, although I do draw the line if it means blocking a short adult or a child whom I would be moving in front of. Wonder if moving to better seats is more or less common in the West End than it is in the U.S. ? Any thoughts ?

What you have to remember when doing this though is that people will often turn up late for the performance. My Husband and I went to see 'The Curious incident of the dog in the Nightime' and our cab broke down so we were late. When we got there we found two tourists in our seats, who refused to budge! The usher had to get assistance, and they finally moved. During the interval we went to thank the ushers, and we were told that they had seats that were way back. Seats which they were not allowed back too. They were removed from the theatre.

Todd wrote:

Jamie. wrote:a bunch of teenage girls took it upon themselves to upgrade to Premium seats as there was a few empty seats.

This has always been a temptation for me, I must admit . . . .whenever I have seats with a poor view on the sides or towards the back, and I see some good seats going un-used down close to the stage. To be honest, I have moved down to the better seats several times, although I do draw the line if it means blocking a short adult or a child whom I would be moving in front of. Wonder if moving to better seats is more or less common in the West End than it is in the U.S. ? Any thoughts ?

Totally common in the U.S.