Billy Elliot the Forum

Here's a place for London reviews for August, 2015.

Wed 5th August and Thursday Matinee 6th Aug

With yet another Tube strike strangling London’s transport system it was a case of “Walkin' back to happiness, whoop-ah oh yeah, yeah”, as Helen Shapiro used to sing in the 60’s. (for all you youngsters see the link at the end of review ). “Happiness”, of course, being London SW1E 5EA.

Two stunning shows to revel in were the rewards for making it to the VPT. Such quality and class from current longest serving Billy, Ollie and newest Billy, Nat delivering to and extracting from their respective audiences all of the emotional impacts of this great story. The buzz as people were leaving the theatre and, indeed, crossing at the traffic lights afterwards was palpable. Everyone was smiling with the joy of it all seemingly oblivious to the likely difficulties of the next stage of their evening, getting home. Me?, I'd walk a long way anytime for this experience.

Connie and Kyria and the Ballet Girls gave their considerable all. A double dose of Nathan’s creative and subtle Michael is worth the admission money on its own with its beautifully balanced mixture of laughs, pathos and quite superb tap not to mention a “bit o’ballet” extraordinaire.

The variety of adult casting always makes things doubly interesting. Over the two shows David Bardsley played his classic (and new look) Dad as well as George, Craig Armstrong gave us his own hilarious George (not seen him in this role for yonks), two Mrs W’s in Ruthie and Wendy and Lucinda’s wonderfully restrained RBS Receptionist.

Hats off and glasses raised to cast and crew for 6 hours of pure quality.

A couple of moot points. The onstage riot in Angry Dance appears to have increased in intensity to magnificent and realistic effect.

Also, I have noticed in Dream Ballet that the volume of “smoke” waterfalling over the front of the stage appears to have been reduced dramatically, in fact, almost to zero. Over the years, being immersed in the “waterfall” has enhanced the experience for occupants of A, B and C. I wonder if it’s an audience elf ‘n’ safety matter.

Just to clear up on last week’s comment on the Electricity music for Nat it was confirmed that one bar (just the one) has been added to the end section but also revealed that the same has been done for Brodie that I hadn’t noticed, so there you go. No wonder there's a Billy board-in-the-pit and a pre-start declaration of who's Billy from MD to players.

Pat

PS Helen Shapiro (what a voice)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuQlpFnlIBE
It was great to be young in them there days. Us teenagers were blown away. Get your feet tapping and then go online and get your next Billy ticket...PRONTO.

PPS Brand new programme is out with all current cast.

Thanks Pat fr another great review.

patc wrote:It was great to be young in them there days.

You mean you were young once?

Billy Whiz wrote:You mean you were young once?

Pat

patc wrote: Also, I have noticed in Dream Ballet that the volume of “smoke” waterfalling over the front of the stage appears to have been reduced dramatically, in fact, almost to zero. Over the years, being immersed in the “waterfall” has enhanced the experience for occupants of A, B and C. I wonder if it’s an audience elf ‘n’ safety matter.

In Scheveningen there's a LOT of "smoke" flowing down onto the audience. I think it's great, but I've sat in first row three times there, and on two times the audience actually started laughing because of all the smoke around them. It made me very angry, because Billy was right in front of them, dancing.

Saturday Evening 8th August

Never has the line “I haven’t got the words” been more apt in tying to describe the performance of Nat Sweeney. He is quite simply sensational.

patc wrote:They say that seeing is believing but I’m not so sure. I can hardly believe that I saw what I saw and will have to wait until I see it again before believing that I actually saw what I saw.

This is exactly how I felt on many occasions. A couple that immediately spring to mind:
Did the boxing scene really include a moment from "The King of Pop"
The piano flip looked like it also included a mid air twist.

Natural acting, lovely singing voice and sublime dancing.

In his video Nat says that Expressing is his favourite dance and you see him come alive during this routine.

His Electricity is unbelievable. The only ovations I've heard longer than the one on Saturday have been during leavers nights. Try as he might Nat could not keep a large smile off his face and in the end he gave in.

Even during the Finale, I have not previously seen anyone pull so many facial expressions.

BETM has been described as a must see musical - Nat Sweeney is a must see Billy.

THURSDAY MATINEE 13th AUGUST

Leaving home at 6-15am in clear blue skies, what a change when getting into London, foggy, heavy rain, thunder & lightning, Oh! and muggy. Well to be honest the 13th was my lucky day, I looking on the cast board, and at last, it was going to be, that illusive Brodie, it has been such a long time since I last saw him and unfortunately at that time I didn't do a review, so here goes, I'm really concentrating on Brodie.
For this show Spencer Stafford was Mr Braithwaite, Kerry Washington was Grandma.
Well what can you say, it was just another outstanding performance, so enjoyable, Brodie soon had the audience in the palm of his hands straight away, for his antics in the Boxing scene, just trying to do his best to put Michael off. Todd didn't half get a right crack though, from George when he says “your supposed to hit him, he's supposed to hit you, its boxing” smack!
Great facial expressions from Brodie in Shine and Solidarity, glaring at being pushed around by the ballet girls also a smirk when he thought he'd got away it, with his dad, after going to ballet instead of boxing and of course in between these scenes, we had Grandma's Song, Kerry Washington gives a lovely Grandma.
Maybe bit of mischief and good fun, in Expressing Yourself, Brodie was pushing the dressing table back before even Todd had got his tap shoes on, you could see Todd smiling as if I'll get you back for that, their tap routine was extra special.
The Letter scene was very poingnant with one a two hankies out in the audience, then into B2B, it was the first time I've seen Spencer Stafford as Mr Braithwaite, well as we say in Yorkshire he did a “rite” good job.
Angry Dance was full of temper, hate and aggression, Brodie really has quick feet, he puts so much effort in, finishing off Act 1 in great style.
Dream Ballet was so popular with the audience, Brodie had a big smile throughout, I might be wrong but I think, ballet is, his favourite, it was done with such grace, the audience so enjoyed it.
Electricity, just simply magic, again his ballet was so graceful, with a slight blend of acro added, maybe he leaned that on Blackpool seafront, he finishes the routine off, with that brilliant wall flip, the icing on the cake, a well deserved great ovation from the audience.
In the Kitchen scene when he comes home from school, he really attacked that barrel of biscuits, he looked as though he was starving, how many kids do that, when they come home from school and then when you ask them what do you want for tea, they say “nowt I'm full”
Again I noticed a few tears in the audience in the Final Letter scene, when Billy reads his scrumpled letter and says goodbye to his mum.
Finishing off as usual with a real lively Finale led by Brodie with the hard working cast, getting a deserved standing ovation for all their effort put in.
The audience were really good, easily picking up the punch lines, the Victoria Palace was practically full with I would think only a handful of seats empty, all the days seats were taken, even Spencer had to put up with seat C5.
Good journey home on the train, until outside Doncaster, yes! guess what, signal failure, so that made us late, so after picking up the car at Hull I didn't get home, before it turned into a pumpkin.
Lastly I noticed on the train, when going to the buffet for a coffee, a couple of families with Billy Elliot programmes, so spoke to some of them, they said that they'd had great time at the show, plenty of Brodie admirers.
The tube strikes are not helping things so I have been banned! by the family from coming down to London until its sorted, I have to stop at home and look after me nana!!!. No they are right I don't need the hassle.

Saturday August 15th

Nat and Brodie led us through two more tremendously entertaining shows.

Nathan and Todd were on hand to lighten the mood and steer their respective Billy's though the drama and setbacks.

Kyria and Connie displayed attitude a plenty whilst making life tough for their Billy's. Connie's expression are always a treat.

The magnificent Orgreave ballet team gave no quarter everytime Billy got in their way.

Robbie Durham was Tony and is a natural for the role. Looking just that bit younger works in his favour.

What seemed like a too tight turn saw Todd fall off his bike in the opening scene. Thankfully it was at slow speed and apart from looking a little sheepish he was fine to continue.

The pre Solidarity sequence saw one of the policeman stumble whilst climbing onto the stage. Trying to keep a straight face for a couple of the others proved difficult.

A nasty moment for Brodie when he was being hauled up on the table pre Angry Dance as he slipped slightly and his knee crashed into the table. With the knee pads absorbing the impact he was able to produce his customary noisy Angry Dance.

With no Phil Snowden as Mr B there was no accordion during Deep into the Ground, which is always disappointing.

Brodie won the shoe change by a landslide. He had already started dancing before Todd was able to join in.

Dream Ballet contained enough smoke this week to cascade over the front couple of rows. The “leg lift” saw Brodie shoot about 6 feet straight up in the air rather than towards the front of the stage.

Both Nat and Brodie’s Electricity’s are quite special. It’s not just the aerials they perform but the speed that both of them are able to generate on all their spins.

Richly deserved standing ovations for both shows.

jmh2014 wrote:Saturday August 15th

Nat and Brodie led us through two more tremendously entertaining shows.

Nathan and Todd were on hand to lighten the mood and steer their respective Billy's though the drama and setbacks.

Kyria and Connie displayed attitude a plenty whilst making life tough for their Billy's. Connie's expression are always a treat.

The magnificent Orgreave ballet team gave no quarter everytime Billy got in their way.

Robbie Durham was Tony and is a natural for the role. Looking just that bit younger works in his favour.

What seemed like a too tight turn saw Todd fall off his bike in the opening scene. Thankfully it was at slow speed and apart from looking a little sheepish he was fine to continue.

The pre Solidarity sequence saw one of the policeman stumble whilst climbing onto the stage. Trying to keep a straight face for a couple of the others proved difficult.

A nasty moment for Brodie when he was being hauled up on the table pre Angry Dance as he slipped slightly and his knee crashed into the table. With the knee pads absorbing the impact he was able to produce his customary noisy Angry Dance.

With no Phil Snowden as Mr B there was no accordion during Deep into the Ground, which is always disappointing.

Brodie won the shoe change by a landslide. He had already started dancing before Todd was able to join in.

Dream Ballet contained enough smoke this week to cascade over the front couple of rows. The “leg lift” saw Brodie shoot about 6 feet straight up in the air rather than towards the front of the stage.

Both Nat and Brodie’s Electricity’s are quite special. It’s not just the aerials they perform but the speed that both of them are able to generate on all their spins.

Richly deserved standing ovations for both shows.

At Patchogue, Wichita and Drury Lane, the MD was Colin Welford (who needs no introduction). He played the accordian from the pit.

Saturday August 15th matinee

A few belated thought about this show.

Firstly it is a pleasure (I think) to report that the day queue is alive and well. There were 20 in the queue when the theatre opened its doors at 10am shortly joined by another five! Any one hoping to get A10 would have had to make an early start to their day At 9am there were nine in front of me. The theatre has been very busy during August with some matinees almost sold out.

A new Billy in London is always a milestone for the Musical as each one brings his own interpretation to the show. Nat is no exception. He has a striking stage presence and ability to engage with the audience. His facial expressions together with the way he uses his eyes show his depth of insight to Billy Elliot. ‘He could be a star’ This matinee had a lot of young children present and the little girl sitting next to me was absolutely enthralled by the experience. She was probably about eight years old and her laughter in the funny scenes was most infectious. Nat is a lovely dancer and has a brilliant Electricity sequence. On Saturday I lost count after 20 pirouettes! After a stunned silence, the audience clapped for longer than I can ever remember. Deka (Dad) looked positively shocked. Nathan injected humour into his scenes and this counterbalanced the anger and pain of the Miners’ Strike. Interestingly, some of the political views held by Arthur Scargill are now being revisited by Jeremy Corbyn in the ongoing election for leader of the UK Labour Party.
A lot of the adult cast have been on holiday during the summer but apart from Gillian Elisa and Phil Snowden they are all back now. The new larger programme is a ‘must have’ with full page photos of all four Billys. All in all, Billy Elliot the Musical at the Victoria Palace is in fine fettle.

probably worth another look