Thursday 26th November – all day
Thanks for your review Barry and great to see you back at the VPT
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On a day when you see a new Billy for the first time it is inevitable he gets most of the writing space. It was, indeed, a great thrill to see the newest Billy, Euan Garrett’s, name on the Board at the matinee. Thankfully, we haven’t had to wait long to see him in action on a Thursday and, man, what a performance we saw. To begin with, Euan has such a captivating, clear stage voice. I can only imagine how mystically lyrical it would be to hear him speaking in his native accent with such words as:
My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here;
My heart's in the Highlands a-chasing the deer;
A-chasing the wild-deer, and following the roe,
My heart's in the Highlands wherever I go..
Of course, in
Billy it’s more “fxxxxd if I know” than Robbie Burns but we certainly didn’t miss a syllable all afternoon.
Euan’s singing voice really came to the fore with such plaintiveness in a wonderfully controlled Letter scene in which he included the emotional touch that brought a lump to my throat. His interaction with Dead Mum (Claudia) was really heartbreaking especially when you’re sitting barely a couple of yards away.
As a dancer he is beautifully balanced. We saw first evidence of this in
Solidarity and, then, in
Angry Dance, we saw the power. Bloody ‘eck (as Robbie Burns wouldn’t say), this was mega and he stormed off the stage with the cheers ringing in his ears.
I mustn’t overlook to mention
Expressing with the irrepressible Nathan Jones. This was another Classic from the Northumberland Supremo. Being also a Scottish Nationals Open Kick Boxing champion it wasn’t surprising that Euan obeyed his every command as they and the delightful, dainty Dresses painted magical rainbows on stage on a dank, miserable London afternoon. Having said that, it would have been interesting had Euan, being a karate student himself, taken umbrage at any point. Nathan was at it again in his entirely unique Tutu sequence that just bristles with creativity and class.
As with all new Billys, the anticipation of seeing Euan’s
Electricity made hearts begin to beat that little bit quicker as the time approached. They were soon racing as he somersaulted backwards and the bag flew through the air. Every beat of the music enveloped the ear. Every move, swirl, twirl, leap and step was perfectly timed with each note. Dancing boy and music in magical, synchronised harmony that built up to a flurry of mind-bending spins followed by the run and flip off the wall. Utterly, utterly indescribably and absorbingly magnificent.
Overall, this was a stunning display of Billyship by Euan in only his fourth show and I can’t wait to see him in action again. He proves for the 42nd time in London that there is no escape. If you’re out there, they will find you. We are the lucky beneficiaries.
As if all that was not enough for one day it was current longest serving Billy, Brodie, who was charged with the task of following that at the evening performance. Time is flying by. It is almost impossible to believe that Brodie is already a year plus in the show. Like all his predecessors there has been no let up over time. Quite the opposite, in fact. With impeccable pacing he took us though Billy’s turbulent journey with all of the exquisite skills he possesses and has thrilled us with over this past year. In no time at all it was his turn to bless us with his original groundbreaking
Electricity-plus-Flip that left the audience gasping in disbelief. With Tomi back in the same cracking form he left in you can guess how their scenes together went.
I was most impressed with new Tony, Matthew Seadon-Young. He has most certainly arrived.
Billy Whiz wrote: I can say that one of the reasons for multiple trips to BETM is because of the different interpretations the boys give to the role. If they all played it the same then it would not have the same draw to me
I can assure you that nothing has changed. Euan’s Billy has been tailor-made just for him and, together with Brodie, Thomas and Nat we are as fortunate as ever with four different Billy interpretations all of which are the highest quality. Each and every one to look forward to. I have just had a rare occurrence - seeing all four Billys in four successive shows over last week and this. Every show a winner. After all these years I have yet to walk out of the VPT without being on Cloud 9. The future skies are overflowing with them.
Pat