April 2016 Reviews - London

[jmh2014]

Thursday Matinee

Thomas/Ben/Hollie

A near full house saw Thomas show off his many talents. He did have to deal with an uncooperative pasty which decided it didn't like the plate and would prefer the floor. With a look that said "you're not supposed to do that" he picked it up and disposed of it as normal, giving his hands a good brush afterwards. He would win the shoe race by a landslide and had so much fun with Ben during Express. His letter was as emotional as always. Skipping seems to be his nemesis and just can't get the part right as he skips over towards the piano.

The hug battle continues with Ruthie, and I think she just took the honours this time.

His angry dance was outstanding and he took his time to survey the well deserved ovation.

Hollie was her normal stroppy Debbie. She really does produce some wonderful expressions.

Deka and Matthew have stepped up the intensity of their fight and the raw emotion is there for all to see.

The affection that Ruthie has for Thomas was evident during the goodbye scene. The "p*** before I start to cry" line was redundant as she had gone long before that. This clearly affected Thomas, but taking time he composed himself for the rest of the scene.

Ben's natural comic ability always lifts the spirits, and his tutu antics must rank with the best.

Thanks to all the cast for making another 3 hours fly by.

[jmh2014]

Thursday April 7th Evening

Final “official” show for:
Euan Garret
Nathan Jones
Beatrice Bartley
Jack Forina
Noah Miller
Bedlington Ballet Girls

The ballet girls always deserve more credit that they receive. Last night the Bedlington ballet girls signed off in style. Their dancing during Shine and Solidarity stand out, but there is so much more to admire, the competition between them, the pushing, the shouting and as much as anything else, the wonderful facial expressions. They would also be involved in a live theatre collector’s item. Everything was progressing as expected during Shine, until halfway through, when a tap shoe flew off the stage into the audience. Cue fits of laughter on stage and in the audience. It is a real testament to Ruthie that she just managed to sing through her laughter. As for the tap shoe, this was caught by a young girl in Row G. Sadly there was no souvenir for her as it was quickly retrieved by a staff member.

With so many on stage for the last time it was destined to be a special show. Small boy Jack started the show and he always sings away sat on Big Davey’s shoulders. He would produce 3 loud shouts to start the boxing scene.

The letter would prove to be a watershed moment and push to everyone to even greater heights. As Euan visibly broke down, he took a lot of the audience and Ruthie with him. The hug between them would also prove to be emotional.

It was clear during the pre-Angry Dance scene that Euan was just keeping his emotions in check and when it came to the dance he let out everything. Passion and rage personified and as he collapsed on the stage there was an instant standing ovation for him to savour as he walked off stage.

Howard and Matthew kicked off the 2nd half with the front of curtain routine and Matthew really interacts with the audience during this. MCMT allowed everyone to have fun before Deka delivered a deeply heart felt rendition of “Deep Into the Ground”

Nathan then lifted everyone’s spirits with his unique tutu routine which included Euan mimicking some of his movements.

Dream Ballet with James Butcher was a dream and it’s noticeable that Deka allows the ovation to continue just a bit longer than usual. The following scenes between him and Ruthie and then Tony were dramatically stunning culminating with both Deka and Matthew throwing everything at each other.

Electricity was perfect and as the crescendo built towards the end, applause started at the final pirouettes. As Euan landed his wall flip and gave his customary double fist pump, he received what appeared to be a complete standing ovation. He just stood there arms aloft surveying the scene. This was an ovation that went on and on and on. Normally this would die down as Euan lowers his arms, but not this time. It took the dimming of the lights for that to happen.

Billy getting the news that he’s been accepted being coupled with the news that the strike is over is the strength of the entire show, always coupling light with dark. As Euan turned to look at Matthew for him to deliver the pit closing speech the tears started again and drove Matthew into uncharted emotional territory delivering the speech with a hand on Euan’s shoulder.

The goodbye scene with Ruthie - well she’d gone long before the end along with many of us.

For once Deka didn’t grab the folded-shirt from Euan and throw it on the floor and we ended up with the scarf on top of Deka’s head.

As Nathan called Euan back onto the stage, the kiss on the cheek was accompanied by a hand on the arm.

Thankfully a fun filled finale provided much needed relief to a show that was fitting for all those that were leaving but especially for Euan. Phil Snowden was up to his tricks again, pulling Nathan’s hat down over his eyes at the end.

In such a short space of time he has achieved so much and given the level of his performance now, it is a real shame that we won’t get to see just how much better he can get. It was a very special night full of memories to last a lifetime.

[DenP]

Three photos of yesterday's show.

[Flyin high]

Well, it ended for me just as it all started....with a Saturday matinee show at the glorious VPT.

In truth, I was disappointed that I didn't get to see a tag team of billys this afternoon. After all the last 'official' shows this week, I was convinced they would run this in the afternoon too. But what I did get to see was a truly moving display of such raw emotion. You might think the cast would be holding back just a little for the final evening show, but they didn't at all. And I was honored to witness the final 'whole' show with the senior Billy, Michael and Debbie in action.

Wow! I don't know what else to say. You could really feel all the characters really saying goodbye in their farewell scenes. The sincerity that was shining through their acting was touching beyond belief.

I felt happy that people stood for Michael at the end of expressing. He got his standing ovation! Brodie's electricity was truly electric. He got a cheer for adding a new cheeky criss cross move into his skipping They all gave it their everything and then some. I laughed. I cried. I felt happy. I felt sad.

I really can't wait to read the reports and reviews of the tag team final performance. Wish wish wish I could've been there for the evening....

Thanks Billy. Thanks for everything what you did.
Love you forever.

[CJ-Rochester]

Saturday, April 9 - Final London Show (for now)

Billys - Brodie,Euan,Nat,Thomas
Michaels - Ben,Bradley,Nathan
Debbies - Beatrice,Connie,Holly

(Hopefully I captured all of this correctly. Feel free to let me know if I missed something.)

Liam Mower was the first to take the stage, giving us some fun facts and figures. A total of 531 child cast members have performed in BETM at the Victoria Palace over these 11 years. Then Liam called Stephen Daldry to the stage. Stephen introduced Malcom from the East Durham Trust, the charity which will be aided by proceeds from tonight's show. Malcom gave a heartfelt description of the situations he deals with in the Easington area. Then Stephen explained how the 'tag' show will work, in that not just Billys will switch off, but Debbies and Michaels too.

I need to spend some more time sorting through my notes to give a full account but wanted to point out some of the highlights:

-At the start of Shine, when Mrs. W. enters and calls out "CHAIRS", tonight it was:
"Now...for the last time....CHAIRS", to great applause.

-George's boxing class had record attendance. Brodie and Bradley were joined by 3 Tall Boys, and 4 Small Boys doing the press-ups. We heard quite a chorus of "bloody hell". When George dismissed the class, there was quite a parade out the door. All of the Small Boys called out w**ker as they exited.

-Euan did Express and The Letter. Express was also quite fun, in that it started with Ben as Michael but the other two Michaels joined in the dancing, before the big dresses came out. It was fun watching four boys doing this number. They were having a great time!

-In the toilet scene after to Born to Boogie, three Debbies appeared from various stalls for Brodie to consider the offer of a special peek.

-Angry Dance featured numerous switches, starting with one Billy, then another, etc. All four joined together on stage to throw bricks at the riot shields, they all finished the number as a team. It was an incredible sight to see four Billys dancing Angry Dance in unison!!!

-Act 2 featured a fantastic Electricity by Nat, the only Billy I've seen who does three distinct aerials or no hands flips during this number.

-The goodbye scene with Billy and Mrs. W. started with Euan in the scene. When Billy heads over to the door, all of the other Billys appeared and clustered behind him. Ruthie lost it at this point, as she looked over at these kids whom she loves. Through tears and sniffling she called them each individually by real name:
"You Nat, and you Brodie, and you Thomas, and you Euan, are all very f--in special."
Before leaving she walked over to them and gave each one an affectionate touch on the shoulder or a hug. All of this made the "now piss off before I start to cry" line seem irrelevant, but she said it anyway. I think that line actually helped her to stop crying. This was one of the most emotional pieces of theater I've ever seen!

-As was previously mentioned in the press, the Easington Colliery Band joined in the evening. They came up on stage and played to Once We Were Kings, standing along both sides with the rest of the villagers. They also accompanied the Letter Reprise. It was a very nice added touch!

-The final Billy/Michael scene ended like many leaving shows in the US do: See ya Nathan. Yeah, see ya Brodie.

-When the curtain rose for the curtain call, there was Elton John! He motioned for the four Billys to come on stage for bows, then the rest of the cast, the former Billys present, as well as the major creative team (Stephen Daldry, Elton John, Lee Hall, Julian Webber).

Here's a breakdown of the major individual moments:
Billys - Euan -Express and The Letter, Brodie - Born to Boogie and Letter reprise, Thomas - Dream Ballet, Nat - Electricity. Solidary, Angry Dance, and the finale were group efforts.
Michaels - Bradley - boxing scene, Ben - Express (with Bradley and Nathan joining the dance portion), Nathan - tutu scene.

What a brilliant way to end this 11 year run!
--Chris

[emcpow]

Saturday 9th April – final London show

Firstly I just want to say that the London show had quite a send off and I couldn’t have asked for a better show to end a fantastic 11 year run.

Sorry if this gets a bit long but I’m going to try to give a blow-by-blow account of tonight’s show including all the intricacies of the multiple tags.

So after a few introductory speeches from Liam Mower, Stephen Daldry and a representative from the East Durham Trust, the show kicked off.

At the start of the show we had Thomas as Billy, Ben as Michael, Beatrice as Debbie, Noah as TB, and Sonny as SB. The first change came when Thomas came down the stairs with his trainers and Brodie appeared on stage. Thomas shouted at Brodie that he was going to be late, threw the boxing gloves over Brodie’s head and then ran off the stage.

Brodie then continued into the boxing scene where he was met with a larger than usual class, which consisted of Bradley as Michael, four small boys and three tall boys, which caused much laughter from the audience. George Norris did the honours of shouting the “Jesus’s”, which he did with much vigour. At the end of the scene there was a long line of boys leaving the hall with George N at the tail end with the big bag. There was a chorus of “see ya, George” from all four small boys, to which was replied “see ya, boys”. George N then let out an extremely loud “w**ker!” to much effect. Lewis played the part of tall boy in this scene.
Brodie also played Billy for the whole of Shine with the Dinnington ballet girls (who did the entire show) giving it their all. Connie was playing Debbie and was brilliant as usual. As Brodie started the shadow dance after Shine he was joined by Nat, who then took over for Grandma’s song. Nat exited the stage with Grandma and when Billy appeared for the start of Solidarity he was now being played by Euan.

From the start of Solidarity Hollie had taken over the role of Debbie. When Mrs W shouted “Oi, Rudolph Nureyev” Euan disappeared out of the door at the back corner and Thomas appeared and did the turns across the stage, ending in front of Ruthie. Ruthie then gave Thomas a quizzical look then walked across the stage to look out of the door through which Euan had disappeared, then shrugged her shoulders and just said “OK”, still looking a bit confused. Thomas then ran off the stage but when he returned, having got changed, he ran straight off the other side of the stage and was closely followed by Nat who proceeded to do the ballet exercises at the back of the stage during the bit where the miners and ballet girls dance together.

Then the miners and policemen gathered at the front of the stage with not one but two chairs behind them with two Billys, Nat and Brodie. Deka (dad) then came over to talk to them and when Tony shouted “Dad!”, Deka said “give me a minute” and then turned back to deal with his now two sons. He finished with “I’ll see you two later”. Brodie took over as Billy and did a beautiful “pick up the biscuit” pose, which he managed to hold even while the audience applauded him. After Brodie skipped to the back of the stage Euan took over. Meanwhile, Beatrice took over from Hollie as Debbie. Euan did the section with all the ballet girls at the front of the stage and then holding hands with the ballet girls continued round the corner of the stage. Then Thomas appeared to do the chaine turns across the front of the stage on the command “Billy, spot!”.

As the words “Prepare, fourth, pirouette” were shouted, the three other Billys appeared behind the rest of the cast to do this as well. Then, one by one they joined in to do the final Billy solo section of Solidarity. This culminated in all four weaving between each other and then Nat doing the final turns with the others joining in for a double pirouette at the end.

As Deka entered the hall he was met by four sons who one by one ran off the stage shouting “shit”, leaving just Euan, who went to run, then realised he was the only one left so looked and Deka and said “shit”. Deka then looked at Euan and also said “shit” in a knowing way.

Euan remained as Billy into Express where Ben, who was playing Michael, gave a really fantastic and hilarious performance. After the first tap section Bradley joined them on stage. Euan asked, “Who’s this?” and Ben replied, “Me, there are two me’s!”. Then a few seconds later Nathan arrived too with a similar exchange. Then the three Michaels and Euan finished off Express. It was great to see all the Michaels performing together.

Euan then went on to perform a very moving rendition of The Letter, showing off his fine acting skills. After Mr Braithwaite’s Diaghilev speech, Brodie appeared through the door saying “Eh?” and then they started Born to Boogie with Brodie and Euan, one in front of the other, moving in unison. When Brodie turned to run towards the chair, Euan exited the stage. Brodie then did Born to Boogie, including some impressive skipping and a perfect piano flip.

Connie was on hand to do the honours in the proposal scene, but once she’d made the offer Hollie appeared above one toilet and the other opened and Beatrice was standing there. Brodie looked around at the three Debbies and said “well…” whilst counting to three on his fingers, weighing up the situation, and then said “naaaa”.

In the pre-Angry Dance scene Brodie went to leave then came running back in and straight off the other side of the stage followed by Nat and Mrs W. Nat then kicked off Angry Dance with lots of rage. As he danced to the left of the stage, after coming down off the bed, Thomas appeared. They high fived, then Thomas took over until he dropped into the box. As the box came up both Thomas and Euan were in there together, both dancing. Then the box dropped down and Euan climbed out of the top. He shouted “Come on Billy” and danced to the right of the stage, swinging the ballet shoes as he went. He was then joined by Brodie and they danced together until just before they were about to jump on the shields, when they were joined by Thomas and Nat. All four Billys leapt onto the shields and then did the rest of the dance in unison. The sight of four Billy dancing in front of the shields was amazing and incredibly powerful. As the four of them dropped to the floor at the end of the dance the whole audience were on their feet to give them the ovation they deserved.

At the start of the second act we had Brodie as Billy, Bradley as Michael, Hollie as Debbie, George M as SB and Caspar as TB. For the singing at the end of MCMT, Beatrice took over as Debbie. Nathan then took over as Michael for the winter scene, where he performed his very unique “just a little bit” routine and gained a round of applause for his splits.
Brodie prepared himself for Dream Ballet, then just as he was about to take the chair Thomas came in and took over. Dream Ballet was beautiful with Thomas showing off his lovely ballet skills.

Beatrice played Debbie in the scene between Dad and Mrs W. Thomas continued as Billy into the audition scene. Caspar played posh boy to perfection and even gained a well-deserved round of applause for his “don’t be so silly”. Thomas then smashed Caspar’s head against the curtain very effectively, at which point Nat appeared through the door looking horrified.

Nat then performed Electricity. Whenever Nat does Electricity it’s spectacular, but tonight he just gave it everything. Everything was just perfect and performed with such grace and finesse. There were many gasps and cheers from the audience as he performed his turns and leaps and gravity defying acrobatics. The triumphant final spins were lightning fast and Nat landed without a wobble into the final pose. The audience erupted. Everyone was on their feet. Eventually Nat’s face broke into a smile, which only served to further the applause. I’m sure that’s a moment that Nat will remember forever.

We then had the soup kitchen scene where Ben was Michael and Jack was SB. In the RBS letter scene, when Nat turned to look at the letter Euan came in and read out “William Elliot is queer”. He then turned to look at Nat, confused. Nat grinned at Euan, then clicked and pointed at him and ran off the stage. Euan took the letter up to his bedroom to read it and up the stairs appeared the other 3 Billys and then all 4 of them sat on the bed together reading the letter. The other three peered over the bannisters as Euan announced that he “didn’t get in” and then they disappeared along with the bed.

In the goodbye to Mrs W scene, Hollie played Debbie. When the ballet girls and Debbie had left, Euan said the first line to Mrs W and then each Billy appeared one by one, saying a line each. Barely able to hold back the tears, Ruthie then said, “Nat, Brodie, Thomas and Euan, you are all very f*in” special”. She then went round and gave each boy a hug. By this point most of the audience were finding it hard not to cry.

After this scene there was an incredibly special moment. Easington Colliery Band marched onto the stage to play Once We Were Kings. This song has never sounded better than it sounded tonight with the sound of a full brass band ringing out through the auditorium. The cast sung the song very passionately.

Dead Mum then appeared for the Letter scene with a very emotional Brodie who was crying by this point. At the end of the song Dead Mum stepped forward and gave Billy a massive hug as the band played the hymn Abide With Me. This was an incredibly moving moment and I doubt there was a dry eye in the house by this point.

As Brodie walked down the aisle, Nathan appeared on stage. Brodie rushed back to give Nathan the final kiss and then as he walked away said, “see ya, Nathan” and Nathan sad there looking heartbroken and said “yeah, see ya Brodie”. What a special moment. Then down came the final curtain.

As the curtain rose there was just one person on the stage, a man who needs no introduction – Elton John. He called the four Billys up and took a bow with them. They then invited the rest of the cast and all the former Billys in attendance onto the stage.

We then had the finale, which Brodie started but was then joined by the others for a great celebratory dance. The ballet girls and the rest of the cast gave it their all while the audience showed their appreciation with much clapping and cheering. Brodie, Nathan and Connie did the final chairlift to rapturous applause.

Then the curtain came up again and the whole cast including the other two teams of ballet girls were on stage. The former Billys were there too, but now wearing the classic Billy t-shirts. Elton John, Stephen Daldry, Lee Hall and Julian Webber joined them for the final bow as the confetti cannons went off.

Finally, the curtain came down on an absolutely brilliant night, celebrating 11 extraordinary years of Billy Elliot in London.

So “See ya, Billy” and I hope to see you back one day soon.

[thm]

Thank you so much for the detailed reviews. I much enjoyed reading them. Now I ran out of tissues!

[jmh2014]

Last nights show brought the curtain down on BETM at the VPT in spectacular style. The atmosphere was electric the whole time.

From the moment all the boys said to Ruthie "We could never have done it without you", the emotion in the theatre skyrocketed. Add in Ruthie's heartfelt speech to each of them and the Brass band playing "Once We Were Kings" and tear ducts didn't stand a chance. Emotional as it was for the audience, one can only imagine what it was like to be stage. The answer would be provided by Brodie. As the miners descended into the pit you could see him wiping his own eyes. A truly magical and special memory.

"See ya, Nathan" and the audience erupted. Followed by, "Yeah, see ya Brodie" and there was never a chance that the final scene would be played out in silence as is the norm.

A huge thank you to all involved on providing a once in a lifetime event.

[Bridget40]

Thanks for those excellent and comprehensive reviews C.J, Emcpow and Jmh2014. You have covered pretty much everything so instead of going over the mechanics of how the show was performed I just want to add a few thoughts.

For me, it was a magical and emotional night of entertainment, and I could not have imagined it to have been any better than it was. I feel very fortunate to have witnessed last nights performance.

It's difficult to pick out highlights because the whole show was just so superb. I loved the boxing scene, very cute and very funny! Solidarity was brilliant from start to finish. Michael had everyone giggling during Express, and Euan was the perfect pick for The Letter scene! Angry Dance was never my favourite part of the show, but with all four Billy's..... it blew me away last night. Dream Ballet with Thomas Hazelby was magical as always.

All four Billy's, three Michaels, and three Debbies were so very good. Hollie even handled her little tumble like a real pro. I do not know any of them, but felt very proud of them last night. I can only imagine what their parents must have been feeling?

I felt nervous for Nat before Electricity. The show had gone so well up to that point, that I really wanted Electricity to be as good as it could be. He nailed the whole thing perfectly. It was a beautiful thing to watch, and Deka's reaction said it all. I love the way Nat stays in character pretty much the whole time he is on stage. His standing ovation last night was so long though that he had to smile and show a bit of himself. I don't think I have seen a better Electricity than his. I have seen others do pretty much the same routine, but none with the same pose and grace. Someone screamed out......"Your my favourite Nat."

Deka put his heart and soul into last night. I have always got the impression that he truly loves, and cares about the show that he is in. Thank you Deka.

Ruthie is a West End legend for a reason, and we saw it last night. The scene where she says goodbye to her Billy's, or Brodie, Thomas, Nat and Euan as she called them is something I will always remember. It was perfect, and she was right..... Each of those boys is very f****n special. I don't think there was a dry eye in the whole house, or up on stage.

The whole cast really did produce the goods when it really mattered. Not just the main players, but everyone. Personally, I was very happy to see the very long serving Caspar get a round of applause as posh boy, it was well-deserved as emcpow says.

The end was a blur because I had lost the plot due to the emotion of the occasion. Once were kings was sung with a force and a passion I have not heard before, fittingly helped by The Easington Colliery band and the sight of the amazing, and tearful Brodie Donougher just sent me over the edge.

An amazing night, and a fitting end to Billy's journey at The VPT. See ya Billy, and thanks for the magical memories!

[jmh2014]

During the raffle draw for Saturday's matinee, Howard was gently heckled over winning ticket 84. His response "And the winning ticket is 8 and 3 83." Brought the house down and had Brodie clapping the side of the bucket.

For the evening people claimed 84, 83, and 82. This time "And the winning ticket is 8 and 5 85"