January 2010 Reviews - London

[burtond]

I wonder if he teared the hamstring doing those splits!

[Billy Whiz]

I wonder if he teared the hamstring doing those splits!

I don't think Sean had been doing the splits for quite a while before his injury.

[FromRussia]

Pat said:

Are you sure about this? Phil Snowden has been playing Mr. B for about six weeks, maybe even longer and nobody has seen Sean Kingsley in that time.
Can Westletonion confirm this?

Phil Snowden did indeed play Mr B on Wednesday evening.

My bad! Sorry, still mixing up the actors. I'll work on it, I promise!

[patc]

still mixing up the actors

No problem. At least we now know the situation re Sean. I wish him a speedy recovery.
I recall that his predecessor, Alex Delamere, also had some long term injuries requiring the use of crutches during his time as Mr. B.

Phil is doing a fantastic job in the role, as usual.

I was at both shows on Thursday. In the matinee it was the experienced trio of Tom, George, Francesca that did the honours and in the evening it was the opposite with the all new combo of Dean Charles, Connor K and Emily. Two absolutely fantastic yet different shows with brilliant performances from all six youngsters.

Tall and Small Boy did great jobs. SB must have had to run for his train as he didn't come on at the end of the Finale.

Considering the crazy weather the attendances were good and both audiences were lively and appreciative.

In the evening the ballet girls were one shy with Jackie Elliot not having anyone on his knee in Solidarity and just three angels at the end of Maggie Thatcher.

Tracey Atkinson did a brilliant interpretation of a spinning top heading for the edge of the cliff (stage). She had it fully under control, of course, but made it look as if she was heading for the big drop only to be grabbed by Mrs. W at the last minute.

Joanna has beautifully crafted a whole new Mrs. W. There are so many big moments to treasure but there are a couple of small ones I particularly love. Firstly, in the after-row-with-Dad Toilet scene with Billy where she looks to have got through to him to come to the Monday night lessons and pinches him playfully on the cheek with a smile. It's a lovely moment but, seconds later, the "connection" is broken with Billys apparent reluctance. Later at the goodbye scene her initial cold indifference to his departure softens when she realises that Billy genuinely will miss her and is not afraid to tell her so. I find this extremely moving.

One other change of music I forgot to mention in previous reviews is that used in the first Dad/Tony confrontation in the kitchen where Tony gets clobbered. The previous "dunk, dunk, dunk, dunk" high-tension-filled piece has been replaced by a somewhat quieter but very effective piece of ominous, rumbling, miscontent underscoring. Brilliant.

In relation to earlier comments re loss of mic in certain instances this certainly does happen but there is one line that seems to be missed on a regular basis. After the Scab departs leaving the money on the floor to be collected together by Billy, Billy's line "Can we use it, Dad?" is missed. Although later he repeats the line the first one appears to be a lead in for Tony to change his mind as Dad looks bewildered and all at sea.

Pat

[burtond]

Great reviews for Thursday Patc, and a pleasure to meet you briefly. Considerable respect that you fly across the Irish Sea on a very regular basis to support the show.

Thoroughly enjoyed the trio of Tom, George and Francesca at the matinee performance - am trying to work out where Tom hurt himself. There was clearly a little problem as during the dream ballet, he intentionally omitted the little sequence where he throws himself on the foot of the older Billy to be carried across his body; there was the omission of the final flip over in Electricity; the several flips from the back of the stage to the front during the final curtain sequences and the fact that towards the end of the show he was visibly limping.

Hope that Tom recovers from this quickly - he makes a superb Billy - fantastic emotion during the letter.

[patc]

Yes, burtond, nice to meet you on Thursday. The Thursday matinees are great shows to attend with usually several Forum members and other regulars present.

am trying to work out where Tom hurt himself.

When Tom tumbled over Older Billy's back in Swan Lake he hit the floor with a loud thump but he got up immediately and quickly told Barnaby that he was OK but, as you mentioned, the next move was omitted. I reckon that:

1. it was the quick thinking Barnaby who decided that and
2. Tom wasn't allowed to do the wallflip even with the slightest of injuries as we have seen before that the company will not take the slightest chance with the welfare of any of the child cast and full marks to them.

Last year there was one instance where Tom had a nosebleed in the kitchen scene row just before Angry Dance. Stalwart that he is, he refused point-blank to come off when waved to do so by the crew at the side of the stage so they walked on, stopped the show and called the Interval. Fox took over for the second half.

Pat

[wert]

Saturday evening was Fox, George and Fleur.
I don't have time for a full review so here is a short one!
It has been 13 months since my last visit so I was interested to see the changes that had taken place. I hadn't seen George or Fleur before and was impressed by both of their performances. George really acted well and seemed to love being Michael which was great to see as in the past I have sometimes felt that there was a certain reluctance to really get into the character of Michael by others. George also has a very good singing voice. Fleur was brilliant as Debbie and what stood out was the way she used her voice to great effect.
Fox was as brilliant as ever and danced, sung and acted his way through a very professional and polished performance. It was also lovely to see him 13 months on.
I liked some changes and missed other bits that had been removed, but over all a really enjoyable evening.
(Apart from the lad sitting directly behind in about C18 who guffawed his way through the performance so loudly in places that you missed the lines of what the actors said next. I'm all for expressing your enjoyment/appreciation, but perhaps it needs to be toned down when it is detrimental to the enjoyment of others who can't hear the stage because all they can hear is some exaggerated "I've seen it before and know what's happens here" laugh.)

[burtond]

London UK – Tuesday 12th January 2010

Billy – Fox
Michael – Jake
Debbie – Fleur

A really vibrant and thoroughly enjoyable performance this evening.

Male ensemble nearly back up to full strength (still waiting for Craig Gallivan to return) and this makes a tremendous difference to the ‘male voice’ sound providing a fullness of harmony as well as real depth.

Sean Kingsley is back in the role of Mr Braithwaite (presume he started back yesterday, being the beginning of the week). Sean’s interpretation of the role is slightly different to Phil Snowden who, mind you, was exceptional during Sean’s absence. Sean is a little more subtle in the character and is also a talented musician who plays the Accordion during the Folk-Song ‘Deep into the ground’. His use of simple chords to accompany Joe Caffery is a brilliant piece of scoring that brings the song to life in an appropriately sensitive way.

There were some excellent cameo performances this evening: Shaun Henson is hilarious as the camp stage assistance in the audition scene – the walk and his arms have me in stitches. A different but enjoyable take on the posh Dad this evening by Mike Scott (never seen him in this role before) glad the wardrobe dept. was able to make the dark pin-stripe suit fit!!

Samantha Seager (Dead Mum) provides real sensitivity during the most emotional and tender scenes and her gentle approach to the role and controlled voice were very moving indeed when played alongside Fox.

Fox (Billy) you were stunning this evening. A delight and joy to watch. Every action, movement and spoken/sung piece was delivered impeccably. Jake and Fleur, equally enjoyable and you make the interaction between these three important characters believable.

Music – lovely. Particularly enjoyed the acoustic guitar sequences with the picked and sliding notes.

I can’t imagine ever getting tired of this wonderful show. Looking forward to tomorrow evening.
David.

[Todd]

A different but enjoyable take on the posh Dad this evening by Mike Scott (never seen him in this role before) glad the wardrobe dept. was able to make the dark pin-stripe suit fit!!

Never heard of Mike Scott playing this role before either ! I'm always amazed at how realistic his toupee looks. Gotta appreciate his loyalty to the show. I believe he's been part of the company since Day 1.

[Billy Whiz]

I've seen Mike Scott play Posh Dad before. It just shows the versatility of these very talented people.