September 2011 Reviews - London

[paul30003]

As promised, here is my review of Adams performance on Saturday 10th September.

Actually, I feel a little guilty as Ryan’s review is much longer. Two shows in a day? its hard to remember everything. I think next time I will have my laptop with me to write the review or at least take some notes in between shows.

Well I have now seen Adam 3 times and it is clearly evident that he is settling in to his Role as Billy. Saturday matinee was a confident relaxed performance, which was a massive step up on the first performance that I see. It’s natural for the first or early performances to be a little daunting, that’s just the way it is. I’m very interested to see how Adam progresses.

I find it absolutely amazing how he can drop his American accent and pick up perfectly the Geordie tone.

Adam is a great dancer and singer and the acting and delivery his lines are coming on very well.

Just to highlight a couple of scenes from the show.

Adam put on a great Express with Joe Massy that had me chuckling away.

Born to Boogie was excellent.
Angry dance was a strong performance.
We all know that Adam is a dancer, so naturally Dream ballet was excellent.

Electricity was confident and was delivered very well.

Well done Adam, Overall it was a very enjoyable show; I’ll look forward to your next performance.

Cheers

[dancingboy]

Thursday (evening) 15 September

THE EAGLE HAS LANDED

It was some weeks ago that I last saw Adam Vesperman in the title role of Billy and I was anxious to see the progress, if any, he had made in the meantime. I am pleased to say that the progress was there for all to see as he put on a sparkling performance on Thursday night.

Adam was aided and abetted by the ever-chuckling Joe Massey as Michael, with a particularly hilarious Boxing scene, that had the audience,not only laughing,but applauding as well,although this was partly down to seeing Adam moon walking across the stage when preparing himself to box Michael.

From what I had seen of Adam previously I was aware that his dancing was his strong point and this certainly continued on Thursday evening. He was impressive during B2B,especially with some faultless and fast skipping ,whilst his balletic skills came to the fore in Dream Ballet and a well danced Electricity,which,quite rightly received a standing ovation (at least from the regulars).

There is, no doubt,though that it is in Adam's acting where progress has been made.The delivery of his lines is much improved, as has his Geordie accent (which must be somewhat difficult to grasp for a boy from Seattle). I do wish,though, that,at times,Adam would tone down his voice a little. Some lines are best said ''sotto voce''. Adam seems to be naturally wide-eyed and this was put to good use when he was being knocked about across the stage by the Ballet girls.

I do wish, however, that he would smile more, both during and at the end of the show. Other than that I very much enjoyed Adam's performance and feel that he will grow from strength to strength.

There are two comments I wish to finish on. Firstly, for future reference, although the audience on Thursday evening was very receptive throughout the show, some of them applauded at the end of The Letter scene.However wellthat is performed, applauding then is tantamount to sacrilege. That scene is a very emotional one and an important part of the show and a few seconds are needed to take in what has been said and the relevance of it. Finally,and I repeat something I have mentioned before,for which I make no apology, no show would be the same without the senior cast, the Ensemble and,ofcourse,the Ballet girls and they all performed tremendously well to make the show a joy to see. ''Well Done'' everyone.

[burtond]

Here, Here!

[paul30003]

Matinee review 17th September 2011

Dean, Connor and Emily Williams for this afternoon’s matinee performance.

Audience started very flat for the first act, but Dean seemed to be in a very happy mood. With this, the audience certainly livened up for the second act. Big smiles from Dean all afternoon.

The ballet girls done, as usual a really great job in Shine and pushed and shoved Billy around the stage, much to his displeasure. There goofy smiles at the start really makes me laugh, a real credit to them.

Dean and Connor done a class act at Express, with his infamous French “So how’s about a look in zee mirror” Many laughs and smiles from both Dean and Connor throughout this performance.

Great emotional Letter scene. He’s does so well to convince the audience that he is truly upset about the loss of his mother.

Dean seemed to be a bit slow getting his shoes on at the end of B2B so rather than flip from the piano, as a professional he improvised this part and chose to flip on the floor. The dancing was first rate though.

Angry dance was at his usual high standard, it’s one of my favourite parts of the show whoever is playing the role of Billy. Its dance and emotional acting rolled into one and this is one of the parts where the Billy’s really shine.

Electricity was perfectly performed. Great smiles at the end for the prolonged applause and I’m sure he appreciated the standing ovation from a couple of us who felt compelled to stand after this stunning part.

Great smiles throughout Finale from the whole cast.

Overall after a flat start from the audience which warmed up for the second act, it was a great very enjoyable show.
All credit the cast as a whole who put on a really great performance.

Well done all.

Cheers
Paul

[patc]

Thursday Matinee 22nd September

Adam, Reece, Francesca

Dad: David Bardsley
Tony: Stevie Hutchinson
Grandma: Gillian Elisa
George: Craig Armstrong
Dead Mum: Dawn Buckland
Mr. B: Russell Wilcox
Big Davey: Spencer Cartwright
Older Billy: Sergio Giacomelli

I quite like it that there is no Billy schedule. I enjoy arriving at the theatre on the day and glancing at the Board to see “who’s on today”. It’s a bit like the old days, wondering what gift had Santa brought. In that parcel at the end of the bed is there a Meccano engineering set, a Hornby train set, a Bayko construction set or a huge jigsaw puzzle? Like the Billys, all different but all brilliant and something to look forward to.

The gift for today’s matinee was Adam and he engineered a fantastic three hours, constructed a unique and entertaining Billy, filled in all the parts of the jigsaw and led us down the tracks towards every emotion imaginable.

The highlight dances were mega.
Angry Dance:
Last week Josh had forced one of the riot police to have one of the floor tiles for afternoon tea ( a first for me) so the squad were ready this week and kept their shields close to their chests and heads but that didn’t stop Adam taunting and teasing them while all the while tapping his angry beat in unison with the roaring batons. At the end I was glad that Adam didn’t look down at Row B because the raging look in his expressive eyes caused me to turn around to see if the people in the front row of the Dress Circle were still breathing.

Dream Ballet: This week Sergio took on the mantle and he and Adam delivered a delicious and memorable flight of fancy.

Electricity:
Lost for words I am. Every note of the music enhanced by a corresponding magical foot or body movement. Even the smooth running Colossus Computer at Bletchley Park could not have matched this precision.

Into all this Reece and Francesca blended their natural talents like a computer program subroutine except they were not independent of the main code but an essential part of it.

With all the mainline adult cast missing except for Genevieve we had a fistful of alternates but the best compliment I can pay to all was that the show was as exciting, exhilarating, moving, hilarious and rewarding as ever and I went home on the usual cloud 9.

On that journey home I was thinking that during the daytime while some of us are enjoying afternoon cream tea, relaxing in the garden, flying our MS Flight Simulators, perhaps playing golf or even canoeing down a leisurely river in the Dordogne, Adam, Reece, Francesca and Co. were sweating blood and tears in rehearsals just to make sure that we could enjoy the most fantastic entertainment. Well, I can tell them all. It was all worth while and we did. As we say in Gaelic, “Go raibh míle maith agaibh”.

Pat

[dancingboy]

Pat, as much as I would have liked to have been cruising down the river with a Pimm's in one hand, all I had to look forward to yesterday was taking the cat to the vet's, mowing the lawn, shopping and picking up my grandson from school , so I am very pleased that you enjoyed your slice of American Pie, in the shape of Adam Vesperman. As always, a pleasure to read your review,Pat, and that you praised the supporting cast. Where would we be without them? There's never a bad show is there?

See ya sunshine.

dancingboy

[angelenroute]

As we say in Gaelic, “Go raibh míle maith agaibh”.

Pat

My dad was from Inchicore, Dublin (I still have first cousins there), and though I can say about 6-10 Gaelic phrases in person, I have no idea how to spell them. I'm guessing your phrase means something other than "what a colossal waste of time". =) Anyway, thanks for the great review!

Sean

[patc]

Well, Sean, basically the phrase is the equivalent of "Thanks a million"

In my footballing days I knew Inchicore quite well. Seems a long time ago now

Pat

[Billy Whiz]

Thanks everybody for the great reviews.

[dancingboy]

Wednesday 21 and Friday 23 September

Patc hit the nail on the head earlier this week by saying that no matter who of the current Billy's is in the title role it makes absolutely no difference to the show and that is how it should be. Each has their own idiosyncratic way of playing the part and we 'love' them for it and would not want it any other way.

My visits to the Victoria Palace this week have coincided with two performances from the Master Baker, known affectionately amongst his fans as Josh. Whether it is singing tenderly in the Letter scene, then holding his emotions in check; fooling around admirably with both Joe (on Wednesday) and Reece (on Friday) during Expressing Yourself; perfectly timed Angry Dances,although this is not as angry as others perform it, and ending with supremely confidently danced balletic Electricity, Josh gives nothing less than 100% effort and energy and this seems to transmit itself back to the audience. Josh loves to look down at Rows B and C just to see if the regular fans are in attendance and when we are it seems to give him a lift and he never disappoints us with his performance.

On both nights Josh finished his Electricity with about 20 or so pirouettes and I have to say that, on Wednesday, his performance in this number almost brought the house down. The ovation, with many of the audience standing, went on for a long time and,I think, that Josh was visibly moved by this. Again, on Friday,although the number of those standing was somewhat less, the ovation Josh received was similarly loud and long and was fully deserved.

Josh's smiling face, of course, comes into its own during Finale, which is performed with great enthusiasm by all the cast. Josh reacts well, not only with the cast, but the audience too. One final word about Wednesday.I have never seen a Small Boy so animated as young Harry was. He played his part with great gusto and sang along to the songs when he had the chance, so ''Well Done'' to Harry too. A Billy in the making? I wonder.

It just goes to prove that we are never let down by the ''Best show in Town''. Congratulations then go to Josh, Reece,Joe, Francesca,Harry and all the cast for providing me with some welcome and uplifting entertainment during this week.