13 february 2016 - opening night Malmö
A fantastic show, I had a darn good time like everyone else in the audience.
They did an excellent job, setting up this swedish adoption of the musical with first-class acting, singing, dancing, music and with everything that you'd expect and some nice surprisingly different bits and of course at some points different interpretation. The swedish audience liked it. So did we (a bunch of BE-pilgrims). The staging is considerably different to the other non-replica shows and some scenes are like only an opera house can do that.
If you actually consider seeing the show in Malmö, don't read this review. I'll tell too much and spoil the surprise. Just trust me it's worth a trip over to Sweden. You'll love it! I'm happy, I secured my première ticket in good time. And so far I have one more!
Billy: Grim Lohman
Michael: David Fridholm
Debbie: Nora Silverberg Johansson
Liten Pojke (SB): Simon Isgar
Stor Pojke (TB): Bill Hallberg
Överklasspojke (Posh Boy): Karl Elofsson
Vuxen (Older) Billy: Robert Thomsen
Balletflickor ( Ballet Girls ) 'Tendu': Sophie, Märtha, Klara, Molly, Emy, Katarina, Lena, Freja, Sophia
And a full 60-piece-orchestra that is placed at the back of the stagehouse and most of the time visible. And no, it's not distracting. In fact less distracting than the musicians at the VPT right in front of the first rows. In some scenes like 'Shine' it adds to it.Often smoke is obscuring the view more or less.
At the start the miners and people of Easington walk in from the sides and sit down or stand around whilst b/w photos are projected onto the panelled safety curtain (or actually it's a wall) and an audio explanation is made.
I liked that powerful moment in 'The Stars Look Down' when the safety curtain slowly lifts up - and behind it the ensemble is standing in one line - lights from the back.
Also with a powerful voice, Billy sings his solo part on the proscenium. If you know the latter part of 'The Stars Look Down' from the VPT's front rows - when the ensemble walks towards the stage rim - and you think that's close? The proscenium here reaches into the audience and the stage floor is very low. If I'd reached out my arm, still leaning back in my seat, I could've touched them. No kiddin'.
Between 'The Stars Look Down' and the breakfast scene, here comes a lttle extra scene, where the miners organise their strike actions and I understand this is well a necessity since the kitchenbedroomstairway tower that took it's time to spin up, thus giving time for the actors to get in position, simply doesn't exist here in the opera.
The scenery is aligned at the back of the stage or say it is dividing the stage from the rest of the stagehouse behind it. There are always extras standing around, smoking, riding a spin bike, sitting on the balkony. Quite a few times I spotted George followed by the boxing lads just passing through - like in shine or Billy's ballet lessons. Thus the rooms like kitchen and Billy's room are used. But the relevant action only happens on the wide open stage. There's no extra decoration for the kitchen scenes. Ensemble and extras use the kitchen-box in the left stage corner, so you can guess where the scene is meant to happen, despite of the gym/locker etc. still visible. Yet for the most of the show a small middle tile of the scenery is moved away, also the intermediate parts occasionally slide off. At the open rehearsal last week, I didn't even realise they moved - eyes focussed on the action!! Very cleverly arranged! Many of the scenes are altered in order to compensate for the large empty stage. That works out very well. All stage-hand works are done by the ensemble.
If you've wondered about the big yellow box on the production photos that Tony is carrying, it's a walkman. Instead of making placards in the breakfast scene, he just listens to music while Dad is trying to speak to him.
One very funny character is Grandma: A bit weird, a bit pitiable, quite spry, quite round, utterly funny! She always drags a bag - bit larger than Billy's bag - grinding on the floor with her.
Dead mum walks in more casually and sit next to Billy on the kitchen table. Secret handshake before she left: I wonder if I'd understand she's dead if I didn't know it.
The boxing scene works the same and is as funny as we know it from London, just a few more kids around at the start. Small Boy calls George a meat ball if I understood that right.
Now Billy gets to meet the Ballet Girls - ending up with the Ballet Girls throwing their hula-hoops onto him.
In the second half of 'Shine' the ballet girl's wear tutus with lightstrips underneath and Mrs.W. a greenish feather-hat also with lights. That's when the orchestra first becomes part of the action. One might argue, as this is not a dream-scene, that a little "cra**y", "second rate" dancing school could not have afforded that Las-Vegas-like showbit, it's not authentic. Billy's response " ..you must be kiddin' - to that cr*p?!" should have been altered to "Yes,yes,yes that's awesome!!".
A funny moment when Mrs. W. and Billy discuss whether he'd owe her 50p for that lesson. Billy is standing at the side. Mr.B., who is doing some stagehands-jobs, takes him up. Billy stiff like a display-dummy is beeing moved and carefully put back to the side of Mr.W. in order to not get away without giving her the 50p.
Grandma's Song starts with Billy chasing after Grandma who with her short legs in too short shuffle-slippers tries to escape with Billy's 'private stuff'. When she starts her song, dancers in white suits and wings - enter, doing a slow-motion choregraphy including the slow roll-overs but it's not meant to be that pub-scene from the original show.
The 'Solidarity' choreography is quite similar to London which I really like the most. Rudolph Nurejev is "as gay as Boy George and Elton John together"! Dad, as he discovers his son to be "prancing around with lasses in tights" gets very angry and displays even less respect towards Mrs.W. and Mr.B..The latter gets to hide in a locker after Dad shouted at him. As Dad is leaving the scene, he all of sudden shouts "Boo!!" to the frightened Ballet Girls and in the same moment a locker door flaps open with a bang and an intimidated Mr.B. steps out.
'Expressing Yourself' - started off by a fully dressed up Michael who hauls his 'room' - a large wooden box - onto the stage. Showtime not only for Michael! Who btw. does too have an impressive voice. Very natural and belivable acting by Grim with a wide range of face expressions, who first acted annoyed about Michael's dressing-up but then both had a blast dancing together. Instead of the dancing dresses we get to see a very colourful bunch of male-dancers in fancy costumes, one of them wireflying. The most of the scenery slid aside to open the view to the orchestra! After the "finish!" Michael has the stage and HIS audience for himself, ok apart from one male-dancer high on a wire that makes that 'call-me' gesture to the audience.
'The Letter' was very emotional. Beautifully sung by Grim. Eventually Mr.B. enters the stage of course - the 'Rose & Crown' is to blame! He gets behind the piano ...one disharmonic accord -
Mr.B. plumped backwards to the floor..
...Billy hurrys to help him...oh! He just forgot to take the chair down from the piano!!
One thing in 'Born to boogie' I liked the most: No rope skipping, no other silly utensils, just boogie and all three can dance!! Then even background dancers appeared in white costumes with white age of rockoco (if you pardon the pun) wigs. That alone is an excellent show-highlight, well again purists may say this is no dream-scene either! But then again why NOT make it one if one can! I liked it much. Eventually Billy does a jump from no, not the piano, but from the table.
Pre-'Angry Dance': It was interesting to learn a little more swedish that is not all found in every dictionary by looking up to the overtitles while Mrs.W. and Tony had their confrontation. After Mrs.W. told about Billy having a Ballet School audition, Billy hid himself in a locker.
Billy's first cry on the table after Dad replied to him that his mum was dead, was nearly inaudible - maybe here a hint to the sounddesk!!!! Billy gets to act very angry throwing chairs aside - one chair made it's way right into the front row!
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nice souvenir!
This scene here in Malmö - unlike other productions - is thankfully 'Angry Dance' not just a riot-scene. The riots are mostly background. Billy does not disappear and dances the whole number. The choreography is good, excellent angry sequences but admittedly at some points..ehm..improvable - I mean the choreography not Grim's dance skills. His dancing is impeccable. And all in all a very angry and fluently performed number! A bit disappointing though that there's no tap here. I'm certain Grim is thoroughly able to tap that number. In the middle he gets involved with the fights - and not unlike a certain superhero's sidekick, he gets to throw a not so small policeman through the air !! An amazingly arranged stunt scene!! And I am not talking about some stunt-double!
When we returned to our seats, the safety curtain down, a Maggie-scalp with vampire-teeth was waiting along with a sign "Jävla Maggie". Just look up the word if you can't guess what it means!
Now the orchestra sets in like an ouverture playing 'Once We Were Kings' largo ,orchestra only, and more b/w photos are projected. The ensemble gathers whilst Maggie talks on the radio. At the christmas party we see a 'living' double-man-sized Vampire-Maggie going around and scaring the kids on stage. At last the kids surroundet her, seized her cape and made her disappear into thin air, just the empty cape fell to the floor. Well, from my seat I could see the two men hurry off stage.
George wears a big real looking mink coat - I just think, that's what the opera had in their costume-fund rather than a red santa-costume! Dad starts his singing like he mocks about the song getting serious as he sings "...I joined the Union..." (that's what the swedish lyrics translate to) hooting from the ensemble, then he turns emotional ...until Billy takes over.
When Michael kissed Billy, he reacted strongly appalled first but then he pulled out the tutu for Michael. The Nutcracker line also has the swedish audience in stitches.
So let me ask a rhetorical question: This production of Billy Elliot the Musical runs in an Opera House. How would you expect the Swanlake number to be like then? Right! That's what they do. That's the stuff they know about. Wow! First Billy just starts his dance with his normal clothes and Older Billy in white glittery costume. Soon there are a bunch of male swans and a huge skyblue backlit window frame appears as background. In it swan- ( or goose-?!?) feathers blown around like in a snowdome. Billy disappears and gets back in white tights and costume and dances some formations with the swans - rousing applause in the middle - and then gets to fly. The swans move behind the window frame and the rest is like London. Ok, laterally reversed. Billy paces towards Dad in that costume. Dad must be amazed!
'He Could Be A Star' works out with just the ballet-bars as requisite, the roll-call man's face is powdered so much, he looks like a dummy. The confrontation scene is quite intense acted. The audition scene is differently arranged. basically after the american version. There's no conversation between Dad and Posh Dad. The passing-through girls are exchanged with male-dancers the one from Glasgow just stops for a smoke...Posh Boy is very small in comparision to Billy, it does not look natural when Billy throws him down to sit on him. Dad and Billy sit on chairs on stage whilst the panel moves into the auditorium, stand behind the stalls seats in spotlight and remain standing there whilst 'Electricity'.
Electricity is an absolute highlight because of Grim's singing. Never heard that song beeing sung so strong and beautifully. Grim put all his emotions in it. Close your eyes, you'd miss his face expressions, but you listen to an aria in the opera. He did a canny dance, I'm not an expert but like ballet-freestyle using all of the big and wide stage. Not so much acrobatics though. But I liked it.
Rousing applause, yet Billy didn't hold his position but went straight to Dad, spoke to him like it was private and went off stage. I assume he lacked some energy as he looked exhausted and was heavily shivering - guess he had some isotonic drink before his next scene. The panelists went down to Dad again, they seemed very impressed and gave him a firm handshake.
Straight after 'Electricity' followed the 'poooost...poooost-scene'. Weirdly enough I spotted Dead Mom in Billy's room with him.
The Palestines-philistines pun works a little different: filéer (fillets) - filistéer (philistines)
'We Were Kings' : Quite similar to the London version - Billy gets the Pirog (Pasty) from Grandma and actually eats it.
The miners went down standing in a long line all over the width of the front stage (orchestrapit-lift).
At the end, after Michael got his kiss, Billy leaves slowly towards the rear stage and disappears in a cloud of smoke - then Older Billy comes out - and finish!
The finale is choreographed close to the London version. Billy dances in his regular costume, blue pants but red girl's tap shoes?!
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After the show the boys were nicely posing for photos and signed autographs in the lobby before the got up to the party.