August 2014 Reviews - London

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patc
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August 2014 Reviews - London

Post by patc »

Thursday Matinee 7th August

Elliott/Zach/Kyria

George: David Bardsley

Older Billy: Lee Hoy

This was a cracking show getting the first Thursday matinee of "Kids’ Month" off to a great start. It’s about three months since the new cast took over the reins and the horse is galloping along very smoothly at this point in time. Ruthie and Chris have settled into their roles after some experimentation and the big angry scenes with Deka are gripping and emotional. Ensemble members have not taken long to gel as one. The end result is a crisp and sharp three hours of high class entertainment.

Returning Small Boy, Max, was first out of the stalls and took up position in the centre of the track followed by the whole field intent on making this an exciting and thrilling event and that’s exactly what it turned out to be.

Last week we got a rare opportunity to see the BETM legend that is David Bardsley play Dad and this week he had the audience in the palm of his hand playing George, an even rarer occurrence. David plays this role with a big twinkle in his eye and his front of curtain scene after the interval was priceless. Previously I’ve mentioned the oft-times not-so-great encouragement for the audience to participate in Maggie Thatcher but David was fantastic on this today and had the clapping going hell for leather as in days of yore. Everyone joined in - not just the front few rows and an already lively audience was whipped up and readied for what was to follow. Interesting that we had three Dad actors on stage today, Deka, David and Steve Paget.

The beginning of Dad’s song, Deep into the Ground, looks to have been sorted out over the past number of weeks. The point at where the accordion enters the equation seemed to vary for a while with a kind of unevenness. From what I can deduce, Deka starts the first verse with no music accompaniment nor hint from the accordion. Mr. B, David Muscat, then hits the one chord on the accordion, Deka points over at him and continues with the song with the accordion in the background. One way or the other it sounds and fits much better.

The Ballet Girls were superb as we have come to expect and Kyria continues to impress with her version of Debbie, still climbing the wall in the toilet scene in a manner that makes my ol’ back twitch with anxiety.

Not so tall Tall Boy, Ryan, did all he was asked to do with style and I was hugely impressed by his method of impact with the curtain which was very realistic.

The Board-at-the-Door declared that the role of Billy would be played by Elliott Hanna, a somewhat simple statement of fact. A bit like stating that the starters on a menu would be asparagus soup. That’s where the simplicity ended. Displaying a stunning, staggering variety of complex talents and high ranking full blown spirit he blew this rapturous audience away with a most brilliant and perfectly paced Billy portrayal that was as good as it gets. This was not just winning the Derby. It was winning the Derby, the Grand National and the Prix de l’Arc all on the same day.

I don’t know if Elliott prefers Angry Dance or Electricity given the choice but both of them were of such quality that I wouldn’t like to be the one to have to choose. Then there was his class acting throughout, a long and spectacular spin across the stage in Solidarity and a magical Dream Ballet with Lee Hoy. The barrel roll over Lee’s back was like a sideways tornado rushing over Table Mountain.

The combination of Elliott and Zach in Expressing was great fun and the dresses were the icing on that particular cake. Zach, of course, creates such a presence of his own on stage that he makes the sun look like a 1 watt candle bulb. More tutu fun Zach-style followed the gentleness of the Winter scene and the final scene was beautifully done. The clapping started way too early but I’ve made myself immune to this by now and can ignore it and immerse myself fully in the poignancy of the moment as poor Michael is left all alone to ponder his fate.

Ann Emery is just amazing. Loved by all, her stage presence and energy has never waned. In fact, it continually goes the other way.

In racing parlance, you always know even as the horses come under starter’s orders that BETM is an odds-on favourite, always goes the distance regardless of the going and is expertly schooled by the connections. Most important of all, it always wins and the punters go home happy and en(rich)ed.

Pat
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Re: August 2014 Reviews - London

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patc wrote:Not so tall Tall Boy, Ryan
I love that line, Pat.

Thanks for the usual brilliant review.
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Re: August 2014 Reviews - London

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Thursday 14th August

Some random thoughts on the two Thursday shows.

Ruthie has really cemented her Mrs W role in place now. She has so many unique touches, different emphases on sentences and even words and the manner in which she is playing the goodbye scene with the Billys is breaking my heart (= I’m lovin’ it).

Bradley (matinee) and Matteo (evening) were simply sensational with inspirational Billy performances. With so many youngsters in the audience (being Kid’s Month) I am quite sure that some of them left the theatre at the end with the intent of emulating them at some point in the future. They will need to work very hard.

Bradley’s acting has reached extraordinary new levels and his performance in the pre-Angry scene followed by an Angry Dance that shook every floorboard and took no prisoners was truly a magnificent sight.

At the beginning of Matteo’s ballet Electricity his mic broke loose but he miraculously performed the entire dance with it swinging like a sideways pendulum at 100mph around his head and face. I couldn’t believe it. He has so many spins and head turns in his Electricity. He didn’t flinch for a second. When he arrived back at front of stage to finish the song the mic wasn’t working so, instead of the words of the song being heard, the knowing audience broke into loud applause. Matteo responded by producing a finish with a 10-spin-a-second salvo that brought thunderous, long applause with many people standing up and recognising what an incredible achievement this was. Quite possibly more than I’ve ever seen barring a last night.

Caspar’s Posh Boy was brilliant. A really great posh accent and then a head-the-ball curtain crasher that was as realistic as it gets. Anyone seeing the show for the first time must have thought he was actually pole-axed.

The entire cast from Small Boys Billy and Max up to Grandma (Gillian) put 100% into both performances and they were rewarded with standing ovations at the end of both shows.

I watched the evening show from a slightly different angle than usual and was amazed at the difference it makes to sight and sound. In the already stunning musical score some instruments were highlighted that tiny bit more and, being a bit more central adds that little something extra to many of the scenes, notably the thumping Riot Squad advance in Angry Dance and all the ballet girl action in Shine and Solidarity. I may experiment a bit more in this regard when next making bookings, maybe even including the keefy-coveted K39 in the Grand Circle :D .

Pat
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Re: August 2014 Reviews - London

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Thank you for another wonderful review, Pat.

Where did you sit for the evening show?
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Re: August 2014 Reviews - London

Post by ERinVA »

Good to hear from you again, Cha. :D Thanks for taking the time to tell us about the two shows you saw.
Ellen



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Re: August 2014 Reviews - London

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ERinVA wrote:Good to hear from you again, Cha. Thanks for taking the time to tell us about the two shows you saw.
Yes. Welcome back Cha! It really is great to see a post from you again!

I know Ellen and some of the regulars on here know how much you contributed to the information we got about the Korean BETM shows when they were running. I hope we'll see more from you now that you're living in Paris, just across the channel from the VPT. Sounds like tough duty there for you in the "City of Light", but someone's got to do it, right? :lol:
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Re: August 2014 Reviews - London

Post by kport »

A very positive blogger's review (we see so few of these, good or bad, these days, from London):

http://intervalicecream.com/2014/08/19/ ... %E2%9C%AA/

Ruthie Henshall has been drafted in as Mrs Wilkinson (presumably in time to feature on the September live recording and subsequent DVD release)
But .... an upcoming DVD from the live broadcast? Now THAT is news! Let's see if it is really true!!
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Re: August 2014 Reviews - London

Post by kport »

I see that the reference to a recorded dvd from the live broadcast (linked in the previous post) has been deleted from this blogger's review:

http://intervalicecream.com/2014/08/19/ ... %E2%9C%AA/
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Re: August 2014 Reviews - London

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Thursday Matinee 21st August

Bradley/Tomi/Demi

Watching Bradley mature as Billy has been a most satisfying and enjoyable experience for the regular viewer of BETM. In newspaper parlance Bradley never rushed into print. He concentrated on ensuring he got all the basics right and he is (and we are) now enjoying the fruits of all that hard work and we saw the perfect example of that again today at the matinee where a big house was treated to a fantastic show packed with thrills, emotion and exceptional skills.

The notice on the box-office window indicated that the only alternate on duty would be Gillian as Grandma but when Mrs. W came through the door it was Wendy Somerville and, my goodness, what a brilliant and powerful performance Wendy gave us. Add Deka and Chris to the mix and all the major scenes between the adults were compelling and emotional viewing that left the watcher drained. The scene prior to Angry Dance was so turgid with anger and contempt that I was surprised that no blood vessels were burst and when Billy was thrown up on to the table by Tony he toppled backwards off it, landed on his feet and was then hoisted back up there again. When Dad had responded to his plea with a blast of “Your Mam’s Dead” it was all too much. In a powerful yet controlled manner Bradley went ballistic and threw his entire self into what was an impeccable Angry Dance right up there with all the best I have seen after which he stubbornly faced down the audience with a malevolent glare that left nobody in doubt that Billy was, indeed, somewhat upset and I wouldn’t have fancied walking the Easington streets on my own that evening.

Like a flotilla of bees buzzing around a clump of Echium vulgare in August the wonderful Ballet Girls decorate and lend shimmering colour to their various scenes.

The balance between drama and comedy in this show is very finely set and we were fortunate to have the wit and class of the likes of Howard, Tomi and Demi to tide us over and steady the nerves until the next outburst.

It seems to me that, like a thoroughbred being trained for a major race, the show, whilst not being transmogrified, is being systematically pumped up in every discipline, including the sensational music score with its intricate, delicate and oft pulsating orchestrations, with the specific aim to ensure that the audiences at the Live show and the simultaneous Cinema relays will be blown out of their seats on 28th September. Based on what I saw today this is as near a racing certainty as you will get. I have never left the VPT more uplifted than I was today and eternal thanks to Bradley and Co. for making it so. It was worth every cent of my trip.

Pat
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Re: August 2014 Reviews - London

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Thursday Matinee 28th August

Ollie/Zach/Kyria

In football parlance the BETM team squad is a top outfit. It doesn’t matter at all who takes the field on match day because we still get the usual amazing, entertaining, emotional and magical show and the result is always win, win. Wendy Somerville, as she did last week, turned in a superb Mrs. W, Charlie Martin’s gentle Dead Mum was perfect and Phil Snowden as Mr. B was PRICELESS. I’m still laughing.

One interesting point. Up to a few years ago in B2B when Mr. B swings Billy around on his shoulders Mr. B always used to say “You’re flying now, son”. This was a kind of part 2 of a Billy flying trilogy:

1. Take me Up – “Will come a day when we will fly”
2. B2B Mr. B– “You’re flying now, son”
3. Dream ballet flight

It’s a pity that Part 2 has been missing so some of us were very pleased to see Phil reintroduce it at today’s show.

As usual on Thursdays, Gillian was our wonderful resident Grandma.

It was only my second time to see brand new Billy, Ollie Jochim, in action. He was mightily impressive first time but in the intervening month he has excitingly brought his performance on to new levels. As always it is a particular joy to watch a new Billy progress and what we saw today was further clear evidence not only of his multi-talents but also that he has been working very hard. Both Angry Dance and (ballet) Electricity were superbly danced and he has so many individual touches. I also liked the manner in which he fearfully cowers down behind the kitchen set as Dad and Tony have their first confrontation, his shock of hair and frightened eyes just protruding above the timberwork. His crystal clear voice embellishes every scene and would be heard in Z106 (if there was a Z106).

You could scour every dictionary in every language and not come up with words adequate to describe Zach’s entertaining (and heartbreaking) interpretation of Michael. He has it honed to perfection at this point and he commands the proceedings when on stage. I was particularly pleased at the final curtain that a totally respectful audience allowed him to do his thing in complete silence (very rare now, I’m afraid, at Thursday matinees) and you just could not imagine Michael’s final deeply felt moment being portrayed better.

I’m hearing that, at the evening show, Tracey Atkinson’s pie hilariously ended up in Row B. You just never know, as you head for the VPT, all that will happen on a given night. The things that are guaranteed are the magnificent standard of entertainment, the extraordinary variety of character interpretations and the knowledge that all your emotions will be taxed to the limit. My thanks to Ollie and Co. for doing just that for three engrossing hours this afternoon for which they all deservedly received a standing ovation.

Pat
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