That must have been a most interesting evening, John. (As well as a great show )
In fact, I thought it looked better like this, rather than starting from the bedroom.
With kitchen/bedroom apparatus missing I'm curious to know how they handled the transition between the Dad-hits-Tony scene and the Letter. On a previous occasion when the apparatus was not in use, Billy ran offstage and then, after Mrs. W came through the centre back door, Billy "snuck in" slowly through the right hand back door and Mrs. W greeted him with the usual line of thinking he wasn't going to show. This seemed much more natural, too.
patc wrote:That must have been a most interesting evening, John. (As well as a great show )
In fact, I thought it looked better like this, rather than starting from the bedroom.
With kitchen/bedroom apparatus missing I'm curious to know how they handled the transition between the Dad-hits-Tony scene and the Letter. On a previous occasion when the apparatus was not in use, Billy ran offstage and then, after Mrs. W came through the centre back door, Billy "snuck in" slowly through the right hand back door and Mrs. W greeted him with the usual line of thinking he wasn't going to show. This seemed much more natural, too.
Thanks also for your 3 in 1 review.
Pat
Pat, I'll try to describe what happened. Dad ( Deka) was standing by the ' radiator' part of the scenery, Tony ( Chris) came in through the back door, holding the jemmy. They argued. After Tony was hit and Dad said 'What are you staring at?', Bradley ran off the stage from whence he came, then reappeared through the back door, with satchel, full of 'things', around his shoulder, for The Letter scene.
I agree that this way of doing the scene made no difference to what was happening and looked good.
I'm sure a "Plan B" has been rehearsed with all the Billys for eventualities such as this, but rehearsing it occasionally and putting it into action on a moment's notice are two different things. It sounds as though the shift worked well. Kudos to Bradley and all concerned for not only working around the problem, but making it look as though it was always that way! This is one of the great things about live theatre.
Ellen
"I don't want people who want to dance; I want people who have to dance.”
-George Balanchine 1904 -1983
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I'm looking forward to seeing the new cast and am especially pleased that Phil Snowden is the new principal Mr. B. At one time Phil used to play Big Davey, George, Mr. B and Dad (plus all the other Ensemble parts - except Older Billy, LOL) as required on a week by week basis. I don't think there has ever been anyone else so versatile in the show.
Totally agree with you John, I thought Bradley's Angry Dance was actually brilliant without the Bedroom scene on Tuesday, it really showed, how he is such an excellent tap dancer.
What an afternoon at the theatre! New cast, certain “apparatus” appearing briefly at an unusual angle and then made redundant adding so much special interest for fans with different staging for some scenes and, most of all, a fantastic show led by a powerful, stunning Billy performance by one Ollie Jochim.
One doesn’t approach a Billy show full of new cast with trepidation. Expectation is high. Its reputation is that everyone fits like a glove and our matinee today was a revelation. The magic rolls on. Of course, the early Ensemble scenes made it look like we were seeing the show for the first time – so many new faces replacing those who have departed. I didn’t realise so many have actually gone.
But first things first. Ollie’s determination and dedication with not a trace of obfuscation has brought him to new heights as witnessed this afternoon. From start to finish this was a Billy performance of such jubilation that earned the undying admiration of all who watched it and was a source of inspiration to the multitude of youngsters who, unusually, were towards the very front of the Stalls and who showed their appreciation throughout and especially at the culmination of proceedings.
Huge laudation for Todd for an Expressing packed with a combination of jollification, decoration and celebration, wonderful mood fluctuation in the Winter Scene and a final scene of devastation at the termination of a beautiful but doomed aspiration.
Connie’s determined aggravation, attempted manipulation and unbridled communication of opinions was a delight and I still can’t work out her silent exclamation to her Mum just before she exits near the end.
The convocation of fun-loving and mischievous dancers known as the Ballet Girls were a sensation with their vexatious annexation of Billy’s territory throughout an all-action Shine. For me, the pink section of this number is an absolute masterpiece of co-ordination requiring superb timing and movement to bring it all together. I love it. The work ethic application required to perfect the kaleidoscopic extravaganza in both Shine and Solidarity must be mega.
The initiation of Small Boy Caiden and Tall Boy Joshua into the show has gone well. Caiden looks to be a jolly little chap and Joshua’s very Posh Boy head-bashing consternation was skilfully acted out.
I nearly died laughing watching Phil Snowden’s Mr.B in B2B. As John reported in his review of Monday night he has changed it a bit but he has retained that hilarious glide ’n’ slide from before (also used to great effect in Kes up at the Crucible in Sheffield a couple of years ago). And there's the accordion, too. I cannot wait to see this again.
With the stairs/bedroom/kitchen installation out of the equation after the early scene, improvisation and innovation was the order of the day and it was a fascination to see the fabrication of the subsequent scenes without it. The manipulation of those scenes was done with such simplification that newcomers to the show would never have known. So much so, there is an argument for putting forward the consideration, “Are the stairs really an unnecessary complication?”
This is an exciting time at Billy. There are too many new cast members to mention them all but the end result was that they all did magnificent both as individuals and as a group. Most of the names we will get to know as time goes by but there is no doubt that the company has struck gold again with their choices and the production was as sharp as nails. James Butcher was, of course, here before as Older Billy and danced a beautiful Dream Ballet with Ollie on his return to the role.
Despite the departure of so many old favourites I enjoyed the show every bit as much as ever and am really looking forward to next time. The temptation to (mis)quote Alfie Tennyson is too great:
For cast may come and cast may go,
But Billy goes on forever.
Even now, many hours after the show I am still buzzing with the memory of Ollie’s performance and especially his spectacularly danced, breathtaking ballet Electricity. I can’t wait to see that again, too.
Pat. Have you been sleeping with a dictionary under your pillow?
. Billy Whiz is the Gallery Admin. Please send your photos, articles etc toforum.gallery[at]billyelliottheforum.me.uk Please replace [at] with @
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Here are a few more photos from the leavers' show on May 16th.
. Billy Whiz is the Gallery Admin. Please send your photos, articles etc toforum.gallery[at]billyelliottheforum.me.uk Please replace [at] with @
In the email can you also please let me know the date where and when the photo(s) was taken, who is in the photo(s) as well as your forum name.
When you send photos to the gallery can you also please PM me to let me know that you have sent them. If I don't receive them after a couple of days I can then chase them up.