Sunderland Reviews

Real Geordie
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Sunderland Reviews

Post by Real Geordie »

Sunderland, Wednesday 6th April (First Night)

A cold and cloudy, wet and windy Wednesday in Sunderland. Things were not looking promising when the auditorium doors remained firmly closed ten minutes before curtain up time. When finally opened, and everyone had settled into their seats, BETM producer Jon Finn appeared on stage. He apologised for the delay and explained that the stripping down, transporting and setting up again of the kit from Plymouth to Sunderland had been a greater task than they had anticipated. They had seriously considered cancelling the performance that evening. They would however proceed - the cast were determined to put on a performance - but if any safety concerns arose they would draw the performance to a close immediately and fully refund. The performance then started some 20 minutes late.

I will just make a few observations so that those intending to see the tour version will hopefully still have some surprises. The opening scene is quite different to London, and works well in my opinion. It did however become obvious as the evening progressed that the Dutch version had been the template for the touring production - I cannot comment on the Broadway production. The audition scene and Angry Dance were replicas of what I had seen in Holland. The same when the miners and others make their contributions to get Billy to London for his audition - an exact copy of the Dutch production. In my view this latter mentioned scene is far superior to the existing one, and I remember thinking this when I first saw it. This is no doubt why Jeroen Luiten, the resident Dutch choreographer, was brought on board for the UK & Ireland tour. The only other alteration of note I can think of - not seen in London or in Holland - was posh dad. I will remain silent on this to retain the surprise factor. There has been some earlier discussion about where the mobile Billy bedroom originated. Again, I think it probable that this was shipped over from Holland. It makes sense both in the time frame of the one production ending and the other starting, and simply a much shorter journey. I could also see the climbing pegs allowing Billy to scale down the outside of the rig in Angry dance, which were used in Holland.

Was the swearing toned down ? I noticed about half a dozen instances of where this had happened. However, in the scale of things it was insignificant, and I really don’t know why anyone bothered to make these alterations. Were the audience - a wide mix of ages- concerned at this language - ? Were they b*ll*cks - they laughed their socks off.

Turning to the cast - a solid and confident performance by all concerned. No signs of nerves or tension despite having to speak in a North East accent in front of a “home” crowd, and with all the problems of moving from one stage to a different stage, plus the technical problems. Billy was to be Lewis Smallman, Michael played by Elliot Stiff. Unfortunately Lewis had to leave the stage during the pirouette practise scene, having turned his ankle, before he could do any real dancing. His acting was however fine, and he spoke very clearly. Sad that this should happen, but just one of those things. He was replaced by Adam Abbou (till then Tall Boy). This involved another ten to fifteen minutes delay while Adam changed and did warm up exercises. The audience took all of these delays in their stride. When things got under way again, Adam demonstrated his abilities as an actor, singer and dancer and got great support from the audience. Elliot Stiff is super confident as Michael, and the audience loved his antics - one to watch in the future. It so happened that Elliot’s family were sat just behind me, and I overheard his father say that the first time they saw him on stage they could not believe it was their son, he had completely stepped into the character of Michael and become a different person. I didn’t hear one comment from the locals about how realistic or authentic - or the contrary - the accent of any of the cast was.

One final “technical error” ! Near the end of the audition scene Billy is required to come through a door which has barriers either side which you can see through. The door wobbled but refused to open despite a number of attempts by Adam. He had the presence of mind to walk to the end of the stage, round the barrier and back to the door. The audience were fully aware of the problem, laughed at what had happened, and gave him a round of applause for his improvisation.

I am pleased to say that no scenes were cut short due to the various problems, although this meant that the show overran by half an hour.

Overall ? I liked it a lot like, and I think the whole tour production will go from strength to strength in the coming weeks and months. The local Geordies and Mackems (and those in between and surrounding) loved it. I have never been in an audience watching BETM where I have heard so much prolonged and loud laughter. I think partly because the words and expressions used, some of which have now fallen out of everyday use, awakened memories of a different, long gone and maybe simpler time.

And now, packing my bag for London.
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angelenroute
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Re: Sunderland Reviews

Post by angelenroute »

Great review. Very comprehensive. Thank you! Enjoy London!

"Good writers define reality; bad ones merely restate it." -Edward Albee
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porschesrule
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Re: Sunderland Reviews

Post by porschesrule »

Now that "Press Night" has come and gone at Sunderland, we can probably expect to see more reviews of the Tour production by the press in the North East.

Here's the first one, from Chronicle Live. It's headline says it all "Billy Elliot finally dances its way home onto a North East stage and is given a rapturous welcome"

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/whats-on ... y-11153941
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porschesrule
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Re: Sunderland Reviews

Post by porschesrule »

Here's another very positive review from the Northumberland Gazette:

http://www.northumberlandgazette.co.uk/ ... -1-7841033
kport
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Re: Sunderland Reviews

Post by kport »

This is a glowing review from the North East Theatre Guide:

http://nomorepanicbutton.blogspot.com/2 ... mpire.html
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porschesrule
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Re: Sunderland Reviews

Post by porschesrule »

The Sunderland Vibe chimes in with its review:

http://sunderlandvibe.com/news/review-b ... nd-empire/
kport
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Re: Sunderland Reviews

Post by kport »

porschesrule wrote:The Sunderland Vibe chimes in with its review:

http://sunderlandvibe.com/news/review-b ... nd-empire/
Billy Elliot is a highly emotive show, with light and darkness to it, and has grown men leaving the show with tears in their eyes. It’s something you don’t have to travel half way across the world to experience, something unique to a specific country or region like the Northern Lights, as this Northern Light is finally home and he’s called Billy.
This is so true. This story resounds across the world. These are struggles that are faced every day, everywhere.
kport
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Re: Sunderland Reviews

Post by kport »

Here is a review from the Northern Echo:

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/entert ... nd_Empire/
Barry Appleby
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Re: Sunderland Reviews

Post by Barry Appleby »

TUESDAY 12th APRIL (Evening)

After Saturdays wonderful yet very emotional night, I think everyone was, lets say gutted, I was pleased in a way to be back on the road but of course heading North this time. What a foul days weather, foggy and pouring with rain, not a day for driving, up the A19, its bad enough anytime, you don't expect this weather in April.
Walking towards the theatre, in my mind I felt a bit worried, why worry, from the minute I reached the theatre this place was bussing, this even before the show started, its a big theatre but it was full, the bar was doing great business What a wonderful production, it would grace any stage in the West End, anybody going to see it, are in for a real treat. The sound is first class you can hear the cast so clearly, the orchestration is outstanding. From the start the audience were up for it, they loved it, no problem with the swearing, I only noticed two changes, one in the opening scene and the other in pre Ballet scene with Michael, yes F*** a duck is still in. The ovation for Expressing Yourself was unbelievable, Adam and Samuel were outstanding. The audience really enjoyed the smutty bits, one lady near me was laughing saying, that's kids to a tee, also their was great appreciation for the dance routines throughout, a standing ovations at the finale.
We know about the changes in Angry Dance and I enjoyed it, the music was excellent and the stage was absolutely full of action.
The rest of the changes, plenty in act 2, but I'm saying nowt, just make that effort to see it especially if it gets close to you in the tour, get there and see it for yourselves, you will love it.
Adam Abbou was Billy, he played the part so well, a very clear speaker, plays a bit of a cheeky Billy, to say he will have only performed Electricity about a dozen times, he was excellent.
Martin Walsh and Scott Garnham play Dad and Tony, fiery at times but nice to see the emotional side also
Very impressed with Annette McLaughlin as Mrs Wilkinson, I thought she was outstanding
Michael was played by Samuel Torpey, he is without a doubt the funniest Michael I've seen, for such a youngster he had the audience in the palm of his hand, what a comic.
Lilly Cadwallender was Debbie, Andrea Miller as Grandma, Leo Atkin as George, Daniel Page as Mr Braithwaite( you can see he's done this before) gave very encouraging performances also. I wasn't sure who played older Billy, he was extremely good and of course we must not forget the Ballet girls and Ensemble, Haydn May was tall boy, one of the ballet girls played small boy.
. Must say what a friendly crowd the people are in Sunderland, from the hotel to the audience, I had a talk to many people sitting around me and what Lee Hall said is true, the show is very poinent to them. Two older guys there had been on the picket line, I'm sure they said Blackhall, they said, with the ship building disappearing also, the area had suffered badly. The lady next to me was from Redcar, her brother had lost his job in the steel works.
We had a walk around to the stage door after the show and what a relaxed atmosphere, we had a talk to Annette and she had been at Easington with the others to present the cheque. We also had a talk to Barnaby Meredith, he was disappointed he could not make London on Saturday, as he was on stage for two shows that day
Sunderland Empire is a lovely theatre, its in a area, close to two big hotel chains, very accessible, you are not likely to be run over by red buses.
Weatherspons was with our hotel, full English breakfast for £3-85, wouldn't get that in London.
I will say again do make the effort to see the show, some of the theatres in the North and Midlands are quiet superior to some in London. Bradford Alhambra is a lovely theatre, well worth a visit.
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jtsw1
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Re: Sunderland Reviews

Post by jtsw1 »

Apologies: I won't repeat what has already been said about the very high quality of this production or about the adult cast. I just want to point out the observations that stuck in mind most. So here we go:

I'm just back from a visit to Sunderland, and already I can't wait to see the show again! Seeing it in the north east, however, has a special vibe to it that you can't reproduce. It's been only four days, but it feels like two weeks or so, so many emotions! On Friday, for example, I combined a 10-mile-walk down the coastline with all its mining-heritage with a visit to the show, and I can tell you that this was a day I will always remember - beautiful weather, pushing my body to its limits (somehow...), and then a stunning show with brilliant Matthew Lyons as Billy and fabulous Samuel Torpey as Michael.

Matthew's Billy is very well-balanced between vulnerability, joy, power and anger. His authentic angry face expression during Electricity say it all: here's a boy who has overcome some very big struggles. Samuel is the most "natural" Michael I have ever seen, and the smallest one. He plays the role as if it was nothing to entertain 2000 people and make them laugh and cry with one glance or one movement alone. He is so unique in voice and humor (just listen to his "Maggie Thatcher?! What's she done, like?", for example), it's refreshing and just wonderful to experience. I hope he proceeds to an acting-career in film.

The evening show on Saturday had Samuel again on top-form, but Billy was Haydn May. I was lucky to get to watch him from the first row, and I think you really should be close to the stage to truly appreciate what he accomplishes: He is one of those Billys who manage to perfectly evoke that magical blending of heart and power, innocence and vulnerability, frustration and desperation, and - finally - joy and relieve; this fascination battle of the brave lost boy that we enjoy so much. And he can do it all with his voice and eyes only. It's these "softer" impersonifications of Billy Elliot that I enjoy most.

I have to mention one music-change: the very poignant acoustic guitar in "The Stars Look Down" had me almost in tears right at the beginning. Brilliant!

A general remark to finish with: I think the kids must have the best acting-coaches possible. I'm so pleased that at each and every show every child actor was able to work the very lively audiences professionally, take breaks when necessary and get the most out of their lines (the Debbie's, for example, do the toilet-scene just perfectly. Seriously, never seen it that good!). It's truly outstanding. Billy Elliot The Musical is not dead, it's more alive than ever!
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