Liverpool Reviews

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patc
Mrs Wilkinson
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Location: Dublin, Ireland

Re: Liverpool Reviews

Post by patc »

Liverpool 12th and 13th May

It was with (at least half of a) heavy heart that I departed this morning from the city centre hotel bound for Liverpool John Lennon Airport. 12th May is a date firmly etched into the DNA of Forum Members, the Billy anniversary date celebrated each year since the beginning. That gathering in London of Forum Members from near and far and especially our friends from the US of A. We miss y’all. It was always a unique occasion packed with atmosphere plus the big welcome at the Victoria Palace from the wonderful staff and, of course, the Anniversary cakes that they had waiting for us in the bar.

On 12th May this year it was to be a very small gathering of Forum members this time in Liverpool. Naturally, there would be no sense of the occasion at the theatre but, nonetheless, we felt that we should do it. This would be the last time ever.

Despite that overhanging shadow, it was a great occasion with the last Anniversary Billy honour going to the very latest UK Billy in the line, Emile…..and what a truly superb performance we got from him and the fantastic cast backed up by the amazing music gurus below decks on this ship of geniuses. Sailing into Liverpool port with the new crew members safely aboard, the entertainment was mighty.

The Liverpool Empire, I gather, will be 100 years old in 2025 and I quite enjoyed its old worldly atmosphere albeit if the seats might not have been the most comfortable I have sat on. The front row view was quite something. Especially interesting for anyone into the music side of things. Being so close to the very engine of the music department was mind-blowingly awesome. Watching the full range of MD Patrick Hurley’s talents was something else. Now, if I could just get my hands on one of those Yamahas…and I am not talking about motorbikes.

On Saturday the shows were masterminded by two of those iconic doyens of the Tour, Adam and Haydn also in sparkling form.

As far as I could see the theatre was close to full for all three shows and the audiences were all up for the occasion. Standing ovations abounded. All three Dream Ballets had the applause ringing out long before the final flourishes. Hearing the reaction to the Liverpudlian Ballet Dancer makes me think they might have missed a trick by not moving his birthplace around the various cities. I’d love to have heard how a BETM Dublin accent might have sounded!

It is, of course, a great shame that Annette had to leave and she will be greatly missed but, by the Saturday evening show, Anna Jane had fully cemented herself back into the role she had performed previously in London. Forum Members will be pleased to hear that she is playing it in the same fashion and that she has resurrected the, ahem, “appropriate gear” for the second part of Shine. Her goodbye scene to all three Billys was very, very emotional. Great to see Phil Snowden back on board. New (Very) Big Davey, Milan, has a fantastic stage presence. In all three shows Phil actually sang the opening scene with Small Boy (“Through the Dark”) with Milan taking over just speaking the next set of lines with the clipboard in hand. (“and though our hands”).
On Saturday evening Barnaby appeared from nowhere to dance in the Finale.

Liverpool itself was fascinating. We just had time for a brilliant Saturday morning sojourn down in the splendidly (and very tastefully) redesigned docks area (a must visit, IMHO). The city was liveliness personified, the people were lovely, the hotel was in what must have been the Irish Centre with such as Nellie Foley’s place, The Celtic Bar, Lanigans Bar et al nearby. All that was missing was Delaney’s Donkey!

Thanks to the supreme skills and dedication of the entire Billy Company the show continues to rattle along and enthral its audiences. With so little time left, shadow or no shadow, it continues to be a must-see…and as often as possible.

Pat
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Westletonion
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Re: Liverpool Reviews

Post by Westletonion »

Sheffan
Tall Boy
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Joined: Tue May 03, 2016 11:18 pm
Location: Sheffield, UK

Re: Liverpool Reviews

Post by Sheffan »

Real Geordie
Ballet Girl
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Location: England

Re: Liverpool Reviews

Post by Real Geordie »

A review of a more recent performance, the reviewer having previously seen the show at VPT

http://theatrebears.weebly.com/billy-el ... mpire.html
Sheffan
Tall Boy
Posts: 147
Joined: Tue May 03, 2016 11:18 pm
Location: Sheffield, UK

Re: Liverpool Reviews

Post by Sheffan »

Full review to follow this weekend. Just to say Martin gave a very emotional speech at final curtain tonight thanking audience for attending despite Manchester attack. He almost broke down when he expressed solidarity with Manchester and his home town of Warrington which was also affected.A collection was made on exit for the relief fund.
Sheffan
Tall Boy
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Joined: Tue May 03, 2016 11:18 pm
Location: Sheffield, UK

Re: Liverpool Reviews

Post by Sheffan »

Wed 24 May, Thurs 25 May mat & eve, Fri 26 May, Sat 27th May mat

I've always hoped that BETM would play the Liverpool Empire, a city that I've always been fond of since I studied there in the early 1980s. I visit the city regularly, but have only seen a show at the Empire once before, the Chess The Musical UK Tour in 1990. The theatre is externally quite dour, especially the very seedy alleyway near the stage & load in doors, but it was pleasing to see a modern annex has been constructed for the theatre bars and box office area. I'm also pleased for Adam's sake (he lives near Anfield) that he made it here without his voice breaking. It is worth remembering that Liverpool wasn't originally part of the tour schedule. It must have been very memorable for him and a dream come true. His family will be very proud.

I've run out of words to describe the performances but this show has now acquired an impressive slickness in both stagecraft and technical terms.

During this 5 show “Billython” I managed to see all the Billys except Emile and all the Michaels except for Henry who both seemed to be on holiday. It was good to catch up with Bradley again, especially as his family home is only around 5 miles from me here in Sheffield. I'm still very short of performances starring Evie as Debbie so hoping she will be there in MK or Hamburg.

Despite advance sales being quite slow and quite a few tickets still available by the start of the run, it was pleasing to see just by looking round that there were very few unsold seats by the time the curtain rose. It is a shame the run here was so short, but then again most shows at the Empire seem to run for only a week at the most.

What immediately struck me from the first show I saw, was that the sheer energy and enthusiasm of the audience was almost on a par with Sunderland. The curse of the matinee is also well and truly dead here. The noise level was deafening at times. Perhaps the best reaction was at the end of Thursday evenings show with Haydn & Samuel at the helm. At each show, the audience always clapped well before Billy returned to the ground in Dream Ballet, during the Electricity pirouette, even when Michael left through the door at the end of the Christmas night scene and also even when Billy & Dad appeared in front of the red curtain at the start of the audition scene. On most nights there was a brief standing ovation before the final dance.

As I mentioned in my brief note above, Martin & Anna Jane had been alternating each other at the end of the show that week to appeal for donations on leaving the theatre for the Manchester attack fund. On Thursday, Martin motioned to the audience that he was about to speak but the audience just increased the whistling to deafening levels - my ears were ringing with the distortion.

I was pleased to see how well the “new” cast have all fitted so well back into the show. I never saw Anna Jane in London. In a perfect world, the producers would have been less vague about the end of the show's run and Annette would have had no inclination to leave. However, things move on and I thought Anna Jane was really good. I think a little too much has been made of the comparison with Annette, to be honest I thought it a “dead heat” been them. Her farewell to Billy was very emotional and there were sobs in the audience as she hugged Billy prior to Angry Dance.

I loved the tender side of Milan van Weelden as Big Davey – I nearly teared up when he said “don't worry lad, we'll never let you fall” - what a beautiful, velvety operatic voice. Although it wouldn't have been an issue with me if he had sounded Dutch – he was extremely convincing as a Geordie. I was also impressed with Phil Snowden as Mr Wilkinson – his rather dishevelled appearance during the Christmas night scene matched that character's backstory to perfection.

The natural acoustics of the Empire are quite different to the other theatres where it has been staged. I noticed quite a lot of echo during spoken parts. This enhanced the atmosphere of parts of the show staged in the Welfare Hall, but was perhaps less appropriate to the domestic scenes. This was the ideal theatre to see the show if you like your Billy loud and brash. This gave an added punchiness to the staging of Angry Dance for example.

You'd never guess the show was about to close in a few weeks. “I can't really explain it....”, the sheer amount of pathos and energy emitted from the stage almost blows the roof off the theatre at every performance. I'm full of respect and admiration in particular for Leo, Martin and Andrea in particular who seem hardly to have missed a show. I'm told Amy still performs the occasional Monday until the end of the tour. even though Anna Jane has taken over.

The beginning of Act 2 seems to have changed slightly. George doesn't appear for a while until introduced by Tony as Father Christmas. A minor change, but one that works well and the dialogue makes more sense as a result. It is pleasing at this late stage, that care and attention to detail is still important to everyone connected with the show.

The role of Older Billy seems to have been split in Liverpool. Even though Luke did the dream ballet, Jack Butterworth portrayed the adult ballet dancer in the audition scene. I thought the decision to portray him as a scouser went down well with the audience. It is therefore a shame they didn't have the courage to continue to play the role as a Scot in Edinburgh.

Liverpool has a big tourist scene, so it is difficult to know what to recommend, but no visit is complete without a visit to Albert Dock and the Pier Head, part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. I spent quite a lot of my time on this occasion as the weather was so hot walking along the river. My last night was spent in Birkenhead across the Mersey river on the Wirral Peninsula. After the show I headed to a particularly impressively restored Wetherspoon bar on Lime Street Station - the Northwestern. On the second night, I went to the very cosy Grapes bar in the Georgian Quarter near the cathedrals.

My next attendance will be the last 3 shows in Milton Keynes. I was last there about 15 years ago, shortly after the theatre first opened for the tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber's “Whistle Down The Wind” - a smaller type of venue than we have been used to on this tour but very modern and comfortable with no shortage of bars and restaurants nearby.
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