Final show 7 November 2015 Reviews

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JTfan
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Final show 7 November 2015 Reviews

Post by JTfan »

Warning: long read! ;)

When I went in last night for the final show, I had high hopes and expectations, but I did not dream they would be surpassed in the way that they did.

The entire atmosphere was so special as soon as I got into the foyer. There were black and white photographs on the wall of all the young Billys from the period of learning to 'become Billy' which made me feel melancholy. But apart from that, there wasn't a hint of sadness in the air that this would really be the last show. Instead, the atmosphere was one of festivity, excitement, even pride. Many ex-cast members ran around in their red hoodies, followed by their proud families. I spotted a group of people also in red hoodies with the name of a Dutch Billy fanclub (or so I reckon) who later were interviewed by Backstage Now. There were fans in T-shirts of the London show and with buttons of the 10th anniversary in London. It felt like a gathering of Billy enthusiasts who were going to have “the best Billy party this town has ever had”.

All this enhanced when I was seated and started to notice familiar faces of Billys and Michaels in the audience. They would be onstage for the reprise but in the first half they sat in the audience to watch the show with everybody else, along with their relatives. It was pretty special to see these young celebrities in the crowd and they were obviously very excited, always looking around, waving, blowing kisses, smiling. I felt like this was their party and I had only crashed it. There were also many ex-ballet girls who made sure the atmosphere became electric very soon with their enthusiastic shouts and applauses. They cheered on all their old friends and colleagues. I soon found out I was seated next to the grandmother of Nick, the youngest Billy. She was obviously very proud :) Sadly though, she said there won't be any recordings of the Dutch show, not even for the family.

All this excitement hushed as the announcements started and the show was really to begin. Maybe it was me but I thought I sensed some hesitation in the opening song. As if everyone felt the nerves of this historic occasion. I know I felt it with Sammy, who forgot a line in his first sung part. But as soon as he recovered himself – very professionally – he proved he was totally fit to play this final night. You know how sometimes you can be nervous for someone on stage while you yourself are only watching? That was me for Sammy. I knew he could totally rule on stage and I wanted it so badly for him that I became quite nervous at the parts where Billy really shines. But he did! And how. He received standing ovations for Electricity and Angry Dance. When he had barely finished, people jumped up and burst into cheers and applause. At other times, the applause itself took so long the actors really had to wait to continue the scene, or interrupt the clapping! If I had to point out some criticism it might be that his acting seemed better when I saw the show in August but those are really minor things.

The frequent applause was not just for Sammy but for everyone. Like a way of saying a big, big thank you one last time – to Grandma, to Mr. Braithwaite, to Mum, Dad, everyone, even the boxing teacher as he shuffles out of the kitchen in his ballet pose. Sometimes the clapping interrupted the dynamic of a song, for instance the extra bits at the end of The Letter and Deep Into The Ground. But you could feel it was all out of warmth and enthusiasm. And the audience response to the Christmas lottery was just wild – shouting, screaming and extra (dirty) jokes thrown in by the cast . As well as rubber chickens being thrown into the crowd during Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher. A big, big party. As the story went through all the different emotions, you could feel the audience's attention. Laughter, silence, crying, hushed reactions at tender moments – it was all there.

I have a soft spot for the part of Michael and I have to say Rogier did a brilliant job. He got some of the loudest cheers of the whole night as he encouraged the crowd at the end of Expressing Yourself to make more noise. He totally enjoyed giving it all and he seemed to have a very natural chemistry with Sammy as Billy. A huge joy to watch. Senna as Debbie was also great and at her last big moan of frustration she was given a wonderful applause as she exited the stage. Such a difficult part to get right – to be this awkward, annoying girl and still win the hearts of the audience.

But for me the absolute highlight of the evening – and there were many! - was Sammy's Angry Dance. I remembered from last time that the beginning of it literally took my breath away. This time he captivated me from beginning to end. I would go so far and say I saw a perfect rendition, or as close as perfect gets. No question about it. The energy was completely there, as well as the precision and control. He truly gave the choreography all that it demands, which is a huge achievement in itself but even more so on a special night like this one. Maybe it was all the “electricity” in the room that made Sammy go and give it that extra push to make it happen. When he was finished and the crowd jumped up and roared, standing on that stage was a young man, not a boy. Just wow.

His pirouettes and overall performance of Electricity were also spot on and the Swan Lake scene was magical. In fact, the second act got me so involved that the end came suddenly. The reprise of The Letter – and Billy picks up his suitcase and leaves. One final moment – his goodbye kiss to Michael, and the curtain going down... I get teary eyed while writing it. That boy on his bicycle, disappearing behind the curtain as his friend walks away through the audience, for the last time...

As promised, there was a reprise with all the Billys and Michaels of the Dutch production. Such a special sight, to see them all together, knowing what experience was gathered there on stage. I noticed there were exceptionally loud cheers when the Billys of the first cast came on and they beamed with pride – and were still dancing like they never quit! At the last shout of Finish! from Expressing Yourself, coloured ribbons burst from the ceiling with a blast. A fitting ending to an amazing night and an amazing show.

Which brings us to the question of: what now? Now that the show is over... The artistic leader of the production, Maurice Wijnen, gave a speech in which he expressed his hope that all of the young talent on stage will have a future in theatre. And I too share that hope. Those boys and girls have learned so much and after almost a year, now this production is over, you just hope that all of what they have learned will continue somehow. Ofcourse for some it is too early to tell but I hope that all the children who performed in Billy Elliot will take with them this wonderful experience and build on that.
I was surprised and sad that the creative director of the production company was not present at this closing night, but on the other hand I was pleasantly surprised that there were no less than three people from the original London team in the audience. This shows a serious dedication of the English team in what the Dutch production has achieved and maybe, hopefully, that holds promises for the future, in whatever form.

For now, we can look back on all the wonderful memories of the Dutch Billy Elliot, a journey which ended in triumph. And that is only fitting.
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CJ-Rochester
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Re: Final show 7 November 2015 review

Post by CJ-Rochester »

Thank you for the excellent review, JTfan! I was especially happy to hear all of the Michaels took part in the finale as well as the Billys. From everything I've heard, the NL production was certainly one of the great ones!
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Re: Final show 7 November 2015 review

Post by Frank »

Noah de Vos, who played Michael, didn't dance, but he was there and on stage at the end.
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Re: Final show 7 November 2015 review

Post by htcpt »

That was a great review, JTFan, thanks very much for taking the effort to write and post it!
It is sad that this will be the last review of what certainly must be seen as a huge 'cultural' success even if it (judging from the rather sudden end of the production) commercially probably has disappointed the company.

Which brings me to this:
I think you were very polite in describing the absence of Joop van den Ende and Albert Verlinde, the two 'head honchos' of Stage Entertainment as 'surprised and sad'. To me their absence was disrespectful to the cast as well as to the (senior) members of the London company who were there. In the run up to the show, Joop certainly sought the limelight (and justifiably so as his company took the commercial risk of staging BETM in the Netherlands). To not show up here was (in my view) a snub which I would find quite hard to justify.
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Re: Final show 7 November 2015 review

Post by jtsw1 »

Thank you for that excellent review! I have seen the show 8.5 times, but couldn't make it to the final show. Your review - and the great videos of the mash-up that have appeared on youtube - make up for it to a certain extent.
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Re: Final show 7 November 2015 review

Post by Frank »

htcpt wrote:Which brings me to this:
I think you were very polite in describing the absence of Joop van den Ende and Albert Verlinde, the two 'head honchos' of Stage Entertainment as 'surprised and sad'. To me their absence was disrespectful to the cast as well as to the (senior) members of the London company who were there. In the run up to the show, Joop certainly sought the limelight (and justifiably so as his company took the commercial risk of staging BETM in the Netherlands). To not show up here was (in my view) a snub which I would find quite hard to justify.
The reason why both men weren't there wasn't given, although I know Albert Verlinde wasn't there because he was on vacation, but why Joop van den Ende wasn't there I don't know. It's possible that he wasn't there because of his health. He wasn't there on opening night last year because of it.
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Re: Final show 7 November 2015 review

Post by Dancer »

Thanks so much for your excellent review, JTfan. It described the atmosphere at the Circustheater and the final performance brilliantly :D . Despite running for just a year it sounds like the Dutch production was a resounding success but it was a shame that the second cast Billys and Michaels in the end performed relatively few shows. They all must have incredible talent and the best of luck to all of them in the future.
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Re: Final show 7 November 2015 review

Post by JTfan »

Thanks so much for everyone's positive responses. I hope I did the final night justice and then again, it's my personal opinion :)
htcpt wrote: It is sad that this will be the last review of what certainly must be seen as a huge 'cultural' success even if it (judging from the rather sudden end of the production) commercially probably has disappointed the company.
We don't know for sure why it ended on 7 November. I overheard someone during the interval, who sounded like he normally was kept informed about what happens behind the scenes, perhaps a family member of one of the cast, and he said "we still don't know the reason why they are quitting now". So we really can only guess.

The reason could be financial, and maybe they don't like to say that as it may look bad business-wise. I have no figures to go by but I had the impression they were not always selling a lot of tickets, despite all the rave reviews. I tend to think that maybe the ticket prices were too high for a lot of people. Even the final night was not sold out until the night itself. I actually saw that the ticket prices for 7 November had gone down 5 euros on the day itself. Luckily the house was packed for the performance :)

There are a lot of guesses about the ending of the production and for sure it disappointed a lot of people. But the great thing was that none of that could be felt from the cast, current or former, on the final night itself, and that's a relief :)
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porschesrule
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Re: Final show 7 November 2015 review

Post by porschesrule »

The reason for a show ending is usually monetary in nature. There's been a lot of discussion, both here and on the BETM General Fan FB page about many empty seats of late.

Also, the theatre was booked a while ago for Beauty and the Beast, so that could be another reason.

Finally, if it was going to close this Fall, choosing a date that was almost exactly one year from the date of the show's opening, very probably isn't coincidental.
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Re: Final show 7 November

Post by Real Geordie »

This actually applies to three separate shows over two days, but it seemed the most appropriate place to make a post !

Just back from a long weekend in Scheveningen when the last three performances involving Faas, Samuel and Sammy were attended. On each occasion the portrayal of Billy was excellent. The character of each show was however quite different. The first on Friday evening was the most straightforward, like a normal Billy Elliot performance, from all of the cast. George got a return slap from Billy/Faas in the soup kitchen scene (maybe Tydo had had a word in his ear ?), and quite a few biscuits seemed to be eaten and milk drunk before the letter was spotted. Other than this all went to script. Great performance by Faas.

The Saturday afternoon matinee, the penultimate performance, was clearly end of term time, when everyone let their hair down and had a laugh. During the raffle Maggie hand puppets popped out from underneath the closed curtain, half the audience claimed the winning ticket, and shortly afterwards rubber chickens were thrown into the audience. Not one but two identical looking ballet men confronted Jackie Elliot when with his ear to the door while the audition was taking place, which was quite unexpected and funny. Again, George got slapped across the face by Billy/Samuel in retaliation - the idea was catching on ! There were lots of bits and pieces going on in the background, but everyone was just relaxed and joining in the fun. Great performance by Samuel.

And then - the final performance, Saturday evening. You could tell when you walked into the foyer that there was just a buzz about the place. As has already been said there were many former members of the cast in the audience, together with their families. I am sure that many others in the audience had seen the show previously, possibly many times, and were confirmed Billy devotees. This was party time, and everyone wanted a piece of the action. It was also obvious that there was a real sense of pride felt by all those who had been involved in the production in any way since its inception. They were all there to give their support, and certainly made themselves heard.

It has been suggested that nerves might have played a part in the early stages of the performance. This may well be true. My personal belief is that, after the relaxed fun of the matinee in the afternoon, professional pride dictated that they put on the very best performance they could for this final time, and they just didn’t want any mistakes cropping up. Whatever, you could sense the goodwill going out from the audience towards the performers on stage. They could do no wrong. They were among friends. This must have calmed nerves.

And so to the final scenes and the mash up which fortunately has been recorded for all to see. The usual sequence of events is that Billy makes a solo appearance before inviting the rest of the cast to join him. Everyone stood ready to give Sammy the ovation he fully deserved as soon as the curtain was raised. But the curtain remained down. It dawned after a short while that this was when all the Billys and Michaels (and others as it turned out) would appear. But everyone, or at least certainly everyone within my field of vision, kept standing throughout the mash up, during the speech by Maurice Wijnen, and right until the final curtain dropped and it was time to leave, applauding and shouting encouragement - a lengthy period.

A fantastic last night for all concerned. How sad that some of the cast had only a limited number of outings in which to show their undoubted talents.
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