July 2015 Reviews - Netherlands

[onceagain]

Thursday 30-07

My quest to see all six original Billy's had unfortunately failed: over the past two weeks the two boys who I hadn't seen yet (Tydo and Stijn) left the company. Unwilling to also miss out on Carlos' portrayal of the role, I booked a ticket for what turned out to be his last performance. With a slight delay the show started when the childrens resident director climbed on stage and announced that today Carlos would play the title role for the last time. She wass full of superlatives; Carlos was a pleasure to work with, a boy who could show you his entire soul with just a single look, a boy who has an unparalleled ability to lose himself in his character. She praised his dedication and she thanked his family, while mentioning his brother Floris who recently retired from playing Michael and his sister Elsa, still performing as a ballet girl. This speech had a remarkable effect on the audience: from that moment on something changed and we felt like magic was about to happen. And magic did happen.

I don't have words for the way Carlos played Billy. Sure, words like amazing and stunning and genuine all cover what he showed us last night. But there was something more. I don't believe in perfect performances; I think there's always room for improvement, there's always something that I feel could perhaps be played differently. With Carlos, none of those thoughts flickered through my mind. Everything he said, everything he did, was real. In a matter of seconds a hundred different emotions could be read from his face. The slight infliction of his voice made words and sentences that previously seemed like throw-away lines merely needed for getting to the next scene suddenly become essential to Billy's character growth. Everything this Billy said and did was the result of something he previously did or said. This performance was so three-dimensional, so multilayered, that everything else happening on stage faded into the background. Carlos was radiant, Carlos was real. It didn't feel like he was acting at all; yesterday night no one else but Billy could be found on the stage. Adding to that an otherwordly talent for ballet with perhaps some of the fastest solidarity spins I have ever seen, I am breaking with my own beliefs: Carlos' performance last night was perfect.

A few words should also be said about relatively new Michael Rogier Baris, who looks to be about 8 years old but makes you forget that fact from the moment he is on stage. His Michael is not only hysterically funny (very flamboyant, very confident) but also highly intelligent: I have no doubt that he is very much aware what it means to be who he is in the community he is in. As a result, the kiss in the winter scene becomes more loaded: this boy knows that it can't end well for boys like him, but he still is gonna do what his heart is telling him to do. A remarkable performance. Expressing Yourself drew great encouragement and applause from the audience.

It has been mentioned before that Carlos cries during The Letter, which I always find a remarkable feat. Last night Carlos became obviously emotional after Electricity finished as well: the audience jumped to their feet, Carlos let his final pose go and basked in the appreciation. Tears started to flow not only on his face, but the faces of many of the people surrounding me. When he returned seconds later for the next scene, it was obvious some more tears had been shed backstage. He carried on marvelously nonetheless. Packing with his dad was a joy too watch: both Carlos and Bas were messing it up pretty badly and were obviously just having fun together. Tony offered his belt instead of the lamp, which drew laughs from both Carlos and the audience. When it was time for the second letter scene, it began to dawn on Carlos that it was almost over. He got through it, but with a wavering voice that didn't quite make it to the end. The crying had started for real now, and it continued to the end. It is a strange experience to see Billy cry throughout the Finale, but luckily his castmates offered him smiles, words and little touches of encouragement. The incredibly Pia Douwes became so affected by Carlos' tears that she also started to cry. Pretty much half of the audience was in tears. They were tears of sadness, but also tears of joy, because this boy had just performed so magically that most of us didn't understand how to process it. It's hard to explain how it felt, but I guess those of us who have witnessed last nights might have a hunch.

[porschesrule]

A wonderful summary of Carlos's final show, onceagain. He was The Netherlands first Billy and maybe will go down in history as its best. Thanks for sharing your experience last night in such a descriptive way.

[onceagain]

Thanks, porschesrule! I forgot to mention his Angry Dance: Carlos went absolutely ballistic. Anger is of course the primary emotion experienced by Billy in this moment, but talking about the multilayered aspect of Carlos' performance, he added something more: rejection, loneliness, confusion and most of all, pain. He screamed like a wounded animal and bawled like lost infant. His tapping was extremely clear and his movements so sharp that I was afraid his body was going to collapse or explode somehow. I am not an emotional being, but for the first time since I saw Fox Jackson-Keen perform this very same dance I felt tears well up.

[Zweaplight]

Yesterday (31/07/2015) I saw Nick's third show, and you could see he was a new Billy, but he did a great job nonetheless. He was the tiniest, and probably also the most adorable Billy I ever saw. He did have some trouble with the skipping-ropes of Born to Boogie though. Especially his Dream Ballet, which made me teary a little bit, and his Electricity were great. At the end of Electricity the theatre went wild and Nick seemed a little bit taken aback because of all the people applauding for his great performance. I'm sure Nick will be able to grow in the role and that he'll be an incredible Billy in no time!

Tony's mic broke down half-way the scene between Dad and Tony (after Expressing Yourself), but the actor who played it stayed professional and started to talk a little bit louder to the entire theatre could understand him. I also noticed that the actors finally perfected their bread throwing technique during the Breakfast scene. In December and February, the slices of bread tended to shatter mid-air making it so the stage was filled with smaller and larger breadcrumbs.

Overall, it was a great show once again and I'm already looking forward to the next time I'm going to see it in The Hague!