August 2010 - Reviews - London

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athadj
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Re: August 2010 - Reviews - London

Post by athadj »

ERinVA wrote:Speaking of "Bravo," in reference to BETM, I would say that "Electricity" and other dances by Billy in the show fall more into the category of "Woohoo!" :D I have heard "Bravo" from audience members at BETM in NY, but never when I have attended the show in London. I definitely prefer the "Woohoo" school of thought, given the context of the show. :D
And a personal note on this subject: Even though the word Bravo is Italian, it is very commonly used in the Greek language, probably a lot more than it is in Italy, as an expression of "well done" "good job" or even "congratulations" from the simple "bravo" on suceeding for example in your exams, to the more enthusiastic "BRAVO" when we enjoy a concert or any performance. (And in many other ways that I won't get into right now as this isn't really a language lesson :? )
So when I'm in BETM I always get up and shout "bravo" completely sponteneously as I would use any other Greek word to express my enthusiasm.
Which means, Ellen, that next time you're at the VP and if I hapen to be there, you will definetely hear a shout of "Bravo" coming from at least one crazy audience member... :D
Oh yeah and A LOT of "Woohoo's" as well ;)
Athina

London
Liam x 1, Ollie x 4, Dean x 11, Rhys x 8, Aaron x 4, Scott x 9, Josh x 10, Ryan x 10, Adam x 6, Kaine x 7, Harris x 6, Harrison x 2
New York
Peter x 1
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Billy Whiz
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Re: August 2010 - Reviews - London

Post by Billy Whiz »

And now back to the reviews :D :D ;)
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Thomas
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Re: August 2010 - Reviews - London

Post by Thomas »

Sorry David, but no ;) I do have to say thank you for your great pictures of yesterdays show! They are not only a remembrance to Jake's last show, but also to my personal Ollie's last show :(

Speaking of it, I still can't believe, I will not see these two young men again in a BETM show. They were fantastic again! Ollie had a hard time during "Express" to keep a straight face, as Jake was very funny. Same thing happened during the winter scene. But at the end, when Jake left the stage, I had tears in my eyes. I found that very moment very emotional! Concerning Ollie I'd say it was one of the angriest Angry Dances I have seen! And I simply love his Electricity which is quite different from the others. Very powerful and energetic with lots of breakdance and even fighting moves in it and filled with acrobatics and ballet. Terrific!

In contrast to this - for me - very emotional show, I had also seen the matinee performance with Aaron and Connor. And definitely this was the funniest show of BETM I've seen so far! I was practically lying on the floor laughing. Keith, just for the record: according to Connor this time it was a tie ;) Of course the show was not a comedy, but the funny moments (and there are a lot of them) were very well explored. Besides the funny aspects I was also stunned by Aaron's great acting! A superb show also.

I guess I mentioned it already, but Daniel Page's Mr. Braithwaite is incredible :)

I leave it to others to write more detailled reviews :)

Cheers - Thomas
Leon 1, Fox 5, Ollie 8.5, Tom 3.5, Dean 11, Rhys 8, Aaron 5, Scott 5, Josh 4, Adam 4, Ryan 4
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burtond
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Re: August 2010 - Reviews - London

Post by burtond »

Still awaiting the dissertation Keith! :lol: :lol:
Have checked back and it's definately not there yet.
Surely you can;t have anything better to do mate! :lol:
It's al about priorities - (you've made your bed and you must lie in it now!!!!)
An ex-Regular and someone who was Passionate about the show but who has now found the rest of the WEST END.
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AJ HOLDEN
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Re: August 2010 - Reviews - London

Post by AJ HOLDEN »

A revisit to Saturday 21st August evening. Aaron/Connor/Emily

Since I am in Billy Rehab (rehabillytation) at present this is a review from my 17 year old Swedish niece who specially wrote this for the Forum. She had never been to a London show before, had little English and knew next to nothing about the culture, politics or history surrounding the show. I just thought it would be nice to get a review from a completely different perspective. I only asked her to mention the audience/theatre. It is a faithful translation from her Swedish E-mail, thus the disjointed grammar and I have inserted my words in brackets:

I was very happy to see the show. I could not believe it lasted 3 hours. I wanted it to last twice as long and then see it all over again. The cast where amazing. It took almost the whole show before I realised that some (actors) played different parts. They were so clever, so talented. I could not get all the jokes but I heard the audience laugh so much and you felt the good atmosphere and felt good too.

I loved all the children. The (small) boy showed no nerves and looked so cheeky. I knew he would say a rude word because his face said so before he did it. I wanted to cuddly him. The Billy boy was a very fine actor and his dancing was beautiful and so many different skills perfected for a young person. I loved the (ballet) girls and the funny dancing, to make dancing look bad at times is as hard as the extra good dancing too. The girls kick and push Billy so hard (Shine) he must get angry at times in real life. The (finale) ending should also see the girls and boys just have their own dance. I don’t think all the girls take a bow at the end and we can’t cheer them. The other boy (Michael) and girl (Debbie) comes on at the end and doesn’t get time for the audience to cheer them.

The (Express) dresses scene was so unexpected and so funny. The show was dark and serious one second and the next second we have light and fun. I saw the policemen and others (demonstraters) at the front of the stage and thought they would all fall off with the pushing and noise (Solidarity) and then next the ballet girls are with the others (miners) doing a little dance and everything is so sweet.

I would tell all my friends to come and watch because the dancing was always beautiful and clever and was the best part of the show. All the dances changed (contrasted – I think)! The Swan Lake is beautiful, the flying so dangerous I wanted to shut my eyes at times but Billy was calm so I knew the times he almost hit the floor were deliberate. The next ballet dance (Electricity) made me mad – which dance do I now like the best, I kept thinking I have seen the best dance and then a better one arrives.

I loved the whole show. The audience were so happy and the theatre was very comfortable and you see so much as the stage is close to the audience. (Row B of course). Please please take the show to Sweden. The people all speak English and understand Englishness very well so nothing has to change.

Jennifer M
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burtond
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Re: August 2010 - Reviews - London

Post by burtond »

A wonderful and heart-warming review Alex. Thanks for posting
An ex-Regular and someone who was Passionate about the show but who has now found the rest of the WEST END.
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Billy Whiz
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Re: August 2010 - Reviews - London

Post by Billy Whiz »

Saturday, August 28th, 2010

Billy - Ollie
Michael - Jake (last show)
Debbie - Fleur

I’m surprised how little has been written about Jake’s last show so I thought I better put a few words into print.

Before the show started Nick Evans, the Resident Director, came onto the stage and gave a wonderful speech about Jake. You could tell by what he said and how he said it that Jake was a very popular young man with the cast and crew and will be sadly missed.

A loud cheer from the audience when Jake made his first appearance. It was his last show and he had set out his stall to go out with a bang. In the boxing scene he really nailed the punch on Billy and there was not a man in the audience that didn’t wince when he hit George in the nether regions. :o I have never seen anybody punched as hard and even Ollie was laughing at this.

Express was brilliant and again Jake was going full out. He slapped Ollie on the face and this brought laughter from both of them. As the dancing dresses came out Jake said “Come on Billy, this is it”. He then said later “Come on Billy, for the last time”. Ollie gave Jake a big hug at the end of Express before leaving to allow Jake to soak up the applause.

In the Winter Scene Jake was again brilliant. His timing of the nutcracker line is beyond compare and I loved the way that when he eventually got to his feet he walked as if he was still in “discomfort”.

The rest of the cast were also on top form. Ollie was his usual exceptional self as was Fleur. It was nice to see David Bardsley as Jackie as I have not seen him in ages. This was Jake’s night so I make no apologies for making no further comment on the rest of the cast.

Sadly there was no “See ya Jake” “Yeh, see ya Ollie” at the end of the show. :( This seems to have disappeared in the London show whilst it is now accepted as a tradition in New York. Hopefully this is something that will be reintroduced.

At the end of the finale there was a lovely touch when Ollie took hold of Jake and brought him to the front of the stage to take the applause. Well done for that Ollie.

Thanks to Jake and his parents for allowing us to take photos outside the Victoria Palace before they dashed off to catch their train.

I’m sure we have not heard the last of this very, very talented young man.
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athadj
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Re: August 2010 - Reviews - London

Post by athadj »

Thank you so much for all this information BillyWhiz. You are right, not a lot has been posted about Jake's last night which is a shame. C'mon guys where are the reviews? (I'm actually starting to get worried about Keith-lol)

Looks like it was special for Jake, I'm really gonna miss him as he was the Michael that was always on when I watched the show! Too bad about the "see'ya" line though...I'm hoping they'll do it on Ollie's last show. It must be so emotional, I know I won't be able to control myself if I hear it...(I am going to embarass myself anyway, just a bit sooner if I hear this line...)
Athina

London
Liam x 1, Ollie x 4, Dean x 11, Rhys x 8, Aaron x 4, Scott x 9, Josh x 10, Ryan x 10, Adam x 6, Kaine x 7, Harris x 6, Harrison x 2
New York
Peter x 1
KeefyM
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Re: August 2010 - Reviews - London

Post by KeefyM »

Don't worry Athina, haven't stopped writing reviews,
I'm just too busy at the moment with work and various other things going on (i.e a certain last night at the end of the month).
Still writing brief comments though in the current cast thread and on the Billys/Michaels/Debbies Facebook pages.
Will get back to writing reviews at some point (although some people are probably relieved that I'm not writing any dissertations at the moment as they won't have to take a week's holiday from work to read them).

Thanks Billy Whiz, glad to see a great review of Jakes last night on the forum at last.
Great reviews Alex, Deanfan5, Thomas and Jacob, really enjoyed reading them and I can see 100% what you are saying about Rhys and his ballet Jacob
as he really is creative in the way he brings his balletic talent into his shows, which he proved last night in another stunning & perfect performance.

Great to see Dean back yesterday after his knee injury, where he reminded us what we have been missing in the last two weeks during his absence with a fantastic and stunning performance. His Electricity was just sheer perfection with astonishing footwork & perfect ballet poise & posture throughout which reminded us all what a fantastic Billy Dean is.
Well done Dean for having to Tap in Billys Trainers rather than the Tap Shoes in Express as the shoes got mixed up and you couldn't put them on.
Loved your "screw this" when you threw the Tap Shoes back in frustration and put the trainers back on.
Brilliant stuff Dean.


Keep the reviews coming folks! :P


Cheers
Keith
:D
Westletonion
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Re: August 2010 - Reviews - London

Post by Westletonion »

Thanks Deanfan5 but I think your review should be under the September heading. I expect Ollie will forgive you. :lol:
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