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.
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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