Rarmian Newton

kport
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Re: Rarmian Newton

Post by kport »

andrewcraig wrote:Rarmion Newton is interviewed on video about his new show World premiere of How to train your dragon

http://www.aussietheatre.com.au/index.p ... &Itemid=67

Watching this video and reflecting back on Rarmion in the original OZ cast of Billy, he seems no different to what he was back then but____here is a tribute from 2 fans compiled when he left the show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWCJIRMLCiQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGtSWuRS ... re=related
A little more about this:

http://www.melbourneweeklybayside.com.a ... 53331.aspx
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ERinVA
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Re: Rarmian Newton

Post by ERinVA »

I would love to see this show. It is probably going to be a ton of fun. :D
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Re: Rarmian Newton

Post by andrewcraig »

The first rehearsal was not a great success opening night 7 days ago. The show has its first premier show tonight. I found this on an individual website.

I really hope to see my first Billy almost 18, in his new international show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4hqg8Uh ... ploademail

My Billy before the show opened

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63vWjDpM ... tube_gdata
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Re: Rarmian Newton

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andrewcraig wrote:The first rehearsal was not a great success opening night 7 days ago. The show has its first premier show tonight. I found this on an individual website.

I really hope to see my first Billy almost 18, in his new international show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4hqg8Uh ... ploademail

My Billy before the show opened

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63vWjDpM ... tube_gdata
I hope the first premier IS a great success! Often a rocky dress rehearsal leads to a great first performance.

It looks fantastic but........Imagine hauling that set around on a national tour!

Break a leg, Rarmian and cast!!
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ERinVA
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Re: Rarmian Newton

Post by ERinVA »

How to Train Your Dragon is on its way to the US, and Rarmian will still be flying aboard the dragon, Toothless, as one of the two actors playing Hiccup. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dreamw ... 2012-05-10
Ellen



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Re: Rarmian Newton

Post by tankntonic »

How to train your Dragon made it's North American debut on Wednesday last.

http://www.dreamworksdragonslive.com/

A long North American tour lasting until next February.
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tzwicky
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Re: Rarmian Newton

Post by tzwicky »

Still no dates for my area.

It's drivin' me mental!

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Re: Rarmian Newton

Post by ERinVA »

It's coming to Washington, DC in July. I might have to figure out how to see it there.
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Re: Rarmian Newton

Post by kport »

It flies into Worcester MA this week, a few weeks before BETM arrives at the Boston Opera House.

http://bostonglobe.com/arts/2012/07/07/ ... story.html

The full schedule is here:

http://dreamworksdragonslive.com/ticket ... NAodyi1SBQ
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Re: Rarmian Newton

Post by kport »

I just returned from seeing 'How to Train Your Dragon' at the DCU Center in Worcester, Mass. I was lucky - Rarmian was playing the lead, Hiccup.

First, this is billed not as a play or musical, but as an extravaganza. It has to use vast indoor arenas generally used for sporting fixtures to accommodate the flying sequences, where as many as six animatronic dinosaurs (with humans riding on top) must fly around the arena The DCU was divided by a wall that cut the building in two, thus creating a horseshoe of seats (I estimated 6000 seats; the DCU can hold 18,000). One had the feeling of a circus setting, with the wall becoming an interactive part of the show.

Before the opening, a recorded voice (I think it is Rarmian) reminded us to turn off phones and not take photos.......and the accent was distinctly Geordie! An 'inside joke', perhaps? The iconic 'Fishing Boy sitting on the moon' Dreamworks logo indicated that the company behind this production would have nothing but the most advanced sound, light and animatronic effects known to man. And it does. Suffice it to say that the arena could become, through stunning visual effects, a flight through the skies; a sail on an angry sea; a chase through the mountains; or even a magical place under the sea. It was extraordinary how we became part of the action. Yet there are some marvelously successful primitive effects; one scene uses primitive shadow puppets in a manner which I believe goes back to mummer's plays; another depicts a fleet of galleons plying the seas as no more than ship-shaped chinese lanterns on long sticks pulled by actors in black robes, like monks. A most ingenious juxtaposition of the old and the very new.

And Rarmian is fantastic! He is 'on' for almost the entire time; he runs and jumps and fights and climbs endlessly; his acting and his ability to be understood in an echoing acoustic is excellent. There are scenes where he is in the harness, 'running' along the vertical wall as the moving landscape, projected onto it, gives the impression of him jumping from hill to hill, then falling upside down, then landing, and running, all impeccably choreographed together, and so convincing, that people's jaws dropped....and in the tender scenes (mostly with the dinosaur he befriends, but also at the end with Astrid, the girl warrior who comes to believe in him) he really gets the empathy flowing. The rest of the cast have little to say (except his father, and one other who was a sort of 'George' character), but instead their roles are mainly as acrobats, running and jumping and climbing with extraordinary timing and precision. Think of a Viking version of Cirque du Soleil!

The story focuses on two relationships: the first is Hiccup's discovery that dinosaurs are not enemies that must be killed (the Vikings' belief) but can be trained to become friends. The second relationship is the difficulties he faces with a disapproving, brusque father who thinks any one who likes dinosaurs is a bit 'odd', and the struggle Hiccup has persuading his father to let him follow his dream - which ends in a tearful embrace as the father asks his son to forgive him - and tells him to be what he wants to be (sound familiar?) The plot is mono dimensional; the focus is on the visual, not on the story; there are no subplots that interweave. This is definitely 'family entertainment', with the focus on the younger members - and not Billy Elliot. But it is highly entertaining, albeit in a different way.

Near the end, in a gorgeous underwater scene, the play was halted because Rarmian's harness became stuck, leaving him floating 60 feet above the arena, for a good ten minutes, until a cherry picker came out to rescue him. It must have been a very uncomfortable experience up there, with no support, for such a long time, and he got a wild ovation and cheer when his feet did touch ground. A minute later, things started again and went without mishap - to enthusiastic applause and cheering at the end.

The audience was mostly parents with younger and early teen children, who seemed to enjoy not only the play, but all the 'merche' - I have never seen so many stuffed dinosaurs leave a theater before! It is not BETM (though there are some parallels) but it was wonderful to see a former Billy make such a success of an incredibly demanding show; just the astonishingly realistic dinosaurs and the way they moved, and even flew, made this more than worthwhile. They use 32 50ft lorries to transport all this technical wizardry! A true extravaganza! Well done, everyone, and especially Rarmian, for such an excellent show!
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