Sao Paulo Reviews

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CJ-Rochester
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Sao Paulo Reviews

Post by CJ-Rochester »

It's hard to believe we haven't been able to find any reviews to post yet. Here is one I saw this morning on Facebook. Unfortunately it's a photo of a newspaper page so Google translate won't work on it.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... permPage=1

The caption underneath translates to:
Check criticism Alcinous Leite Neto on Billy Elliot, The Musical, for Folha de S. Paul. Reasons abound for you to watch this spectacle!

Sounds like a positive review. :D
:/
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BEtourfan
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Re: Sao Paulo Reviews

Post by BEtourfan »

CJ-Rochester wrote:It's hard to believe we haven't been able to find any reviews to post yet. Here is one I saw this morning on Facebook. Unfortunately it's a photo of a newspaper page so Google translate won't work on it.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... permPage=1

The caption underneath translates to:
Check criticism Alcinous Leite Neto on Billy Elliot, The Musical, for Folha de S. Paul. Reasons abound for you to watch this spectacle!

Sounds like a positive review. :D
Here's a link to the article ... agree that it's a positive review (I believe the critic liked the musical more than the movie).
http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/ilustrada/ ... rama.shtml
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CJ-Rochester
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Re: Sao Paulo Reviews

Post by CJ-Rochester »

Thanks for that link BEtourfan. You learn something each day. Today I learned, from reading this review/article, about the novel by A.J. Cronin called "The Stars Look Down", published in 1935, which chronicles various injustices in an English coal mining community. Doing some searching I can see this was briefly mentioned on the forum a few times in previous years, but I must have missed it.

More about this novel, in case others didn't know about it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stars_Look_Down
:/
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Re: Sao Paulo Reviews

Post by ERinVA »

Thanks for the link to the review, Betourfan. It was nice to finally get some idea of what the Brazilian critics think, even if this was a pretty short review.
Ellen



"I don't want people who want to dance; I want people who have to dance.”
-George Balanchine 1904 -1983


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BEtourfan
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Re: Sao Paulo Reviews

Post by BEtourfan »

Here's another positive review of the show ...
http://translate.google.com/translate?h ... bs%3Dqdr:d
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Re: Sao Paulo Reviews

Post by kport »

Reading between the lines, its appears that the reviewer feels the Credicard Hall is too large to create the intimacy this musical needs.

3800 as a minimum sized theater is, in my opinion, too large.
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kadu
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Re: Sao Paulo Reviews

Post by kadu »

BEtourfan wrote: Here's a link to the article ... agree that it's a positive review (I believe the critic liked the musical more than the movie).
http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/ilustrada/ ... rama.shtml
Yeah, this is a VERY positive review and coming from the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper, it's a big deal. It would be our equivalent to the N.Y. Times (I'm brazilian btw).

They loved the show, giving compliments to every detail of this production. They feel the story is very well told by Lee Hall, the score is efficient, Stephen's direction is even more inspired than in the movie and the cast is great (they give special attention to Drew Minard and Cameron Clifford, who were Billy and Michael in the opening night, saying they were brilliant in their roles).

The second review is pretty positive to the show, but states it would be much better in a smaller place. They even make the point of advising people to choose seats closer to the stage for a better experience.

I hope this helps you guys. Sorry about any english mistakes!
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Post by kadu »

Hey everybody. I'm from Brazil and new here!

I was a huge fan of the movie Billy Elliot growing up and became an even bigger fan after seeing the musical on Broadway back in 2010. I was really excited about the show coming to my hometown of São Paulo and couldn't have had a better time seeing the show last friday night (I'm seeing it again next Saturday).

The show is in a incredible shape, just as I remember it in NYC. The only problem for me was the size of the venue. Credicard Hall is way too big for a show like this. I was lucky enough to have seen it in the first few rows, so it didn't bother me as much. Other than that, I have no complains.

The cast was absolutely great. Drew was Billy and did an AMAZING job! All the cast did, actually. There were very few differences I could recall from the Broadway production but nothing really important. The house was pretty full when I saw it... probably around 80% full, which is amazing for a venue this big in my opinion. The audience seemed to love it. As the show went on, the cheers got a lot bigger and the response for numbers like the Swan Lake dance and Electricity were very long... people really loved then. As the show ended, everybody got on their feet and gave a very long and deserved standing ovation.

The cast also seemed to be having a great time. I loved how, right before "Merry Christmas, Maggie Thatcher", the actor dressed as Santa (I'm don't know his name) tried speaking some Portuguese with the audience hahaha

The addition of subtitles was very well done. I didn't need then, but read then on and off more out of curiosity. They did their best with the translation, but there were some scenes that came out very flat mostly because they were impossible to translate and still make sense.

Well, overall it was a great experience. I'm very anxious to see it again on Saturday!

Oh, btw, sorry about any English mistakes!
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Re: Sao Paulo Reviews

Post by ERinVA »

Welcome to the forum kadu. Glad you found us, and thanks for your review. :D Your English is excellent.
Ellen



"I don't want people who want to dance; I want people who have to dance.”
-George Balanchine 1904 -1983


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kadu
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Re: Sao Paulo Reviews

Post by kadu »

ERinVA wrote:Welcome to the forum kadu. Glad you found us, and thanks for your review. :D Your English is excellent.
Thanks! I'm very glad to have found this forum! :D
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