February 2012 Reviews - London

[dancingboy]

Thursday 23 February (matinee)

If you had taken a friend or relative to the show this afternoon for the first time they could not have picked a better show to see and could not have failed to be impressed by the acting and dancing skills of Josh Baker. I know that Josh has been performing the Billy role for a year now, but he just oozes confidence and personality. The enjoyment that Josh undoubtedly feels for the part certainly transmits itself back to the audience, the show becomes lively without it ever losing its wonderful storyline.

Today we had supremely well danced Born to Boogie, Dream Ballet and the usual ballet style Electricity from Josh, which had some of the audience whooping for joy. Even when a snag appeared Josh was not put off. During Expressing Yourself (with Reece Barrett), the hook of the coat hanger was caught up in the Orange cardigan and Josh had to enlist Reece's help to extricate himself from it, meaning that there was a slight delay in Josh being able to get the tap shoes on. Did that faze Josh? Never. Being the ultimate professional he is he took his time and was soon 'in the swing' with Reece as they carried off the number to perfection.

It turned out to be an excellent afternoon's entertainment, not only from Josh and Reece, but also the rest of the cast, each and everyone deserving the ovations received at the end of the show.

[jacob]

Tuesday February 21st

Adam
Connor Lawson
Emily Smith

A few random and belated thoughts about this performance.

To begin at the end. At the final curtain Michael Peavoy came to the front of the stage and asked the audience to vote for BETM in the Olivier Awards, these being awarded from public votes. He did this in a most engaging way by telling everyone the web site (BETM's) to visit in a manner that involved the audience repeating phrases after Michael had said them ie 'wwwdot' to which the audience responded by repeating the phrase. And so on with the rest of the address a bit like a teacher and a class of kids! This was a most effective way of involving the audience and hopefully it may lead to an Olivier Award, which incidentally is just about the only award that BETM has not won. Subsequently Michael said 'this is for you' pointing first at Billy and then at Small Boy. He then lifted Small Boy up and held him aloft much to Small Boy's delight. It is difficult for a cast member to speak at the final curtain and I thought that Michael P did this in a most effective way. That's what RADA does for you I guess

Still at the end of the Show, Connor Lawson watched Billy walking away from him (for ever) with such sadness. There he was, alone on stage, on his bicycle..............sobbing his heart out. A superb counterpoint to Billy's excitement at getting in to the RBS. An actor in the making I think.

Adam was phenomenal. He has such subtlety in the way he portrays the character of Billy Elliot. He has clearly thought deeply about this boy from Easington. At the end of B2B he shrugged his shoulders, raised his eyebrows and collapsed to the stage. It is these little touches that make his performances so thrilling. His balletic style of dancing is breathtaking and there is nothing more to say really

Thank you everyone for another great evening.

[Barry Appleby]

Sorry I can't give much of a review of Thursdays matinee, John covered it well, I had a nightmare of a rail journey, a Jumper( Fatality) on the way home, heavily delayed, Pat C would be back in Dublin and tucked up in bed before I was half way home.
John, your review was spot on, what a great afternoons entertainment, I agree, Josh is so confident on stage and has a great personality, I tell you what, his smile will be missed by us all. I was chuffed to bits when his name was on the board as it would be the last time I would see him as Billy, Josh I hope you have a great Last Night next week. Yes, Rochester you had Dickens but now you've got young Baker.
Just a couple of things to add, I think the scene in from of the safety curtain with Dad, the Ballet dancer and Posh Dad gets better and better the audience around me were in stitches.
I love the the manly whistle from Grandma(Gillian) when she shouts Post! I noticed that Josh slyly got a 2nd biscuit in this scene, he sheepishly looked around when sneaking it out of the tin. What a great finale, with a real gusty 6-7-8 from Josh and also finished off so well with Deka appealing to the audience for their vote for the Olivier Awards, watch the back Deka!
Thank you again all the cast for a great show.

Barry

Barry's corny joke - Pat and Murphy went into a pub in Dublin and ordered 2 pints of beer, they then opened up their own sandwiches, the barman shouted "sorry you can't eat your own! sandwishes in here" Pat looked up at Murphy and said "Thats no problem Murphy, I tell you what, you can eat mine and I'll eat yours"

[angelenroute]

This sort of activity went on for about three quarters way through Part 1 until she suddenly jumped up, gathered her bags, pushed her way out into the aisle and disappeared never to return.

I've been to a few shows where this kind of thing happened, the said crazy/mentally ill/drunk person acting up before leaving early. They're almost always (in my experience) accompanied by someone else who knows of the issue and encourages them to leave. So sorry to hear of these troublesome two, and I hope the curse does not repeat!

Sean

[Born to Boogie]

Monday night's show was 'helpfully' translated, line by line, into French by the gentleman sitting behind me - but whatever the language I was very pleased to have the opportunity to watch Harris for the first time. He has a fantastic journey ahead of him as he develops and perfects his performances in the role over the coming months. Two stand-out moments for me from Harris last night were 'Dream Ballet' and his final 'goodbye' to Michael. Talking of 'goodbyes' Gillian's goodbye to Billy was exceptional last night - I just thought 'wow'. If she plays it like this on Saturday night when Josh leaves it will be breathtaking. The audience needed a rocket under them last night to get them onto their feet - and only myself and a smattering of other people stood at the curtain calls, something which when it happens always makes me look round and think 'what on earth is going on'? Looking forward with mixed feelings to Saturday - very happy to celebrate Josh's fantastic time in the show and all he will surely move on to next, but also aware that another London BE milestone will have passed.

[dancingboy]

Tuesday 28 February

Many a time I have exited the Theatre and said to other Forum Members that I have seen there, ''It does not come much better than that, does it?''. Well, I said it again after last night' s show. That was certainly one of the best shows that I have seen since the change of personnel in mid-November last year. As always, Ryan was on superb form as Billy, with never a step out of place in his dancing, including several cross-overs with the skipping rope in Born to Boogie, a singing voice that can still reach the high notes and acting skills that belie his tender age, he is a very talented young man indeed. Added to that we had the impish Joe Massey as Michael, showing lots of laughter in Expressing Yourself and the new Debbie, Dayna, although small of stature and only 9 years of age, playing the role to perfection.

Some Forum members, myself included, have been critical of Michael Peavoy (Tony) due to the fact that he has tended to shout his lines too much and been too angry, but that seems to be changing, thank goodness, so that last night we saw more of Michael's acting ability coming through. Hopefully, that will continue. I have grown to like Deka Walmsley's portrayal of Dad during the last three months and there is no doubt that the Front of Curtain scene with the Scotish Ballet Dancer now receives the most laughter during the show, plus you can just see how proud he is of Billy as he shows his full support of him at the time of the audition and after Electricity.

Last night, however, there was someone else who lit up the show. Until then I had never seen Helen French play the part of Mrs Wilkinson, although she had, apparently, done so about a year ago. She was like a breath of fresh air wafting through the theatre. Her singing and dancing skills during Shine and Solidarity were spot on, whilst her acting ability shone through, with every word being audible by everyone, I am sure. Let us hope we see her in the role more often.

Of course, we must not forget the parts played by the ensemble, the Ballet girls, Grandma et al who made the show such a joy to watch.