April 2012 Reviews - London

[ERinVA]

Time to fill up another thread.

[Barry Appleby]

THURSDAY MATINEE 5th APRIL

Well I can't follow the prolific themes on reviews it must be the Guinness, Ryan Air, Suffork sea air or the golf at St. Andrews, anyway my theme is just enjoyment of another great afternoons entertainment, this show has so many varations is got 2 great dads, 2 great grannies besides the kids who are outstanding. It was Dave Bardsley turn as dad and he was spot on also I thought his address also, to the audience with regard to voting for the Olivier Awards was outstanding. Ann Emery, what a gran she is, so full of energy and such a wonderfull professional. I'm a real supporter of Kearn Jae as Tony, he shows that hot headed side yet has that family compassion for Billy. It was the first time I'd seen Macy, not a Debbie to be argued with. Reece was on top form, had the audience in stitches with his shoulder shaking in Expressing Yourself and also later with his antics of delight for getting and fitting on his tutu.
Lastly, but certainly not least Yep! Harris, what a great ambasssador for the show, his performance was top class, he so looks a natual Billy, loved the facial expressions of bewilderness in Shine when overpowered and pushed around by a load of lasses, well done! Ballet girls, also the gastly shock and look when Debbie offers to show her *****. Angry Dance, just one word "Phew", he showed so much enjoyment in Dream Ballet, what confidence Barnaby gives these kids. Electricity a great ovation, glad to see he hangs about a little longer, don't look so nervous your deserve that ovation so enjoy it, Scotland will be proud of you.
Eight ladies who had been at the show were travelling back on the train home, totally loved the show and will be voting for Billy, they even remembererd www. *****. So a great afternoons entertainment, thanks to "all the cast again".

Barry

Barry's corny joke - My wife went into a changing room to try on a new dress, but she came back and said, "its too small, I couldn't get into it". I said "never mind, the dress probably won't fit you either".

[Westletonion]

Today is the 13th and only one review so far!

[BILLYFAN]

Saturday 14th April 2.30 Mat

Billy.............Act one Kaine Ward Act two Adam Vesperman
Michael....... Joe Massey
Debbie........ Macy Syasiak

Once in a while you get a show that seems extra good, and this afternoon's show was one of them
the audience was very good as was the show, with some ad libbing
!st time for me seeing both Kaine and Adam so that was added value

The show started at 2.32 I liked the way the small boy turned to smile at the audience
The boxing scene Billy's "dance" was very funny and Joe seemed to be smiling most of the time, not only in this scene but most scenes that he was in, at at the end, when George throws the boxing glove at him, it hits Michael squarely on his back
The kitchen scene, the table was slow in coming up and grandma was already bringing the radio over, Tony not wearing any trousers still brings some laughs
Shine I liked the way Kaine puts over Billy's character seems to be so confused when Mrs Wilkinson doe's not that the keys and he was certainly pushed about at lot by the girls
In solidarity -in the "fairy on top of the box" part, the facial expressions of Mrs W was very good to see, it seems the Billy keeps that position a little longer, before Debbie says' "can we have a go"
The angry Dance was very good, although Kaine did not roll about on the floor very long at the end, he seemed to face the audience longer then the other Billys
Act Two
Just before act two started a lady (assistance stage manager I think) came on the stage to say that Kaine will not be able to play Billy for the rest of the show, as he is unwell, and will be replaced by Adam Vesperman
The pantomime scene when George was reading out who donated meat when he got the the Newcastle bit, their was a response from several areas of the theatre and he replied that there are everywhere and when Adam came on George pointed to him and said "ho you are different!", that got a lot of laughs
In the Dream ballet, Adam seemed to have "lost himself" a bit, when he comes down from "flying" he nearly went over to where his dad comes in but corrected himself and went to the ballet dancer, but kept looking over his shoulder till dad came on stage,but it was still a very good dream ballet
The electricity was the ballet version and was excellent, just before the dance, when dad is talking the the ballet dancer, when he mentioned Milton Keynes, there was a group who cheered, so dad laughed and said they are over there to the ballet dancer
In the final, I think practically everyone gave a standing ovation
At the end a man (I forget his roll, but he explained that he has a lot to be in training of the ballet girls) explained that both Saturdays show are dedicated to Charlotte Leatherbarrow,
the ballet girls who was killed in an accident last spring, her parents have set up a charity in her name to help young performers and there will be a collection at the end of the shows
The web site is http://www.charlottefoundation.org
Adam seemed to play Billy at a faster pace then Kaine, so the show finished at 5.25pm
A good show, after, I tried to see the new borismaster bus on route 38, but no luck, and when I got to Paddington Stn, it was packed, no trains where running since 6.30 because of a signal failure at Ealing Broadway, but they got the trains running by 7.30, but a lot were cancelled, and my train was only 20 minutes late in leaving

P.S I spoked to the M.d. after the show and he said Kaine was tied as he has had a demanding week

[Todd]

P.S I spoked to the M.d. after the show and he said Kaine was tied

Hope someone gets him untied so he can perform in his next scheduled show.

[BILLYFAN]

Sorry about bad spelling, I'm not the best speller, of course I ment that Kaine was TIRED

[patc]

Thursday Matinee 19th April

Kaine, Connor L, Dayna

Grandma: Gillian Elisa
Dead Mum: Steph Parry
Mr. B: Ryan Pidgen

Just around 5.30pm as the masses exited the VPT there was a long extremely loud and incredibly close clap of thunder accompanied by a torrential downpour. Well, I thought it was thunder but, in fact, it was a 21-cannon salute for Kaine in honour of a thrilling ***** performance at the matinee. And thoroughly deserved it was, too.

Having missed seeing him last week due to the, er, unusual circumstances I was delighted to see his name on the board this time. Once again it was a beautifully paced performance accompanied by stupendous dancing and culminating in what was a glorious ballet Electricity to set the heart racing with admiration. I have no idea how often the Billys have to rehearse this in any given week but to get to this level in such a relatively short space of time requires guts and determination as well as talent. In a less ordered environment my hat would have been flying high in the air a-la the Irish at Cheltenham.

During the course of the various plugs for the Audience Award at the Oliviers, the various cast members who provided the speeches at the end of the shows, as well as praising the Billys, stressed the importance of the team effort so I thought I’d include a few people this week who don’t get mentioned or, at least, not often. Dawn Buckland is absolutely priceless as the RBS main woman at the table. It is only a short moment in the show but, as the hobnobs listen to Billy and watch him rewind the tape, Dawn’s facial expressions and eyebrow movements are both hilarious and perfect to a tee. One of the show's many golden moments.

In the hot seat at the front we have Chris Hatt and Mark Collins who week in, week out direct and play the wonderful music we hear in the show. I particularly enjoy the piano accompaniments and arrangements and especially in Take me Up and Electricity. Hat flying again.

Ryan Pidgen was back on duty as Mr.B this afternoon and did a fantastic job. His hilarious rendition of the splits in B2B left me squirming in agony in my seat. I fully expected him to get up in two halves.

As we race towards 12th May the show goes from strength to strength. The entertainment provided by Kaine and Co. this afternoon bears testimony to that. A huge THANKS to everyone.

Pat

[dancingboy]

Monday 16 April and Thursday 19 April (evening)


I never fail to enjoy a show starring the Seattle Superman, otherwise known as Adam Vesperman and the two shows I have seen this week were no exception. Adam's level of performance is so consistently high in all aspects of the role. You can see, though, how much he enjoys the dancing, especially the ballet sequences, since it is etched all over his face.

I am certain that Adam is spinning, skipping and pirouetting faster than ever, whilst he shows admirable and perfect timing during Angry Dance and the noise level reached during this number must now rival that of Ryan's.

For me, Adam makes the show so enjoyable to watch because what you see is a wonderful exhibition of dancing, at which he is so much at ease. Plus the fact that, nowadays, he seems to be much more relaxed in the Billy role. Finally, you would never think he was from the States for he has really mastered that Geordie accent.

All in all these were two highly entertaining shows and the standing ovations Adam received after Electricity (on both nights) and at the Final Curtain were richly deserved. So, 'Well Done' and 'Thank You' to Adam, from one happy fan.

[AJ HOLDEN]

Thursday 19th April

I hadn’t seen Adam since October and I have to say that he gave a master class as Billy last night. He is now far more comfortable in the role, is he very relaxed and obviously able to enjoy himself far more on stage. There was absolutely faultless dancing throughout combined with a great singing voice, diction and acting leading to a brilliant exhibition. My last 14 shows have allowed me to see 13 different Billy’s including JP, Giuseppe and Dean and Adam can hold his head up high and I can say he is comparable with the best of them.

The show in general has increasingly sparked a fierce debating among fans about the perceived drop in quality of the show. There are of course a majority who will claim that the show is as good as ever and I can’t deny the show is still (as a rule) a five star show. However, I think there are some issues for me that have been evident in the past few months and became highlighted after seeing the US tour in LA plus Broadway. Firstly some fantastic lines and small sections of various scenes have disappeared. Some dialogue is delivered so quickly the audience can’t quite take in what is being said and they miss some of the real gems. This is highlighted by the opening lines between Billy and Michael where the lines are exchanged in rapid succession. There is not a sound from the audience where in past times you would often get a good laugh. In LA this scene was greeted with a great audience reaction since the dialogue was delivered slowly and with due deliberation so the audience were able to digest and appreciate it. I also believe the breakfast and boxing scenes are rushed, thus if the audience is a bit lacklustre, then these scenes now fail to lift the audience like they used to in the past. This can have a negative impact on much of the first half of the show and, likewise, the now lamentable panto scene is responsible for not getting the second half off to a good start nowadays. Basically the recent cuts and changes have been a disaster.

Secondly the acting has become too clinical (a word borrowed from another forum member but I believe very appropriate). The lines are just delivered. Where is the passion? This is NOT a criticism of any individual performer. It is totally how they have been directed and it is a testimony to their outstanding acting skills that they are able to follow the director to the letter. Unfortunately the fun and rapport with the audience has been reduced and there are few positive vibes now. In LA the fun was there, certainly a great rapport. Lines like “we would be supporting the arts” as George hands over to Billy the pound note for his audition gets a huge reaction. The director needs to allow each and every performer including all the kids to just be themselves a bit more, loosen the reins a bit.

Thirdly there is now far less interaction between the cast and fans outside the theatre. With my connections I know how close Billy was to winning the coveted and illusive Olivier Audience Award. The difference can be as simple as the adult cast acknowledging the fans instead of being faced with stony faces and silence. A management decision of course. What performers would not want to great the fans and hear praise? When many forum members are telling me they did not vote for Billy because of the way the forum is treated, surely the management should take heed. Contrast with the US tour and Broadway where the cast had so much time for the fans, backstage tours, photo’s and autographs and a friendly chat. London should learn that every show needs to keep its fans happy, not treat them as the enemy.

Billy will only survive in London if the audience go home and tell their friends and relatives what a great show they have seen and make them come and see it too. I don’t think this is happening now. With the speeded up and thus less enjoyable show, with the more clinical acting and the attitude of the adult cast and management at the stage door to the fans, I fear the show has started a slide that will soon result in all us passionate London fans having to tour the USA to get our fix of what is still the best show on the planet.

Alex

[Billy Whiz]

Thanks everybody for your posts.

Alex. Yours is very thought provoking and I will have to see for myself in three weeks when I am next down. I am waiting with some trepidation.