London Production Rumours

[Barry Appleby]

Presenters on bbc Radio Humberside talking to Showbiz Shaw from London about bickering etc among the cast and ticket sales being dissapointing at the London Production.
Should be on bbciplayer about 1 hour 20 minutes into the "Westenders" programme, which was on air 6pm to 8pm on Sunday 13th January

[Billy Whiz]

Here is the BBC iPlayer link and it starts at 1 hour 26 minutes in.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p012w7c9

[ERinVA]

Thanks for the link, Billy Whiz.

Interesting to hear this, especially the comparison to the Chicago run.

[kport]

We have to face facts. One day the US/CA Tour will end; one day the VPT Production will end. And there may come a time when BETM disappears from the stage, for a time.

Is it not time for the powers that be to consider a recorded concert version, like the one done for Les Mis at its 10th and 25 anniversaries, so that this can be recorded (and sold) for posterity?

IMHO we deserve a definitive recording of the brilliance that is Billy Elliot the Musical. And who knows...it could kick start interest amongst the general public who pay to see it. BETM Gala Concert Version at the O2; recorded on DVD for posterity.........

Come on, the Powers That Be...don't be coy. Just do it.

I would also like to repeat a plea I have already made - that a school's edition be produced so that BETM can be performed by schools without incurring huge royalty rights. Les Mis has done this, and it is performed in schools all the time, which can only help maintain its popularity. Certainly the Billy Youth Theatre is the model to develop. Come on...be brave and do it!

[ERinVA]

I think the statement about "bickering among the cast" was probably inaccurate. I think it is the production company that is bickering, not the cast. I have never had the sense with any of the productions that the actual performers were bickering.

[Barry Appleby]

Hi
I saw the show last week and it was as good as ever, and the audience loved it and showed it, by their standing ovation, the cast as good! as ever. To me the most important thing is not whats going on inside the Victoria Palace, its whats going on outside. Don't forget monies are always tight after Christmas and we are in recession still,that doesn't help.
You come from Victoria station and what do you see, hordings,cranes, pile drivers and diggers, if anything was to put off the passing visitor that might buy tickets, that does. Yes, the tube station needs modernising but why start on the shops and cafes on Victoria St at the same time, the whole area has lost its identity at once,for what! Surely this must have affected ticket sales, people would come off Buckingham Palace Rd, gone into the cafe's and Sainsbury's then walk past the VP and book seats, also we lost the 2 pubs, which were always busy,no! to me its depressing now, and I don't see it, daily, like the staff and cast at the theatre. The whole area used to be bubbling with life, even after the show finished and audience left, not now.
Sorry for the rant, got it off my chest.

[patc]

You come from Victoria station and what do you see, hordings,cranes, pile drivers and diggers, if anything was to put off the passing visitor that might buy tickets, that does. Yes, the tube station needs modernising but why start on the shops and cafes on Victoria St at the same time, the whole area has lost its identity at once,for what! Surely this must have affected ticket sales, people would come off Buckingham Palace Rd, gone into the cafe's and Sainsbury's then walk past the VP and book seats, also we lost the 2 pubs, which were always busy,no! to me its depressing now, and I don't see it, daily, like the staff and cast at the theatre. The whole area used to be bubbling with life, even after the show finished and audience left, not now.
Sorry for the rant, got it off my chest.

Good points, Barry. However, when you exit the station keep your eyes firmly fixed on that flashing red neon across the road and BE HAPPY

Joke: Did you hear about the Irish attempt on Mt. Everest? They ran out of scaffolding.

Pat

[ERinVA]

I agree with everything you said, Barry. The demolition of the entire Victoria area could not help but have an effect on ticket sales.

[Westletonion]

Barry raises some very accurate observations. The whole area is a complete mess. Perhaps relocating to a smaller theatre with maybe 900 to 1000 seats might be a viable alternative. The set would have to be more modest of course but I am sure could be made manageable. Cheap seats in row B could then become a thing of the past of course!

[ERinVA]

The set design from the Chicago/Toronto version of the show would work perfectly well. No need to excavate for the bedroom set. In fact, no need for trapdoors of any kind in the deck.