June 2013 Reviews - London

[patc]

Thursday Matinee 6th June

Harris/Zach/Millie

There was carnage at the VPT this afternoon. Like pirates raiding a village, the cast of BETM, new and old, from Small Boy to Grandma plundered and pillaged every emotion known to Mankind and all in the space of three hours. Leading this rampage was the indestructible Harris Beattie who turned in a magnificent performance in front of a massive audience, a large proportion of which were hordes of school groups enlivening the atmosphere no end.

This is something that, when it happens, makes the Thursday matinee so special. Hundreds of youngsters, spread throughout all parts of the theatre, being enthralled by and cheering on their peers on stage and recognising that this is real talent that has worked so hard and diligently to be where they are compared to the transparent, overnight, shallowness of the almost talentless so-called celebrity culture they see on TV. Scene after scene they showed their appreciation, through Solidarity, Expressing, Angry Dance, Winter scene, Dream Ballet until the high point of the day, Harris’ superb and powerful ballet Electricity after which they finally lifted the roof off. It is such a heartwarming experience to be there for something like that. Some of Harris’ relatives and their friends were present and they must have been bursting with pride when their boy came forward for his bow.

Zach was also at his brilliant best, first of all in Expressing where he easily won his audience over but the Winter Scene was an absolute masterpiece of pacing and pathos. The Nutcracker was a classic with Zach biding his time in the build up and then delivering the immortal line accompanied by the most wonderful facial expression and eye movements. From the original film we know what happens with Michael in later years but, for the show, I prefer to be “left wondering” at the end which makes his final curtain scene so emotional and Zach did it to perfection.

Little Millie was a bundle of energy and fun and I thought her Toilet scene with Harris was exceptionally well done with her matter-of-factness matched by Harris’ hilarious rejection a real treat – especially for those aforementioned youngsters.

With this sort of atmosphere in the theatre the entire cast lifted the bar and by 5.30pm everyone was on their feet to show their appreciation of their magnificent efforts. It is a great tribute to them that, despite the recent big cast change, they have all blended together in the show so quickly. It must have taken a lot of hard work for which I am extremely grateful.

Goodness knows, due to his scheduling, I have been present for so many of Harris’ outstanding performances but, if I was to be very unlucky and never see Harris perform again, this could be the show I will most likely remember him for. It was that good.

Pat

[porschesrule]

Here's a blog review of the London show:

http://www.idreamwithalice.com/2013/06/ ... ly-elliot/

[dancingboy]

Saturday 8 June (Evening)

At just after 7.30 pm the Resident Director ( the new one??) walked on to the stage to inform the audience that Harris Beattie who was playing Billy would be doing so for the very last time. It was pleasing to hear the RD say that many of Harris's family had made the journey down from Scotland to be in attendance and the dogs also received a mention, although I am sure there was no evidence of them being in the theatre.
Harris bowed out of the show following a very determined performance, which was full of energy and no little skill. Harris paired up with the inimitable Joe Massey for a fun-packed Expressing Yourself, that had them laughing throughout, which really set the audience alight. Although Angry Dance was not as angry as some I have seen I was particularly impressed with Harris's tap dancing during this number. Sitting four rows back from the stage for once gave me an opportunity to see how much work goes into performing a slick and well-controlled Angry Dance.
Having performed Billy over 120 times, Harris had no problems with Dream Ballet, which brought forth some applause 'mid-stream' as Harris took to the air. And so on to Electricity, which Harris performed in a very determined fashion, probably now realising this would be for the very last time. His ballet-style version never faltered with some excellent pirouettes and his singing during the number was really strong and did not waver.
As usual with a last-night show the farewell scene with Mrs Wilkinson ( Anna-Jane Casey) was somewhat emotional, more so for the audience, since from on stage there were no histrionics, no hugs, no tears, just straightforward theatre acting.
The show, therefore, ended with the audience giving Harris a well deserved standing ovation, this after Deka and Anna-Jane knelt on the stage and bowed to Harris when he returned to the stage, after saying 'Goodbye' to Michael (Joe).
It was good to see some of the cast, Harrison, Redmand, Zach and some ballet girls in the audience supporting Harris on his last night. I also saw ( and spoke to) Gillian Bevan.
I have no doubt it was the Harris way to go out quietly and without fuss and that decision must be respected. It goes without saying that I wish Harris every success in the future, whatever his life has in store for him.

[Billy Whiz]

Thanks Pat for your review and a special thanks to John for going to Harris's last show and posting a review. It is greatly appreciated by all of us that could not make it.

This was the first Billy leaving show I have missed since 2007 and I am gutted but reading your review was the next best thing.

[dancingboy]

Thanks Pat for your review and a special thanks to John for going to Harris's last show and posting a review. It is greatly appreciated by all of us that could not make it.

This was the first Billy leaving show I have missed since 2007 and I am gutted but reading your review was the next best thing.

Thanks for your comments, David. Although the evening lacked the usual 'atmosphere' of a last-night, it was, nonetheless, good to be there and to support Harris, one more time.

[patc]

Thursday Matinee 13th June

Tade/Zach/Dayna

Grandma: Gillian Elisa
George: David Bardsley

When you purchase a PC and open the packaging you get a nice shiny box (the Assembled) that you plug into the wall socket, switch on and away you (the Viewer) go for hours of entertainment. On the other hand, you could also become the Assembler by purchasing all the various parts, putting them all together (in the right places) and, then, the moment comes when you switch on, it works like a dream and away you go for hours of entertainment. At least, that’s what you hope for. In the Billy World the production company is the Assembler, the show is the Assembled and we are the Viewers. As in the case of the PC Assembler the Billy Assembler’s satisfaction of seeing it work like a dream must be mega in which case they are, tonight, sleeping soundly in their beds.

By 2.30pm the motherboard (the stage) was all laid out and ready to receive the parts. We are used to Intel or AMD CPU’s being the heart of the machine in our PC’s but neither were involved in today’s Assembled. The CPU in the main socket for this Assembled was codenamed Tade and the performance was out of this world. I never saw Tade in the US so I don’t know if he brought his very unique style with him or invented a new one for London. Either way it is quite something to sit and watch this unfold scene by scene. If you were taking notes you’d have had writer’s cramp by the end of Shine. Acting, singing, dancing all were masterclasses. Not a foot, word or note put wrong. Part 1 went like greased lightning ending with a magnificently tapped Angry Dance that left us gasping for Part 2. The crème de la crème was an Electricity that defies description. You had to see it to believe it. Long before it ended the hairs on the back of my neck were upstanding and tears were rolling down my face as this dance of dances was danced with such grace, smoothness, poise, athleticism and sheer beauty. It was no wonder that when Tade took his bow at the end that the audience showed their appreciation for what was a stunning day’s work.

The smaller but very important sockets on the motherboard were filled by Zach and Dayna both in cracking form. As the hard drive spun around, the various characters were extracted and unleashed. Kevin Wathen had a very hard act to follow in Killian but he has risen magnificently to the occasion and his scenes with the truly superb Deka were quintessential emotional drama that left no stone unturned in grabbing the audience. Gillian Elisa did her own spinning around in Grandma’s song and won her audience over in the process. David Bardsley was brilliant as George and was loudly applauded with his hilarious ballet “demonstration” to Tade near the end. Thank goodness for Simon Ray in B2B. Tade had left me bereft with his very emotional Letter and it needed Simon Ray to get me out of it. The skipping here was fantastic with Tade doing the crossover stunt with the rope as easily as sipping soda. A large portion of the hard drive is reserved for some very special people, the Ballet Girls. Some of them would probably like to take a few Bytes out of Billy but, of necessity, they are restricted in this regard. Like an adblock app in your browser they do their best to stymie him. Alexander Loxton performed a beautiful Dream Ballet with Tade including throwing some highly impressive and stately athletic ballet shapes (I’d love to know what the technical names for those are) and his bow in the Finale is also very spectacular.

The job of the graphics card in the machine is to provide the colour display and there was no doubt who came out on top in this socket, Anna-Jane. She was just amazing in everything she did. Absolute dynamite that exploded on stage in a blaze of colour and energy yet, when required, displaying marvellous skill in dealing with the tender moments with Billy. A classic performance.

I was delighted that Dead Mum Kay was not among the departed at the cast change. She was born to play this role and has a beautiful voice.

Among all the great characters in this show there isn’t a single piece of malware so no anti-virus software is required.

The sound card was of high quality delivering music and voice in delicious Dolby-like decibels.

Despite the brilliance of the Assembled created for the Viewer, I have no doubt but that the Assemblers, as is their wont, will continue to strive for even more excellence by tweaking the registry and, maybe, defragging the hard drive but they will be doing very well indeed to improve on what was displayed this afternoon. That’s the great thing about this Assembled. The Assemblers never stand still.

There is, however, one major difference between the PC Assembled and the Billy Assembled. When the PC is switched off all its memory disappears forever. At Billy the RAM never dies.

Eternal thanks to Tade and Co. for another memorable day at the VPT.

Pat

[porschesrule]

Wow, Pat -- just WOW! Folks -- just when you think he couldn't possibly outdo himself with his creative approach to a BETM review -- he does just that -- OUTDOES himself! What a fertile mind to come up with these gems!

As always, I enjoyed reading every word. Thanks Pat!

[Barry Appleby]

WoW! from me also, loved it, what a great Electricfying! review Pat, so appreciated by us all.

[porschesrule]

Here's an infrequent (these days) review of the London show from someone not a member of this forum. It's from a blog called Theatre Thoughts:

http://theatrethoughts.com/2013/06/14/b ... ce-review/

[dancingboy]

Pat,
I enjoyed reading your Tade review. However, I cannot compete with you on the 'computer' front as my technical knowledge and expertise regarding computers could be written on the back of the proverbial postage stamp. However, as I saw the Thursday evening show with Harrison as Billy I will try my best to post a review over the weekend, perhaps with a 'Sporting' theme.