Saturday 27th December - matinee performance.
Well, to say that I made it to the VPT at all yesterday was an understatement. Heavy snow fall (around 4 - 6 inches) fell in a few short hours here in Yorkshire on Boxing Day evening so my travel plans to London the next day were soon put into chaos!
I'd originally planned to get a taxi from my house to the train station but no taxis were running due to the ice/snow so at 7am stepped out and braved a 3 mile walk to the train station in awful conditions. 30 seconds after leaving I slipped on some ice and landed on my bum
Luckily that was the only fall of the day and I didn't find it so amusing at that time in the morning...
After my first train was cancelled (typical!), I did eventually get to London at 11.30am (although the train was running late due to the weather) - relief. Funnily enough, no snow whatsoever in London.
Well, it was all worth it! It was my first time in the stalls (row C) and seeing the show up close. I was not dissapointed! This was the second time I had seen Ollie as Billy (the last time was at the start of October) and I think he has come on leaps and bounds to make the role his own. His Angry Dance was perfect as was his Electricity, both with real emotion. The near on sell out audience responded well to both and his portrayal of Billy rightly got a standing ovation at the end of the show.
David Bardsley who played the Dad did a cracking job - bringing something different to the part. The scene with the ballet dancer from Glasgow was hilarious as was his reaction after Electricity (basically telling the audition panel that Billy would easily get into the school after THAT performance
) It took me a while to warm to him as Dad (being used to Deka playing the part) but by the end of the second half, he'd definetley won me over.
I also think the stand in Grandma (sorry don't know the actresses name) did the part justice and it was good to see another take on the Grandma role.
Another thing I noticed about being close to the stage is how good the Ensemble cast are and how much they add to the show. The Ballet Girls really do add energy to the show and the scenes with the whole community singing as one at the start and the end of the show are brought to life by the great Ensemble cast.
All in all, a fantastic show that was very well received by the audience!