Billy Elliot the Forum

Chichester Festival Theatre's production of Goodnight Mister Tom will be revived for a run in the West End this Christmas. It won an Olivier award in 2013 for best entertainment, after a run on the West End. The stage play will run from Dec 11 to Feb 20, at the Duke of York's Theatre.

Mr Tom will be played by David Troughton.

This trailer is from an earlier production on the West End:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWHDTU3IUPE

https://www.thestage.co.uk/news/2015/go ... -west-end/ (subscription required)

I will be seated front and center at this show on December 11th.

It's one of those rare times when I schedule a show other than BETM on a night when BETM is going on. Now that the Billy Board at the VPT has been moved, I won't even be tempted to take a gander at it that afternoon and be upset.

From what I've seen, I will be amazed, and I will be a total emotional wreck at the show's end.

tzwicky

"Goodnight Mister Tom" is the other show in London that can cause women and girls and old Yanks to cry ... several times. I'm not British, so I haven't read the book or seen it done in school plays or on the screen every season, so I only had the cinematic version that I recall from sometime in the past 10 years. Retired people don't keep track of time ya know!

And all I recall with that one was I think it ends differently. I thought it had less than the "everyone cries hard and then claps and stands and claps some more" type of ending or at least something that led me to not view the film after that first time.

But this West End version, in the Duke of York's Theatre (a toybox theatre with too many balconies) pressed every button. It had puppeteers playing Mister Tom's dog and a phalanx of child actors, including the primary lead kids. And if nothing else, it fulfilled a really strong need I had for something I have not seen in London for too many years and it delivered it on stage, delightfully. The other animal puppet is a red squirrel. I think any Brit can tell the rest of us, Red Squirrels are an endangered species in their own land, and it's because of something "North American." Invasive grey squirrels from the other side of the Atlantic hitched a ride here for some reason and since they're more aggressive than the reds, and reproduce more readily and do all the things invasive creatures do, Reds almost not seen. It's been years since I've seen a red squirrel in London. But there's one on stage in this show and I was quite pleased to have seen the little dude.

The show delivers big. At least two packets of hankies would be a good investment.

Lastly though, the place serves Pepsi at the bar. Speaking of endangered.

tzwicky

A review of Goodnight Mr Tom, at the Opera House, Manchester (note: the book is by Michelle Magorian, not Morgan). It run until Feb. 27th:

http://www.thereviewshub.com/goodnight- ... chester-2/

Anyone who has not seen the BBC adaptation of this story can see it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeRo2vTYlJI