Re: "Through The Lens"

NIKKIE-NIKKIE · Post by **NIKKIE-NIKKIE** » Wed Jul 22, 2009 9:17 pm

pexcornel wrote:While I was in London at the VPT, I bought the 40 pounds Limited Edition Photographic Book by David Scheinmann, "Billy Elliot Through the Lens".

Now I had time to look at it and I tell you is worth every penny. It's a fantastic journey trough the days of the BETM from the first days of rehearsals up to the first night.

It has unseen pictures of the original cast. These guys work made BETM the success that this show is today.

I have started a thread on this subject, as I know some of our new members may not have heard about this, so anyone who has this book, please provide your feedback as well.

chocchipcookie26 · Post by **chocchipcookie26** » Wed Jul 22, 2009 9:43 pm

It's a fantastic book for me, someone who never saw the original cast, so it must be more special for people who did. I absolutely love it, filled with amazing photos, most of which you will not see anywhere else, from first rehearsals to Opening Night. A truly wonderful book that i recommened to any fan of the show, even if they haven't seen it in the UK
x

patc · Post by **patc** » Wed Jul 22, 2009 10:03 pm

I've been threatening to buy this for a long time and finally got it a few weeks ago. I completely agree with pexcornel and chocchipcookie26 that it is worth its weight in gold. Not only are the pictures stunning but reading it page by page from the start (rather than picking pages at random) really brought home the effort and teamwork that was involved in getting the show up and running. It must have been exciting, exhilarating and exhausting putting such all-new territory together.

For anyone (like me) who wasn't there from the beginning it is an amazing history of the early days and, as you progress through it, you may find it an emotional read. I did. It must have been an awful wrench for all those involved when the original team began to break up, i.e., the first three Billy's having to leave.

Something else about this book is that it really and truly makes you wish you had been there when it happened.

What an incredible team. I take my hat off to the lot of them as well as the photographer.

Pat

Post by **ERinVA** » Wed Jul 22, 2009 10:17 pm

I treasure my copy!

Post by **Billy Whiz** » Wed Jul 22, 2009 10:33 pm

I'm going to start reading mine again tonight.

Thanks pexcornel for starting this discussion.

hammy · Post by **hammy** » Wed Jul 22, 2009 10:46 pm

It really is one of those items i love.
The front cover is stunning and it has pride of place on my shelf. I love the pictures and have looked at it so many times. I've even drawn pictures of the photos before. It brings back all the great memories of my visits. It also makes me wish i had seen the orignal show but its great to have one part of the start. You see the routes of the show and how they bloom into an almighty production.

Born to Boogie · Post by **Born to Boogie** » Wed Jul 22, 2009 10:57 pm

I love finding relics on the internet. It's still possible to get a glimpse of the early days ... Follow this link or replace georgemaguire with the name of any of the other original Billys for more nostalgia. Reminds me of 3rd November 2005 when I got home from the theatre after watching my first performance (with George as Billy) to search on the internet for more info and found the old forum. 30 shows later ....

http://www.billyelliotthemusical.com/ge ... uire.html#

A site which is great to look at now and again for this sort of thing is http://www.archive.org/index.php . Try typing http://www.billyelliotthemusical.com into the search box and look back at the intro to the original pre-production website. Many of the links unfortuntely don't go beyond the intro screen (the detail in the archive being a bit bare for some sites). I did smile when I saw the quote on the 2005 version of the Billy site: 'The Best British Musical Since Oliver'!

bubsycm · Post by **bubsycm** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 9:43 am

I love my book. I bought it in Dress Circle a few months back. It has pride of place on my shelf and I look at it all the time. I wish I'd seen the original cast too! It would be amazing if they could publish something with the current cast, or even had some of those limited edition photos for sale. I really like the ones they have got but as I didn't see the originals it would mean more to me to have a lovely photo of one of the Billys I have seen!

pexcornel · Post by **pexcornel** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 12:37 pm

I would suggest to the creative team the release of a DVD with the electronic press kits for every Billy.
I just can't stand the thought that I might never see Tanner's pirouettes as Billy, or Oliver Taylor that I never saw. Or any Billy that I never saw and people appreciate that much.
NEVER is an awful long time. They should do that.

In this era of multimedia, the history of every Billy must be remembered somehow. If not, it's just SAD.

Post by **ERinVA** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 12:55 pm

Heck, we can't even get them to do a Broadway cast recording!