Billy Elliot

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kringle
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Re: Billy Elliot

Post by kringle »

Yorkie wrote:
kringle wrote:I think Billy Elliot is without question the best musical I've ever seen. My current BE view count is 22 - 18 times in Toronto and 4 in Pittsburgh a couple of weeks ago. I've seen 7 different Billys so far. I figure I can get in 7 or 8 more performances when the US touring company comes to Ottawa, Canada in January 2013 and maybe some in-between then and now. :D
22 times Kent :shock:

That's #*&£$%* weird if you ask me :wink:
There was a guy I used to run into frequently at the theatre in Toronto. He had seen Billy over 75 times in Toronto, Chicago and New York. :shock:
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Yorkie
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Re: Billy Elliot

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JimmyRiddle wrote:Yorkie it was 18th Feb I went - How many times have you seen Billy? Although I would like to see other musicals if/when I'm next in London (Blue Brothers being one of them) it would be very hard not to be tempted by BE again. I don't could never (afford) better Kent's 22 though lol
More than once and less than the 700+ times of some! The best seats in the house are the cheapest. If you go to the theatre website you can buy restricted view seats at the front of the stalls. The prime ones are B6 - B21. If you can't get those then B1 - 5 is better than anything higher than B22. Mon - Thur these seats are £19.50, Fri -Sat £27.50.

The stage is high so you can't always see feet or the lighting effects on the stage floor but you are right up close to the actors and that more than makes up for it.
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Yorkie
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Re: Billy Elliot

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kringle wrote:
Yorkie wrote: There was a guy I used to run into frequently at the theatre in Toronto. He had seen Billy over 75 times in Toronto, Chicago and New York. :shock:
75 times is a good number (I think some folks on this site are approaching that number :wink: ).
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paul
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Re: Billy Elliot

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I'm supprised I did not bump into you, I was there!

JimmyRiddle wrote:Finally got round to seeing Billy Elliot last Saturday, in London's west end. I can see why almost everyone raves about it, and I was blown away by the whole experience. Lengthly standing ovation at the end, goes without saying.

Ryan Collinson was 'Billy' and although I'm sure all the Billy's are great, I can't imagine going to see it again without Ryan in the lead role. He was beyond amazing! Michael stole every scene he was in though. Some genuine lump-in-your-throat moments especially the letter reading moment. Very impressed with the slick stage transitions too. Bearing in mind the last time I saw live theatre the curtain came down between acts/scenes and a considerable wait was to be endured as they setup the next one with basic props. Now at the press of a button the whole stage is transformed as props pop up, down and out from the sides in seconds. Just a brilliant all round stage production.
Joe Snelling Quote: "It's odd cuz my voice is low but I do quite a lot of the top notes"
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paul
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Re: Billy Elliot

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Yorkie wrote:
kringle wrote:
Yorkie wrote: There was a guy I used to run into frequently at the theatre in Toronto. He had seen Billy over 75 times in Toronto, Chicago and New York. :shock:
75 times is a good number (I think some folks on this site are approaching that number :wink: ).
75?

Who is that then?

Well just wanted to mention that a new leaf has opened up in the Billy saga. For the second time I got to see the new Billy

(Harris Beattie)

It was a stunning show, and to think he has only been with the show for a few weeks. Ill post my review from the Facebook appreciation group below.

Facebook wrote:Friday 9th March

Billy - Harris Beattie
Michael - Joe Massey
Debbie - Dayna Dixon
Tall boy - Ashley Cousins
Small Boy - Thomas Berry

After seeing several shows and writing reviews, it’s difficult to find something original to say, mainly because the cast are so consistently excellent. To be honest, I don’t think that anything I could write would do justice for how excellent the show was, despite a full but very flat audience. “Shame on them” I don’t think they realise the amazing talents they have just witnessed. Well as a veteran to the show, I certainly appreciated how hard the cast worked tonight.


It’s hard to believe that Harris has only been with us for a very short time considering what he achieved tonight, and I don’t say that lightly. It was a 100% perfect performance from this young man. I do believe that Harris is a Billy to keep an eye on, if he achieved what he did tonight in his short time as Billy, what he will achieve months down the road. I’ll look forward to seeing him flourish in to another great.

We started with a very confident looking Harris as he emerged onto stage, followed by his solo part in; The stars look down. He has a great singing voice in my opinion.

We had some great expressions and acting on Shine, the usual expressions of curiosity, bewilderment, and disgust and of course a look of anger at being shoved about by the ballet girls.

Harris was showing a great personality during Grandma’s song with great smiles and laughter.

Harris put on a great show for Solidarity with great form at the moment Mrs W discovers he has talent. We had perfect pirouettes at the end.

I was in hysterics during express; Harris looked so comfortable working with Joe. Again, great confidents, acting, dancing, singing and smiles throughout.

I could not help myself but feel very saddened during The Letter. This was great acting from Harris, but seemed so much more personal as well. I think the way he handles this, is a real credit to him. Not sure if I could do it.

Born to boogie was executed perfectly with great dancing, from Harris and cast alike.

Angry dance, Wow! This is a favourite routine of mine and Harris was no exception to the brilliance that the other Billy’s deliver. It was performed with perfect aggressive tap, intensely vocal with very powerful angry emotions, it really shook the house. This is another reason that Harris has the making of a really great Billy. I’ll look forward to many more Angry dances from him.

Dream ballet was a stunning display. Every move, every dance step was absolutely spot on perfect. Although this routine is generally performed quite swiftly, the transitions from one move to the next, was so fluid. Flying Billy was perfect, Billy was launched spinning high into the air to the delight of the house, and for the first time tonight, reacted and gave Harris a great ovation.

Harris made a very minor mistake in Electricity earlier in the week, so I was praying that he kept his momentum and performed this perfectly. Wow! He did. I was overjoyed to see this. Possibly one of the toughest routines in the whole show and he absolutely nailed it to perfection. He really deserved a full house standing ovation for this, but as I mentioned, it was hard work to get even a decent ovation from the house. Although I felt compelled to stand, on this occasion I could not as I had a family with young children sat behind me. I still carry somewhat the guilt of not fully showing my appreciation for this, as I have stood for a lesser performance before. Sorry Harris, but I could not stand as it would not have been fair on the youngsters behind me.

Absolutely loved Finale tonight. We had great dance moves and smiles from Harris and all cast.

As I mentioned, I think this young star is someone to watch, overall, it was a perfect show with no mistakes or hesitations in his lines. Great Singing, great acting, great dance in all disciplines. A real privilege to watch.

I brought my Mother to the theatre tonight, and she was shocked to learn that he has only been with the show for a very short time. She had a really great evening and did not stop taking about the show for the whole journey home. Not only was I overjoyed to see Harris’s perfect performance, my evening was just topped off to perfection knowing that my Mother also had a great night as well.

Thanks Harris, you put on a stunning, emotional, funny, 40 carat gem of a show. Looking forward to seeing you perform again.

Best wishes

Paul.
Joe Snelling Quote: "It's odd cuz my voice is low but I do quite a lot of the top notes"
_______________________________________________________________________


"Music and rhythm find their way into the secret places of the soul"

- Plato
TullyBascombe
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Re: Billy Elliot

Post by TullyBascombe »

Is the Matilda musical related to the Matilda movies (with Mara Wilson) of the 1990's? My daughter adored them.
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paul
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Re: Billy Elliot

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Yes
TullyBascombe wrote:Is the Matilda musical related to the Matilda movies (with Mara Wilson) of the 1990's? My daughter adored them.
Joe Snelling Quote: "It's odd cuz my voice is low but I do quite a lot of the top notes"
_______________________________________________________________________


"Music and rhythm find their way into the secret places of the soul"

- Plato
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JimmyRiddle
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Re: Billy Elliot

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Yorkie wrote:More than once and less than the 700+ times of some! The best seats in the house are the cheapest. If you go to the theatre website you can buy restricted view seats at the front of the stalls. The prime ones are B6 - B21. If you can't get those then B1 - 5 is better than anything higher than B22. Mon - Thur these seats are £19.50, Fri -Sat £27.50.
Cheers I'll remember that should I go again. Much better than the £67 I paid for mine, and I was about 10 rows back on the far right. Still not a bad view of stage overall. We did leave it late to buy the tickets and there wasn't much availability left.
paul30003 wrote:I'm supprised I did not bump into you, I was there!
Sat 18th Feb it was. The program listed the Billy's; Josh Baker, Ryan Collinson, Adam Versperman and Kaine Ward. Ryan was the one on the night we went. That program is something else too. Didn't have time to read it before the show, so finished it off back at the hotel. Well worth £5.
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Yorkie
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Re: Billy Elliot

Post by Yorkie »

JimmyRiddle wrote:Sat 18th Feb it was. The program listed the Billy's; Josh Baker, Ryan Collinson, Adam Versperman and Kaine Ward. Ryan was the one on the night we went. That program is something else too. Didn't have time to read it before the show, so finished it off back at the hotel. Well worth £5.
You had Joe Massey as Michael - he is very impish with a cheeky grin; Josh has now left the show (FDL, Murkskis, & Viabuona Josh is the Billy you saw when you first went to the show) and Harris (see Paul's review above) is his replacement. Harris is the Grandson of Andy Stewart (I know you're old enough to remember him Jimmy) and has a tragic story of his own. He is sadly orphaned and is being raised by his aunt and uncle. Great kid and I'm sure he has a big future ahead of him. I haven't seen him perform yet but I'm not sure I'll have dry eyes during 'The Letter' scene.............
Last edited by Yorkie on Mon Mar 12, 2012 10:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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paul
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Re: Billy Elliot

Post by paul »

Former Billy Elliot star, Scott McKenzie has just released this.

[youtube][/youtube]
Joe Snelling Quote: "It's odd cuz my voice is low but I do quite a lot of the top notes"
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"Music and rhythm find their way into the secret places of the soul"

- Plato
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maartendas
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Re: Billy Elliot

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paul30003 wrote:Former Billy Elliot star, Scott McKenzie has just released this.
Nice :) Scott was the Billy I saw the first (and so far only) time I saw the show - except he was replaced with Ryan after the intermission because he fell ill, poor thing.
Did he write this song himself? It started and I thought of Tom Cully's solo work, then with the singing and the lyrics I thought more of Greyson Chance. Not sure I like his voice all the way through in this musical backing but it's good to see him developing his artistic talents further. Is he thinking of a career in music?
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paul
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Re: Billy Elliot

Post by paul »

Maybe we are looking for perfection here.

Scott is a very talented ballet dancer, good singer and actor.

We can't be perfect at everything. What I do like about Scott's singing voice, its very gentle and soothing. So was his portrayal of Billy Elliot.

Scott is persuing ballet with the RBS.
maartendas wrote:
paul30003 wrote:Former Billy Elliot star, Scott McKenzie has just released this.
Nice :) Scott was the Billy I saw the first (and so far only) time I saw the show - except he was replaced with Ryan after the intermission because he fell ill, poor thing.
Did he write this song himself? It started and I thought of Tom Cully's solo work, then with the singing and the lyrics I thought more of Greyson Chance. Not sure I like his voice all the way through in this musical backing but it's good to see him developing his artistic talents further. Is he thinking of a career in music?
Joe Snelling Quote: "It's odd cuz my voice is low but I do quite a lot of the top notes"
_______________________________________________________________________


"Music and rhythm find their way into the secret places of the soul"

- Plato
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maartendas
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Re: Billy Elliot

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Billy has come to the Netherlands. Here's a taster, of different Dutch Billy's on a singalong event backed by the famous Metropole Orkest (not the orchestra of the show btw) plus one of the British Billy's.
Despite the fact that the Dutch boys sound too "clean" in their pronunciation to me (compared to the tough English in the original) I thought this performance was quite good :)

[BBvideo 425,350][/BBvideo]
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paul
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Re: Billy Elliot

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[quote="maartendas"]Billy has come to the Netherlands. Here's a taster, of different Dutch Billy's on a singalong event backed by the famous Metropole Orkest (not the orchestra of the show btw) plus one of the British Billy's.
Despite the fact that the Dutch boys sound too "clean" in their pronunciation to me (compared to the tough English in the original) I thought this performance was quite good :)



It was good, I've seen the show a couple of times, so the Dutch was not a problem as i know the song word for word ;)
Joe Snelling Quote: "It's odd cuz my voice is low but I do quite a lot of the top notes"
_______________________________________________________________________


"Music and rhythm find their way into the secret places of the soul"

- Plato
TullyBascombe
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Re: Billy Elliot

Post by TullyBascombe »

What would the Dutch equivalent to a northern English working class urban accent be? Would we know it if we heard it?
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