London – Day One
The flight was long, as usual, and uneventful. We did fly NORTH of Iceland and very high, and the ash cloud apparently began again right behind us. Landed safely, made my way quickly through customs and on the underground to my hotel. Went to breakfast at McDonalds. (United Airlines, if you are listening, your stupid sandwich thing you serve for the second meal of every flight is crap!!) Then a donut at Krispy Kreme – there is a GOD!!
Then back to Heathrow to pick up Dale, a stop at the VPT to pick up our tickets, and then a check in at the hotel. Nice LITTLE rooms!! Right next to each other. Dinner was dish and chips at the DOY, and then Billy.
I will tell you right now, this was one of the two or three best Billys I have ever seen. Tom Holland is by far the best acting Billy I have seen. His timing is amazing; his responsiveness and reaction to what is going on around him is fabulous. In Grandma’s song, which was itself just fabulous – Ann is the Queen of Nanas -, Tom laughed when he needed to, and was sympathetic when he needed to be, and acted as though he was hearing it all for the first time. And the playful way that he and Ann interracted at the end was wonderful.
But the real masterpiece was The Letter, mostly the first one, but also the reprise. I have never seen a Billy cry so convincingly during The Letter. This kid was sobbing by the time he hugged Dead Mum, and so was the audience. And though less so during the reprise, it was just as emotional.
Tom’s electricity is all acro, and he slipped at the end of his opening tumbling run which included a wonderful no-hands flip, but it was otherwise flawless, and I got to see someone do a wal flip live. Really nice.
I really like Joe as Dad and I really, really liked Joanna Riding as Mrs. W.
Express was about the weakest part of the show. The Michael, Joe Massey, is new enough that he is not in the newest program. He seemed a bit tentative at times, but I still prefer the first half of Espress from the UK, and then the US for the part with the dresses!
An overall word about the UK show: It is MUCH better than the US version overall. It is purer and richer and so much more realistic. Stephen!! You out there?? Take the UK show, change about 10 words, but not the lines, and plop it down in front of any American audience! I promise: WE’LL GET IT!!!
That’s all for day one! Day two to follow!!