By this time many of you have read one of my “mass” reviews, in which I review a batch of shows in one long essay. So here we go again, this time with a review of 8 BETMs in London from May 7th through May 13th, including the ill-fated REAL 5th Anniversary show!
Let me say that from the moment when I first saw the scrim fall down on small boy, I knew I had arrived at the “mother church” of Billy Elliot and that I was destined to see some great shows. I was not disappointed.
My first show was with Tom Holland, who I had seen in October, 2008 at my very first Billython! My next statement will now insure that this post will never be seen in the “UK” forum: Tom Holland is the best acting Billy I have ever seen! Bar none! Some have come close, but none of them are as good as Tom. His timing, his delivery are spot on, and when he started crying during the Letter, I was sure someone would turn to me and say, “Oh, this is his last show.” It was beyond convincing; it was real!
But that should be expected. Some people may forget that with the departures of Trent and Fox, Tom is now the “senior” Billy, a title which will pass on to Tommy B. (I think) when Tom leaves at the end of the month.
So here is where I am really going to get in trouble. While the Broadway show overall has better dancers, especially when it comes to ballet, the London show has much better actors and singers! Across the board they are superb. Someone in London got it right when they decided that maybe we should have kids who can act. And sing.
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Billy Elliot Reviews – 8 Shows, London, May 7th – 13th, 2010
Les Mistake
Before I went to London, so many people bugged me about only seeing the same play 7 times that I ended up booking Les Mis for my first night there.
Now known as “Les Mistake”.
1) If I had left the night open, I would have prolly picked up a box office ticket for Billy and then I would have seen Layton!!
2) I own 4 Les Mis Cast Recordings, and quite frankly, once you have listened to those a few times, you know the whole show, as there are no spoken parts.
3) The dinner I had before the show sucked, and I would probably not have booked Rainforest Cafe if I had not been going to see the show nearby.
London – October 5th – 13th, 2008
At the risk of sounding just a bit too dramatic, it is nearly impossible to describe the beauty of the moment on Monday morning as our plane came in over the north of Great Britain and the sun was rising in the east, a beautiful sunrise, a magnificent welcome the England. As I sat in my window seat all I could think was that it was finally true, confirmed a few moments later when we actually landed without dying. (more…)
