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What Has Gone Wrong With Billy? Rate Topic: -----

#1 Guest_musicals fan_*

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Posted 09 March 2008 - 06:50 PM

saw this again last week and was really disappointed
it is looking really tired and worn and in desperate need of a revamp
either that or close it completely

went for a drink in the pub across the road after the show and we could see hordes of middle aged men hanging around the stage door desperate to get a glimpse of their heroes rolleyes.gif
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#2 Guest_Guest_*

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Posted 09 March 2008 - 08:41 PM

When I first saw this show I thought it was fantastic and wanted to see it again. After telling a friend how great it was we went to see it last summer and I was rather disappointed. It somehow didnt seem to have that sparkle it had when I first saw it. All the cast put in a great performance but there was just something missing.
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#3 User is online   Orchestrator 

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Posted 09 March 2008 - 08:55 PM

QUOTE(musicals fan @ Mar 9 2008, 06:50 PM) View Post
saw this again last week and was really disappointed

Sorry if I sound like a pedantic old fart but some of us think of another musical when we see "Billy" on its own without the "Elliot".
Ooh, that Bernadette Shaw - what a chatterbox!
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#4 User is offline   Laughingmonsta 

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Posted 09 March 2008 - 10:13 PM

I have to agree i took a friend last week - i think this is a show that is a one show wonder - i think there is so much emotion in the piece that you know what to expect, the impact isn't as strong! also think part of the factor is the cast needs a complete rechange, most of the cast have been in if for a very long time!
This is my street, I smile at the faces I've known all my life, They regard me with pride.
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#5 User is offline   Job 

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Posted 09 March 2008 - 10:53 PM

I saw it for the first time last week. It's never been a show that particularly appealed to me - in theory at least - but I was dragged along and it would have been churlish to refuse an invitation.

My reaction was at odds with much of what has been said here. I thought the performances were bright and fresh and the production amazingly slick. But get beyond the wonderful choreography and stagecraft and this show stinks. It is mawkish and sentimental, and the play's wannabe-hard-edged political subtext does nothing to disguise its heart of cheese. Blue cheese too: the ripest language is played for sensation in a way that clearly appealed to a bunch of whooping women in the audience - especially as the most colourful swearing is put into the mouths of the smallest children in order to guarantee the cheapest of laughs among the audience. It's no defence to say 'that's how they talk in such families' - that's plain patronising - and besides, I doubt whether many mining fathers in the eighties used to express their emotions in sentimental song, so we're not exactly talking realism here.

Michael's cross-dressing song was a delight - witty and ironic - and some of Stephen Daldry's set pieces took my breath away. The dancing was stunning too. But viewed as a drama Billy Elliot thinks itself to be so much more important than it is, and in my opinion the condescending 'right-on' script insults the very people whose flag it pretends to wave.

Job
With the ancient is wisdom; and in length of days understanding.
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#6 User is offline   James84 

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Posted 09 March 2008 - 11:00 PM

I'd be inclined to agree. I have seen the show 4 times now - the first couple were excellent. The third time was still good but the last time I saw it (a couple of months ago), it had really lost something. I have seen other musicals again and again and don't think it was just me getting tired of it but the production itself seemed tired. However, the last time I saw it there was a technical hitch which resulted in a 20 minute break and then Billy was taken ill in the interval and replaced for the second act which didn't add to the overall enjoyment sadly.
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#7 User is offline   Distant_Cousin 

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Posted 09 March 2008 - 11:37 PM

I have to agree with Job's comments- I was bitterly disappointed when I saw this show 2 years ago. It had little of the great qualitites of the film and I thought Dame Elton John's bland score was for the most part forgettable.
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#8 Guest_Guest_*

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Posted 10 March 2008 - 12:43 PM

Quite a lot of the cast are leaving this year as they have been in it far too long now (although one old cast member is coming back). Unfortunately when the directors and producers went off to Australia the London cast were left with the "resident" director.
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#9 Guest_fizzipop_*

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Posted 10 March 2008 - 05:14 PM

Oh dear, what a shame that some of you aren't enjoying the show.

I think that the first time you see any show it is special and it is always a risk that subsequent visits might not live up to your expectations. However, whilst I can't argue with anyones individual experience of Billy Elliot (this is, afterall a personal reaction to a performance and is what it is) I have to say that I have found the evolution of the show captivating; New cast members and little changes that have happened over the nearly three very sucessful years, have kept this show fresh and exciting.


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#10 Guest_Guest_*

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Posted 11 March 2008 - 01:17 AM

To answer the original question: "What has gone wrong with Billy?"

Nothing really. It's been going strong for a few years now, and it's still packing in audiences. It's just opening in Australia, and is opening in New York later this year. There are a few other productions planned, and a European tour.
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