BILLY ELLIOT at Victoria Palace.... yes, I finally gave in!

It's only taken 11 years...

I tend not to see shows that hang around for years - to be honest none of the shows I like seem to be the hanging-around type.  I think it's also difficult to fully appreciate a show if you see it in it's nth year, shows can develop a run-of-the-mill quality with the original magic spark lost in numerous cast changes and resident director touch-ups.

I was fully expecting that with BILLY ELLIOT - I assumed it's much vaunted choreography would consist of a half-hearted leap here, an arm waved in the air there.  How wrong could I be?  Peter Darling's choreography was wonderfully kinetic and lively and a lot of that was down to our BILLY on the night, Euan Garrett who in the dance routines was a spinning, leaping and back-flipping delight.

So what took me so long?  I guess a love of the film which I have seen countless times allied to a general dislike of Elton John,  However the news that it was due to close in April and Owen asking for the dvd of the film for Xmas made me do the booking thing.

I haven't been in the Victoria Palace for years - more than 11 obviously - so I had forgotten how nice it is inside with room to roam in the theatre bars and with an impressive open auditorium - it's a shame this Frank Matcham-designed theatre doesn't have a bigger profile.  I was also surprised how busy it was!

But what of the show?  As I said I certainly enjoyed it for it's dynamic choreography and for the central performance of Euan Garrett but what really surprised me was how totally nondescript Elton John's score was.  For someone who has written the odd memorable tune in the (distant) past it was a bit odd that on leaving the theatre I couldn't remember one of the 13 songs in the score.

What I came out humming was Lee Hall's book as it lifted whole scenes out of his original film script.  Only with added swear words - make that a lot of swear words.  Now I am no prude but even I got fed up with the swearing, only there to 'shock' the audience with a kid saying "bastard" for the 100th time.  It all seemed a bit broad with certain characters becoming cyphers - Deka Walmsley's Mr. Elliot goes from being an unloving man to a bit of a lovable klutz in the course of one scene.

Ruthie Henshall played the dance teacher Mrs Wilkinson with less gritty realism than gritted teeth; I think her inherent teeth, tits & tonsils style was at odds with Mrs Wilkinson's dogged manner.  A character who has been built up is Michael, the not-so-secretly gay friend of Billy which was winningly played by Nathan Jones and who made the most of a big dance number with Billy where they are joined by giant dancing dresses.  Believe me, it ain't subtle.

Another surprise was how much it wore it's anti-Thatcher views on it's sleeve, not that I'm complaining, mind!  It was certainly more overt than the film and one of the more stirring moments of the show was towards the end when, as Billy leaves for a life of dance in London, his dad and his brother sing their way back to the pit, the auditorium and Billy illuminated in the dark by the torches from their mining helmets - defeated but unbowed.

As I said Peter Darling's choreography for Billy was quite wonderful and in particular the dream ballet between Billy and his older dancer self was quite breathtaking and Rick Fisher's lighting was also great in the dance sequences, creating areas on the stage to contain the dance.

Would I recommend it to anyone who has not yet seen it at the VP or on it's upcoming UK tour?  Yes I would, for the choreography and for Stephen Daldrey's production... just don't expect to be buying the cast recording.

Sing The Book...

Constant Reader, I have quite a few musicals to get blogging about. I have been thrashing about wondering how to tackle this task but I have come up with an ingenious way to do it.  I am going to stick my hand into the pile of programmes!

I saw THE BOOK OF MORMON on the first Saturday matinee after it's opening night and there was that certain buzz in the air of an audience almost delirious at having tickets for A Big Hit.  A similar feeling was in the air when I saw Patti LuPone in GYPSY on Broadway a few days after it's opening night.  I actually don't think it's the best circumstance to see a show, the balance is slightly off as everything and anything gets huge laughs and practically all the songs get standing ovations.  We audiences are excitable buggers sometimes.

I had no idea if I was going to like it. I vaguely knew the premise - two bright-eyed Mormon missionaries are sent to Uganda and find their optimistic outlook at odds with the poverty and violence they find - and had remained immune to the whole Trey Parker / Matt Stone phenomenon.  I had however loved AVENUE Q so knew I would probably enjoy Robert Lopez' score.

What surprised me the most was not the much-vaunted outrageousness but how savvy it is to the tenets of how a Broadway show works - take away the odd AIDS joke or 'cunt' word and you have a show that any coach party will enjoy!  It was rather obvious that it's outrage would be viewed slightly differently on this side of the pond.  It's often the case that what's viewed as cutting edge on Broadway raises but an eyebrow here.

However it was all rather endearing and I was soon won over by it's sheer joy in being able to make knob jokes amid the kick-steps.  Not knowing the first thing about the birth of Mormonism I found it all too ludicrous to be true - people actually believe this?  But while Parker and Stone enjoy their lampooning the whole set-up, it of course all ends happily for everyone, Mormon and warlord alike.  Oh and yes, Robert Lopez' score is wonderfully catchy and packed with memorable songs.

What makes the show so likeable is the the cast and in particular, the fabulous Gavin Creel who stars as the ever-smiling but ruthlessly self-centred Elder Price.  Three years ago he was here leading the wondrous HAIR tribe at the Gielgud and Owen and I also got to see him perform his own material at the Jazz Café so it's great to see him brightening up the West End again.

His charismatic, wonderfully-sung and funny performance as Elder Price lights up the Prince of Wales stage and he is one of those rare performers who you can just relax while watching as you know he will deliver the goods and he does.

Jared Gertner plays the hapless Elder Cunningham and certainly has the harder role as he really is playing an escapee from SOUTH PARK.  With no recognisable human qualities at all he occasionally grates but he certainly grabs his big moments such as the first act closer MAN UP and BAPTIZE ME.  Gertner and Creel previously played the roles in the American road tour and have an easy and natural partnership on stage.

Another stand-out is Stephen Ashfield as the ever-smiling, ever-closeted Elder Cunningham who runs the Ethiopian missionary.  His first act number TURN IT OFF is a real showstopper and he knocks it out of the (south) park with a twinkle in the eye and great energy.  I must admit it was the number that made me think "Oh I know I am enjoying myself now!"  I find that usually 20 minutes into a new musical, a song will pop up and I know I can relax... it's going to be a good show.  He also delivers with the second act paean of European Afro-centric condescension I AM AFRICA.

Giles Terera plays the village spokesman Mafala and has good fun with the 'welcome to Africa' number HASA DIGA EEBOWAI while Alexia Khadime shines with an unaffected innocence as his daughter Nabulungi, eager to escape to the heaven-on-earth SAL TLAY KA SITI.

I really enjoyed Casey Nicholow's energetic and inventive choreography although Scott Pask's set design is rather alarmingly low-rent at times.  I had a hugely enjoyable time so get yourself to the Prince of Wales and get Mormonised.  Hello!

I haven't blogged about MATILDA THE MUSICAL??? But I saw that *yonks* ago!  I mean to say, Bertie Carvel is playing Miss Trunchbull on Broadway now!  Well the programme is in my Poly Styrene 'Generation Indigo' tote bag and that's where unblogged progs go so... um *tries to dredge up what I thought of it*

I remember I enjoyed it more than I was expecting to, the combination of Roald Dahl and the RSC had left a sinking feeling within despite all the good reviews.  But I had reckoned without Dennis Kelly's involving book with it's darker moments and it's inventive retelling of Dahl's tale of a young girl who loves to read and has kinetic powers - I'm amazed the RSC took in on as it sound like a more family-friendly version of CARRIE which the RSC famously staged as a musical with disastrous consequences.

In fact the book takes over at times - God there's a lot of plot!  Matilda's parents hate her but are unknowingly involved with the Russian mafia, Matilda is telling a librarian an immensely convoluted tragic story of an escapologist and his wife, her teacher Miss Honey is living in a shed due to the evil plotting of her aunt Miss Trunchbull who also happens to be the headmistress of Matilda's school.  Luckily there is Tim Minchin's quirky and sophisticated score to break up the relentless plot. 

Although I was not enthused enough to buy the cast recording as Owen was, the score works within the confines of the show and does include one genuinely lovely song WHEN I GROW UP which got my eyes a bit moist, sung as the children soar out over the orchestra pit on swings!  The show is a triumph for choreographer Peter Darling, energetic and inventive for both young and adult performers. 

Rob Howell delivers colourful and eccentric costumes and an all-encompassing set design which even extends beyond the confines of the proscenium arch with building blocks tumbling and inching along the Cambridge Theatre walls.  Hugh Vanstone's lighting is also hugely effective and adds to the theatrical excitement.

Matthew Warchus' direction keeps the pace going but even he can't keep up the momentum of the second act plot log-jam.

I was lucky enough to see the first company - despite an a.w.o.l. Paul Kaye as Matilda's father - but it was great to see Josie Walker as Matilda's ballroom-dancing mother and Lauren Ward as the sympathetic schoolteacher Miss Honey while our Matilda for the evening Cleo Demetriou gave a performance which was a pure delight.

 

But towering over MATILDA - both the character and the show - was Bertie Carvel's astonishing Miss Trunchbull the domineering head mistress.  Part Richard III, part Anne Widdicombe, Carvel gave a performance that was frighteningly hilarious and hilariously frightening.  Although primarily a supporting part, he made his character larger-than-life and made you feel sorry for whoever has to follow him in the role.

 

 

MATILDA is still running at the Cambridge Theatre, I wonder if a second visit would enhance or wreck one's memory of it?