Billy Elliot The Musical — Page 27

Hi everyone - i just joined to defend george really -

Last night, many of the non performing kids were watching from near the front of the stalls and supporting james and ashley's last performace. sure they cheered and clapped madly at the end of every song and were all clearly upset at the end. george clearly cares about his mates and lived every moment with those on stage, and when called up on stage at the end was clearly in pieces.

Billy elliot only exists as a musical because of these talented kids, and its not just the musical we were watching last night, but a major event in their personal lives. this clearly came across in george's behaviour, which left me thinking what a great personality he must have, and how loyal and supportive he must be of his friends. liam was clearly upset too, and sure acted in a more reserved fashion, but thats clearly a personality thing too.

Think of yesterday as watching some kids saying goodbye to their great friends, whilst having to get through a musical - both on stage and in the stalls. i was amazed at how professional they all managed to be, and James and Ashley must now know that although they won't be on that stage any longer, they clearly have some friends for life which is ultimately far more important.

Saw the show last night and like the other reviews on here of it so far...i agree that it was one of the most amazing things i ever saw and I am so glad that i managed to catch it. We got up at 6:30 to get in to London at around 9:00 and que for day tickets and returns and didnt manage to get tickets until 17:30 after going back to the box office about 10 times and constently asking for returns, but it was worth it because we did finally get the tickets. And in our many visits to the box office we managed to catch Liam walking back from buying flowers for James and Ashley and got a picture with him...but he was in a bit of a rush no there was no time for a chat.

Any way sitting down in our seets in the dress circle we turn around and see Ainsley Harriot sitting just 2 rows behind us (so it was an added bonus)...It was also an added bouns was to see George, Liam, Leon, Brooke, Lucy, Ryan and Brad walking in to send James and Ashley off in style...When the lights finally went out and we got the suprise of Stephen Daldry coming on stage and gave a great speach that got a lot of OOOOOOO's and AWWWWWWW's.

As soon as he had gone of stage the show started in the same normal way and carried on the same throughout with a few added and touching extras.
1. Anne Emery's added "and for the last time, we'd go dancing" to James during the final verse of "We'd Go Dancing"
2. The emotion that James showed suring his performances of the Letter and The Letter Reply that clearly moved everyone in the house.
3. Ashley covring James in lipstick and looking like he was enjoying himself loads whist doing it.
4. During 'Expressing Yourself' James saying, "Do you know what has been the best time of my life, Doing this with you" or something alond those lines
5. And althoguh this wasnt suposed to happen...when James droped all the stuff out of his bag when leaving the 'audition room'...but he covered it up so well and if you hadnt seen it before you would of thought it was part of the show.

The finally was the highlight of the show...I think everyone was in tears and Tim Healey gave a brief speech and called James and Ashley's parents up on stage and then called up George and Liam on to stage and there was plenty of huging going on and peltny of tears. And George and Liam joined James and Ashley for there final dance on that stage in front of a full house.

So im sure everyone who was there can agree with me that it was a truly amazing experience that was really un missable not just for a great show but for a great experience.

who is L.M?

Thanks to all of you for sharing last nights experience with those of us not fortunate enough to be there. It sounds as though it was a wonderful night to remember for all especially James and Ashley.

Good luck to Leon for Monday night and of course Liam and George for the rest of their run, I can only hope that I will get to see them at least one more time before they leave the cast.

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Thank you all for sharing your experiences of the show last night. I'm still sad I couldn't be there.

L.M., please check your private messages.

/Johan

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Well done for last night everyone if you are reading!! And omg it was bloody brilliant!! wow .. i wont go into detail about what happened as it looks like everyones beaten me to it!! wow it was soo good and emotional!! and we met liam woohoo liam do you remember us?!?! anyways i better skidadle now so cheerio everyone X

Thank you everyone for the information about last nights performance. Really appreciated. I wish I had been there!!! Did anyone take photos? If so it would be great if you put them on here. Anyway thank you!

You speak for us all who there last night Matthew 3. Few tickets were going outside and I had to do serious damage to one of my credit cards to meet the double cover ticket cost being asked for a stalls seat. When I got home I found I had won £100 on the lottery so maybe the good Lord wished me to be there!! I would not have missed it for the world. What an emotional roller coaster especially the little curtain call routine with the three Billys and Ashley,plus the hugs and the tears.It certainly had me over an emotional barrell and I am a mature man! The criticism of George's behaviour last night also makes me so angry. Do people not understand children for god's sake especially within this particular context.Anyone who had seen George's brilliant afternoon matinee as I did, will understand the level of this boy's pent up emotions yesterday. He and James have been best mates for the last 2 years so it was understandable the way he reacted last night.Being compared to Liam is also unfair as they are very different boys emotionally. George wears his heart on his sleave whilst Liam is more self contained and reserved. Do not forget that Liam has also not been living in the Billy house for some months now so maybe he has been able to benefit from a slight degree of emotional detachment from James and Ashley.James and Ashley will carry away lovely memories of last night and their time with Billy Elliot which will hopefully sustain them through their studies (James) and filming in LA (Ashley) and beyond.
It was great seeing Leon and Joey in the audience as well. Good luck for Monday!
Post script. The theatre is now selling personally signed full size posters of the 3 Billys for £10 each. Great value compared to some of the rubbish on e-bay. The picture of James is already in the programme but the ones of George and Liam are new poses and close face and will definitely have their female fan base drooling. Perhaps that is why I had difficulty getting one of Liam last night. I collect film and stage memorabilia so I am looking forward to them increasing in value and becoming very collectable as the boy's careers progress, not that I would wish to part with posters.
Also fraternal greetings go to the lady who met me last night and who reads this thread and sussed out who I was.Like me 19 attendances and counting!!

Glad you got in Alan. Like you I wouldn't have missed the show for the world. Most things have been said I think but I just wanted to add one thing which totally amazed me... Through the emotion, tears, tiredness and whatever else, James and Ashley gave one, if not the, best performance I have seen them do. They were both simply amazing and even in the places where emotion got the better of James, the tears weren't out of place. It's surprising how many little, individual goodbyes were hidden in the songs and acting last night. Quite how they kept it all together is way beyond me as I had tears in my eyes from very early on.

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The busy schedule means that it is so easy to get really tired - hopefully it won't wear the 'Billys' out.

Updated On: 10/30/05 at 10:12 AM

Well just like milk posted above, i also have been reading for a while and finally decided to post. its sad that the two boys had to leave especially since they were the only ones i ddidnt see, but oh well, thats life. im sure that leon and joey will also be great and if L.M is actually Liam Mower, thats pretty cool and you did an amazing job when i watched you.

Firstly, please stop calling me Liam, I am not Liam just a fan. It is very nice for so many people to come to the show but more than 3 times will ruin the 'magic' of it. I think that it will be playing for a long time to come.

Updated On: 10/30/05 at 10:58 AM

Hi, it's really nice to meet so many Billy fans here. I have seen the show on 16th, September which is James'second last act, it was brilliant! I am planning to see both George & Liam's performance next week, how can I find out which boy is on for the night?