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Well, I have the outside done!!! Mostly. Except for stuff I am gonna add. LOL

The submersible inflatable…..it LIVES!!

The carousel….

Frosty – he turns…

Behind the pool – gonna get a tripod and take these again.

Santa and his friends. BTW, this is a very old set, more than 50 years. Originally part of an advertising program. Santa may have had a Coke in his hand at one time. If you watch the opening scenes of the movie “Pearl Harbor”, they pan across a lawn where there is almost an identical Santa figure. Even though our back yard has a fence with locked gates, I still chain him to the fence for security!

Another picture of the front courtyard with the gang…

Snowman has a penguin behind him…

Well, it has been a while since I saw the last of my 7 BETMS during my London Billython, and so I thought I would take a moment to talk about how I felt about the show, bit by bit. (NOTE: This review was originally posted on two BETM fan forums; it was expected to be read by people who have at least some knowledge of BETM.)

Billy Elliot, the Musical
October 7th – 11th, 2008

Act I:

The beginning, when Small Boy comes down to the front of the theatre, chats a bit with the MD, and then climbs on stage, is brilliant. You just know something special is happening. And when he sits down to watch the newsreel, it somehow forces the audience to pay attention to it as well.

And then, as the music starts for the first time just as the miners in the newsreel are walking towards the camera, it is an amazing moment. I will confess that I got chills every time the music started. The Stars Look Down really sets the stage so well, telling us in just those few short minutes who these people are and what their lives are like, and then introducing us to Billy, showing him as someone who has something special inside of him, even if he doesn’t know what it is yet.
I thought him saying “F***ed if I know” is very important to establishing his charcter, and I am sorry to hear that they may not use that on Broadway.
And when he sings his bit, I like the way he moves on the stage, making up his own dance.
EDIT: I have often wondered what the whole “Take me up…” thing is about, but now I have a thought. If you notice at the beginning, Jackie kind of drags Billy into the hall and sits him down, as though he is in trouble for something. And he sits there throughout the rest of the scene until he gets up to sing. I think he is thinking about and singing about his mother, wishing she were there because nothing seems to be going right with dad.
(By the way, anyone else ever wonder what it was that Billy seemed to be in trouble for?)

The first time the bedroom/kitchen set rises out of the stage floor is a great moment. If you think about the show and the story, this piece of set design is a masterpiece. Someone surely stuck to their guns on this one, no doubt after numerous people probably said, “You want to do what under our stage???!!!” Once you see it, you really understand that it couldn’t have been done any other way.

That whole first kitchen scene does a wonderful job of establishing characters. You get a feel for who dad, Tony, grandma and Billy are, and the presence of Dead Mum helps establish her as well, although I think maybe an audience member who has not read their program might not get it.

One of the things that I think is done so well with BETM is the blending of comedy throughout the show, which really starts with the boxing scene. I liked the way that different Michael’s and different George’s make this scene interesting and fresh every time. And of course the small boy really shines during the boxing scene; his few lines are just hysterically funny.

Shine is thoroughly entertaining. You can really believe you are watching a girls’ ballet class. They are all such unique characters that it makes the whole of who they are so much better. They are clumsy or overweight or totally uninterested or totally over-eager. It is so evident that care has been taken to make sure each girl knows who she is. And Mrs. W. (I saw both Jackie and the alternate and loved them both) is quickly established as a somewhat tragic figure who manages through the course of the show to triumph in her own way. It has always struck me as interesting that without any spoken words, you know in this scene that she has seen something in Billy. So well written, the interaction between her and Billy at the end of that scene, neither one of them wanting to say the truth: her, that she thinks Billy has incredible potential but isn’t about to beg; Billy, that he really wants to come back but doesn’t want to be a sissy.

I confess to never having liked Grandma’s Song on the OCR. And even in the version of it I saw in the clip with Liam in Sound of Musicals, I wasn’t overly impressed. To see it live in the show is to begin to appreciate it more. I think it is masterfully staged, a remarkable piece of theatre, and both Grandmas I saw did wonderfully. I enjoyed the chance to see it done two different ways. Carole Shelly, the actress who will be playing Grandma on Broadway, made an interesting point about the song in a recent interview. Basically what she said is that Grandma’s Song is a lesson to Billy that doing what other people expect of you can be a dreadful mistake. I like that very much. But in the end, I couldn’t wait for it to be over and get on with the action! Smile

It is often said that the only purpose to a song in a musical is to advance the story; if the song doesn’t pass that test, it should not be in the show. I suspect that there is no finer example of a song advancing a story than Solidarity! It is the most brilliant piece of musical theatre I have ever seen, and my mind boggles to think that there are people so amazingly talented in this world to think up something so extraordinary. The musicality of it, the interaction of the characters, and the fact that it covers a 4 week (or more?) period of time in one song, just amaze me. You see the strike become more intense, Billy become a better dancer, and the relationship between Mrs. W. and Billy change, as well as her relationship with the rest of the class. Enough can not be said about the power of this scene.

A quick comment no on a matter that I will discuss in depth in talking about the Winter Scene. I felt that the line, “You don’t fancy us, do you, miss?” was rushed by one or two of the Billys. I do not know if this is a directorial issue, or a performance issue. DIscussion of rushed lines to follow further on.

Expressing Yourself is the comic masterpiece of the show. I think this is really where you get a feel for the talent these kids really have. I have to admit that a couple of times I felt the dancing was a bit off, but not enough to make it less entertaining for me. This is another part of the show where each one was different; the way the Michaels and Billys interacted was so varied, it became a fresh act every time.

This is a good point to mention something else. There is not one time where I felt the line delivery or the performances of any of the actors, adults or children, was anything less than natural. (Later on in my comments about the winter scene I will talk about something that did feel was un-natural, but as it happened in every show, I feel this is a directorial issue.) These people, and especially these kids, are brilliant actors and actresses. No stepped on lines, no awkward movements, and even when something didn’t go right, as when Billy rolled and didn’t get his arms in that sarongy like thing, they just worked with it as if it was always that way. I also noticed this in the breakfast scene early on, and was told this by one of the regulars, that when Billy is all alone in the kitchen cleaning up, he has to pick up any bread that is on the floor. Some shows there might not be any, and other shows it is always in a different place. But every Billy I saw always did this as though it was just part of him cleaning the kitchen.

Anyway, back to Expressing Yourself, I loved each Michael, although I never really got a feel for Jonty as I only saw him once and I was paying more attention to Fox than Jonty. But all of them were amazingly talented individuals, and their little bit all alone on the stage at the end is priceless!!

A final comment about Expressing Yourself and the show in general. There were a lot of times, through all 7 shows, where I really felt the music drowned out the words, either when it was the background for a spoken scene or when there was a dance routine. About half the shows, I did not hear the jokes in EY, and probably would not have understood any of them had I not already known most of them. And when Billy says the dresses are dancing, I bet almost no one hears Michael saying, “You should see what my underwear can do.”

The Letter – I don’t know if I am a heartless b*****d or have just been inured from being overly emotional after hearing it so many times in various forms, including a couple where the Billy was so emotional you can not hear any of the words, though this usually occurs in the reprise. So seeing it on stage did not bring to me the required emotional impact. This is an area where I thought Tom really excelled; I really felt he was crying. Now mind you, I enjoyed the letter immensely, but not a sobber for me. This might also come from the fact that I felt a stronger kinship to my dad, who is passed on, than to my mother, who is still alive. (See “He Could Be A Star” for more dad relationship stuff.)

Born to Boogie – This is so much fun in person, and yet another song which takes place over time, although you don’t really understand that as clearly until you see that the relationship between Billy and Mr. B. changes as the scene progresses. I thought this was wonderfully entertaining, and all three boys and all of the people who played Mr. B. and Mrs. W. just made this great! Fox wasn’t able to do the barani off the piano, but that didn’t lessen the enjoyment at all.

Angry Dance – having nowt to go on, I do enjoy the whole prelude building up to the Angry Dance. I think the confrontation is great and I must say that Angry Dance is something to see on stage. I loved watching the kicking of the railing in time with the music, and the dancing in general. I did, however, have trouble with some of Billy’s movements where it looks like he has stomach cramps from a bad taco. The intensity at the end, with the banging of the shields and the volume of the music is amazing, and overall it is an intense way to end the first half!! I hear that the U.S. version does not seem to be nearly as intense, and if true, that is too bad!

INTERVAL – this is the first professional theatre production I have seen as an adult. Ice cream? Booze? £2 bottles of water? However, I did have some nice chats with Alistair, the nice young guy that runs the concession stand by the stage – at least he did all the shows I was at. This is the person who some people jokingly call “Corey’s brother”.

Act II:

It should be mandated by law that all productions of BETM begin Act II the way it is done in London. I really enjoy the audience interaction. I think it is a marvelous away to get people to settle down in their seats and really become a part of Billy’s life again after a brief break. And each George played it a little differently, one of them letting Billy read out the number (Tanner always did 8Cool, while the other picking through the drawing tickets himself. The political joke changed from my first show to my last. As I was there during the worldwide financial meltdown, the joke became about Gordon Brown, MP, having a financial crises because he had all his money in an Icelandic bank. Great way to tie the current events in with Billy’s time. I think Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher is a hoot, and really fun to watch the different characters during each performance, with special attention to Shaun, who was always a blast. Again, it is ensemble moments like this where the quality of the acting really shines through. The way they interact with each other seems so natural. This may seem trivial, but even the way the Michaels interacted with Billy’s grandma seemed just the way a kid would act with his best friend’s grandma, who has probably known him since he was born anyway. You really get a sense of community with MCMT. I hear that this has been shortened in the Broadway version; don’t know how or why or if it makes a difference, but to me MCMT is perfect and should be left alone.

(BTW, in passing I should note that except for the Billys, Michaels, Mrs. W. and Grandma, I never really got who was who the week I was there. So I never knew or frankly cared who played Debbie. I know that one guy played dad most of the time, and then one show someone else did. Same with Tony I think, and Mr. B, because I know one big guy could do the splits and the other guy couldn’t. Sorry to all you true fanatics out there. I am just not good with people, as evidenced by the fact that I had just met patc and five minutes later thought he was someone else. So freaking embarrassing! Sorry patc! Anyway, back to business.)

I loved Deep Into The Ground, not for the song itself, but for the staging of it, the way the community kind of dwindles and disappears. I liked the little things in the background, like when someone touches Grandma to kind of provide a bit of comfort, and when Tony elbows Billy and Billy either gives him a dirty look and/or says something before moving away. One thing I did find interesting, is that on the OCR, Billy’s last line in it is, “NOW I won’t leave here until I die” giving the impression that he has reconciled himself to never getting out of the town. All of the shows I saw, Billy sings, “AND I won’t leave here until I die,” which gives it another meaning entirely.

Okay, now we are at the winter scene. This is where I have a couple of gripes that I would like to bring forth. First, I am a big believer in the suspension of disbelief. I am willing to accept talking donkeys and a park with dinosaurs, etc. But you have to give me a good reason. According to the beginning of Act II, the winter scene is taking place 8 months after the start of the strike, and the start of the play. Act I ends after 2 months into the strike, meaning there is 6 months that have passed between the time that Billy is banned from dancing, and the time that he and Michael are alone in the union hall. Now, Billy and Michael are best friends, right, and presumably have spent a lot of time together. So how come Michael just now learns that Billy hasn’t been going to dancing lessons? No, this didn’t ruin the show for me at all, but just one of those things my quirky mind picks up on.

My second gripe about the winter scene is the directorial issue I mentioned earlier, because every Billy and Michael do this scene exactly the same. (Paraphrasing the following lines.) When Michael says “Well, maybe it’s for the best.” And Billy says, “Why do you say that?”. And then Michael says, “I’d miss you.” Those three lines are rushed so badly, I find it annoying, especially when Michael almost speaks on top of Billy’s line, so that they both get lost. It seems so very un-natural to me, as though they know what they are going to say. The thing is, for the sake of clarity and drama itself, there at least needs to be some pause for Michael to think clearly about how he is going to tell Billy that he will miss him. This is what I think, and many others have disagreed with me.

Now, at this point, they turn their backs to each other. I do not know why. Supposedly it is because of the intimacy of Michael saying he would miss Billy, but it never worked for me, and the pause is SOOOOOOOOOOO long here, in the first show I thought someone had forgotten a line. So now we have the reverse, where the pause is too long in stead of not long enough.

And now that I have gotten those two things off my chest, let me say that love the winter scene, right from the moment Billy sticks that can of beer out knowing Michael is gonna come get it. It is always such a delight to see Billy not run away or turn against his friend once Michael kisses him. It says so much about his character. And of course the rest of the scene is hysterical; I loved the nutcracker line, and just the whole winter scene, even with the flaws that I perceived.

Swan Lake (Dream ballet) took me quite by surprise, not in its presence, but in its majesty. To see it seven times and really not see any flaws or serious lack of synchronization is remarkable, and what a wonderful way to show off each Billy’s ballet skills and to show the sheer joy Billy has in dancing. And when he is spinning above the stage at the end with his older self saluting him and the audience gong crazy, another moment of chills for me, most unexpected. Of course, you are always hoping that by this time the pizza you saw being taken backstage between the afternoon and evening shows has safely settled in Billy’s tummy.

Moving quickly past the scene at Mrs. Wilkinson’s house and on to He Could Be A Star. Perhaps because of my own relationship with my father, this is one of the most moving parts of the show for me. I love the way the initial altercation between Jackie and Tony is half sung, half shouted. Then the emotion of what Jackie is willing to do for his son, to turn his back on everything he believes in, and the emotion of Tony trying to stop his dad. I think this is when Tony really understands how important it is that Billy gets his chance. And then when the miners all begin to pitch in and the community as a whole, realizing that to save themselves and their community, they need to save Jackie and his Billy. I am even moved later when the scab donates money.

This review has gotten a lot longer than intended, so I guess I am in a rush to the end. Audition scene was wonderfully funny, and I loved the interactions of dad with posh dad and Scottish dancer. All great, and of course Electricity is such a masterpiece. I really liked Fox’s acting while he sang this. We he sang about flying, he really looked like he was dreaming about flying. One of my goals for my first Billython was to see a street Billy in full form. Sadly, this did not come to pass. Layton did not do his scheduled performance, and Fox was injured so did not do the wall flip and had less tumbling than normal. And yet Electricity is such a joy to watch that none of this mattered a bit! To see those boys hold pose at the end and break into smiles at the applause is worth it all.

Once We Were Kings is great, enjoyed watching Dad and Billy pack. BTW, I happen to own two of those miners’ lamps that Tony gives Billy. Although it is not spoken, you know it is given so that Billy will always be able to find his way home. And of course Billy jumping into dad’s arms gives me chills again.

I think the moment when the miners drop down behind the stage, with their lights blinding the audience, is marvelous. I also really enjoy that point when they are singing a-capella(sp?) and the MD stands to direct them. That just seems so right.

We have already discussed the Letter (aka, Dear Billy), and his reply is slightly more moving than the first Letter, but I still didn’t feel overly moved, but again that is just the kind of person I am. I think if I were watching a last night and a sobbing Billy, I would have been moved.

Just as I enjoyed how the show started with Small Boy climbing onto the stage, I really like Billy jumping off of it at that same point and slowly walking up the aisle. They display such emotion and sadness; it is hard not to be moved.

While I find the final scene when Michael yells, “Oy, dancin’ boy” very moving, I do have a couple of problems with it. 1) In several of the shows I saw, the music was too loud to really hear Michael clearly say, “See you Billy.” 2) Even when I did hear it, I thought it sounded more like Billy was going off to summer camp for a week. In the OCR, when Brad says “Yeah, see yah Billy,” you really feel like this kid knows Billy is escaping and he, Michael, is stuck in this dying mining town. I really never felt that in any of the 7 shows I saw.

But still, as the curtain falls and the music swells and you see Michael all alone on that stage, you can’t help but feel you have just seen something remarkably special.

The finale is one of the few parts of the show that I had seen many clips of, mostly illegal, before I saw BETM. I have always thought it was one of the high points in the show. I think it is that time when the kid who plays Billy gets up in front of the audience and says, through the finale dance, this is MY show, even as he salutes the people who made him look so good. I really like the sharp taps and the slow beginning to the finale, gradually increasing in tempo and complexity of movement until that moment when the music hits the crescendo and the lights burst up! It was magic for me!!!

Michael Caine was asked one time how he chooses a movie script. He said (paraphrasing), “I look at who my character is at the beginning, and I look at him at the end, and if he hasn’t grown or significantly changed by the end of the movie, I don’t want to play him.” The growth of the characters is the goal of any great theatrical production, and BETM achieves this with so many of the characters.
Billy, of course, who is off to find the dancer inside of him, and also finally able to reconcile himself with the loss of his mother.
Dad, who is at peace with his son, and with himself for doing the right thing, perhaps for the first time since his wife died being the man he had once been.
Tony, who realizes that there are many ways for a family to gain honor, and it isn’t always with violence, but sometimes with grace.
Mrs. W., who has gained a feeling of self worth and fulfillment, in knowing that by giving of herself so freely, she has launched something incredibly beautiful.
And finally, Michael, who knows that there is at least one person in the world who accepts him and loves him for exactly who he is.

I think that the reason so many of us are hooked on BETM is that it is a moveable feast, a buffet where we know the menu, but we don’t know what special surprise the chef has planned for us. Each visit to BETM becomes an adventure, and as you know what to expect, so you tend to explore an area that you had not ventured into before, like watching Shaun during Maggie Thatcher, or seeing which girls are beating up on Billy in Shine. And when new cast members arrive, you start all over again, wondering how the new Michael’s will bring their special talents to EY, and how a new Billy will perform Electricity.

I am not the first person to say that BETM is probably the most amazing musical ever conceived and produced. No other show has put the weight of its success on a child’s back. No other show has gathered and then nurtured such remarkably talented children. No other show has caused boys all over the world to want to dance. And I suspect no other show has ever created a cadre of fans who would willingly sit through it 7 shows in a row, or see it every week, or see it 300 times. But then, of those 300 shows one person has seen, he has never seen the same show twice. How amazing is that?

Seven shows in one week were not enough. I could have stayed in London and seen two dozen more and never tired of it. I thought that my London Billython would get BETM out of my system. Oh foolish me.

BETM will go away some day and there will be nothing to take its place. Hopefully the adventure continues for a long, long time.

(Went back and edited out some typos; prolly missed a few.)
_________________
“Uncle Dave’s Birthday Billython” – London – October 7th – 11th, 2008 – *Tanner x 3, Tom x 2, Fox x 2, Shaun x 2, Lewis x 4, Jonty x 1 – *first Billy

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.
This was the culmination of not only 9 months of planning, but a very long day that started at about 8:30 A.M. local time Sunday (4:30 P.M. London time) at my local airport, and ended at 7 A.M. London time Monday. Arthur and Aphrael, my seat mates, said that I did sleep some, especially after Aphrael gave me here window seat so that the would not bother me when they needed to get out, a generous gesture that instantly endeared me to the English. She also shared their chewing gum with me both for takeoff and landing. God bless them both. More about the gum later.
I was truly on top of the world, and this lasted a good 30 minutes until my first attempt at getting cash at an ATM at Heathrow was summarily denied. Sweating bullets, wondering what the hell I was gonna do with cash, I went to the nearest currency exchange booth and turned $100 into £48 . Now flumoxed, I proceeded to spend £16.50 of my now limited cash supply on a Heathrow Express ticket to Paddington, not thinking this was about $33.
So now I am on the train, but I have not paid close attention and discovered only after I sat down that I am in a seat designated for people who are blind, deaf or wave sticks. At first I thought the guy across form me was givinge dirty looks because of it until I realized I was sitting under a tv playing a newscast about the United States presidential elections. Luckily, they were no handicapped people clamouring for a seat and the ticket attendant did not bat an eye as she took my ticket. It is possible she thought I belonged there.
Upon arrival at Paddington Station, I began to think evil thoughts about my bank, but daringly approached an HSBC ATM machine which decided to give me some cash after all. Now armed with this cash, I bought an Oyster card and proceeded to take the tube to Victoria. This was interesting also, as I had a backpack that weighs more than mose newborn calfs and a rolling suitcas that is wider than the ones made now, so that every time I walked I would kick it and it would go into a perpetual wobble as I dragged it along behind me. And, of course, I was in everyone’s way. After nearly falling on my face several times, I finally made it to Victoria Underground Station, only to discover what ErinVA had warned me about: the stairs.
So I climbed up and down and up and down (seemed like that anyway), but eventually I came out in Victoria Train Station, and I went out onto the street, made one quick turn, and there, in all its majesty, was the Victoria Palace Theatre, it’s lights flashing in greeting to me. To be honest, it was an emotional moment – I had no idea where the heck my hotel was!!!

And it was only 9 A.M.
I will not bother with details. I found my hotel and dropped my bags off, and decided to walk around. Now, remember how the weather in London was supposed to be cold and rainy. By 9:30 A.M. in my London Fog jacket and jaunty cap I was sweating like a pig. The sun was out and it was a beautiful day.
Except for one thing.
Remember the gum that Aphrael had given me for landing? I had not, in two hours, passed one trash recepticle to spit it out in. Not in Heathrow, not in Paddington, not in Victoria Tube or Train Stations, and not on the streets. And in fact, if you look on the sidewalks, thay are dotted everywhere with expended gum. To make a long story short, that evening, as I stood outside the theatre waiting for Les Mis, I realized that the lack of trash recepticles was a security issue, something harkening back to the days of IRA bombings and now a permanent state in today’s Al Qaeda threatened world. Which explains why apparently half of the population of London is employed in the occupation of cleaning the treets, which except for the chewing gum and the occassional piles of dog s**t outside the animal hospital on the street where my hotel is, is spotless.
BTW, the security issue was further emphasized as I walked past the Parliament building in the afternoon and saw two innocuous looking guards at the gates, backed up by a rather serious looking fellow eying me suspiciously as he move his sub-machine gun back and forth in a rather menacing manner.
Other impressions of London. What am amazing contrast of old an new. I have never lived in a city or even visited one for any length of time, no mor than a few hours and usually at night. Perhaps all cities are like this, but where else does one sit at a McDonals logged on to the internet a few yards from Westminster Cathedral??? Or anything like that. I have a picture which I will post when I have more time, which shows a most modern glass and steel structure behind which is the cathedral’s towering spire! Amazing!
I have also never seen so many people, all going somewhere in such a hurry, corssing against the lights (which I have learned are le US stop signs – advisory only ) This morning, my 56th birthday, I broke into a smile just for the joy of being around this mass of humanity. This would have made me the only person smiling; these people are way to serious. But then I am on vacation and they are not.
A few quick words – I have eaten wice now at McDonalds, breakfats both. Dunno when I will have my chance at a full English breakfast, one of my goals while here. Both meals were better than my dinner last night at Ranorest Cafe, which was a great disappointment compared to my visits at other Rainforest Cafes. How they could make a chicken breast tough as leather on the outside and tender but flavorless in the middle is beyond me!
Les Mis, by contrast, was a great joy. I own four Les Mis OCRs, so this was a great treat and I only drifted off twice dure to jet lag. The lead looked a bit like Skeletor from my seats in the dress circle. He might have looked better up front, but who knows? He sang so wonderfully that it was more than made up for. It was a great joy and in spite of knowing the story well, I did my usual unmanly crying at “Bring Him Home” and at the end.

Today is Tuesday, October 7th!!! The weather is sunny…no, wait, it’s raining…no wait, the sun is out again! If ever there was a place where you can wait five inutes for the weather to change, it is London. I packed nothing right and am heading to Sainsbury’s for some dish soap.
Soon I will be meeting Nikkie and Ruth and maybe others for a tour of the city and then Bily tonight. My first one!!! No, I am not at all excited.

One other thing before I sign off. The London transportation system is nothing short of remarkable. It is truly “very f***ing special” My knees hurt from the stairs, but it is still awesome!

I do not know what I wrote at the begninng of this post as ithas been written over two sessions, so if I repeat myself, so be it.

A final word – so far I have been treated by all I have met with great kindness. The people I have met, starting with Arthur and Aphrael, my seatmates on the flight, have been nothing short of magnificent.

Only glitch other than the ATM debacle – another attempt awaits today – is thatmy room smelled like crap, literally. I thoguht this was awful and wonderd if Iwould perhaps have to live with it, or that it woudl air out,. So I opened the windows, took a shower and a nap. When I got out of bed a few hours later my brae feet hit the carpet and I realized it was wet. Turns out that there had been a leak i the readiator system that Mr. Patel had failed to tell Mrs. Patel about. The smell was mildew. I was quickly moved from my 3rd floor (4th level) tiny room to a nicer room on the ground floor. Much better, and I can not tell yo waht a job Mr. and Mrs. Patel are, and they remember all of you who have visited there.

Back tomorrow with a review of my first Billy.

Bye for now.

Dave

Uncle Dave’s Billython – Day Two
Just a thought about money. Not too much different from US money except that they use coins for 1 pound and 50p, the equivalent to $2 and $1 for US money. This is difficult for me to get used to, as when I travel, and even when I am at home, I tend not to use coins. I remove them from my pocket at the end of the day, toss them in my suitcase and
they eventually go in my coin bowl to get cashed in when I can’t lift it. But here in the UK, some coins are REAL money, and so except for the two pence and one penny coins, I find myself carrying a lot of change. And then of course I forget that it is realy money and so I hand over bills for everything, thereby acquirng more coins. And although I do understand the math of multiplying everything I see by two to get an approximate US equivalent, the pyschological effect of seeing a bottle of water be 38p – “Gosh, that is cheap!” – is hard to overcome. So my dinner at the Rainforest Cafe seemed cheap at 30 pounds (including gratuity, which BTW, they did NOT add to the price) until I realized I had just spent $60 for a crappy dinner. I do not mind spending that when I am on vacation,
but still….
One final thought on money. Again, it is hard for me to get over the values. In my normal everyday life I do not carry a lot of cash. If I have more than $20 on me that is a lot. When I am on vacation I usually carry maybe $100 with me. So today I realized I had 180 pounds on me, which is a lot, so I dropped that down to 60 pounds.
BTW, I can not seem to find the pound key without my numeric keypad, which I did not bring with me.

On with day two….
As we already know, I spent the morning at McD’s next to WESTMINSTER Cathedral. I shall not have to go there again as it turns out my HOTEL does have wi-fi, which I am now using!!
At 11:30 I was to meet Nikkie-Nikkie and Jadka (Ruth) in front of Little Ben, the tower in the crosswalk triangle opposite the VPT. My plan was to be sly and stealthy, so I was spying from the other side of the street to see them. Having given up because they were a bit late (contrary to their claims) I stepped into the VPT box office to have a look around. When I stepped out of the door after my short visit I and stumbled into the sidewalk, unbeknown to me, right in front of Ruth. Sadly, she guessed quickly who the klutzy guy in the hat was and finally we all gathered at the clock and then went off for the day.
Details abound, but we went to Greenwich and toured the maritime museum. It was a wonderful place and a perfect choice, and the weather was lovely while we were inside.
This was followed by a boat ride on the Thames back to WESTMINSTER. Ruth and I were brave souls who sat outside in the rain, which had arrived, while Nikkie hid like a coward in the enclosed area.
Okay, the truth is, Ruth and I waited just long enough to make sure we outlasted Nikkie on the deck before we too retired to the dry area, TO KEEP HER COMPANY, of course.
The entire time, they proceeded to remind me, over and over again, that it was WESTMINSTER Cathedral that has a McD’s next to it and not Winchester. Also, at every opportunity, they made sure we walked someplace where I could trip and fall. Sadly , their evil schemes did not come to pass, and we ended up having dinner not at the Stage Door Pub, which sadly had a broken elevator and could not serve food, but at the other pub right next to the VPT. It was quite good, and this was where Friar (Paul) joined us for he evening. I will post a review in the reviews section.

The day was wonderful, I have wifi in my room, and I am having a ball!

Thanks so much for Nikkie and Ruth generosity in celebrating my birthday with me, and Paul for joining us later.

Tomorrow is another day!

Day Two – Addendum

Greetings from Cell 2 of the Fluorescent Monastery

Thanks johnnyc for the £ sign. I knew about the character map but when I wrote the first part of my note I was too lazy to find it.

The fluorescent light in my room did not come on yesterday afternoon, so we had to have repairs, which is when I found out that the Cherry Court (aka, the Fluorescent Monastery) does in fact have wifi.

Just some things I forgot to add yesterday:
1) I bought my first $7 bottle of water in a restaurant. And my last. Dunno why I did that really.
2) Had 1/4 pint of Guinness, accomplished by ordering a 1/2 pint and not drinkng half of it. (Those of you who know me are aware that I, as a general rule, do not drink – perhaps one beer and a couple of glasses of wine a year. So I have now had a taste of beer, and perhaps I will have another, perhaps not.
3) I am learning that things do not dry out very well here. Or perhaps I should say, very fast.

Day three to follow later.
Character map enabled – CHECK!
Notes from day three handy in note book – CHECK!
Morning toilet completed – uhmm, be right back! Okay, CHECK!

Greetings from The Land of The Gummy Streets – Day 3
(Subtitled – Sleep Is For Wussies)

Tuesday night, day 2 of our adventure, I was up until 1 AM, which was technically Wednesday morning.
I had made plans originally to take a Wednesday day trip to the Cotswolds and Oxford, although I was not committed to it in any way. Tuesday night, however,I discovered that my friend JJF was going to be in town Wednesday evening and I really wanted this chance to meet him, but I was afraid that Imight be cutting it a bit close, and also I did not have any tickets for Wednesday night.
So I was, to say the least, indecisive. My usual state when such dilemas arise.
Then I woke up after 6 hours of sleep and realize that:
A) I was not going back to bed
B) I was awake!
C) It was a beautiful sunny day.

So off to Paddington station to see the bears.
BTW, this morning was the first morning where I got on the wrong underground train. I realized this as soon as I was on the train, and the London underground is so freaking easy, I simply got off at the next stop, walked about 100 feet, and got back on the next train which was the right one!
Now, Paddington station was where the tour was to start, but luckily and more important, it is the last known spot in the civilized (civilised) world where you can find Krispy Kreme donuts, which the food nazis have forced into submission in the US! And oddly enough it tasted just exactly like a Krispy Kreme donut!

So after spending time waiting to see a guy in a red cap as the brochure indicated, I finally spied a small group of people standing around a lady waving the London Walks brochures. So I gamely decided to approach the group, joined the tour and for about £39 we were off. A bargain as it turns out, for this covered the train tickets, chartered bus and entry into one place which required a small fee.
I will not bore you with details – well maybe I will.
My notes, as I read them back, say either “blungs clipping and berrignal washer” or “birds chirping and beautiful weather”. I am guessing it is the latter. The Cotswolds was wonderful; I could have missed Oxford.
Our tour guide, Hillary (without Bill, for once) was extraordinarily pleasant, understandable, and knew so much stuff I lost track. But she was good.
BTW, did you know that “minster” means “abbey”, so why is there a “Westminster Abbey”? (Just down the road from WESTMINSTER Cathedral, I might add!)
Anyway, had another crappy meal, a rather ghastly sandwhich I purchased in Burford.
Now during this time I was playing phone tag with JJF to make plans. When I finally spoke to him, it was around 5:30 and I was on the train back to London, my cell phone signal dropping up and down. This is ironice because often times when I am chatting with Jon online, he is returning from London,on the train, using his mobile phone, which frequently drops in and out!
Jon gleefully advised me that he had gotten one of his favorite seats, B14, and we agreed to meet.
Of course, I had no clue what he looked like and he had further disguised himself by not shaving for several days and becoming much younger looking than I expected. Also, he seemed to have forgotten where the Stage Door was, so I had to spend another .99 to call him only to discover that he was about 5 yards away from me on the other side of the street.
So we proceeded to the theatre, and an hour after he got B14, I managed to snag B13.
(For those of you not in the know, these are among the 8 seats that are held back during the day in case the family of the ballet girls and small and tall boys want to sit in them; they are cheaper seats as you can not see the actors’ feet, but they are really up close and personal. When they are not needed, they get put on sale to the general public.)
Anyway, we got to see Tom, which was great because neither of us had seen him. I quickly add that Jon had seen him as Michael; I add this because Jon will certainly correct me if I do not.
I really enjoyed meeting Jon, and after the show we stopped for a quick bite at Burger King (yeah, fooking shoot me; Jon had coupons; seriously, it sounded good at the time as I was starving), before Jon headed back to home and I to my hotel room in the Fluorescent Monastery.
BTW, as I mentioned before. was a gorgeous day, and today awaits.
I go in search of laundry soap that I can use in the hotel sink as I have a shirt that I want to wear that smells as though a camel had peed on it.
I go in search of a traditional English breakfast.
And fish and chips.
And a pastie.
Two shows today.
I will post a review of Tom later.
See you!
Uncle Dave’s London Adventure – Day Four

Greetings from the Land of the Smokey Smokeys

These people smoke like chimneys! Sheesh, haven’t they gotten the word? Wink

Okay, anyway, the weather once again was gorgeous, which meant I didn’t have anything to wear that didn’t smell like a donkey had been wearing it in the desert for a week!
But what the heck, no one knows me here anyway.
So my first order of business was to go find a traditional english breakfast, which consisted of a sausage, some hammy looking bacon, toast, one egg (free range, which meant it was made by a happy chicken willing to sacrifice her offspring for my enjoyment) and baked beans. Now for my American friends this may sound a tad odd, but in fact it was quite tasty.
Next, I fumbled my way to Harrods, and I will not tell you how much I spent there (£9Cool or what I bought (pressies for family and cologne for me). I walked by the Dobby and Die memorial in Harrods, and also the Egyptian Room, which was oddly not very Egyptiany – go figure!
Then I walked back via the park with the memorial to the angled pointy sticks with weird carvings, as near as I can figure. I do not know what it was and only knew it was a memorial because of the wreaths under some of them. I do not make light of the sacrifice these sticky things commemorate, only that there was nothing there telling me what the were.
I proceeded on to Buckingham Palace where I didn’t see the changing of the guard but a bunch of really flashy dressed horsey guys trooped by in front of us – the crowd and I.
Then on to Sainsburys where I bought some men’s shower gel to wash my stinky shirts with, as liquid laundry soap was too expensive!
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful.
I met BillyWhiz and Patc for the matinee and dinner afterwards.
Then another show and home to bed.
That is all.
See you tomorrow!

More Observations from the Land of Up-Down-Left-Right (Mind-The-Gap)
Morning of Day 5
As I mentioned before, it seems these people smoke a lot. Which seems odd as they tend to need to climb up and down stairs a lot, not to mention walkig on the street, which they all do —–while they smoke!

Most of the tube stations have a combination of escalators, some of them amazingly high, and stairs, most of them amazingly HIGH also! My poor arthritic knees! One would expect that these stairs would be littered with dead and dying smokers, but they are not.

Now, in this world of ignoring pedestrian traffic signals when it comes to crossing the street, they have strict rules about how to climb stairs and ride escalators.
First of all, like their traffic, their escaltors are reverses as well, with up on the left and down on the right, the reverse of most US escalators if they are side by side.
(The exception to this is Harrods, home to the Princess Di snd Prince Dobie memorial, where the escalators are in a racetrack pattern which makes it a lot easier to go up than to go down. BTW, at first I thought all the floors except the one I was on was closed, because at the entrance to each escalator is a pole in the middle. I kept waiting for someone to come and remove it so the elevator was open, until I realized that it was to keep strollers and very wide people off of the escalator!)
Anyway, when you get on an escalator, if you are not walking you stand to the right. However, when walking down a hallway or up stairs, you are to stay to the left.
Right Left Up Down – Oh! In all of the tube stations, as you are getting off the train, a voice is shouting, “Mind the gap!”, which is a polite way of saying if you step in the hole between the train and the platform your ass is grass!
Also, in England, a avenue of departure from a building is the “Way Out”, not the “Exit”. I have never seen a sign saying “Way In”, so I am often confused.
Found another Krispy Kreme, btw. That makes three, which is three more than we have within 50 miles of where I live!
I may not have mentioned earlier but at most of the pedestrian crossings, painted into the street, if it is one way, is “Look Left ->” or “<- Look Right”. So that one may be sure that they do not get killed before they corss the street while the little red man is flashing. I have not looked the wrong way at any intersection, and except when Ruth and Nikkie made their failed attempt, I have not come close to getting killed.
Okay, enough for now. I slept later than usual; it is already 9:30 and I have no set plans for the day, my first full day where I have nothing planned. Just going to mosey about.
Tonight is show #6. Have given up trying to guess who is playing. Meeting jamie r there.
See you all later
P.S. I do have pictures posted on my picture site, but I am not allowed to post the link here. I willdo that on the other forum that may know I use, or you can PM me.

Day Five – Morning – London Disney – (aka The Tower of London) – sponsored by your friends at The History Channel.

There are a lot of old buildings here, and it is always fun to look in the old garderobes and see if there are in petrified poopies! (There are not!)
And there are a bunch of Ravens and if we could just get them to waddle their little black butts out of there (they have clipped wings so can not fly) then we could take over the whole country – according to legend anyway.
They had the crown jewels there – they were sparkly.
Then I bought a bunch of stuff at the Pirates of the Caribbean Gift Shop, or something having to do with piracy, and had crap fish and chips at a restaurant there that for some bizarre reason does not take credit cards.
Then back to my hotel room, the Fluorescent Monastery, where they have refilled my supply of bananas and digestives.
More later!

Day Five Continued
Greetings from London.
Day Five continued to be beautiful and sunny as I made my afternoon trek to the museums in South Kensington, where I went to the Natural History Museum and made a marvelous discovery – I do not like museums! Unfortunately, once you enter one, you are screwed!
There is this diabolical design where they point you into a room, and then in order to get out you have to follow the signs that say “Way Out” which in fact lead you deeper and deeper into the depths of the museum, finally exiting in a gift shop themed to the section of the museum you were just in!
And then when you think yo are getting out, you get sucked into another.
Which is how I came upon the last living dinosaur in captivity – well, it WAS moving and growling at us – and I watched some dinosaur eggs hatching, and then I got to see a stuffed koala on a stick!
Realizing that I had to get the hell out of there, I followed the Way Out signs backwards and made my escape!
BTW, they have a building here nicknamed the Gherkin, and indeed it rises above all else around it looking like a pickle!
I finished the day by meeting jamie.r for supper. This was indeed very lucky tming, as I had sent him a PM telling him that if he got it I would meet him at the stage door at 6:00 P.M. and if he wasn’t there by then, I would be on my way. Indeed, he showed up in the right spot at the right time, but he HAD NOT gotten my PM. So off to dinner and then Billy, but sadly because I was in the dress circle I lost jamie.r.

Anyway, it is now Saturday morning. Another nice day it looks like and I am off to get cleaned up and ready for my last two shows this afternoon and evening.

See you later.

Ahh, one more thing before I forget.
While I was waiting for jamie.r before the show, a most remarkable thing happened. A large panel truck, lorry, pulled up in front of the stage door, to load a very few things into it; otherwise the truck was empty.
The remarkable thing about it was that it WAS a Billy Elliot truck, with the jumping blue Billy and all the other stuff on the side of it! I have never heard anyone mention this before, although I have heard mention of the Billy cab and Billy boat, both of which I also have pictures of.
So does this truck actually belong to BETM? Why would they need their own truck? Or was it just coincidence? BTW, the amount of stuff they picked up could have gone into the trunk (boot) of your average car.
Anyway, I do have pictures of it, which I will post later.
Days 6 and 7 – Life doesn’t get much sweeter.

Greetings from Cell #2 of the Fluorescent Monastery – in case you have not stayed at the Cherry Court, the single rooms are monastic in size and fluorescent in lighting. But this is a great place to stay, especially if you want to spend more money on Billy tickets and less on a room!
The weather for day 6 was beautiful and day 7 was even better, nearly 70f at least on Sunday!

Day 6, Saturday, was a very quiet morning. So quiet I do not remember actually doing anything. I should have written down what I did. Oh well.
But in the afternoon I met the lovely sleepylins and the equally handsome SFO – who surprised me for the afternoon show; he was not scheduled until the evening show but got in early. I sat next to sleepylins who had jaw-dropping moments seeing Tanner for the first time. My third time seeing him this week. What a wonderful show and wonderful company. We had a nice dinner the bunch of us between shows at my new favorite place, Nandos.
None of the kids came out between shows. Looks like they were having pizza brought in. If I were them, I would have liked that, too. Sitting there in my relaxed clothes, having pizza, giggling about stuff with my buddies, playing video games, and being kids for a couple of hours!
Anyway, I served up Husky Treats at dinner and they were enjoyed by all. I dinna what I am going to do with what I have left. My goal was to have them gone by the time I needed to pack.
So the evening show as Fox, and he was just awesome. Even with no wall flip and reduced acro in Electricty, he more than made up for it with his performance.
I have posted elsewhere about the autographs and all , so let me tell you the funniest part of the evening. As I was getting ready to have Fox sign my program, I handed my bag with my hat and the rest of the Husky Treats to sleepylins to hold. A few moments later she and Nikkie, who had joined us once again, departed for their trains and busses.
Then as the rest of us guys were looking for a place to have a drink, I realized that sleepylins still had my bag.
Thus began the big bag chase!! I played very expensive phone tag with Nikkie, hoping she had lin’s number. She didn’t but she told us to find the coach station and the bus for Leeds. So the three of us guys make a mad dash for the coach station, including several wrong turns, finally splitting up there to track her down. Luckily, her bus wasn’t scheduled to leave for another 20 minutes, so at last we found her. Turns out she was very flustrated becuase she realized she had the bag and didn’t knwo what to do. What a lovely young woman she is.
Now the three of us left are mucking about trying to find a place to have a drink, and we kept going the wrong way and ended up at Vic station and Witherspoons, and I enjoyed a pint of Guiness. Did I mention I had wine for lunch, also? Quite a drinking day for me.
Anyway, only one drink for us alland then off to Burger King forme and Scott, and then to our respective hotels.

Day 7 – my last full day in London and my first without a show to go to. What an empty feeling. And yet, what a joy in thinking back to all the great shows and great people I met.
Nikkie-Nikkie and Jabka, who gave me a great birthday. And Friar who joined us later.
JJF, who made last minute plans to meet me on Wednesday.
Billy Whiz and patc and Den and jamie.r.
SFO and lindsey – what fine young peole these two are!
And so many others I am going to forget and be sorry for later.
I started day 7 by kind of sleeping in and then going and having a shite Full English breakfast. Then I went for a short walk and got lost in a part of Pimlico because my map cut off at some point, but I got back to my cell at the FM and then set out again on a trek along the south bank of the Thames. Then I crossed the river on the Millenium Bridge, which is a pedestrian bridge that scares the crap out of me, so I wlkaed right in the middle and looked at the ground a lot. But it is also a great spot to see St. Pauls Cathedral dome. I went into St. Pauls but they were just getting ready to have 11:30 Eucharist and I had already had mine, so I proceeded along the roads and thought I have missed Covent Garden until I turned a corner and it was there. I am not much of a shopper and not much else was going on there, so I managed my way back to Vic Station to have an authentic Cornish Pastry!!!
Yum?? Well I think grandma says it best, “That’s disgusting!” I took three bites and chucked it and had a Big Mac and fries to wash the taste out of my mouth!
The afternoon was rather boring; used my computer a lot, went down to the corner and had another beer!!! I am turning into an alchy for sure, prolly because I will find out I have been made redundant when I get back home.
A very nice and not cheap dinner at Ebury Wine Shop and another glass of wine, so I am set for the year!
And now here I am, back in my cell, a bit buzzed and a lot sad. I did not have the courage to walk down by the VPT tonight.
I leave for home tomorrow, and I know I will have to go by the VPT one last time. Saying goodbye to it will be tough.
I think I know now what he means, when Billy says:
“It’s a bit like being empty; it’s a bit like being full.”

Goodbye from London!

Well I am back home, to a life that seems so much more dreary than when I left.
Walking past the VPT for the last time was emotional, as was that moment when I looked at my watch, now reset to Uncle Dave Time, and I realized that the small boy was walking down the aisle for the Monday show, and I was not there.
Unlike those of you who seemingly go to BETM on a whim, it is likely I will never again see the London version.
Perhaps if it is still there in a year’s time, I might make another go of it. I have £3.87 in coins and £6.80 on my Oyster card (plus the £3 deposit). Isn’t there a saying that if you leave something on your Oyster card, you will return to London? Very Happy

A couple of more thank yous. I think earlier I failed to mention shadowchaser, who I met briefly and who also shared with me from his vast collection.

Also, I failed to thank all the people who gave me such great advaice in planning my trip: ERinVA, rtm2008, michael, johnnyc and many others. Your advice was valuable and made the whole trip go smoothly, bordering on flawless.

Well, back to reality for me.
See ya, Billy.