Reactions to the “Billy Youth Theatre Showcase” in the West End
Words can`t describe the sense of occasion and achievement that was tangibly in the air during the finale of the West End Billy Youth Theatre Showcase, where 400 voices plus the four boys who play `Billy Elliot` in the West End production had sung “Electricity”.
I had seen at least three grown men cry and they were all on the `Billy Elliot` creative team. A packed house had risen, as one, in a standing ovation and a confetti bomb showered everyone as a parting shot. Even then it was not over because the `Billy Elliot` people had commisioned some crystal glass awards to be presented to each group, whose names were read out by Stephen Daldry, who is the director of `Billy Elliot the Musical` and `Billy Elliot` the film and has been Oscar-nominated for several films since. At the end of the list he said, “Whilst I shouldn`t single out individuals, I have to say that Trudy Hindmarsh from Stagecoach Yarm and Darlington is here. She was Jamie Bell`s teacher and without her we would not all be here tonight.” I can`t think of a more generous remark that he could have made, totally not warranted, but typical of the man`s kindness. I lost it then. Good job I was hidden behind a row of tall cast members from another school.
Rehearsals had been long, organisation good but inevitably there was a lot of waiting around across the weekend. Our students behaviour had been exemplary. In fact I never saw anything adverse from any of the cast members. I think everyone felt so privileged to be there. Our youngest student Emma Walton, aged 6, in our party of 12 students, stayed alert and focussed throughout a very long day and everyone was incredibly sad when it was all over. We had made it through, as one of the best 14 groups out of an original 115 groups that had signed up to the project and we felt proud of being there at all. The resident choreographer told us that we were the favourites of many on the creative team but I`m sure he said that to all of the groups to make them feel special.
I am here adding the e mail of thanks that I sent to the director when we returned because it encloses much of what I felt about the magic of the project. I thought that the e mails that they sent out to us were so touching and sincere and I have added them as comments below:-
Dear David,
First of all I am so sorry that I haven`t managed to write to you immediately that I got home, as I very much wanted to, but I came home to go straight into a dress rehearsal this evening for our own run of `Billy` which goes up tomorrow for four nights and so I have just got in and read your email which filled me up all over again.
As with all wonderful events, you can leave in body but not mind and I`ve still been there all day in my head. Often landmark events in your life come upon you without your having a chance to anticipate them but we had the joy of looking forward to the weekend and then it surpassing every hope we could have had.
I loved the wonderful atmosphere between the groups - all wishing one another well. I loved the incredible forethought and care that had gone into the organisation for the day, particularly given that there was no precedent to work by. I loved your lovely staff who were patient and supportive and smiling all day (much different to many other theatre companies that we have worked with, in the past, when some of our students have been in touring theatre productions). I loved seeing the different creativity that each group brought to scenes that we had all worked ourselves and therefore knew well - or thought we did. And I loved the fact that our amateur efforts brought such pleasure to those of you who live with `Billy Elliot` daily.
I was touched by the welcome back that Annabelle received and how staff went out of their way to come to speak to her. I can see why she misses you so much. I was touched by my 87 year old dad making it out down to London to see my kids perform in the theatre that he remembered fondly from his time during the war when he was stationed at Victoria Station, in the Scots Guards. I was touched beyond words to hear 400 sing `Electricity` and for then a whole audience to rise spontaneously for an ovation. I was touched to see that each group was given a beautiful crystal award to take home with them and I was emotionally reduced to tears by Stephen Daldry`s incredibly generous but misplaced tribute to my part in the `Billy Elliot` story as Jamie Bell`s teacher.
I `stole` a piece of the confetti from the stage as a keepsake. It DID feel like `family` and we will treasure the memory always. Thank you all so very much for this tremendous opportunity. I can`t imagine anything that could surpass it. Please send my e mail to everyone involved in the project`s organisation. They all deserve our thanks.
Best Regards,
Trudy Hindmarsh (Stagecoach Darlington and Yarm)
PS We have a coach load of retired Easington miners and their families coming to see the show on Opening night - just to keep the emotions wrung out.
I have just been sent three photos taken by the professional photographer that the Billy people hired to record the rehearsals together with some other photos from the weekend. Ignore any distortion appearing on the web site. When you rightclick over the photo and save to your computer it will save without the distortion
Other photos taken across the weekend follow below:-
PACKING…….
TO GO……….
IN REHEARSALS WITH RESIDENT CHOREOGRAPHER
THE THEATRE….
STAGE DOOR
OUR DRESSING ROOM - THE BAR!!!
THE NIGHT ……
PRESENTED ……
WITH THE AWARD ……
July 23rd, 2010 at 12:17 am
Dear Trudy,
How are you and the team this week. We’ve all been a little bit tired but
what a fantastic weekend. I truly hoped you had a wonderful time.
Please thank all your girls and boy for being so fantastic.
Marlaina Darmody (Our backstage captain)
July 23rd, 2010 at 12:20 am
HOW STUNNING AN E MAIL IS THIS - FROM THE DIRECTOR OF WEST END `BILLY`
Dear Participants,
Firstly, I hope life is getting back to some kind of normality after the adventures of the BYT Gala. Our team were in at 10am on Monday getting ready to put on 3 new principal children - so definitely a case of “no rest for the wicked” (we must have been terribly, terribly wicked)!!!
As the dust finally settles on the inaugural BYT project, I had to take the opportunity to thank you one more time, on behalf of myself and all the creative team, for the remarkable talent, energy and passion you brought to the Victoria Palace Stage on Sunday. Not once did we encounter anything less than 100 percent commitment from every single person, and it allowed the performance to reach levels of detail and polish that we really had no “right” to achieve. When you work in professional theatre, you are constantly working to create an atmosphere of dedication and creativity. Faced with so many talented and hard-working young people - from ballet girls to rioting miners (!) - we couldn’t fail to make something special happen.
Indeed, on watching Monday night’s Billy Elliot show, I am utterly sure that actors, production team and our Billys, Debbies and Michaels were even more energised and inspired than usual - something to do with what you lot shared with them on Sunday I suspect!!!
2 special thanks. The first to the Billy from each group. I am very aware that I was throwing new ideas, blocking and direction at you at the rate of 100 miles an hour, in order to make transitions work. I was utterly impressed with the openness and positivity with which you listened, responded to, and repeated the ideas thrown at you. It was this as much as anything that made the piece a coherent show, and I hope you are proud of what you achieved. You, like every other young person on that stage, demonstrated maturity and professionalism way beyond what we expected.
The second thankyou goes to every Director, Choreographer, MD, teacher, chaperone, stage manager, rehearsal pianist, costume maker, parent, etc, etc, etc who worked so hard to produce such clever, intelligent work. As I said after the dress rehearsal, it was really humbling to us, to see just what is going on in drama classrooms, school halls and dance studios in every corner of Britain. I certainly learned a great deal from you, and hope you feel justly proud of the quality work and (more importantly) lovely young people you are encouraging. Many, many, many children have, I feel already found “their Mrs. Wilkinsons”.
Good luck in where you go now - for some of you it will be “Grease” for others it may be huge Shakespearian epics. It doesn’t matter. As long as the work is done with the warmth, passion and integrity that all of you so obviously bring to what you do.
“There is always one moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in”.
Graham Greene, The Power and the Glory.
With thanks, respect, and best wishes for future projects,
Nick Evans.
July 23rd, 2010 at 12:22 am
Dear All
I just wanted to congratulate you all for the performance on Sunday, a spectacular spectacle, you and your companies should be immensely proud. No mean feat on the part of Nick, Lee, Damian and Chris from Billy Elliot, Working Title and staff at Victoria Palace Theatre either.
Well done and very best wishes
Helen (from Cactus Productions who administered the BYT scheme and managed to get the tickets for those parents who did not have any.)
July 23rd, 2010 at 12:24 am
Dear All,
On behalf of the entire Billy London team, thank you so much for your amazing contribution to BYT. We know how much hard work and commitment went into your performances, and actually getting your groups to London, and we thank you for everything you did to make Sunday night the amazing night it was! Everyone here is still buzzing about it, and we really hope you are as well.
Your groups were fantastic, so well behaved and patient, and responded brilliantly to our Resident team.
Donna Munday (Director of Theatre Production - Billy Elliot and Working Title)
July 23rd, 2010 at 12:29 am
Dear Trudy
I couldn’t find you to say hello yesterday evening and am therefore
writing.
Dee and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole evening, and loved your students’
performances. It really was a fantastic show, and hung together very
well as a show despite the huge number of performers. The energy levels
were really quite astonishing.
I was very pleased that Stephen Daldry specifically said that we all
have to be grateful to you for putting Jamie Bell forward, and that
‘Billy’ might never have been so successful had you not done so. I
agree!
Please would you pass on my congratulations to everyone involved at your
end - and my thanks for such an enjoyable performance.
David Sprigg (Managing Director of Stagecoach Theatre Arts)
IT WAS MY VIEW THAT STEPHEN DALDRY`S REMARKS WERE OVER-GENEROUS BUT IMMENSELY TOUCHING - I WAS A SNIVVELING WRECK IN THE CORNER AFTERWARDS
July 23rd, 2010 at 12:33 am
ANOTHER STUNNINGLY LOVELY E MAIL FROM THE BILLY PEOPLE
Firstly I hope that everyone got home safely last night.
I just wanted to write and thank you all for your incredible patience over the last weekend. It was an incredible task to produce a show with 390 young people in a building that is not designed for it. I understand that spaces were cramped, breaks non-existent and it was very hot but you and all the children and young people in your groups were unbelievably well behaved and cooperative. Their behaviour backstage and in the wings was exemplary. All of the Stage Management team commented on the disciplined way the children dealt with being on our stage. They were a great credit to you and their families.
The gala last night was one of the most emotional and awe inspiring performances we have ever seen here at the Victoria Palace. It is hard to describe the talent (both of the performers and their individual creative teams), passion and heart you all brought to the story. Stephen Daldry was incredibly humbled and impressed and Lee Hall almost too emotional to speak. It has been the talk of the building today, our 4 London Billys (Ollie Gardner, Rhys Yeomans, Dean-Charles Chapman & Aaron Watson) have literally not stopped talking about the show, I think that their spontaneous standing ovation at the end of Electricity summed up the evening. But the moment that we will all remember forever was the special finale, hearing 390 voices singing Electricity was truly breathtaking.
Finally I want to congratulate you all on what you achieved, you really did make history last night.
We always think of Billy Elliot as a big family and we couldn’t be more proud that you are all now a part of that family.
With very best wishes,
David Massey - Company Manager `Billy Elliot`
July 23rd, 2010 at 12:34 am
Dear Trudy and Claire,
Can Lisa, Eavie and I pass on our sincere thanks for the fantastic weekend we have just experienced. having just recovered from the overnight “cattle truck” from Victoria coach station (It certainly smelled like it!!!!) We are able to reflect on such an amazing weekend that would not have been possible if it were not for you and Claire who looked after Eavie and the others so well.
Thanks also for all the other Stagecoach staff who have made this possible and considering the age and experience of the other participants equipped the Darlington and Yarm Stagecoach kids to enable them to put in a performance that put them up there with the best of the night.
Thanks also comes from Eavie’s grandparents who accompanied us to the West End to live a dream. Having never visited London before, Eavie’s Nanna and Grandad who’s grandparents, parents and siblings worked in the pits in County Durham (including Easington) , were able to realise an ambition of seeing a West End show.
Thank you so much and the best of luck for the “Billy of Billies” shows
Mark, Lisa and Eavie Proffitt
August 6th, 2010 at 9:56 am
Hi Trudy - sorry to be so late in leaving a message but have only just come back down to earth after this fantastic experience. The West End show was amazing - seeing my daughter walk out onto the Billy stage and give the performance of her life (as did all of our young peple) is something I will never forget. It was literally a dream come true for her and she said it was the best thing that has ever happened to her. Seeing the joy on those kids faces as they performed was priceless - thank you Trudy, and all of the Stagecoach staff, for making all this possible.
August 15th, 2010 at 7:48 pm
Dear Trudy,
How can we possibly sum up the Billy Elliot ‘Gala’ . Emily was given the opportunity of a lifetime to take part in such an sensational and highly emotional show. For us as a family it was an evening we will never forget. All of the children who took part excelled themselves and I found myself in tears for most of the show. The highlight of the evening for me was the finale…. watching all of the children singing ‘Electricy’ with such passion, with tears streaming down their faces is something I will never forget. Thank you Trudy for giving Emily the chance to fulfil one of her dreams.
August 26th, 2010 at 11:59 pm
I’m still in complete shock all of this has happened to me to be honest… it’s been my dream to be on the west end stage since i was what, 9? And it was something I never thought I’d achieve. But Billy Youth Theatre has given me that chance and it was an absolutely unbelieveable weekend. Working with Damian in rehearsals had me completely starstruck after seeing billy on the West End stage last year and shocked by how amazing his choreography was, i felt unworthy being in the same room :’). But very few nights will compare to the show, I just felt like I was going to like, burst with happiness the whole day because I was just wowed by everything. The set, the directors, the feeling you got when you walked on stage, it was too good to be true. And to share this experience with some of my best friends made it even better, especially in the finale when we all kept looking at eachother and we were in floods of tears :’). I just don’t think I’ve ever loved any experience more and I can safely say July 18th 2010 will always be seen as one of the best days of my life.Thank you so,so much for giving me this opportunity Trudy I could not be more grateful. Also thank you to all the teachers who helped us throughout Billy :).