Billy Elliot, London’s Victoria Palace Theatre
japra | Apr 17, 2009 | Comments 20
I’d like to report I LOVED “Billy Elliot” at London’s Victoria Palace Theatre. I really would. But it’s a little hard for me to say after yesterday’s matinee because the show was “terminated” before the curtain went up for the second Act! That’s right, Roxi and I experienced our very first cancelled show.
What I can say is the show is well paced, builds up a lot of tension so that by the end of Act I you’re totally caught up in the frustrations of all the characters, especially Billy who has a fantastically intense dance right before intermission.
When we were asked us to leave, a woman got up on stage and said they were terminating the show due to circumstances out of their control and would everyone please exit the theatre. Ushers were showing us out in a calm way. People were grumbling. It wasn’t until we were outside that we saw three fire trucks.
I haven’t been able to find anything about the theatre interruptus yet, but I hope no one was hurt.
[Edited to add: I emailed the theatre this morning asking about a refund or reticketing and I already received a reply! Refunds/rebooks are available, but you have to have your original tickets. If you bought your ticket from the theatre, email them for the form. If you got your tickets somewhere else, contact that service. Thanks, Victoria Palace!]
All photos in this post taken with a Casio Exilim 8.1 point-and-shoot.
Filed Under: Blog • Featured • London • Theatre • What to Do
About the Author: JaPRA is an expat Texan living in England with her husband (Mr. DJ), their 17-year old daughter (Roxi), and their dog Trudy.
How disappointing for you! I hope you manage to rebook. I’d love to see this show – I loved the film so I just know the show will be better – can’t beat life shows.
We were disappointed, Akelamalu, but I felt even worse for people who live further away (and perhaps only booked this one show). Talk about disappointment! I know Roxi and I will rebook :-)
Billy Elliot was one of my favorite movies when it came out. I would have loved to see the musical! How disapointing to have the show interrupted!!
I think I am the only one who hasn’t seen the movie! Maybe you can make a quick weekend trip up to the Big Apple and catch a show :-)
wow, that’s happened to us in a movie theatre, but never a live show. We loved Billy Elliot the movie.
Christine, it was weird! The people behind us kept saying, “Is she joking? Is this a joke?”
The first Wicked show we saw had technical difficulties during one of the scenes and had to take a brief 10 or 15 minute pause. It must be so stressful!! You know it must be bad if they have to actually cancel the show.
japra…..a bummer for sure…but your second chance rebooking should be sweeter enjoyment….tell us all when all is over…
That is true, Uncle Sonny! I am hoping to re-book it soon. XO
That’s terrible! I’m sure you would’ve really enjoyed the second act as well as that’s really where things get going. Oh well, at least you and Roxi are okay. Hopefully no one else suffered any harm. By the way, great pictures! The Victoria Palace Theatre is quite striking.
Xoan-Wahn, we are looking forward to seeing the show again soon!! The theatre is definitely a big wow on the inside too. I love these old theatres. They are so different from the more modern theatres in Texas.
As the organiser of a group of 86, who got onto a coach in dark Colwyn Bay, North Wales at 06.15 to travel to see Billy Elliot, I must say the first half was AMAZING! We are totally devastated that the show was terminated at the interval and made an unhappy 6 hour journey home. We are grateful for the refund, but are still desperate to see the show and will have to hire another two coaches and take time off work to try again. I am sure it will be worth it, but we are so disappointed.
Oh, Sally, you and your group are just the people I felt worst for! My daughter and I had a relatively short train and tube ride to get into Town. I know our disappointment must be only a fraction of yours!! And we didn’t even have a lovely day to enjoy, did we? It was so dreary and rainy.
I hope you and your group will be able to rebook soon. Thanks for stopping by to comment :-)
What a disappointment for everyone especially the Welsh party. Hope you finally get to see the show and enjoy it !
Thanks, Barbara! I am sure we will appreciate it even more the second time :-)
Oh no. How disappointing for you!! How was Roxi? I think my little one would have been devastated. To get all excited about something and then have it taken away. Horrible. Hope you get to see the second half!
MaternalTales, we were both okay about it after our adrenaline calmed down a bit. It was a little disarming to exit the theatre and see three fire trucks!
Luckily, we live close enough that it’s not too much of a pain to rebook. The worst part for us is the timing issue since there is a good possibility that we might be moving to NL in less than three months!
What a disappointment. I haven’t seen the show but only ever hear fabulous reports. I love your new site btw, xv.
Vicki, I’ve been trying to rebook, but it’s such a popular show! I heard Act II is really outstanding, so I am hoping we will be able to go back and see the rest soon.
Thanks for the kind words about my new site! I like it too, though still trying to get comfortable with the behind the scenes :-)
Did you ever find out the reason? I guess if there was even a tiny hint of a fire then yes, they would have to close up.
Emm, no I never heard why (I did search online and didn’t find a thing). I did wonder if the evening show ran as scheduled.