42nd Street at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

I'm pretty sure Philip is 1st cover Billy and Pat. He covered full weeks as Billy in July and November that I can remember and I am sure I have seen Dylan in the ensemble when I've seen Philip as Billy. In my previews programme Dylan was listed first but in the one from post previews with production photographs in Philip was listed first. I always thought that the order that they are listed in the programme is cover order.

My programme from previews has Dylan listed first, interesting that it’s changed as it happens, I’ve seen all three and Philip was my favourite!

Well, we had everything tonight! Jae in great form as always. All the mains were on with the exception of Philip on as Billy and Kirsty on as Annie. Michael Linnit was spotted in the Royal Box, there was an idiot with a mobile going off somewhere in Row A stalls - when will these people learn??? The sound in the first half was bad with Philip being badly mic'd to the point you could hardly hear him in Dames and Chris Howell's Mic went completely during Keep young and Beautiful. Jasna stepped in and sang the lines. Sound greatly improved in the 2nd half. Still, even with all that going on, it was good to see three levels open for a show in Mid Jan. I never tire of watching this show or watching the amazing talented cast.

I'm sure I saw him lurking suspiciously near the connections in the wings! 😉

Oh fabulous! You must of had a great time, sounds like a brilliant performance!

I should reiterate this point (not coming for you hahaha, just since brought up and I've been meaning to remind people of this on here), I do not hate him as an actor or a performer. I have seen him good in other roles, he was great in Side Show and he did what he could to make Doctor Dillamond interesting. It's just, he really is weak in THIS specific show with this specific role, so mucn so he is literally the ONPY weak link in the show so there is no avoiding it haha. I have respect for any actor on the West End, so its nothing to do with him as a performer, just him in this specific role. Maybe a director choice, maybe this role just isn' for him. And the fact people voted for him over Stuart for that damn WOS Award nomination is criminal, truly criminal!

Hi Shady23. I agree with you 100% that Clare should get the final bow and boy she deserves it. However, and please correct me if i am wrong. The role of Peggy & Billy are not essentially the "main" roles in the show and only "Supporting" and by tradition it is Dorothy and Julian who are the "Stars" hence why they have the final bow?
That's why in the final amazing tap number after the bows, Clare gets the well deserved praise and recognition.

One thing I do find and it really amazes me, and not sure if others have noticed, I am really shocked at how slow people are getting up to give them a standing ovation. It takes me (after 43 times of seeing the show)  all my restraint from jumping up and yelling during the staircase routine, so by the time the bows are here I am so up on my feet applauding and whooping loudly and amazed not everyone else follows! Some nights the audiences seem really stuffy. Anyone else noticed?

maybe age and infirmity comes into play. Given the average age of the audience, most of them would struggle to stand in assisted having been sat down for 1-2hours already.
Different reasoning for me.

Meant unassisted. Damn phone.

Why is it that young people seem to think that a standing ovation is a required response to a show that they have enjoyed? If they consider the design of most theatres, it is fairly obvious that for everybody in the stalls to see the stage it is necessary for everyone to remain seated. As soon as people near the front stand up then everybody behind them has to stand up in order to be able to continue to see the people on the stage and then not always very well. Not only is this extremely inconvenient for older people like me balancing jackets, caps, hand bags, folding walking sticks and such on our laps to have to stand up and continue clapping, but it leads to a major problem if the cast on stage go into an encore!

I will not be very popular for saying this, but it seems to me that the people who immediately leap to their feet to lead a standing ovation are really being rather selfish and drawing attention to themselves in doing this. I have been a regular theatre-goer for something like 70 years and it was never necessary to behave like this in order to let the performers on stage know how much they were appreciated. In particular, at the opera and ballet, standing ovations were not necessary for Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Jussi Björling, Birgit Nilsson, Maria Callas, Rudolf Nureyev, Margot Fonteyn and the great stars of the Russian Bolshoi and Kirov Ballet Companies. Cheering and shouting bravo was the way in which appreciation was shown, as well as sometimes throwing flowers onto the stage. Audience response at the regular theatres in the West End was usually more restrained, even when it was Barbra Streisand in 'Funny Girl', Sir Laurence Olivier in 'Othello', Geraldine McEwan and Albert Finney in 'A Flea in Her Ear' or Judi Dench and John Stride in Zeffirelli's 'Romeo and Juliet'. The audience remained seated at the end and showed their appreciation with prolonged applause and cheering.

May I please make an earnest request that everybody should remain seated at the end of '42nd Street' and every other show in the West End and confine showing their appreciation of the company to applause and cheering so that everybody in the theatre can continue to see and appreciate the performers on the stage. Don't get me wrong: I have seen '42nd Street' ten times. It thrills and excites me every time and I want the company at the end to know how much I have enjoyed it, but leaping to my feet is not the right way to do this, but rather remaining seated and applauding loudly and shouting bravo is the proper way to do this in a traditional theatre.

I agree that there is some reluctance at this show to stand, but I just assume its a generational thing. I have stood to applaud every time, and usually by the end of Clare and the Ensemble's final number, they are all stood by that point, or mostly. *lowkey, I always take that finale number as Clares bow haha, so when she comes back on in the yellow outfit, yes I cheer everyime and people follow and cheer too* 😂😂

I think the point about standing ovations is that many people feel they should be reserved for occasions that are truly exceptional. There is already a way for audiences to show that they've loved a performance, and that's applause. If standing becomes the routine and unremarkable way of showing appreciation then it has no meaning. How do you show that something has been out of the ordinary then? Make a sacrificial offering?