Betty Blue Eyes Reviews

Dave King from Oxford, UK

CRACKING OPENING NIGHT!

Attended the very first performance on 19/3. What a cracking show! Great story from Alan Bennett and wonderfully adapted for the stage. Excellent up- beat score magnificently performed by the orchestra. But the star of the show was Sarah Lancashire. Can she sing! And dance! And play the most wonderfully social climbing 1950s woman. Dance routines, great comedy moments (the urinal scene was genius) and the most wonderful "Betty" the pig. The audience shot to its feet as the curtain dropped and I hope this is the first of very many performances of this excellent, refreshing and wonderfully produced show. Well done everyone!

Becki Robb from Leeds, West Yorkshire

MUST SEE!

I am still in shock at how fantastic the show really was. The characters, singing, acting, dancing, comedy value, makeup and stage were all fantastic and to top it all off meeting Reece Shearsmith at the end made my night. I am already looking in to booking to see this again in the near future after only just seeing it last night. so much hard work has been put into this and it really does show! Weldone to everyone and Thank you for making my night so unforgetable and enjoyable!!!! =)

M Vincent from Essex England

BRILLIANT SHOW

This Show was Brilliant we enjoyed every second the Star was most certainly Sarah Lancaster she has a lovely singing voice she was stunning,she was supported by an excelent cast. We were seated in the stalls row B which must be the worst seats in the house almost underneath the stage our view was of the knees up with the femail dancers very little was left to the imagination not quite in keeping for 1947

Anonymous from London, UK

BETTY BLEW US AWAY!

Such a wonderful and entertaining show throughout. All of the songs were strong and the casting was superb. I would recommend to all. Excellent entertainment.

Still Laughing from East Midlands

BOOK THIS SHOW NOW!

Loved it, loved it, loved it! How do they keep up the pace - show is fast, incredibly funny and beautifully staged. Sarah Lancashire is perfect and I would ask the reviewer who found her husband (Reece Shearsmith) less so, did you see the original (A Private Function), because I think he is exactly as Alan Bennett conceived him. Ann Emery as Mother Dear was hilarious. Far from being forgettable, 3 days on I am still humming the tunes. A great night out.

Musical Fan from Sussex England

BRILLANT A MUST SEE

Saw this show last night. It was brilliant a laugh from start to finish, toe tapping music and the pig was marvellous, a special mention should be given to the operator, there really brought Betty Blue Eyes alive. A must see

Adrian Appley from Bromley, Kent.

BETTY BLUE EYES - EXCELLENT

I was delighted with the play Betty Blue Eyes. It was very professionally presented and the story was good. Betty was an absolute gem ! Well done folks.

Central London from London

BBE'S - 24TH MARCH 2011

Saw BBE's last night, 24th March and had a blast; great acting [with brilliant comic timing by all], singing and dancing - a real feel good show. Excellent cast, headed by the wonderful Sarah L [who's costumes deserve a special mention], Reece S ..... I could go as everybody on stage superb - I will certainly be back before the show officially opens as I am sure, once the word gets out as to how good this show is, tickets will be very hard to come by! Well done to all concerned!

Wendy from Essex

5 STAR ENTERTAINMENT

What a wonderful production, excellent cast, excellent singing, excellent dancing, it has everything story, comedy, non stop entertainment, couldn't ask for more. Hope it runs and runs. Well done everyone

Kim Higgs from Essex England

BRILLIANT

What a fanstastic show we loved every minute, the cast were so good, everyone shone, and Sarah Lancashire was brilliant, I am definately going to go again and get tickets formy inlaws too, I hope this show runs for ages it deserves to. Top Show Top Theatre, well done

Scarlet from London, UK

BRILLIANT BETTY BLUE EYES

Saw 'Betty Blue Eyes' on Saturday & was blown away by how good it was. Its quite simply the best show I've seen in absolute ages & succeeds on so many levels. Its a great show & nothing quite like it anywhere else in the West End. Its a musical play rather than a straightforward musical. Its funny, sweet with an emotional depths & pools of feeling & compassion for its main characters than you'd normally get in a musical. I think the show is touched by genius. The songs are brilliant - beautiful melodies & witty lyrics - with a lovely pastoral lilt to many of them. I thought 'Painting by Heart' was one of the highlights of Act 1. I also loved 'Nobody', 'Magic Fingers', 'Betty Blue Eyes', 'Steal the Pig', 'Another Little Victory', 'The Man I Am' & the amazing finale at the private function. The choreography is amazing (Stephen Mears is a genius). The cast is outstanding - some great dancing & some fantastic ensemble singing. Sarah Lancashire is wonderful & really commands the stage - she is a warmer, more sympathetic Joyce than Maggie Smith in the film. Ann Emery is brilliant, Adrian Scarborough superb. But for me its Reece Shearsmith who steals the show. He is a brilliant actor & he is perfect as Gilbert Chilvers - he makes the role his own! He gives a beautiful, touching performance & gives the show its heart. Its a moving, deeply felt piece of acting & moved me to tears. He has such deft comic timing too. Betty is lovely too & used just the right amount of times in the show. 'Betty Blue Eyes' is such a fantastic show - with so many elements working brilliantly together & the creative forces behind the show at the top of their game. It made me laugh, cry & touched my heart - what more could you want from a night at the theatre. If a show as good as this can't succeed then shame on West End theatregoers! It deserves to be a massive success. Congratulations to everyone involved in 'Betty'. I want to go again & again to this lovely, lovely show.

David singer bromley kent from kent

SARAH LANCASHIRE

sarah lancashire, you were fantastic, in every part of the show amazing talant,the whole cast of the show should be very proud of there selves great show. thanks for a great saturday night

Barry Simcoe from Kettering, Northants, UK

BETTY BLUE EYES

Great Family Show.....Fantastic Cast...Fabulous Songs......Stunning Sets, A treat to be entertained by this New Musical. Loved the Film...Loved the Musical.

GS from London

FANTASTIC AND WONDERFUL

Saw this on Monday. Wasn't sure about it at the beginning however by the end of the first act was hooked. Great songs and performances. Betty herself is a delight. Knock them dead in the aisles star performances from both principals. Am going back in Saturday. Congratulations to all. It thoroughly deserved the standing ovation at the end.

Anonymous from Anytown, AT 55555

THIS LITTLE PIGGY KNOWS HOW TO MARKET

I have seen Betty Blue Eyes twice, so far, and plan to see it again. It is great fun, joyous, and heart warming. I didn't think it was possible to turn A Private Function into a musical - how wrong I was. The songs are lovely, the dialogue is witty. The cast work their socks off and give the audience a great night out. Sarah Lancashire gives a great performance and has a glorious voice. Reece Shearsmith is a delight... a touching, vulnerable Gilbert. I loved him - great casting. Come to think of it, everyone was pretty wonderful.... this show should run and run.

Carol from London Uk & Houston USA

BRILLIANT FUNNY SHOW, WELL DONE!

I saw this show was getting more good reviews than bad and alot of stars. We knew Sarah from good TV performances so decided to go. It was really good, great sets, funny, very energetic dancing, Sarah was fantastic, Mother (who was 84 LOL) excellent, Ensemble group very good, great choreography. Great night out, agree this show should run & run. Well done everyone.

Stuart Warner from Whiteley, Hampshire

BETTY BLUE EYES - SIMPLY THE BEST

I went to watch this musical with a hint of trepidation; will it stay faithful to the original work 'A Private Function'? Well, I'm thrilled to report that not only did it do it justice, it exceeded that of the original. The cast were simply superb, the music sublime, and the lyrics witty, cutting and touching - if you want a fantasic night of escapism, you better make your way to 'Betty Blue Eyes' - enjoy!

Roger Bruce from Surrey, U.K

SIR CAM DOES IT AGAIN!

How refreshing to have a thoroughly enjoyable British Night out with this great Musical. With an eye for "the best", Sir Cam has come out on tops with this witty entertainment. Biggest thrill for me was that you can actually hear the lyrics! Brilliant sound. Great sets. Dream casting with some wonderful performances. You will probably never eat Pork again!! Enjoy.....we did! Thank you.

Ian Kevin from south yorkshire england

WHAT A "PIGGIN" SHOW

Saw the show on the first preview 19th march and have since seen it again with another date booked already. Superb show with a fabulous all round cast led by the wonderful Sarah Lancashire & Reece Sheersmith. I would recommend to everybody. This should be on the NHS.

Mary Ellis from Croydon Surrey UK

BETTY BLUE EYES

I took my granddaughters aged 20 & 9 we sat in the front row of the balcony for a tnner a ticket and we all enjoyed the show very much

Chris Graham from Hampshire UK

GREAT

This show was so entertaining - good all round family entertainment.

Emily Hutch from UK

PERFECT ESCAPISM

I never thought I could enjoy a musical about a pig and a royal wedding so much! The humour was pitched perfectly - irreverant, cheeky, and of course, brilliantly timed. The star performers, supported magnificantly by the ensemble and Betty the Pig, delivered the score with such gumption and brio that it was impossible not to get swept along with them. Special mention must go to Jack Edwards who had me giggling like a schoolgirl. If you're sitting on the fence on this one, don't - go and see it!

Chris Reid from UK

VERY FUNNY SHOW

I took my daughter to see this show on 2/3/2011, it is so funny! Excellent show and Sarah Lancaster is brilliant. I would have given the show 5 stars but we were up in the Gods ( the tickets were very cheap). I would definetly recommend seeing this.

Bethy from UK

FANTSTIC FUN

There are not many shows that make you laugh out loud these days but this one succeeded several times. Beautifully acted throughout - the .5 is taken off for Reece Shearsmith's voice - just a little flat at times - but it kind of suited the character of a mild mannered chiropodist. Some hysterical moments (the meat inspector, Betty the pig) - poignant moments(the dance). Acted with gusto - Sarah Lancashire is perfect in the lead and a very strong cast throughout. The band are absolutely fantastic - we saw this and Wizard of Oz in the same weekend and this show was just so much better in all areas. It is not a kids show and there were a lot of younger folk - presumably attracted by Betty. I would say 11+ at least to really get the most out of the show. Go and see for a really great night / afternoon out.

Theatrigirl from UK

FANTASTIC SHOW

Loved this show with some phenomenal performers. Great songs, good cast, fantastic choreography.

Judy and Steve from Kent

BETTY BLUE EYES IS WELL WORTH A VISIT.

We bought tickets for Thurs 24th in the balcony. No they're not the best seats in the house but they are the cheapest. We both thought it was a really good show and did not feel that we missed out on anything because of the seats we chose. You can still see and hear all the wonderful songs and dancing, the cast just look a little smaller. Its well worth a visit!!

Smalls from UK

GREAT FUN! BUT NOT FOR SMALL CHILDREN

We thoroughly enjoyed the performance, and had great seats on row E. Brilliant show from start to finish. I won't repeat what others have said, but what I will add is that this is not a suitable production for small children. There were some children of around 6 years old (and younger!) in the audience who didn't get the storyline at all and became easily bored, and this was off putting for others trying to watch the show. Betty (as good as she is) only makes an occasional appearance, she isn't in the majority of scenes, so please don't take the kids thinking it is going to be a stage version of Babe the Sheep Pig! There were a couple of swear words too, if that sort of thing bothers you. Do go and see it, but I would recommend that you leave the small ones at home.

Brian Nystedt from USA

NEW MASCOT FOR THE NATIONAL FRONT

This delightful musical was marred by two egregious anti-Semitic slurs that were never challenged. And they were uttered by a character that never received retribution. "Yid" was appalling, but "Jew-boy" took our collective breaths away. We saw it in preview on 8 April and hope that these unforgivable lines have been dealt with in a re-worked script or removed. If not, the National Front has a new mascot.

Caroline Milne from Birmingham, UK

MUST SEE

I booked to see this on the basis of a review I read in the papers, even though it seemed an unlikely subject for a musical. I love Alan Bennett but when I watched the DVD 'A Private Function' I wondered whether the friend I was taking to London for a birthday treat would be disappointed. Not at all - we were both humming the tunes for days afterwards (when is the soundtrack going to be released?). It took a little while for me to engage with the show but then I was swept away by the sheer exhuberance of it all. Very topical too! Highly recommended.

Tim Baros from London UK

BETTY BLUE EYES

There is a new musical in the West End and one of its stars is a pig! In Betty Blue Eyes, the plot is centered around a pig (not real, of course). It is 1947, WWII was over, The Duke of Edinburgh and Princess Elizabeth were married, times were tough economically and food was being rationed, and people were putting up a brave front, pretending to be wealthy when they were not, and worried whether they can get steak for dinner that night. Gilbert and Joyce Chilvers (Reece Shearsmith and Sarah Lancashire) move to a new town for a new start in life, along with Joyce's cranky old mother (a wonderful Ann Emery). Gilbert wants to open his own surgery on the parade, and has to be approved by the local businessmen to make this happen. Meanwhile, his wife totes her mother along to see what they can get for dinner each night with their food coupons as food is being rationed. . The mean food inspector shuts down the local meat market due to the fact that it is selling illegal meat. Hence,

Anonymous from Anytown, AT 55555

MUSICAL HEAVEN?

Ok this show does get pretty good by the second half. Although it does have this sixth form college written and performed feeling to it. "there's a pig in the house' is worthy of 5 stars and that farce element is excellent. The pigs sweet. There's a great dance sequence too, not enough of it to be honest. Its ok having great actors/actresses but the leads struggle with the notes sometimes. Sarah Lancashire struggles with the big numbers. I would think twice about recommending to friends. Shows are recommend are Priscilla and Lend Me A Tenor. Based on performances, set and the amount of laughter in the audience.

Gazzad from London

BETTY BLUE EYES

Went to see the show on 19 March 2011. Sat in balcony seats, what a waste of money, view was terrible. Sarah Lancashire was excellent, although her on stage husband was not so good and in some songs sounded off key. A couple of good tunes and dance routines, but most of the songs are instantly forgetable and go on two long. Go and see if you have time but give the balcony seats a miss!

J king from uk

DISAPOINTED

went to see the show last night was very disapointed i think the BAD seats had something to do with it, we could not see a thing and like many others in the upper circle changed seats many times. the cast tried very hard but it never seemed to gel early days can only get better, must say all our party felt very flat coming out after the show. seemed a very low budget show

Jo Jo from Hertfordshire

BALCONY SEATS ARE TERRIBLE!

We went to see the show on the 19th March. Good songs with catchy tunes but some went on too long (particularly the painting song). Chorus women had great voices - esp the trio of foot patients. I would just say, don't bother buying a seat in the balcony. We could hardly see anything that was done down stage right (And most things were) and we just didn;t really get into the production because of that. I think it needs close-up viewing to really enjoy. The big dance number was amazing and we could see that as it was set far back! I couldn't quite believe the relationship between Sarah L and Reece S. I thought he was her son at the start!

Anonymous from lLondon, England

SUCH A SHAME

a good show, funny, all singing, all dancing.such a shame there was anti-semtic material in it which is inexcusable

Old colner from Glasgow

MORE HAM THAN PORK

We saw it on April 1 so maybe it was an april fool. Agree the balcony seat view is poor [even after those in front of us left at the interval]. Sadly so was the story and some of the performances. We almost left too it really was dire, but the second half was slightly better. Sarah Lancashire was great commanding the stage and belting out some good songs. The plot starts out with her husband a chiropodist ( really!!)trying to get his own shop This just gets lost - why doesnt he get one? The pig is a waste of time - having seen warhorse it pales into insignificance in comparison. We saw four shows and this was the worst. Maybe it can be improved before its opening night - it will need to if it is to run.

Penny K from Surrey

THIS PIG'S A TURKEY!

Oh dear! I am a great fan of musicals and of composers Stiles and Drewe but was very disappointed with this misguided production. A very slight musical which may have proved charming in a small, fringe venue appeared seriously out of its depths on a West End stage. A fine score and a good performance from Sarah Lancashire alone merited any stars on the rating. It was over long (by possibly two hours given the simplicity of the atory), often tedious and occasionally embarrassing. It will be a sad day when I feel the need to applaud an animatronic pig!

J A C E from UK

POSITIVELY EMBARRASSING

I cringed and blushed in pure and utter embarrassment at how poor this show is, the worst I have ever seen in London. I am giving it 1 star as the pig was very pretty and it was not her fault she was the star of such a bad production.

John from London

DONT BET ON BETTY

This is a pile of Betty's poo..its a stinker, no memorable tune nor a decent voice to sing any of them, as for the songs flowing from natural scenes are you bonkers,? what domestic kitchen scene ends up with a song and dance about being a nobody in a cheap frock and 4 dancers? Actually cheap is the operative word, this show is cheap, its a sign of the austere times we are in, its like a very poor amateur production with non- existent sets being noisely shuffled around, with stage hands visably moving props.To bulk out scenes the minimalist cast had to dress some of the men as women in certain scenes, seriously! if theyd made it amusing it might have worked. The cast do their best but most of the leads cant sing for toffee. Reece Sheersmith is so miscast, and Sarah Lancashires Maggie Smith impression wore very thin. The worst was the Mother, who in the film is a screamingly funny Liz Smith being very doddery but lovable, this one was far too young, agile and WRONG for the role. As a previous reviewer stated they thought it would never end, neither did I and I am a musical lover but not of this one, oh the pig is cute but its hardly seen only a few times in the second act. The kylie bit was embarrassing, only a few die hards stood at the end, the majority applauded to be polite, not many plaudits were heard on leaving the theatre...This is not a good production on many levels, the film is a cult fun fest with wonderful acting and hilarious set pieces this was all lost in this production, the original should not have been tampered with..

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