Joanna Riding

[Beergoggles]

Posted: 7/16/09 at 10:21am

What happened to her? I saw her in My Fair Lady and she was incredible. Definately one of the greatest performances i've been fortunate enough to see. Where is she now though? She had a pretty good run and i remember hearing rumours she'd be Poppins but then they failed to be true... and now she's vanished

[Mark_E]

Posted: 7/16/09 at 10:29am

I think the last thing she did was Billy Elliot for a brief stint at the end of last year.

[Musical-Matt]

Posted: 7/16/09 at 10:37am

she left billy to have a baby and she is going back into the show !

[chrissydee]

Posted: 7/16/09 at 11:39am

she's rehearsing now and will be back in approx a month!! She's great in the role...!!!

[devonian.t]

Posted: 7/16/09 at 12:05pm

Jo Riding in Billy Elliot. That has to be a must-see!

[Phantom of London]

Posted: 7/16/09 at 1:22pm

She was great in Billy Elliot.

[AngusN]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 9:00am

She is great, sorry, AMAZING in everything I have seen her in: A Little Night Music, My Fair Lady, Carousel, Martin Guerre and Hobson's Choice. I have yet to see her in Billy Elliot, but will be making an effort to see her when she returns. I believe she is the greatest British female musical performer of recent years. It infuriates me that she is overlooked quite frequently for the far less appealing (and I think, talented) Maria Friedman.

[chrissydee]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 10:09am

totally agree Angus!!!!

[Scripps2]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 1:57pm

She was and is the definitive Anne Egerman in A Little Night Music - I don't expect to see that performance topped in my lifetime.

Best wishes to the new Mum and I look forward to seeing her in Billy Elliot - she'll be superb.

[Scripps2]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 4:37pm

And she was!

She was also:

Hard.

Fierce.

And as rough as a badger's arse.

I thought she might be too nice for this role but not at all; I think she was the most terrifying Mrs Wilkinson I've seen. But at the end, when she and Billy were saying goodbye you really, really felt she was on the verge of cracking. And did she? Well you know which theatre it's at. It was certainly the toughest goodbye scene I've sat through for this show.

I'm pleased to report the whole show is in good shape and feels more of a whole piece than the previous times I've seen it. It really is superbly written and staged.

Joe Caffrey has gone from playing Tony in the original production 4 years ago to playing Dad now ("and I was only 37 when they took her down from me") and is excellent: I think a younger dad who is in early middle-age rather than well settled into it suits the role more and Joe finds depths in his character's predicament that emphasise this.

Ann Emery still continues to be eccentric, vigorous and totally authentic as Grandma: a perfect performance.

Tom Holland was on as Billy: both his dancing and acting were extraordinary for someone so young. I was amazed and he got a standing ovation at the end of Electricity (and tried desperately to conceal his delight).

Connor Doyle was a funny and totally credible Michael.

And the girl playing Tracy Atkinson was a real scene-stealer: funny, clumsy, awkward and the best Tracy I've seen, though I can't tell from the programme what her name was.

I'm not sure the girl playing Debbie actually understood some of her lines, and that raised a question in my own mind - how on earth do you direct a nine-year old girl to make a gesture when using the word "wanker".

(that's a rhetorical question - no need for an answer, thank you; I'm about to make my cocoa)
Updated On: 10/2/09 at 04:37 PM

[legallysam]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 4:43pm

glad you enjoyed yourself scripps :)

i really need to make a return visit to BE, haven't been in about two years and i enjoyed it so much. One that sticks out in my mind.

And on a side note...Scripps...cocoa? as if!

[MamasDoin'Fine]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 4:52pm

A
M
A
Z
I
N
G

L
A
D
Y
!

[carriesparkle]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 5:10pm

Also, a lovely lady. Here's my interview with her from last week.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/BWW_INTERVIEWS_Joanna_Riding_Of_BILLY_ELLIOT_20090928

[Scripps2]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 5:16pm

Thanks Carrie - I must have missed that!

[carriesparkle]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 5:55pm

Too much exciting stuff on the site this week! Don't miss the Joel Grey interview either...

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/BWW_INTERVIEWS_Broadway_Legend_JOEL_GREY_20091001

[Phantom of London]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 5:58pm

Brilliant show, Joanne Riding is stunning.

I wish they bring in the Broadway angry dance in though.

[Scripps2]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 6:05pm

Yeah - that still wasn't there.

And the "wreckers in our midst" speech that is in Broadway's Angry Dance was playing on the radio in the background during the Cornish pasty scene.