June Reviews - San Diego

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atreyu
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June Reviews - San Diego

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Saturday June 4, 2016 matinee with Luke and Matthew Garbacz and Kaylee Winningham
Saturday June 4, 2016 evening with Aaron Schueler, Seth Raffee and Kahlia Canada

Having some personal business that took me to Southern California this past weekend and seeing that the California Youth Conservatory production of BETM would be playing, I heeded the siren call and attended both performances on Saturday. And was rewarded with a discovery that I believe has the potential to eventually become a significant tour de force.

The Lyceum Theatre is an interesting utilization of space underneath the Westfield Horton Plaza which is part park and part shopping mall in downtown San Diego. To get to the stage, one must traverse several sets of stairs as well as some ongoing renovations which made it somewhat reminiscent of navigating the construction around the VPT. Nevertheless, once inside the theatre, it is an intimate 500-seat space with a good sized stage not unlike the A.R.T. in Cambridge. Audience area is a bit shallower in depth, but slightly wider. In the two BETM performances I attended, I estimate there were 275 patrons at the matinee, about 350 in the evening.

Acoustics were decent, but there were a few times when a mic was not turned on in time and it could be difficult to catch all the dialog at that point. No orchestra pit for this venue, the musicians apparently were in a loft somewhat off stage right. A few times, the synchronization between singers and accompaniment was a beat off for a couple measures, but otherwise fine.

With prime ticket prices running only $32 and only 10 performances in the entire run, this is not a high budget production. Given that limitation and obvious needs for simplification, I was impressed to find the choreography to be more in the style of the original Peter Darling than other regionals that did not utilize Tour Billys. No one would accuse this production of being Broadway choreography, but at least I could recognize the inspiration for it which is more than I would say for others. Both Shine and Solidarity had similar, albeit simplified movement of the company, including weaving of ballet dancers and cops and miners. Expressing Yourself had a reasonable tap dance segment with just Billy and Michael, no dresses or anything else. Angry Dance was a Billy solo. Born to Boogie was shorter than normal, but did include some of the ballet development.

Costume changes for Billy were from jeans and denim jacket to T-shirt and shorts and back. No toilets, conversations were front and center stage. Geordie accents were pretty good. Rough language was retained in many, but not all spots.

More impact of limited budget was seen in casting. Although I do not have direct knowledge of the situation, it sure seemed that a lot of the actors are not being paid. Most likely the ballet girls are not being paid, but they did quite well working as a group and not merely a flock of kids. As is noted in advertising, this BETM "Features Members of the San Diego Gay Men's Chorus" who play all the unnamed miner and cop roles plus Big Davey. As a whole, they did okay with their parts, however there were also glaring examples that showed most of them are primarily singers and not actors. And for some reason, in both performances, the line in Solidarity "We'll boot your flippin' Cockney skulls right back to Bethnal Green" was completely lost.

Biggest difference in staging was the absence of Dream Ballet in any form. In fact, the close of Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher went straight into the conversation between Mrs. Wilkinson and Dad. The Winter Scene between Michael and Billy followed that and then the confrontation between Tony and Dad upon Jackie's return home from working in the coal mine. The audience probably can fill in the gap between Dad before Angry Dance and Dad after MCMT, but it is a loss not being able to present definitively Dad's change of heart upon witnessing Billy's extraordinary dancing.

Final scene had Billy staying on stage at the end of Dear Billy (Billy's Reply). Michael then does a drive-by on bicycle through "See ya, Michael", "See ya, Billy". No return kiss. But as the lights fade out, Billy gets to do a whoop and a Billy jump, an interesting alternate ending.

A couple curiosities in the adult cast. Dad looked and at times moved around like a 60-year-old. In the last verse of We'd Go Dancing Grandma looked and acted like a 50-year-old. Mr. Braithwaite was short and slight and about 21. Tony was very big (275 pounds perhaps), bearded and about 29. Standout among adult cast was Meghan McKenzie as Mrs. Wilkinson. A bit harsher in spots than other portrayals, but a very credible performance.

Without a doubt, the shining gem of the CYC production is Aaron Schueler. As this review is already very long, I have put comments about Aaron in his thread. Bottom line of those comments bears repeating here though: If Aaron has any desire to continue performing as Billy Elliot, I expect he can go as far as he wants. Any future production would be worth giving him consideration.

As to the bottom line on the CYC production, it is commendable that BETM becomes more available to local communities, although not without compromise compared to Broadway. Much of this is necessary; it would not be possible for CYC to hire only Equity actors for their production. So it is a plus that there was a show to put on at all, just that it also requires the audience to accept a higher level of suspension of disbelief. But beyond dollars and sense and believability, there is also a lot to be said for the potential of discovering new talent that could someday end up on Broadway.
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