July 2010 Reviews- NYC

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July 2010 Reviews- NYC

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New month bring on the reviews
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angelenroute
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Re: July 2010 Reviews- NYC

Post by angelenroute »

Just a quick note. Saw Michael D. in late March, saw Alex, Dayton and Jacob last weekend for my first ever Billython. So the only Billy I had yet to see was Liam. Was very lucky to see the show tonight thanks to a complimentary ticket from bdbop. Based on past week, chances of Liam weren't looking good but he was on tonight!

Soooo here's how lucky I am: I've seen the show 17 times now and have seen 10 different Billys!!! I think that's incredible! They all have different things about them that impress me a lot and like a proud parent, I love them all! I'm just tickled pink that Broadway is blessed with these 5 talented young men in Year 2. It definitely bodes well for continued success in Year 3.

Will post my reviews (parts 3 and 4 of last weekend's Billython) and my review of Liam's show tonight ASAP this weekend.

Ta,
Sean
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Re: July 2010 Reviews- NYC

Post by angelenroute »

Friday, July 2, 2010

I was invited to attend the show last Friday by Bart from Ohio (who had the Trent statues made, and who many of you met for Trent's final performance). He offered me a free ticket and invited me to join his group and him for a backstage tour after the show too. I kicked and screamed but finally decided, okay, I guess I'll go back to the Imperial again. Honestly and seriously though, thank you so much Bart!!! "I really appreciate it!"

Traveling with Bart were the young wrestlers who Trent had met on his trip to Ohio earlier this year. For some reason I had it in my head that these were college age wrestlers, since the Tournament Bart runs that Trent was invited for was at the university. They weren't. The boys are 14, 13 and 12. And as I told Bart by phone last night, they were so uncharacteristically polite and friendly for that age! The oldest, Jeremiah, was the most mature and he and Trent got along well at both the Tournament and again this weekend. They had seen clips of the show and had met Trent earlier this year, but this was to be their first time seeing the show.

We met up at one of Trent's favorite eateries, John's Pizzeria. Wow, that pizza was yummy! The boys then changed into their specially made Trent Kowalik t-shirts, which I was already wearing--Bart had them made at the same time as the statues were done and I had bought one. And as a team, we walked over to the Imperial, looking like the official Trent Kowalik fan club. =)

As we walked into the lobby, the board still not visible, I figured we would probably be seeing Dayton based on the schedule, although another Billy was always possible. But then I saw it and it floored me. How could my luck be this good???!!! This was my 17th time seeing Billy Elliot The Musical and I was seeing my 10th Billy!!! Liam Redhead was on! Seriously, 10 Billys in 17 times? I couldn't believe it. I had seen Michael Dameski perform in late March, bought three tickets to see the show during the weekend of the Workshop at which I saw 3 more Billys, Alex, Dayton and Jacob, and now, with a surprise free ticket, I was seeing Liam the following weekend! How cool is that?!

Our seats were up a bit. Okay, so they were ALL the way up, very back row (except a gaggle of 6 seats in a half row behind us). But to my delight, the seats were fine! Do I prefer to be closer? Yup. But you could see the show great from up there, so I was very happily surprised.

Sitting to my right were a friendly looking couple who were paging through their Playbills and talking about Billy a bit so I asked them if this was their first time seeing the show.

"Yes, we're just visiting town from Ottawa."
"Oh, well tonight's Billy is from Toronto!"
"Really?"
"Yes and Mrs. Wilkinson, Billy's dance teacher, is also from Canada!"
"Wow, we came on a great night then, huh?"
"Yeah, and you're gonna love the show."
"Oh? Have you seen it before?"

When I told them how many times I've seen it so far, they laughed and gave me a wow, but the funnier effect came from the row in front of us. A family of four--a mom, dad, sister and brother--all turned around and looked up at me right away, completely in shocked delight. Sometimes, especially in the cheaper seats, you get fellow "patrons" who you just can't talk to, either because they give off a vibe or you just don't feel comfortable interacting with them. This was not the case that night. We (the family of four, the couple to my right, Bart and I) spent the next 5 minutes chatting as a group about the show. It was very nice. Of course having a positive, upbeat conversation like that before the show begins helps the people I was talking to as well as those overhearing our conversation feel that much more upbeat about what they are about to experience.

And Liam did not disappoint. Like Alex, I just found him completely delightful to watch perform. He was wonderful from start to finish. His accent was crisp and clear, his movements on stage were confident and graceful, and he just performs so solidly. I'd once heard/read here probably that Liam holds the pose for his electricity and beams his pearly whites. I imagine some may not like that, thinking he's breaking character. I however found it to be enchanting, and fully within the plausability of the character to have this incredible moment dancing for the Royal Ballet School and totally nailing a dance. He should smile! And he should get the applause he gets for so long. God knows it's got to feel good, that's for sure!

The boys loved the show too, and I reminded them afterward that they'd soon be hanging out with Trent who won the Tony for the role and performed it more than any other boy. "Now you know what Trent did in this show and how talented he is!"

At stage door we met up with Tessa who was to be our tour guide, and the boys had their picture taken with Tessa and Liam outside. A fan zeroed in on Tessa and asked, "Excuse me, but are you the spastic starfish?" Tessa was delighted and signed the girl's Playbill for her. Bart had also surprised Tessa with her own Trent statue which she squealed at delight at receiving. =) After all of that, I flashed my VIP Pass and we went through the stage door***.

Tessa brought us all around stage right, stage left, downstairs to see the moving sets and back up again. Though we saw a lot, Tessa packs quite a bit of words and sights to show into her 10-minute tour! =) When Greg later asked the boys what they thought of Tessa, one responded with a simple, "She was very enthusiastic." =) I saw Jake who played Billy that night, walked up to him and told him, "You rock!" He smiled and thanked me. Love him.

At the end of the tour, we hung out by the stairs for a few minutes chatting with Bobby and some of the guys inside there. They all asked us about the shirts we were wearing and about the statue, which they were all amazed at.

Outside back on the sidewalk we spoke with Kate Hennig briefly. "Everything you've said about Liam was right," I told her. "He was wonderful!" She smiled but then looked me in the eye and said (I paraphrase), "He is absolutely at his pinnacle right now, he's really doing so great." And though I haven't seen anything else to compare to, I have to agree. Liam was awesome!

We waited around for Greg, who was also presented with a statue to be auctioned off through BCEFA. Greg spent a good 15 minutes talking with us and walking with us up the block. He was very sweet and friendly to all of us and told us of his plans to move to the San Fran/LA production(s) of the show once the First Tour made it out that way. I'm sure he'll be very happy being able to work so much closer to home and still have his foot in the Hollywood door!

After that we had a bit of late-night cheesecake from the Roxy and then went our separate ways. Bart and the boys visited with Trent and his family on the 5th, and got to meet David Bologna as well. Hopefully Bart can update us eventually on that part of their trip. No rush Bart, but I'm sure people will like to hear about it, especially this jealous soul. =) There are some pictures on Trent's blog if you haven't seen them yet.

It was a fun night and again, thank you so much Bart! I had a great time and look forward to seeing you again on your next trip!

Signing off now folks, but hopefully I'll get to the show again sometime this summer, and hope you do too. As I said before, all 5 of the Broadway Billys are wonderful and the summer is a great time to see the show. $89 seats this summer too, lemme know anytime you need the code if the standard one expires. The Plum Benefits one seems to be for the whole summer.

Until next time,
Sean



***Just kidding Thommie! I did wear it though. =)
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Re: July 2010 Reviews- NYC

Post by porschesrule »

A wonderful review again, Sean. I so look forward to when you attend a show, because I know there will be a glorious review after it.

The highlights of this one for me were hearing about Liam's performance, your interactions with Bart's group and members of the audience, the backstage tour and your news about Greg Jbara's future plans.

Thanks for taking the time to share all that with us.
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Re: July 2010 Reviews- NYC

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July 8 Thurs

A Special Show Night

Tonight was the night that the girls from the Make A Wish foundation were on stage :D . I will not use any names because I am not sure if it is appropriate.
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Re: July 2010 Reviews- NYC

Post by ERinVA »

Musical Fanatic wrote:July 8 Thurs

A Special Show Night

Tonight was the night that the girls from the Make A Wish foundation were on stage :D . I will not use any names because I am not sure if it is appropriate.
One was identified only by the first name of Lily in the article I posted, but the other girl was not named .

But more to the point: Do you have a review of the show for us?
Ellen



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Re: July 2010 Reviews- NYC

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ERinVA wrote:
Musical Fanatic wrote:July 8 Thurs

A Special Show Night

Tonight was the night that the girls from the Make A Wish foundation were on stage :D . I will not use any names because I am not sure if it is appropriate.
One was identified only by the first name of Lily in the article I posted, but the other girl was not named .

But more to the point: Do you have a review of the show for us?
Sorry it was late and I got distracted :D

Billy-Liam
Michael-Jake

This will be a relatively short review. The girls were included in about six scenes all in the 2nd act except for Stars. They were partnered up with two of the Ballet Girls. Plus some of the ensemble looked out for them as well on the stage. One other sad fact which I think I can mention. The girls had to be kept separate on stage and off because one of their diseases was dangerous to the other one in contact range. The company had them dress for most of the show in the Easington school girl gray outfit. They were not included in Shine or Solidarity only The Stars Look Down in the first act. In the 2nd act the girls first came on stage for Maggie Thatcher for the puppet scene. They were encouraged to dance and sing along :D .Then for the coin Part of He Could Shine. The Hall scene before the RBS letter and Once We Were Kings. At the final curtain call flowers were brought out for the two girls who were dressed in the white tutus. Which brings us to the funny moment of the night. Seth was small boy and when he brought the flowers out he got confused as to who to give them too. Seth tried to give them to the same girl who had been given flowers by a BG :D . The girls were also given gifts from the company and cast. Overall what a very nice gesture by the company and cast
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Re: July 2010 Reviews- NYC

Post by BillyAddict »

Sunday matinee shoiuld make an interesting review. Dayton makes his debut as Michael and his Billy is by reports out of NY is Michael Dameski. If so what a show combination for Aussie fans :)
167 Performances!

Lochie x 21.5; Nick x 11; Corey x 1; Rhys x 19; Rarmian x 17.75; Dayton x 24.75; Josh W-G x 18; Michael x 19; Josh D x 12; Daniel x 3; Tom x 1; Ollie G x 1; Fox x 1, Liam R x 2, Alex x 5, Cesar x 2, Tommy x 1, John Peter x 1, Peter x 4, Jacob x 2.
Scott x 30; Thomas x 28.25; Joel x 31; Landen x 33.75; Liam x 14; Jake x 1; Connor x 1; George x 1, Trevor x 4, Jake Evan x 3, Gabriel x 8, Keean x 2, Neil x 11.
Fiona x 18; Rosie x 25; Shannon x 23; Kelsi x 23; Prudence x 2; Lauren x 10; Cassandra x 15; Nina x 9; Isabelle x 12; Fleur x 2; Francesca x 1, Issy x 7, Maria x 4, Georgi x 17.
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Re: July 2010 Reviews- NYC

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OZ's Gifts To BETM NY
July 11 Sun Mat

Billy-Michael Dameski
Michael-Dayton Taveres
SB-Seth
TB-Ben
Big Davey-Eric Gunhus

I had a front row seat(aa110) to two incredible gifts to the Broadway stage. When I walked in to pick up my ticket at the Imperial at 1pm I saw the board :!: :D . Listed for Michael was Dayton the best last minute gift a fan could be given. Dayton playing opposite of Michael Dameski as Billy what an amazing and weird combination. For the next hour my anticipation level and nerves were off the scale. A couple of minutes before the show started it was so bad I was shaking with excitement in my seat. I did see a couple of other forum members plus Dayton's mom in the theater. I did feel bad though about the way this came about do to the injury suffered by Kylend. A few more words about the subject of gifts to the show and then onto the review. Michael D has been a rock of stability since his first show here in NY. He has done everything from multiple shows in a row to all kinds of publicity for the company. Whether here in NY or for getting the 2nd tour off the ground. Dayton is the ground breaker or trailblazer for the the gifts sent our way by OZ. Making it here a month before Michael and showing NY the talent that made Dayton loved by forum members and fans in OZ.

The Stars Look Down
What a strange :D :lol: sight to see Dayton come in riding the bike and dressed like Michael :lol: . Its f*ck*ng weird if you ask me ;) . If Dayton was nervous you sure could not tell it. Dayton delivered his lines to Michel D loud and clear. I could not wait to see him at boxing :D . If anyone was feeling some nerves :lol: it was Michael D for his friend Dayton. Michael D dropped part of the pasty on the floor when putting it in the garbage. He also spilled a little milk on himself when drinking from the bottle( it was dripping down his chin :D ).

Boxing
Dayton has almost everything working to perfection. Dayton is funny where he supposed to be funny and delivers his lines well. Dayton really had on the right game face to play Michael. When Dayton runs away from George the second time just after the (fat b*st*rd line). Dayton runs so fast that by the time George turns around Dayton is sitting on the step pretending to change. George picks him up and drags him back from there :D . I like the shaking and look of what the heck have I gotten myself into during the Billy boxing dance. The punch at Billy is very believable. Dayton has made a devoted believer out of me at this point that his Michael portrayal will be memorable.

Expressing Yourself
Dayton channels some Elvis and a ton of fun with Michael D.

More to follow later. Sam
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Re: July 2010 Reviews- NYC

Post by angelenroute »

Musical Fanatic wrote: Expressing Yourself
Dayton channels some Elvis and a ton of fun with Michael D.

More to follow later. Sam
can't wait for more details! thanks so much sam! looking forward to more when you're ready...especially how believable dayton as michael is...it seems so counter intuitive based on dayton's standard rough on the edges persona but an amazing character to jump into and show how well u can be both billy and michael, must have been awesome to watch...and thommie is posting on facebook that the casting directors for GLEE were in the audience too!

sean
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