March 2010 Reviews - Chicago

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James.R
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March 2010 Reviews - Chicago

Post by James.R »

In anticipation.....
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Re: March 2010 Reviews - Chicago

Post by BillyAddict »

Thursday 18th March

Ist Chicago Preview Show

Billy - Cesar Corrales
Michael - Gabriel Rush
Small Boy - Elijah Barker


Billy - Cesar Corrales

A brilliant debut. Lept out of the box showing no outward signs of nerves and maintained his cool composure throughout the show. Very good line and form in his ballet, lovely singing voice and showed a lot of natural acting talent.

Handled having to restart Angry Dance due to the set malfunctioning, with professional aplomb.


Michael - Gabriel Rush

They certainly know how to produce Michael's here in the USA. A great, confident debut by Gabriel. A characterisation that showed a wonderful depth of timing.


Small Boy - Elijah Barker

The Small Boy appears to me to have a slightly bigger role in the Chicago production then in the NY version. The role is certainly bigger than I observed in Australia.

Dad - Armand Schultz

The most serious portrayal of Dad I have seen. Only characterisation I have seen that came close was the Sydney Understudy, Tony Coggin. The very serious portrayal meant that the traditionally funny scenes involving dad especially the Royal Ballet scene with the well endowed ballet dancer lot a lot of it's humor.

Tony - Patrick Mulvey

A strong performance, perhaps not as Angry as Will Case but Patrick's Tony conveyed all the right sentiments.

Grandma - Cynthia Darlow

The great thing about seeing the shows in so many locations (Chicago is my 5th location) is the variety of interpritations you get for a role. Cynthia's grandma is not as dottery as Carol Shelley's portrayal in NY. Cynthis performs most scenes with her handbag but it is just a prop, it's not used specifically for any purpose.

Mrs Wilkinson - Emily Skinner

A more classical portrayal of the role than in NY. I prefer Mrs W to be the strong willed tough type and Emily portrays it that way. No attempt by Emily to join in the skipping as Kate does in NY.

Production Overview

With no under floor pits I found the overall use of slide in slide out sets worked very well. It did not interfear with the flow at all. Perhaps Billy could be choreographed to through his arms about half way down the support post when dropping from the bedroom to dance on the stage. This was really the only scene where I found a bit of a puse in intensity.

A standing ovation for Caesar and the remainder of the cast after the 'Company Celebration'

Only the one stoppage in the preview. Stephen Daldry advised the audience that it due to a computer failurte.

A very promissing start to the Chicago production!
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: March 2010 Reviews - Chicago

Post by Musical Fanatic »

March18 Thursday 7:30pm Oriental Theater

The anticipation is over :D :!:
Billy-Cesar Corrales
Michael-Gabriel Rush
SB-Elijah

What an incredibly gorgeous and comfortable theater. Sat in B6 far right second row. Massive lobby at the Oriental with plenty of room to get out of weather. This is going to be a small review. No elevators used at all in staging. The stage is also higher up than Imperial. When the table comes in the first window on left and part of the wall swing open The bed platform comes in from the right of stage.

Before show started Stephen Daldry came out to introduce Cesar. He explained where they had found Cesar and that he had never been on stage before for theater at all :!: :!:
Differences between NY and Chicago
BTB
1)Mrs W does not do most of the jump rope scene. No Billy and her jumping rope. She does not jump at all. Comes in at end swing jump rope. Cesar does flip off piano.
2)Billy does not sit on bed for this scene. He runs up stairs gets his bag for things for dance and comes down and sits in front of piano.

Angry Dance
Had technical issues. Set would not move back out of the way. Stage hand came out to walk Cesar off stage and closed curtain. Stephen Daldry came running up from to see what was going on an apologize for delay. Cesar had stopped against left side wall where he does heel kick. Stephen decided to reset the scene back to Billy on the table. This way Cesar would be able to do whole scene. It was kind of funny Stephen did the Billy line and dad line (your moms dead) The bed platform does revolve. Billy gets down to stage by climbing down a trellis piece.

RBS letter scene
Postman walks in with the letter in his bag. He hands it to Grandma who is yelling post. Billy does not go to his bedroom to read letter. He walks to front middle of stage with his back turned to his family. Billy opens envelope hides letter with his body while reading and then crumples it up and throws it on floor. Tony picks up from there. More review to come.
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Re: March 2010 Reviews - Chicago

Post by Todd »

Just to add a few more comments to go along with the previous reviews . . . . .

We had a nice dinner gathering before the show at Beef and Brandy, a restaurant 3 blocks or so south of the theater. It did have a similar atmosphere to the Edison Cafe at the Edison Hotel in New York. Those in attendance represented all 3 continents where BETM has been performed so far !

The Oriental Theater is indeed a beautiful structure. I could get distracted just looking up at the ceiling at all the gold leaf decorations, art work, etc.

Cesar Corrales did an excellent job in his first-ever stage performance. He has a very nice singing voice and is a superb dancer. Some of the line readings will improve with experience - knowing when to pause to add comic effect, not to rush a line, etc. One of his best moments I thought was the toilet scene with Debbie when she asked him if he'd like to see her *** ***. He had a legitimate look of terror spread across his face, then several moments of thought, followed by, "Naaah, that's OK."

I would agree with the previous comments about Armand Schultz as Dad. He plays the part very serious, which does hamper the comic scenes he's in - particularly the one with the male ballet dancer. He does have a particularly good singing voice and does well with the angry parts of his performance.

One of my favorite times in the show was at the end of "Solidarity" when Cesar did his spins as the chorus sings "forever . . . .and ever . . .and ever" and then he comes to his finish position. It was one of those "goosebumps" moments where something is so good and the audience gets so caught up in it that it makes you want to leap to your feet to applaud. It did actually result in maybe the longest sustained applause of any moment in the show. Cesar couldn't help but break out in a grin as the cheers came down in waves.

Those planning to come see the Chicago production will be happy to know that the stage door gatherings work very well at this theater. The stage door opens up into an alley behind the theater that is pretty much pedestrian-only, so there's no worry of dodging cars like in London and New York. Once in a great while a vehicle will roll by, but for the most part it was like a street party back there with people mingling around after the show let out. It was a unique situation in that all 4 Billys were there tonight. Everyone looked relieved and excited that they had one performance under their belt. All the cast was more than happy to pose for photos and sign autographs for the large group of fans who showed up to thank them for a fun night of great entertainment.
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Re: March 2010 Reviews - Chicago

Post by porschesrule »

Thank you to BillyAddict, Musical Fanatic and Todd for the very first reviews from the Chicago production.

Except for a technical glitch and some early production interpretation issues that will certainly improve, it sounds like BETM - Chicago is off to a great start!

A couple of things I'd love to hear a little more about from someone who was there:

1) There were several comments about the Oriental Theatre being a "comfortable" and a gorgeous place (gold leaf, etc) to watch a show. How about the acoustics? What's the sound quality like? I'd also be interested in hearing about the sight lines from the various seats people sat in last night.

2) How is the orchestra? There was much written over the last couple of months about the number of musicians this production would emply compared to New York and London. I believe the number settled upon was 14. How did they sound? And are the arrangements there essentially the same as NY?

3) Didn't hear anything in any of the reviews about the ballet girls. Any impressions?

I'm looking forward to, as previews continue, hearing more great things from the Oriental Theatre, as the other Billys and alternating cast members have their debuts.
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Re: March 2010 Reviews - Chicago

Post by ERinVA »

Thanks for the reviews. Keep them coming! Glad to know Cesar had a great show last night.

No one has mentioned the "hut" in the Angry Dance. How was that handled?
Ellen



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Re: March 2010 Reviews - Chicago

Post by Rich B »

ERinVA wrote:Thanks for the reviews. Keep them coming! Glad to know Cesar had a great show last night.

No one has mentioned the "hut" in the Angry Dance. How was that handled?
It's actually built during the dance but I'm not sure how long that will last - it's rather flimsy. Cesar seemed to deliberately not try to kick it too hard.
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Re: March 2010 Reviews - Chicago

Post by Rich B »

porschesrule wrote: A couple of things I'd love to hear a little more about from someone who was there:

1) There were several comments about the Oriental Theatre being a "comfortable" and a gorgeous place (gold leaf, etc) to watch a show. How about the acoustics? What's the sound quality like? I'd also be interested in hearing about the sight lines from the various seats people sat in last night.
2) How is the orchestra? There was much written over the last couple of months about the number of musicians this production would emply compared to New York and London. I believe the number settled upon was 14. How did they sound? And are the arrangements there essentially the same as NY?

3) Didn't hear anything in any of the reviews about the ballet girls. Any impressions?

I'm looking forward to, as previews continue, hearing more great things from the Oriental Theatre, as the other Billys and alternating cast members have their debuts.
I think the sound needs to be turned up a bit. I was in the first row of the dress circle and had a little trouble hearing things at times but the orchestra sounded fine and the arrangements seemed to be the same as NY but since I do not have a musical ear, someone else may feel differently. As for sight lines, a good chunk of the seats on the sides would be considered partial view in NY - be careful buying tickets on the extreme sides. The theatre itself is absolutely beautiful and way more ornate than the Imperial or VPT.
The ballet girls did GREAT! The number of ballet girls and ensemble are fewer than NY or London but it still works well.

Rich
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Re: March 2010 Reviews - Chicago

Post by porschesrule »

Thanks for answering my questions, Rich B.
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Re: March 2010 Reviews - Chicago

Post by Musical Fanatic »

one more funny difference from NY. Tony is sitting at table not wearing pants at the first kitchen scene. Dad was like that in London.
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