Washington, D.C. Reviews

[angelenroute]

A brief review of Zach's debut, photo of the Kennedy Center "load-out," and on to Cincinnati ....
http://www.fcnp.com/arts/10912-billy-el ... incinnati/

Thank you! That was a very exciting piece! Really a great promotion for the Tour and of Zach! All about great new beginnings of more awesome on the way!

[CJ-Rochester]

A brief review of Zach's debut, photo of the Kennedy Center "load-out," and on to Cincinnati ....
http://www.fcnp.com/arts/10912-billy-el ... incinnati/

I loved reading this review! It's as if one of us had written it. Coming on the heals of the Broadway show closing, it is especially uplifting to hear of a new Billy making his debut, breathing new life into the BETM world.

[KiwiT]

Sun 15th Jan
Zach/Jacob/Ty

A man, who I presume is the resident director, got up on stage and welcomed everyone to the final performance in Washington. He said that the cast had enjoyed their five week stop here and hoped that the city would have them back again.

Then he said that we were about to see a rather special performance as this would be the debut for a brand new Billy - Zach Manske - who had been training for the past four months. He then welcomed Zach's parents and sister and asked them where they were in the audience so they made themselves known and were applauded.

It is a huge ask for a Billy, especially one who is only twelve years old, to make his debut at a final show to a full house, particularly when the theatre is as large as the Kennedy Centre Opera House. I am not sure about Lex but I believe all the other Billy's would have made their theatre debuts to much smaller audiences such as in Toronto or Broadway. However if Zach was nervous it certainly did not show. He came across as confident (but not too confident) with a loud and clear voice which is easy to follow.

He sang "Take me up" and "Electricity" brilliantly but seemed to struggle a little bit with "The Letter" and it's reprise. I think this is just a question of practice and working out whether the high or low versions suit him best since his singing elsewhere was absolutely fine.

Zach has his own take on how to put off Michael in the boxing scene so he is obviously not copying his peers. Good to see some "individuality"!

Express with Jacob was as entertaining as ever and they make a great pairing. Michael always steals the show in this but it was clear that Zach has excellent tap skills. Given his dance background I expected him to be a great ballet dancer (and he is) but I had no idea whether he had a strong tap or not. The race to put on the tap shoes was closer than usual but Billy still won!

His Angry Dance was absolutely stunning and was so intense that I feared he may not be able to keep it up. Zach did though and stormed through to end the first act with a blistering finish. His tap is definitely a highlight for me. I always like to hear audience reactions at the interval and today we had the usual "wow"' "amazing" while several I spoke to simply could not believe that this was his debut as he was so good.

There were a couple of "chair issues" at the start of "Dream Ballet" but hey I have seen those happen with even the most experienced Billy's. Zach remained calm and collected and recovered brilliantly and the rest of the number was executed perfectly. There were even glimpses of his terrific smile as he flew through the air on the wire.

"Electricity" was another highlight for the way it was sung and acted and also because it is unique to each Billy. Zach's is a relatively typical ballet style version but includes a few flips and at least one very spectacular hands free somersault which was perfectly executed and drew audible gasps of amazement from the audience including some seasoned fans! Needless to say his ballet did not disappoint either.

The finale was great fun and if anything Zach seemed to relax a little bit, probably relieved that the serious part of the show had passed off so well.

All in all this was an impressive debut and it is clear that the tour remains in good hands. With the existing Billy's and Michaels, Zach and, hopefully Ben Cook on the horizon as Billy in a few months time, the tour is in good hands. Now that Chicago,Toronto and Broadway have all closed let's hope that the tour continues to thrive for a long time yet.

Congratulations Zach on a great debut. Unlike the audition man, I have "absolutely positively not seen enough" and hope to see you perform again one day.

It has been impossible to mention everyone in the cast over the last week. However I must just give a quick shout out to small boy Jeremy who is delightful. Whenever he is on stage there are oohs, aahs and applause for his antics, when he is wiggling his bottom to the radio, doing his press ups, in Maggie Thatcher, dropping coins into the miners helmet or on Big Davey's shoulders saying "whoosh". To do all that eight times a week at his age is amazing.

Last, but but no means least, Jacob who is another brilliant Michael who with his show has became my most seen in the US. It's always great to see his performances and to chat with him before or after the shows. Thanks Jacob.

[porschesrule]

Thanks for all the great reviews Tim! You certainly have seen some great shows on this visit to the US and we're very grateful that you've taken the time to share the highlights of them with us.

[maria]

Thanks KiwiT for another fabulous review. I was at the show that day too, and really don't have anything to add to your review - you pretty much covered it!

I will say that I brought along my 21 year old god daughter and that she absolutely LOVED the show!

Zach gave an amazingly confident first performance. In fact, I often wonder what it must feel like for these youngsters to go on for the first time, but I believe they are WELL prepared and have a tremendous team backing them up from family and friends to the whole BETM company! With that kind of support behind you, what could possibly go wrong?

Don't have a good feel for Zach's Billy yet, but I am sure he is still working that out himself. I will just have to manage to catch a few more Zach performances on tour... His electricity was stunning, especially when he did the hands free flip right before the end - wow! And as KiwiT already mentioned, Angry Dance brought the house down - power, power, power!

I cannot think of anything else to add, except to add my thanks to the others for KiwiT's great reviews of the DC shows. Sadly, the trucks were outside the Kennedy Center being loaded up. I had to laugh when I saw a dog at the driver's seat of one of the trucks - I tried to take a picture, but the dog started barking at me rather aggressively! I thought it would be fun to post another cost cutting measure the tour had taken! Dogs can't join truckers' unions, I think!

Oh, managed to catch up with Tim Funnel at the stage door - great to see him again after seeing his final performance in London back in November. He will be starting soon, taking over the role of scab/posh dad - roles he performed brilliantly in London. Of course, he was also an excellent understudy Tony in London...

Signing off from DC...

maria

[dongringo]

Thank you KiwiT and maria for your reviews. Reading about a new Billy's debut brings tears to my eyes. I'm just in so much awe of what they do at their age.

[rootbeer]

Thanks to everyone who posted a review for D.C.
I always appreciate them all!

[kport]

Not a review, but a further notice about the Helen Hayes award, and a good photo of JP and Leah:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle ... ml#photo=1