Boston Reviews

[kport]

Last night I paid special attention to the wooden box (crate?) that is used in the Dream Ballet.

Angry Dance. But I knew what you meant. =)

Give me a chance! I always post, then edit!

[johnnyc]

Something that I'm told is not too common in Boston took place during the matinee today. Ben was really on fire during his performance, and received a long standing ovation at the end of electricity.

And it was great meeting a number of forum members in the audience and at the stage door.

[kport]

Something that I'm told is not too common in Boston took place during the matinee today. Ben was really on fire during his performance, and received a long standing ovation at the end of electricity.

And it was great meeting a number of forum members in the audience and at the stage door.

I have attended six performances in Boston; in every case there was a standing ovation after 'Electricity'.

Boston has done Billy proud.

[Rich B]

Thanks for everyone's reviews. Sounds like Boston loves Billy.

Does the line 'We'd be supporting the arts" get the applause in Boston as it has in other tour cities? I loved the audience reaction to that line in Louisville.

[porschesrule]

Does the line 'We'd be supporting the arts" get the applause in Boston as it has in other tour cities? I loved the audience reaction to that line in Louisville.

It got a huge response at the show I saw last weekend.

[kport]

Thanks for everyone's reviews. Sounds like Boston loves Billy.

Does the line 'We'd be supporting the arts" get the applause in Boston as it has in other tour cities? I loved the audience reaction to that line in Louisville.

Yes. Everytime. Almost as though the line is anticipated.

The Boston crowds 'get' the jokes. The feedback the cast gets is great. I almost sense the audience is full of Billy fans.

Please....can we keep the Tour here through the winter? The Opera House is....stunning!

[jdmag44]

Thursday Aug 16th Noah/Ethan

My last of three shows in Boston. Met Ira (Bird man) and his wife. Sorry I missed Atreyu and kport . As already reported the beginning of Dream Ballet was such an anxious moment I really thought they would have to stop and bring out a crew of men to unlock the set pieces. There was no way they could do that sequence safely with out removing them. Noah and Chris must have been very concerned but didn't show it. This was the second time seeing Noah. He is really wonderful to watch and getting more at home on the stage. I absolutely agree with kport that the quality of the tour (especially the extraordinary performances of ALL of the cast) gets better and better.

Joe

[atreyu]

I probably shouldn't start out the discussion about closing day in Boston with a negative tone, but I gotta get this off the chest and will make up for it with much more positive commentary and a higher volume of that. In the next few days though.

The life of the audio technician is not easy. A good job means being completely invisible; there are no accolades, no recognition. (Or extremely rare. I made it a point to compliment the crew after Thursday's performance.) But make one mistake with the audio and everybody knows you screwed up.

So the fact that I'm talking about this tells you that things were not very good most of the day, more so at the matinee than the evening. Enough impact to detract significantly from the quality performance on stage. I didn't count exactly, but I'd estimate over 10 times in the matinee where a microphone was turned up after the character had spoken a couple words. I might have been okay with that although still not happy, but it crossed the line after "He Could Go and He Could Shine". After all the townsfolk have donated what they can and they are still well short, Dad's entire "It's bloody hopeless" was lost because the mic wasn't on.

At that point, one had to wonder if the word "anticipate" meant anything to the audio technician. It's merely the number one rule for operating the audio board.

Anyway, despite this issue, there were lots of great things to talk about from this day. And now perhaps the rest of the reviews about this day can be unstained by it.

[mikey2573]

A little different take on George tonight with Joel Newsome (normally Mr. Wilkinson) playing the role. This George doesn't go over the top. "Sorry, Billy? Sorry, Billy?!?" does not need to be delivered in an infantile manner and "you great fat f**ny" doesn't need a silly gesture. The jokes work perfectly well on their own without "enhancement". George's final scene congratulating the bonny lad, however, was not a good adjustment this night. After Billy blocks the hit to the head, George should not merely do another boxing move, he needs to do a dance move. Joel Blum's routine works quite well there..

OMG, thank you! The guy who played George in Boston drove me crazy with his over the top mugging. This is not kiddie theater where you have to be 'silly" to keep the kiddies entertained. The way he screeched the second "Sorry Billy?!" always made me whince. And the his motions with "Big fat f**ny" were so unnesessary.
But there are other lines from Billy and Michael that would be more effective if they were toned down. For example, Michael's "Well, I'd miss ya." is always delivered too loud and too fast. I would much rather have a quiter softer moment there. And then when Billy says good-bye to Mrs. Wilkinson his "I'll miss ya, Miss!" is always shouted as Billy races awkwardly towards Mrs. Wilkinson. I would direct the Billy to go to the door, place his hand on the door as if he were going to open it, and, without turning around, have him say "I'll miss ya, Miss" softly right to the door, wihtout turning around. However, these are directing choices not acting choices. The boys have been DIRECTED to play those scenes that way. Thus the fact that those lines are always delivered the same way, regardless of who is playing the role. The actor playing George has not been directed to be over the top, that is an acting choice he is making, and it isn't necessary. The character is funny without the shameless hamming.

[ERinVA]

Joel Blum has been playing George on the tour since its first performance in Durham. So he is not just "the guy who played George in Boston." It's therefore hard to imagine that if you have seen the tour elsewhere, you have never seen him play the role. If this was your first time seeing the tour cast, however, then his interpretation might clash with your expectations based on other Georges you have seen. I personally think that since George is mostly a "comic relief" character, the broad interpretation is fine, but as Mrs. W says to Billy, "Please your Bessie."