Austin Reviews

[dongringo]

Thanks to those of you who reviewed Kylend's last performance. He was the first Billy I saw on my one and only Billython in Portland about a year and a half ago and when I think of this great show it's his performance as Billy that comes to mind every time. I'll never forget it, ever. Hard to believe he's no longer in the show. Really hard to believe. What a trooper!

[atreyu]

Saturday December 15, matinee and evening

A fair number of bloopers on the day. A couple of them were very amusing to those in the know, although you'll have to use your imagination as if you were there. Being that some of them involve the kids, only character names will be used and the specific performance will not be identified. We can have our laughs (I hope) without embarrassing anyone particular.

• Immediately after Supervising Resident Director Steven Minning announced the debut of Drew Minard (pronounced mi-NARD), including recognizing the Minard (pronounced mi-NARD) parents, a woman gets on the PA with "Good Afternoon." (pause) (pause) (pause) (pause) "Good Afternoon. At today's performance the role of Billy will be played by Drew MY-nerd." (One could almost see Billy making a face and asking Who???)
• In The Stars Look Down, Michael bicycles around Big Davey, but gets too close to the edge of the stage flooring and the bicycle slides out from under him. Fortunately no injuries, except the bicycle chain coming off,. Michael manages to avoid tripping on it the rest of the scene.
• The orchestra got a beat out of sync during Shine. Took almost 10 seconds to get everyone back together. Janet Dickinson was a trooper handling that.
• The opening of Act 2 was a bit strange:
  George: Can you hear it in the distance?
  SHHHH.
  TB: Can you hear it in the distance?
  (Kids laughing as they recognize the blooper)
  Billy: Can you sense it far away?
  Michael: Is it Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer?
  (slight pause as the kids look at each other, still grinning)
  Michael: Is it Santa on his sleigh?
  TB: SHHHH
• At the very end of the Winter scene, Michael is walking out and turns around and says "Merry Christmas, Michael". (No, Billy did not then say "Merry Christmas, Billy", but that would be funny too)

Perhaps there were a few too many libations at the previous night's farewell celebration for Kylend, and we can excuse that.

[ERinVA]

I wish there was someway to keep track of how the "Billy's" do after they retire from the role. Thanks again to everyone for their touching reviews. I am new to this Forum and I'm glad I joined. Take care!

Welcome to the forum, manuelsl. Glad you found us. To answer your concern about keeping track of how Billys do after they retire, if you take a look in the "Former Cast" sections for all the various productions, you will see that we continue to keep cast members' threads active with any news that comes our way about what they are doing, so this is a good place to keep up with them as they move on to new things.

Here's an example: http://www.billyelliottheforum.me.uk/fo ... 442#p80442

[atreyu]

The Drew Minard era is off to an excellent start. While each actor who plays Billy must make it his own in some way, this was what struck me most upon watching Drew's debut. It helps that Drew is exactly the right age. He looks like a Billy should, not too big, not too small.

Even in this debut, Drew already has some of the finer details covered - grimaces, reactions, some real tears in the Letter scenes. And that's not to say that he was executing a "by-the-numbers Billy routine". Every (well, just about every) move worked, a thoroughly convincing Billy, confident in his abilities, concerned about his and his family's future. He didn't look like a kid playing a role in a show, Drew embodied the role.

With the singing, Drew sounds just like Billy should sound. Hits all the notes, particularly the high ones, which has not been the case with some of the older Billys for quite some time now.

And the dancing. Drew dances as Billy would dance. As was demonstrated in the early Youtube videos, Drew has a certain flair in his pirouettes and that adds a nice touch. Fantastic tap talent and his first Expressing Yourself with Cameron was absolutely spot on. No problem at all with the jump rope and the standard Billy jump for Born to Boogie. Started the dance segment of Electricity with an aerial and even if it didn't get the gasp from the crowd that Ben's first aerial usually does, it's a pleasure to see that is part of Drew's routine right from the start. A partial standing ovation was still building at the close of Electricity when Drew moved the scene along, but I suspect it won't take too long before full ovations are routine for Drew.

So that, in my book, is Totally. Genuine. Billy. We have yet another wonderful success story from Billy camp and let's hope that Drew will have the opportunity to make it a long Billy career.

[BillyBob]

Austin, Saturday, 12/15/15, afternoon and evening.

Afternoon, Drew's debut as Billy
Evening, Ben as Billy

Again, please do not expect too much from this review. I just call them as I see them. Hope no one gets offended.

Atreyu described many of the "abnormal" problems in the show today very well. My major concern was with the orchestra timing in the afternoon. Not sure what the problem was, may have been sound system, a delay issue, but something was going on. In several numbers, it just seemed like the music was a race to the finish. But all in all, everyone in the orchestra and the cast were able to pull it together and I bet the average audience member would have never noticed. One thing I did notice in three shows... When brother Tony has the line telling Billy's age during his confrontation with Mrs. W, I noticed he said he's only 12 for Kylend and Ben. But with Drew, the line was he's only 11. I wondered if this might be a change used in relation to the obvious physical differences in the boys? If you had never seen the show, you would never know the difference. But it was interesting.

Many post congratulations and great reviews about members of the cast on the forum. And well they should. Without these dedicated people, Billy would probably still be in a boxing class. But I would just like to throw out a thank you and great job to the youngest member of the cast, our Small Boy, Cal. I don't want to use the word "cute" to describe him, but you could just pinch this kid. He's just such a little pro. A future Billy possibly? You are a valuable member of the cast Cal. Great work!

As I posted after the matinee Saturday under current cast... Drew will knock your dancing shoes off. He's a natural. His dancing is outstanding! His singing is right on! His acting and stage presence are first rate! Give this young man a couple of more shows to get even more comfortable and hold on tight! I sure hope I get to see him again as he develops his own Billy. I'm sure Drew was quite nervous (and who wouldn't be?) but he was amazing. Aside from his fantastic dancing through all the styles required in the show, his singing was beautiful and clearly executed. I also thought his use of the accent was great. Not at all over the edge where you would not be able to understand what he was saying. In the places we expect the most of our Billys, Angry Dance, Dream Ballet and, of course, Electricity, Drew delivered his performances like a veteran. It was great to see a long, and sincere, standing "O" after his first Electricity. If you have not gathered it by now, I was very impressed with our new Billy. Make sure you see this young man "shine" if you get the chance. Hope you have a long and successful run with BETM Drew! Have fun and enjoy the ride!

Saturday evening we were blessed with Ben. What can I say? Our new senior Billy in residence took the stage and owned it. I knew from seeing him the night before as Michael for Kylend's finale that this young man has a very playful and slightly devilish side to him. Just as you would look for in a boy Billy's age and from the conditions he comes from. He portrays Billy as very confident, a little cocky, a little scared and trying to find his way. Perfect for the character. His acting seems almost natural. his timing and line delivery are smooth and just flow like a natural conversation. Just what you would hope for. What I really enjoyed (in both performances) was his playfulness. Little gestures made to ballet girls just as you would expect of a boy his age. Little gestures, eye contact and facial expressions made to lines throughout the show with cast members. Again, he made the lines and acting natural. Ben's final Letter with Kat was a tear jerker. Don't know if this is normal for Ben's performance, but the emotion between these two, for this show, was real. We all know that the day will come when Ben will take the chair and deliver his final "finish". But would we not all love to freeze time when a natural like Ben (and Kylend) come along and have a character down pat? Thank you for the laughs and tears this weekend Ben. We all look forward to following you as Billy and beyond.

One more show in Austin.

Submitted with great respect for this cast and show,

Robert

[atreyu]

Some notes about the facility here in Austin, a bit of which might speak to BillyBob's observations of occasional music glitches of sorts.

As they say, things are bigger in Texas. I estimate the facility is 33% bigger in volume than Boston's Opera House and the term "cavernous" comes to mind. Acoustics are excellent, though. Even in the first few rows, it's not like the speakers are blasting.

With all this space, the rows in the audience are 3 feet apart. Plenty of room; enough for people to pass by in the same row without getting up! How often do you see that. The downside, of course, is that the distance to the stage quickly accumulates. So by the time you're in row N or so, it's like the back rows at the Imperial! The mezzanine and balcony are so far back and higher up than other places, it's no wonder that they rent binoculars here.

With all this space, the orchestra pit is the biggest curiosity. Although they are listed in the program and are heard during the show, the 5 local musicians are not in the pit. There's only the 4 touring musicians - conductor, additional keyboardist, a guitar and the drummer in his enclosure. There's plenty of space for the locals, but they're somewhere else. I gotta suspect that's why things aren't as crisp as normal with the music.

Behind the conductor is enough space for two additional rows of audience, but instead only contains wiring bundles. I'm guessing the reason for this was because of the staircase needed stage right for the characters to enter and exit. The only aisles are on the sides of the venue, and so the house left aisle is for Small Boy, Billy, et al.

This added to some of my adventure this weekend. For both Saturday shows, I had purchased the "obstructed view" first row house far left orchestra seats which just happened to be where the stairs to the stage are. Walking in the door Saturday afternoon, I found that I was "upgraded" to a better seat, row C and on the right side. Still slightly obstructed, but not as much.

Problem, though, was that performance being the sign language one and they were almost directly ahead of me if I were looking straight. Still in the field of view when watching the show and a real distraction having a light on the signers continuously. So I went back to my original seat for the 2nd half and that got me the best of both worlds, I think. Got to see Drew's Vulcan salute for Star Trek Annual and tears and expressions for the first Letter scene, and then in better position for Dream Ballet, Electricity and the ending.

Evening show upgrade was to 4th row center and that was great for viewing Ben's performance. We'll see what this afternoon brings.

[porschesrule]

Thanks to all for your great reviews of yesterday's shows. Again, it's great to have Forum members, knowledgeable about the show, present to document last and first shows. It really helps those of us who can't be there for such events feel like we were part of it.

Ben's final Letter with Kat was a tear jerker. Don't know if this is normal for Ben's performance, but the emotion between these two, for this show, was real.

I suspect this part of the show WAS more emotional than normal as it was indeed a parting -- Kat Hennessey's last show with Ben as Billy.

[porschesrule]

With all this space, the orchestra pit is the biggest curiosity. Although they are listed in the program and are heard during the show, the 5 local musicians are not in the pit.

This is not all that unusual today, either with this show or others. Having parts or all of the orchestra away from the auditorium in a room on another floor of the theater. In the case of the Tony awards, I read that the orchestra wasn't even in the same building! Supposedly, with the advances in sound mixing, they can better blend all parts of the orchestra and the actors' voices better in that type of environment.

[kport]

With all this space, the orchestra pit is the biggest curiosity. Although they are listed in the program and are heard during the show, the 5 local musicians are not in the pit.

This is not all that unusual today, either with this show or others. Having parts or all of the orchestra away from the auditorium in a room on another floor of the theater. In the case of the Tony awards, I read that the orchestra wasn't even in the same building! Supposedly, with the advances in sound mixing, they can better blend all parts of the orchestra and the actors' voices better in that type of environment.

Anything is possible these days courtesy of the internet: watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7o7BrlbaDs

There is no longer practical reason why all musical musicians (except the director) cannot be in, say, a studio in Manhattan where it may be possible to save quite a lot of money, and still have a 'live feel' to the performance.

[CJ-Rochester]

This has to be one of the craziest things I've ever heard happening in live theater!
Joel Newsome posted on his public FB page during today's matinee performance:

"A random audience member walked up onto stage during the middle of Solidarity and stood amongst us shouting Stop this! Stop all of this! It freaked us OUT."

Later in the comments Joel adds: "We kept on going. It was during baskets of pansies. She actually skipped up the middle with the girls. Our crew came running out and carried her off stage."

http://www.facebook.com/joel.newsome.10