Des Moines Reviews

[angelenroute]

Every so often you see a show where the lines are delivered perfectly, no one stumbles in any of the dances, the singing is all on key, all the actors stay in character, and the audience is lively and receptive. Three shows like that stand out in my memory: one of the London shows with Corey Snide towards the end of his run in 2008, a Broadway performance with Michael Dameski and David Bologna from the summer of 2010, and another Broadway show from last October with Giuseppe Bausilio. This one tonight would join those three.

It's no accident that you mention Corey. Though he was my first Billy [now 5 years ago!!!], he and Kylend are VERY similar. Both have this uncanny ability to exude pure joy and constant emotion throughout their performances. Always a pleasure to see Kylend on stage, and I look forward to seeing him 1 or 2 more times as Billy hopefully this summer!!!

[Steamboy]

I was able to slip away from work on Sunday, and catch both of those performances, featuring Kylend and Zach. I'll post a more complete review soon, but right now I'm fighting a glitchy internet connection. For the moment, I'll just say that I did leave Des Moines with my usual 'I like this show' goofy grin firmly in place.

The 'Hoopla' reviewer is someone I worked with at a community theater for several years back in the 90's, and still bump into occasionally.

[rob_hanson1979]

hey everyone!
I am sorry for the delay, It's been a busy week for me.
I wanted to write a bit about my trip to the midwest and BE.
So last saturday, my friend and I flew into Des Moines after a stress-free connection in Chicago(hard to believe). An interesting note... the flight from Ohare to Des Moines was an all-female flight crew. Captain, copilot, and both flight attendants were all female. Pretty cool to see women popping up more as pilots.
We picked up our car and checked into the hotel. It was just on the edge of downtown, but between our car and the hotel shuttle, it worked well. It rained a bit that day, but cleared up in time for the baseball game, so that was nice!

The next day was BETM. As others have mentioned, the auditorium was a rather odd space for the show. I wouldn't call this a theatre, but it is a big auditorium for sure. We had seats in the 8th row, but they were off to the side. Unfortunately here, the room was quite wide so unless you had centre seats, you probably had a partially obstructed view of the seat. We were on the cusp of this, so we could see most everything, except one wall of the set.
The show itself was quite good. I had not seen Kyland before, and he was very good. Also, as my friend pointed out, he has a striking resemblance to Jamie Bell. His singing was good and his acting and dancing were excellent. He was probably the Billy I've seen get the most "choked up" during The Letter. And as we all know, the more Billy chokes up, the more the audience does.
As has been mentioned, Little Boy was actually played by a ballet girl. And she was a little tall for the role. But I assume they were making due until the next boy fills the role. This didn't really detract from the show much.
Cameron, as always, is hilarious as Michael. I don't know if he'll ever get to play Billy, but I'm sure good things are coming his way.
I forget the name of the actress who played Mrs Wilkinson, but she was excellent. This is only the 4th time I've seen the show, but I'd say she was definately my favorite of those I've seen. I was very pleasantly surprised.
The rest of the cast was good. The ballet girls are extra hammy. It seems like there are a few less cast members than the Broadway and Toronto versions.
Anyways, the show was amazing, as always. I am going to be in NYC this coming weekend and sure wish the show was still playing there.
After the show, we didn't really mean to, but ended up waiting next to the stage door for our hotel shuttle to come and get us. We saw a number of the cast and crew come out. It was amazing how quickly they all changed and got out. I did get my picture with Kyland, and he was really nice, as was his mom. We didn't stay around and chat with them, as I'm sure they just wanted to move on. But it was pretty cool to get a photo with a Billy!

The rest of our trip was fun. We drove to Omaha for a night and went to the zoo. It's a really well done zoo, and probably one of the best I've been to. We then drove to Lincoln and Topeka to see the state capitols, and then to Kansas City for a night. There didn't seem to be much to do there, but the Truman Presidential Library is really well done. It's worth a visit for anyone interested in history and government.

I must say, I'm a pretty proud Canadian, but one thing I love about being in the US is the food. I do like to indulge while I'm there, and I tend to not worry too much about healthy choices since it's only a short time. I always try and hit a Chick Fil A, some sort of Barbeque restaurant, and some Mexican. We don't have a lot of authentic Mexican in Canada, it's more the tex-mex style. They have a pretty cheap little chain in Des Moines called Tasty Tacos. It was not really a very classy joint, but the food was awesome and the prices were cheap!

We had a bit of a delay on our return, but nothing bad. We didn't miss our connection in Chicago, and got back to Ottawa just before midnight. It was a fun 4 days away and of course BETM was the big highlight. I am super excited to see it here in Ottawa in January... and may consider a quick trip to Boston in August to see it.
Anyways, hope I didn't ramble!

[porschesrule]

You didn't ramble at all, rob. Thanks for sharing your observations. I enjoyed reading them.

[dongringo]

I too enjoyed reading your thoughts about the show as well as your trip. Glad you had a good time!

[angelenroute]

Thanks for choosing to write a review, after all, Rob! Much appreciated! =)

Sean

[rob_hanson1979]

No problem. I still don't think it qualifies as a review though... considering Billy Elliot is always a positive experience, haha!
Other shows... I review... Billy Elliot... I just consider it a privilege to see it.