Austin Reviews

[BEtourfan]

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

Very scary!!

[ERinVA]

That is totally bizarre! I hope the police were called.

[kport]

That is totally bizarre! I hope the police were called.

I think we can safely assume that the Tour, Networks Presentations and the theater have standing security procedures in place. I would expect they are robust.

The police would have little authority unless the production chose to profer charges.

[ERinVA]

But I would also expect the tour's security people to communicate with the police in such a matter, whether the company would bring charges or not. Summoning the police does not automatically mean you have to press charges. At the least, the police would remove the person from the premises and question her. Then they might give her a ride home.

[BillyBob]

Sunday, 12/16/12, matinee, Austin

Mitchell Tobin's debut as Billy
Cameron as Michael

First let me say that no one on this Forum has ever mentioned how exhausting a BillyThon can be. Man... What a wonderful weekend. Being part of Kylend's farewell, and the welcoming of two new Billy's. Plus the privilege of seeing Ben as both Michael and Billy. "The stars looked down" on Austin this weekend, and I got to see the four brightest ones.

Yes, there was a very strange event at today's performance. Simply put, the cast and theater staff were amazing and it did not interfere with flow of the show at all. And, I refuse to devote time on this forum reviewing this person's performance. Let's move on.

I'm not going to write a long review this time. I look forward to others views. I'm going to keep my thoughts very simple... Mitchell Tobin is dynamite in a small package!!!!! That sums it up. Between him and our other new Billy, Drew, the show is in VERY good hands. The Billy casting team sure knocked it out of the park when they found these two. Congratulations on your fantastic debut Mitchell. Enjoy your time with the show!

I hope everyone gets to see this fantastic cast very soon. They are simply amazing. And somehow, some way, this show has to go on. Everyone have a save and happy holiday season.

Respectfully (and exhausted),

Robert

[maria]

Thank you all for your wonderful reviews from Austin!

Now, bring on BALTIMORE, which is in MY back yard. I look forward to seeing Drew and Mitchell as well as veterans Ben and Noah! Should be quite a couple of weeks. So far I have tickets for the first three shows and the last two nights, but I might try to fit in another one here and there!

Thank you again for the wonderful Austin reviews!

maria

[CJ-Rochester]

I echo Maria in thanking all of the Austin reviewers. It certainly was quite the weekend! I am so envious of you all. The only cure I know of for such envy is to see more Billy, which I will be doing in Baltimore in two weeks.
-Chris

[atreyu]

Sunday December 16, Mitchell/Cameron/Jake

Today it was Kathryn Dunn, Associate Choreographer, who opened the show with the special announcement of Mitchell Tobin's debut. Also gave a brief chronicle of his journey from 2009 when he first auditioned.

(You will need to bear with me a bit here.)

As was noted in the photo of six Billys that Ben Cook posted from Omaha, Mitchell is the smallest of the bunch and indeed shorter than the Michaels and even a bit smaller than Debbie. A fleeting thought at times was whether those characters who give Billy a shove have to be a little more careful.

There was understandably no Billy flip or jump off the piano, replaced by a handful of pirouettes. It might actually be a consideration to turn down the fog machine a bit during Dream Ballet what with the combination of black background, black pants and the performer being slightly lower to the ground than normal. Finally, it was not a question with Mitchell's singing if he would hit the high notes, but rather whether he would hit the low notes.

But, you know what they say: Good things come in small packages. Or in this case, great things.

Best representation of the feeling and buzz from Mitchell's debut is to take a BETM noob's perspective and to borrow several lines from Lee Hall by way of Tony: "Look at him. He's just a bairn. He's only 11, what's wrong with giving him a childhood?" From this perspective it is entirely unexpected (again, for the BETM noob) to see Mitchell tap up a storm in Expressing Yourself, hip-hop through B2B complete with successful jump rope, passionately rage through Angry Dance, fly high in Dream Ballet, throw in an aerial toward the end of Electricity just before the multi-pirouette finish and will his way to RBS success. Such amazing feats from one as young and small as that. What else can one do but stand and cheer? Which is exactly what happened en masse at the completion of Electricity, a rousing standing ovation.

Multiple ovations at the end of the show as well, which is where one technical glitch happened. After completing the finale, it was the RBS banner that came down rather than the curtain, so the audience got to watch everyone leave the stage and Billy take off the tutu. A bit less dramatic, but oh well.

I'd characterize Mitchell's Billy as a more feisty one. A good reflection of the drive and determination to succeed despite the obstacles, political, physical, etc. And yes, Mitchell hit every note, low and high.

Like BillyBob, my only comment about the incident in Solidarity will be the high praise for the cast. Most of the company was on stage at that time and how they managed to shrug the surprise intruder off, literally without missing a single beat, was really amazing.

Just one more tidbit to mention. I happened to be sitting right behind Cameron's parents at the start of this show and got to chat about this third time that he's leaving BETM. They moved up a couple rows for the 2nd half and were joined by several other moms, so I'm not exactly sure which of that group started the applause at the end of the Winter Scene. But it was a well-deserved round of applause for Cameron and no one will begrudge them the extra indulgence.

[porschesrule]

Thanks for documenting the arrival of yet another new Billy, atreyu & BillyBob, and for sharing your impressions of his first show.

[atreyu]

Last few notes on what turned out to be a Billy-thon for the ages. It has been a privilege to participate in and report on the happenings in Austin. I'm glad to see that others have been able to derive some measure of experiencing the thrills vicariously through my contributions here alongside the other Austin reviewers.

My one regret: Not arriving Thursday in order to see Noah perform. Someone once advised this forum that no Billy-thon is complete without seeing Noah at least once. But I guess I'll allow an exception this one time, what with getting to see Kylend's last show and Drew's and Mitchell's debut. And a very fine Ben in not one but two roles.

What else to say but that The Stars Looked Down on me for this trip. I had been targeting Baltimore and will actually be relatively close by next week, but family obligations precluded any kind of Billy-thon there. Austin worked out perfectly as an extra stop on my way down to Florida.

Then, to top it all off, upon landing in Florida and getting to the baggage pickup, I see what appears to be an extended family with two ladies wearing Billy Elliot shirts. So I saunter over and what do you know, it's Mitchell Tobin's immediate family (except his mom), plus his aunts and uncles from Boca Raton! Only had time for a quick chat, but managed to convey my congratulations and appreciation for what they go through.

So now, I'm a bit envious of those doing Billy-thons in Baltimore because mine is in the past and theirs are in the future. But, to paraphrase Chris, the only solution to the exhaustion of a Billy-thon is more Billy! Starting to plan my next one.