October 2009 Reviews - NYC

[Tom Billydutch]

Wonderful story Angelenroute. Because I couldn't be there, I read a lot of reviews to get a bit of the feeling of that special night. You really give a picture.

Thanks!!

[deebeeeff]

5 Shows - October 3rd - 7th - Includes Kiril's last, Haydn's last, and Alex and Kate's opening show

As many of you know, I am not good at doing a “show” review. I have neither the time nor the patience, nor the memory. So, for my most recent adventure, “Uncle Dave’s Second Annual Birthday Billython” (ADSABB), I am doing my usual compiled impression of performances, highs and lows.

I am not one to shy away from saying negative things. I know a lot of BETM reviewers feel they should never post anything negative, especially about the kids, but I disagree. Feel free to disagree with me.

I saw 5 shows between October 3rd and October 7th, and there is no such thing as a bad BETM, but three of these shows were very special, and fourth was really good, and a fifth was a great BETM like they all are.

Before I begin, I would like to mention that Tommy Batchelor is now my sworn enemy for life. He knows this, too. I have been to New York twice in the last 5 months. Both times the little w**ker has been injured. When I told him this he thought it was very funny, but he also had the kindness to suggest that I would have to come back. So while I have never seen him perform, I think that he is just an absolutely wonderful, funny and kind young man. However, rumor has it that you should not let him offer you anything edible or chewable!

The evening show of Saturday, October 3rd, was my first leaver’s show, as Kiril Kulish was performing for the last time.
It started off with a wonderful speech by Stephen Daldry. This is the first time I had seen him in person, and I must say that you can tell very much how he cares for these children and the pride he takes in their accomplishments.
It was a memorable show, and even if Kiril was already a bit past his expiry date and had to speak some of the lyrics rather than sing them, it was still another Kiril masterpiece! His swan lake is beautiful and the jump rope thing worked for a change, which it never does with me! Electricity, of course, earned a well deserved standing ovation.
I think Kiril is a really good actor. I really love his interaction in The Letter with Mrs. W. When she grabs the letter and says “What’s this?”, he grabs it back and says “It’s a letter!” but his tone and expression are saying, “Are you an idiot? Anyone can see it’s a letter.” It is just wonderful!
A special touch in Grandma’s song. After he kissed Carole’s hand, she kissed his! Very moving for those of us who knew it was not the usual thing.
And Keean said something to Kiril in express about “This is the last time so let’s do it right.” Others heard it; I did not.
His hug with Haydn as Mrs. W. lasted a very long time, and while The Letter (and reprise) did not seem to me to be more emotional than usual from Kiril’s point-of-view, the reprise itself was emotional for what Dead Mum did. Normally after the singing, she steps towards Billy, then turns and leaves. This time she paused, then proceeded to hug him. To those of us in the know, that meant a lot.
The usual leaver’s show ending, “See ya, Keean; See ya, Kiril.”
BTW, this was my first time seeing Keean as Michael. I liked him a lot. He is filling some very big shoes in replacing David Bologna, but he is a great Michael. (Some of you will correct me and say he is replacing Frank Dolce, but I never saw Frank!)

The next day was another leaver’s show, a final matinee performance from Haydn Gwynne, as Mrs. Wilkinson. Another speech from Stephen Daldry.
To be honest, there was not a great deal of visible emotion, to me anyway, for this show. Trent was Billy, and he has since stated that there was a lot of emotion.
It was my first time seeing Trevor Braun as Michael, and I loved him. Sooooo over-the-top, but really funny.
Trent’s dancing and singing were great as usual. Great angry dance, of course.
This is a good point to bring up my usual gripe about timing and line delivery. In both of his shows that I saw this week (and the one I saw in May) , at the beginning of Solidarity when Debbie says “I wouldn’t slag off your mom,” Trent (and a lot of other Billys I have seen) deliver the “My mam’s dead” line too soon! Drives me nuts. Kiril is an exception – he always paused to think before saying it. And someone else is an exception as well, but that is coming.
Now, I have to say that this is mostly a directing flaw IMHO, as it happens often in BETM. Right before Angry Dance, Dad’s “Your mam’s dead!” line always comes out too fast! And sometimes the boy’s say “You’ don’t fancy me, do ya miss?” comes out too fast as well. And of course by now everyone knows how I feel about the whole “Why, I’d miss ya!” line in the Winter Scene.
Anyway, this was a great final show for Haydn. Do not remember how the jump-rope scene went, but since I think it should not be in there in the first place, who cares!

Okay, now for the bonus shows. Most of the folks who went for the leavers’ shows left on Sunday evening or Monday morning.
I stayed and got to see Alex Ko (Billy) and Kate Hennig (Mrs. W.) in their debut performances. What an incredible joy!!
Stephen Daldry came out one more time to talk like a proud father about Alex, making it a point to remind the audience that it was Alex’s first performance of any kind other than dance competitions. Stephen also introduced Kate as well, about how lucky BETM was to have her. How right he is!
I am about to speak blasphemy! First, I confess that I do not remember much about the Mrs. W. – Jackie Clune - that I saw in London, other than that I liked her. I don’t remember any details. But I will tell you that as much as I thought Haydn was great, I really, really like Kate Hennig!!
A lot of this has to do with what I mentioned early: timing and line delivery. Though I never thought that Haydn was “going through the motions”, I really felt in the three shows I saw, that Kate had really thought about the words she was saying, and interprets them beautifully.
Examples:
1) When she first starts reading the letter, and she pauses and Billy says, “which is”. In previous shows (and on the OCR) you never really get that he is encouraging her to read the next line. In fact, it sometimes sounds like he is asking her what “a distant memory” is. With Kate, she pauses, and then continues by reading “which is” and then pauses again, as though she understands that she is being encouraged to continue. It was a real breath of fresh air.
2) She really does a great job of doing the “No, funnily enough I don’t.” line, examining Billy just to see if there is something she missed about him. Really funny.
3) And finally, the “very f***ing special” line. When I first heard the line on the OCR, I thought Haydn was saying something like “foot inspection”. Even after I knew what the line was, the way she ran “f***ing special” together drove me nuts. Kate has restored it to its proper rhythm. Very good.

And overall, Kate just amazes me how naturally she plays the role. You are really convinced that she is Mrs. W. The snowfall scene with Dad is very nice, and I like how she delivers the lines, “And a Merry Christmas to you” etc. Just very refreshing. I was also interested to see that with Trent, because he is taller I guess, she stands when she buttons his jacket, but with Alex Ko she kneels.
Anyway, there were a lot of people who said they would need to get used to Kate. Maybe I am lucky that I only saw Haydn 8 times, so have not had her performance burned into my soul like so many of my friends.
On to Alex Ko. What an amazing performer. His singing isn’t great, but still just fine for Billy. But his acting is superb and his dance is nothing short of amazing.
I do not think he flubbed a thing on his opening night, certainly nothing that matters. His line delivery was fantastic, and very understandable. Enunciation was great; his accent might need some work but was fine for us dumb Yanks! His timing was every bit as good as Kiril’s, and he is one of the few who says “Mam would have let iz” clearly so you really understand him. So many of his lines that I felt other boys did not say clearly, he did.
Nice reaction to Debbie and the “hoo hoo” line. And a good, “You don’t fancy…” as well. He seemed to start the “I hate you; you’re a bastard” sequence a bit far way from Greg so had to kind of close the distance between them in a hurry, and never really got as close as Trent, for example. (But then Trent is getting tall enough that they can be almost nose to nose.) But Alex does a great “Oh shit!”
Solidarity on Alex’s opening night got the longest applause I have ever heard at the end of it, no doubt because we all knew it was his first night.
Alex’s Swan Lake was probably the weakest part of his opening night; not quite synched up with Older Billy, but that will come with time. (It took 24 hours actually!)
Electricity – OMG. Someone said he did two no-hands flips. I only saw one, but when he did it I actually clapped my hands together and said “Wow!” out loud! Huge standing ovation for Electricity.
Alex is superb, and based on his first show, he is going to be phenomenal!

My 4th show was just your average Trent show. Great, everyday, BETM! But I think it was this show, or maybe it was Alex’s 2nd show that evening, where I thought Greg gave one of his best performances as Dad. Now I think I have mentioned how I do not like the blubbering in the snowfall scene or in the “He Can Shine” (or whatever they call it) scene. I don’t think that is Greg’s fault. All it takes is a director to fix it. But when he was at the end of Deep Into the Ground, his emotions seemed very real and moving!
My 5th show was Alex’s second.
(David was on vacation and Tommy hurt, so the Trent/Kiril rotation has now become the Trent/Alex rotation until David is back or Tommy healed, both of which should be soon.)
Anyway, Alex was even better this night, and while he did not get extra kudos or even a standing-O for Electricity, he was still superb, and his Swan Lake was soooooo much better, so much more in-sync! And a couple of his “f***…” lines that he seemed to diminish the “f” on Tuesday night, he pronounced loud and clear on Wednesday.
Again, he is gonna be a great Billy.

Okay, I dunno if I got in everything I wanted to say, but here are some final general thoughts, most of which are rehash of my previous reviews.
The bad….
There are some real low points for me in BETMUS. I do not like the whole thing where Jackie goes to mine for a day. It just would not happen, and I just like the UK version better. I like the “He Could Be A Star” so much better and I am insulted that the producers thought us dumb Yanks would not understand that Dad was not talking about “American Idol”.
I do not like the “Merry Christmas, MT” thing nearly as much in the US as in the UK. I think it is much more fun in the UK.
(BTW, in passing, this is the first time that I realized that the actors, at the very end of MCMT, when they are encouraging the audience to clap, also are expecting us to join in the singing.)
I do not like how blubbery Greg gets in the snowfall scene with Mrs. W.
I wish the Scottish dancer scene was longer. (But Greg’s John Wayne impression is hysterical and got huge laughs Wednesday night!)
I hate the stupid jump rope thing in B2B!!! They should call the song Born to Fail!! Or maybe just put a knife throwing act in as well, and see how fast they go through Billys!
And of course, we all know how I feel about the rushed lines in the Winter Scene between Billy and Michael. Just looks like bad acting and it is really bad directing.
Something that I do not really hate, but would like to see changed. In the OCR, Michael says, “Yeah, see ya Billy” and he really, really sounds miserable and you really understand that Billy is escaping and Michael is not. I would love to see that done on the stage!!

The good….
Grandma’s song has really grown on me. I like it better and better each time I see it. Carole is superb, and it has a certain grace about it.
(Although this song, along with Solidarity and Deep Into the Ground, are why one reviewer tongue-in-cheek said it was a show about chairs. I often think about this review when I watch Grandma’s song. Just as when I watch Angry Dance I think of the person who said there was a song in the show called “Arrggghhh!”)
I will never stop touting Solidarity as the finest example ever of what a song in a musical should do, which is to advance the narrative. It takes place over at least 4 weeks, and escalates both Billy’s training and the tensions between the strikers and the police. BTW, watch this part of the movie again and sing Solidarity in your head. It is amazing how it works.
Swan Lake is always beautiful even when it is not in sync; no one really cares.
Sometimes I get jaded by Electricity, and then someone fresh like Alex comes along and makes it live again.
And I saved the first for last. I become emotional the moment they begin singing “The Stars Look Down”. Partly because I have learned to empathize with the miners and what the whole strike did to their country, partly because I know what is coming, but mostly because I feel so blessed to be sitting there, watching this show 18 times now, and having gathered so many wonderful friends along the way.

And, finish!

[bubsycm]

I think I commented on a review of yours before and said that I liked it cos you mentioned negatives too? Anyway, I'm not sure what that says about me But nice to read. I SO agree about the rushed lines in the winter scene. Here in the UK when Tom Holland played Michael a couple of times he seemed to slow it down a bit. It was great.

[Justin]

Thanks for the reviews.

Alex’s Swan Lake was probably the weakest part of his opening night; not quite synched up with Older Billy, but that will come with time. (It took 24 hours actually!)

Just an interesting observation and I notice it has been mentioned with regards to other Billys and other performances as well...but...why is it Billy's...fault isn't the right word I guess..but why is it "on" the Billy if the Dream Ballet chair sequence isn't as synchronised as it should be?? Billy's the lead and older Billy's responsibility is to follow Billy - he's the one who can see Billy after all whereas Billy has no way of seeing him. Unless Billy is completely ignoring the natural rhythms and feel of the music which always has room for individual interpretation anyway, I don't see how it's always incumbent upon the Billy to sync himself with older Billy.

[ERinVA]

That is a very good point, Justin. Older Billy does have that responsibility. But it is really probably a question of working with a new partner. I am sure that they will both get better at it as they perform together more.

The evening show of Saturday, October 5th, was my first leaver’s show, as Kiril Kulish was performing for the last time.

I think you mean Kiril's show was on October 3. The 5th was Monday.

And yes, Dave, there are several things I disagree with you about.... But overall, I thank you for a really interesting review. Like you, I feel blessed to see the show every time I am there, whether it is in NY or London.

[angelenroute]

Feel free to disagree with me.

Even though I disagree with you on a couple of things, I enjoy reading your reviews because they are honest and heartfelt. You share your thoughts and feelings and don't worry what others think. I wish I could do that more. So though I don't want to see any knife throwing scenes to see how many Billys they'd have to go through, I did enjoy reading your review(s). =)

Sean

p.s. And it was very nice to finally meet you on Saturday at The Edison!

[porschesrule]

But it is really probably a question of working with a new partner. I am sure that they will both get better at it as they perform together more.

Just about the time Stephen and Alex get better as they work more together -- Stephen will be leaving.

[ERinVA]

Actually, Dave said that the synchronization was fine at the next performance.

[phoebe]

"And I saved the first for last. I become emotional the moment they begin singing “The Stars Look Down”. Partly because I have learned to empathize with the miners and what the whole strike did to their country, partly because I know what is coming, but mostly because I feel so blessed to be sitting there, watching this show 18 times now, and having gathered so many wonderful friends along the way.

And, finish!"

Your finish (above) was absolutely beautiful, Dave. All of us who have seen the show even once are very fortunate people.
Thanks for writing down so much for us and giving a glimpse into the window of your experience. Such a momentus week!

[Todd]

However, rumor has it that you should not let Tommy offer you anything edible or chewable!

OK, there's got to be a good story here about this ! Please elaborate . . . . .

this was my first time seeing Keean as Michael. I liked him a lot. He is filling some very big shoes in replacing David Bologna, but he is a great Michael. (Some of you will correct me and say he is replacing Frank Dolce, but I never saw Frank!)

You are correct in saying that he is replacing David Bologna (but then, can anybody really replace David ?!) I would call Trevor Braun the replacement for Frank Dolce.

His singing isn’t great, but still just fine for Billy.

While I know this is a show emphasizing dancing more than singing, I do wish they would bump singing up a little higher on the priority list. When the title character in the show has several solos - including the big number in the show - it seems like the singing should be better than "not great, but just fine." I've heard several other people comment as well on a particular Billy (or any other performer from any other show) not having quite the singing voice they were hoping for, so it does seem to be a skill that most audience members put a lot of stock in when they're attending musical theater.

That said, I do feel like most every Billy I've seen has improved in their singing the longer they're in the show. So it does seem to be an area that the production team is aware of, as they obviously continue training the kids in their singing as they go along.