Billy Elliot the Forum

ERinVA wrote:Since he has been in the show, he has continued working on ballet, especially as he is a "ballet Billy," and as he has grown taller and stronger, his ballet technique seems to have blossomed more, perhaps from the added maturity, but probably also from the additional training and the inspiration of his fellow Billys, David and Kiril. I am sure they have also been inspired by and benefitted from Trent's example as a tapper during their time in the show.

As I recall, in one of the video interviews, they said exactly that -- specifically mentioning each of their fellow Billys by name and what they've learned from each of them.

ERinVA wrote:...as he has grown taller and stronger, his ballet technique seems to have blossomed more...

I completely agree with you. The times I have seen Trent as Billy cover an 8 month span from April to December. The growth in his ballet technique has been quite noticeable, especially in the interval from April to July.

Surely somebody was at Dayton's show last night.

We want reviews

There are reviews on the other forum.

December 19, 2009
Dayton's First (US) Show!

Ok... Australians.... your boy did you proud. He performed like the seasoned veteran I know he is, and wow was it a joy to see a fresh and different Billy. (Not that I don't love my New Yorkers, but its a treat to see a Billy you can tell was directed at a different time.)

Dayton is a very responsive and natural actor, he had a great rapport with Kate, who also tends to really detail her choices toward each Billy. The Letter was absolutely heart-wrenching, like last-show kind of tears, to the point where he didn't really sing the last line and a half before Mum's entrance. He manages to have a sort of cool demeanor and still wear his emotions very openly. I loved a moment right before the Mrs. W and Tony confrontation where he stepped forward to deliver the "I want to be a ballet dancer." line, then retreated behind Mrs. W for safety. I know the blocking is technically the same as usual, it was the intent behind it that for some reason seemed really invested.

At the shoe change in B2B, Dayton seemed to be having problems getting the taps on, but once he got into the jump rope part, he didn't just ace it, he DOMINATED. I mean really, the jump rope part always makes me nervous, since it doesn't often go completely smoothly, but Dayton had no fear. He did the flip off the piano as well.

Angry Dance - was bracing myself for a barrage of cussing, but there was only a couple of F offs, and a lot of yelling, with the long drawn-out one at the end, a la Tommy.

Electricity was the magic moment of the night for me. Greg mentioned that the company was calling him street Billy, and indeed Dayton is the closest we have ever come to having a street Electricity. It had phrases of Trent and Tommy's routines, but mostly was new. Plenty of acro, and lots of hiphop, almost breakdance kind of movement, while still having beautiful clean lines in the ballet sections that alternated in between. It was exciting... and I can't wait to go back at see it again!

It was a huge snowstorm outside, so sorry I didn't get any SD pictures!

Thanks very much, Geridith. Sounds terrific!

Were you able to get your seat in the Cancellation line last minute, due to the snow storm?

Thanks Geri. Sounds like Dayton went down a treat.

Well done Dayton.

Thanks so much for the review. I can't wait to see Dayton!

It was very easy in the cancellation line, and there were a fair amount of open seats randomly scattered throughout the orchestra. The weather was AWFUL last night, I can see why a lot of people didn't make it. Good for me though, I ended up third row center

Someone on Broadwayworld posted that they noticed that there was conducting, but the orchestra was not playing during Solidarity and Electricity. I have never heard of this.....did you notice it Geri?