Weekend of Awesome (part 4: "The Master Himself")
Sun. Feb. 21, 2010 7:30pm -
Billy - Trent,
Michael - Trevor,
Small Boy - Luke,
+ understudys: Grandma - Merle Louise, Big Davey - David Koch
After a weekend of being treated to the extraordinary and diverse talents from Canada and Oz, what better way to cap it off then with the the most senior and experienced of all Billys, the record holder for most performances, Trent!
Before the show we had the pleasure of meeting Trent's dance teacher Dorothy. By chance, she happened to be sitting next to us.
This was to be the final time she would see Trent as Billy, as she has a conflict on March 7th. Others have called Dorothy a "real life Mrs. Wilkinson". I found her to be a warm and wonderful person.
Lift Me Up-
Trent is taller, even than when I last saw him 10 weeks prior in December. How do these boys grow so fast? I've heard others say he is as tall now as Kiril and David were at the ends their runs. He still has very boyish features though. His voice is different, but still very high and sweet. I found it to be a quite pleasant sound.
Tessa was pretty spastic during "Shine", in additional to her usual spastic starfish routine during "Solidarity".
Kate continues to wow me as she finds new ways, mostly with facial expressions and body language, to show how much Mrs. W. is emotionally invested in Billy's development.
Express-
Trent got a lot of laughs with the "shut up you big poof" line during the chatter between Billy and Michael in the middle of the number. Trevor and Trent did a great job dancing together.
Letter-
Trent sang this beautifully. He had to reach for some of the higher notes but it worked fine.
B2B-
I love how each boy has slightly different moves in this number. The rope skipping was perfect. After Mrs. W. and Billy arranged the time to meet in the morning, Kate gave Trent a big long hug.
Angry Dance-
Rich B said it best: "Just when you thought he couldn’t get any better, he does." Trent has always owned this number, and showed us he still does!
Warming Hands-
Some lights went out during this scene making it darker than usual for a few minutes. Fortunately there was still enough light to see Trevor's antics with the tutu, and the audience still laughed.
Dream Ballet-
Wonderful! Trent's ballet technique has really blossomed during his Billy career.
He Could Go-
A nice strong performance by Will.
Electricty-
Trent sang loud and clear with a nice high pitch. As mentioned above his ballet skills have really gotten strong. His leaps and kicks during this number are impressive. One friend said: "he knows how to find his air". At the finish about half the audience gave a standing ovation.
Overall I would say this performance was of the caliber of one when a major cast member leaves. Unfortunately I can't be there on March 7th, so I guess I have seen Trent as Billy for my final time. --cya Trent!
Chris