One Last Dance with Alexander (The Great)
May 15, evening
Okay, so I succumb to hyperbole on occasion. Being the kid's finale and Alex giving such an outstanding performance, the occasion is special enough. For the play-by-play account, the
BroadwayWorld blog covers the show well. I'll supplement a few additional details and include my impressions here.
Stephen Daldry's speech included a line wishing Alex well in his future endeavors whether it's as a dancer or doing brain surgery and that Alex is capable of either. It is well worth repeating SD's thanks to the family giving up life in Iowa in order to make Alex's Broadway career possible.
Along with the lowered key for some of the musical numbers, there were more indications of Alex literally outgrowing the role by the way many of the costume pieces are now a bit too short.
It has always seemed to me that when Michael yells "Ole Billy", Alex somersaults into the shawl more aggressively than most other Billys. Figure it's the gymnast in him and tonight that was fully on display; Alex looked to be no more than a couple feet from the edge of the stage when finishing that move and gave a thrill to the front row fans.
Outstanding Expressing Yourself, great chemistry between Neil and Alex there and for that matter in all their other scenes together.
Nice to see Alex succeed in his last jump rope scene.
Angry Dance. WOW! I venture to say it was here that the reality of Alex's final performance as Billy was seen the most. Nothing held back and this is a dance that benefits from the pure unharnessed energy. From clues earlier in the first act, it was evident that a lot of the audience was seeing BETM for the first time and thus don't know how privileged they were to see that exhibition. And so it was just us veteran fans who gave the well-deserved standing ovation.
Zach Maitlin was sporting an irritated right eye during Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher, enough to draw some attention from Ben Cook. But Zach was a trooper, continuing through the scene, including the critical task of pushing the Copacabana singer off stage.
Zach looked to be fine after the show.
Good time to acknowledge the rest of the cast's contributions to making it such a wonderful night. In particular I get to wondering how much adjustment it is for those who have to lift, catch and carry Billy since Alex must be at least 20 pounds heavier now than when he first started. But Stephen Hanna, Thommie Retter and Joel Hatch didn't let on anything unusual.
I don't have anything of substance to add about Swan Lake and Electricity that hasn't been described well by others for this performance or prior ones. Except perhaps that tonight captured better than any other experience I've had on The Great White Way the essence of why I love coming to Broadway and seeing this show in particular. A beautiful, elegant spectacle.
The one moment that it seemed Alex might have gotten emotional was - as best as I can now recall - the last "And ...Good luck to you as well, Miss" line with Mrs. Wilkinson. Not sure at all if that was the case as he was mostly turned away from me and also not positive that was the line. I just remember a pause where there usually isn't one and it was around 4 or 5 seconds.
The chant of the ballet girls during the finale: Miss you Alex, miss you Alex.
As the house lights came up and the audience began making its way out, the traditional chorus of Happy Trails from the rest of the cast could be heard.
The final image left to describe is one that would appear to be a spontaneous move by Alex: The curtain is falling for the very last time and as it reaches Alex's height, we see him holding the farewell flowers in his right arm and his left hand forming the Lady Gaga Little Monster thing.
Thank you, Alex, for persevering through the hardships. To a grey world, you have brought so much color, inspiration and joy. Happy trails indeed and here's hoping it won't be too long 'til we meet you again.