Des Moines Reviews

[Todd]

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Billy - Zach Manske
Michael - Cameron Clifford
Mrs. Wilkinson - Susan Haefner
Mr. Braithwaite - Job Christenson

All others were the regulars


With the tour coming as close to my home town as it's been so far, I decided to make the 3 hour drive to Des Moines to catch a few performances this week. The Des Moines Civic Center is one of the more unusual venues I've seen the show play in, as it's more of an auditorium than a theater. There's no balcony or side boxes, but rather one long sloping floor which goes pretty high up (and far from the stage) if you're unfortunate enough to be sitting in the back. There's also no aisles down the middle, but rather long rows of seats from the left side of the auditorium all the way across to the right side. Suffice to say you have to side-step past quite a few folks if you're sitting in the middle of the row ! I wondered how they were going to handle the small boy coming from the audience at the beginning or Billy leaving the stage to go out into the audience at the end. What they did was have them use the aisle next to the wall that leads to a few side exits, which worked OK but of course wasn't as dramatic as having them go down the middle aisle of the theater as done in London and New York. At any rate, it's a very large venue but nearly every seat was filled, except for some in the back 3 rows.

This was my first time seeing the show since the Broadway finale back in January. While it obviously wasn't the spectacle of that night, I found myself enjoying the performance on its own merit since it had been so long since I'd seen it. It was also fun seeing a Billy I hadn't seen before, as I thought Zach Manske did an excellent job. He seemed very believeable as Billy, and played it with just the right amount of smiles vs. sullenness. His dancing was superb and very smooth, as he appeared effortless and didn't hardly break a sweat during the entire show - an obvious indication of his talent and conditioning. My only wish would be for him to kick up the intensity a notch or two in "Angry Dance," as several times it appeared that his vast talent caused him to come across as too smooth, rather than angry.

Cameron Clifford is fast becoming one of my all-time favorite Michaels, as he makes me laugh at lines I've heard many times before, just because of his naturally funny way that he delivers them. I always enjoy his cheek-pop in "Express Yourself," and his timing in delivering punch lines is like that of a seasoned comedian. As someone who misses the show not being on Broadway, it's nice at least to have someone from that cast still going strong in the tour show. Long may he continue.

I had never seen the actors who played Mrs. Wilkinson or Mr. Braithwaite, but they did a fine job as well. I couldn't tell for sure, but it looked like the small boy was played by a girl. Not sure if that's temporary or if they've decided to go with a ballet girl or a ballet girl-in-training in that part. But I did find myself missing the lad who had been playing the small boy on the tour for quite awhile. Plus the fact that this particular "small boy" was actually bigger than Michael !

There were a few minor line changes that they apparently are trying out. . . . or maybe they had added them since I last saw the tour 8 months ago in St. Louis. In the breakfast scene, when Dad's putting on his apron with the picture of the lady in a bikini on it, he yells at Tony about not having any pants on. Grandma tells Dad, "Well you're wearing a bloody bikini !" Dad also went up the steps into Billy's bedroom at the beginning of the scene and stands there awhile as if he's gone up there to wake him up. In the RBS audition scene after Billy's ill-fated audition, the ballet girls and posh boy are standing there watching him and giggling. When he storms over to start putting on his clothes, the posh boy whispers something to the woman who's helping with the auditions as if to say, "Would it be OK if I go over and see if I can help console him?" When Billy hits him, the ballet girls and the woman turn around startled. And in the RBS letter delivery scene towards the end, the post man comes on stage with a long, drawn-out, "Post !" Grandma then comes on stage towards him and repeats, "Post !" Then the two of them turn towards stage left and shout "Post !" together.

I gather that the audience tonight was made up of quite a few season ticket holders and friends-of-the-arts, which would make sense since this was opening night. In the scab scene when George delivers his line of, "We'd be supporting the arts," pretty much the entire audience began laughing and applauding ! It was like they were thinking, "Yeah, that's what we're doing too !"

So it was a very good return of the tour after their month off, as they didn't appear to miss a beat. After the show, I had the chance to visit with Zach and Cameron and their mothers, who were all very friendly to talk to. Zach said that Noah and Ben - the two Billys-in-training - are in the process of doing their tech work and should be ready before long. In the meantime, they're going with 3 Billys, so fingers crossed that they all stay healthy and injury-free until reinforcements arrive !

[CJ-Rochester]

Thanks for posting the review Todd. It was great that a forum member could be there. I think all of the changes you noted have been part of the tour for a while.

Did the program not list anyone for Small Boy?

[ERinVA]

Thanks for your review, Todd. It's great to have a review of the first show back after the hiatus.

Just a couple of comments:

The "bikini" bit in the breakfast scene is also now in the London show, as is Tony wearing his blue "tighties."

I don't think I can recall having been to a US theatre that has a true center aisle in the orchestra. There is no middle aisle in the Imperial Theatre, as there is at the Victoria Palace. However, in addition to the aisles on either side of the auditorium, there are two that further divide the orchestra seating in the Imperial so that there is a center orchestra section and two side sections. Small Boy and Billy always used the aisle to the left of the center.

The configuration that you describe for the Civic Center sounds quite unusual, especially given that there is no balcony at all. If Billy were to come to Norfolk and perform at the Chrysler Center, he would encounter the same configuration in the orchestra as you describe, but the Chrysler does have balconies. Personally, I find that kind of straight across configuration annoying because if you are seated anywhere near the center, you end up having to crawl over a lot of people to get to your seat (or from it during intermission).

[CJ-Rochester]

Personally, I find that kind of straight across configuration annoying because if you are seated anywhere near the center, you end up having to crawl over a lot of people to get to your seat (or from it during intermission).

Louisville appears to be like that as well. Although it has a balcony, the orchestra is comprised of long rows with aisles only on the very ends. The longest rows have 60 seats. If you have the center of those rows you could be crawling over 30 other people. I sure hope they have leg room. We will find out in a couple weeks.

[accessmenj]

Todd wrote
"My only wish would be for him to kick up the intensity a notch or two in "Angry Dance," as several times it appeared that his vast talent caused him to come across as too smooth, rather than angry."


I also have noticed that several of the most gifted ballet-style Billys are too smooth in their Angry Dance. It must be very difficult to turn off years of graceful training and replace it with herkey-jerkey movements that convey the anger and violence of this temper tantrum. Often, the Billy's own talent makes it difficult, and possibly his own gentle nature keeps him from understanding violent anger.

[kport]

A brief review notice from the Newton Daily News.

http://www.newtondailynews.com/2012/06/ ... r/abq7bkg/

I note that just three Billys are mentioned by name.........................

[porschesrule]

Here's the positive opening night review from the Des Moines Register:

http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/ ... ic-center/

[angelenroute]

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Billy - Zach Manske
Michael - Cameron Clifford
Mrs. Wilkinson - Susan Haefner
Mr. Braithwaite - Job Christenson

All others were the regulars

I guess Mrs. W and Mr. B could be considered new regulars? Or have I missed an alert? Her name sounds familiar.

There were a few minor line changes that they apparently are trying out. . . . or maybe they had added them since I last saw the tour 8 months ago in St. Louis. In the breakfast scene, when Dad's putting on his apron with the picture of the lady in a bikini on it, he yells at Tony about not having any pants on. Grandma tells Dad, "Well you're wearing a bloody bikini !"

This was in for the Tour too I thought, but I may just be remembering it now from the close of the Broadway production.

I gather that the audience tonight was made up of quite a few season ticket holders and friends-of-the-arts, which would make sense since this was opening night. In the scab scene when George delivers his line of, "We'd be supporting the arts," pretty much the entire audience began laughing and applauding ! It was like they were thinking, "Yeah, that's what we're doing too !"

I've seen the show in a couple of places now where the audience ate this line up. So awesome! =)

Thank you for the review, and looking forward to many more!

Welcome back, Billy Tour! Well, I'd missed ya!

Sean

[porschesrule]

And here's a review from Luke Matthews of local Des Moines radio station Star 1025:

http://www.star1025.com/pages/10760762.php

[rob_hanson1979]

ahhhhh! So excited to see the show this weekend. And the friend who's coming with me has never seen it before! I'm sure he'll enjoy it!!!

You mentioned there are three Billy's now. Who are they? Does anyone have a personal favorite?