Madison Reviews

[ERinVA]

Here's an excellent review from Madison's 77 Square entertainment blog:

http://host.madison.com/entertainment/a ... _form=true

I found it interesting that the writer compliments Kat Hennessey's singing (with which I totally agree--her voice is beautiful), since she is currently on vacation in England, according to her public twitter:

http://twitter.com/kathennessey

[CJ-Rochester]

I suppose that writer can be forgiven because the tour doesn't seem to make use of program inserts to note cast changes. If you don't notice the names on the red board in the lobby then you are not aware of any changes or substitutions.

[kport]

I suppose that writer can be forgiven because the tour doesn't seem to make use of program inserts to note cast changes. If you don't notice the names on the red board in the lobby then you are not aware of any changes or substitutions.

A very sensible conclusion! Do we know who IS performing the part in Madison?

[CJ-Rochester]

Good question. According to the program the understudies for Mum are: Sasha Ely-Judkins, Susan Haefner, and Natalie Wisdom. Both Sasha and Susan have understudied for Mrs. W. many times, and have received numerous compliments.

[LiamM]

I found it interesting that the writer compliments Kat Hennessey's singing (with which I totally agree--her voice is beautiful), since she is currently on vacation in England, according to her public twitter:

She has a great voice; it carries.

[porschesrule]

A very sensible conclusion! Do we know who IS performing the part in Madison?

Per my source for the tour tracking thread, Sasha performed as "Mum" last evening.

[porschesrule]

Here's a review from the show last evening from the Madison website The Daily Page:

http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/artic ... 3681e18a4d

[kport]

Here's a review from the show last evening from the Madison website The Daily Page:

http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/artic ... 3681e18a4d

An interesting and quite 'different' take on the show. But what I found interesting was the mention of Billy Bragg, who I caught in concert in Maine last weekend....and whose political and musical talents entirely compliment the background to BETM. BB is a great guy; he is very approachable to the locals in Dorset. As is Stephen Daldry, born and raised in Dorset, and who recently gave his time to come encourage local community theaters. How many Oscar nominees with the Olympics looming would find the time to do that??

For those of us who see (beside a compelling story and wonderful show) in BETM a social and cultural message that is too often brushed off these days, these guys (Hall, Daldry, Bragg) are honest messengers for 'the cause'. They walk the walk; I can personally attest to that. These are good people.

[porschesrule]

Madison Magazine has this positive review of the show:

http://www.madisonmagazine.com/Blogs/Li ... /index.php

[muck912]

Sunday evening, July 15.

Ty Forhan - Final performance


It seems like I was the only Forum member who wasn't in Louisville, but I had already booked a trip to the tour's next stop, Madison. I was hoping to see the two new Billys, and I did, but I lucked into seeing the unforgettable final performance of Ty Forhan.

I've now seen 44 BE shows and Ty was the first Billy I ever saw. It was in May of last year and it was Ty's 4th ever performance. Ever since I have totally blamed Ty for my BE addiction. I said in a Toronto review that Ty truly must have "lept from the brow of Zues fully formed."

The last tour final performance I saw was Lex Ishimoto's in January in Cincinnati. At that show the tour told the crowd nothing at all about the special occaision. In my review of that night I said that the people running the tour must be Grinches.

Tonight was different. The tour doesn't use program inserts to announce cast changes. They have a public address announcement of the cast changes for the night starting with Billy. But for this final performance they saved Billy for last and announced that "for this performance the role of Billy Elliot will be played by Ty Forhan who is doing his final performance in the role." A slight improvement over saying nothing.

The show starts and Ty gets some applause as he is lead to his chair by Jackie. His "Hold Me Up" was beautifully done. Ty has always had a remarkable singing voice. Lee Hall's lyrics get me at every final show - "we will find a new tomorrow, when we will come to rest at last, and we will stand there proudly, and we will never walk alone, and we will be returned, back to our home."

Ty's attitude promenade and pirouettes during solidarity both got loud applauses. In B2B he got to interact one final time with Job Christenson. Job provided the little w**ker with something to dance to throughout Ty's career, as he was Mr. Braithwaite both in Toronto and on the tour. His jump rope was lightning fast and he finished the scene with a breathtaking piano flip, and, of course, Ty stuck the landing.

Ty's final Angry Dance was remarkable. It is a chance to let out some emotion, and let it out Ty did! He put 100% into those violent, frenetic, and magic 4 minutes. I was pretty sure I heard an f-bomb for good measure. Plenty of screams, too. The only minor technical glitch of the night happened early on in AD when the microphones sewed into Ty's pants (designed to pick up the tapping) went dead for about 10 seconds. Ty kept on dancing and was banging on the microphones at the same time. Whatever he did worked because they came back on and worked the rest of the way.

One last dream ballet thrills the crowd. Now it's time for his last electricity. Combine his beautiful singing voice with his incredible dancing and wonderful acro (2 aerials) and you have a crowd overwhelmed by what they had just seen. The applause of 1800 people goes on and on. Ever the professional, Ty does not acknowledge the crowd but stays in character and runs off the stage. This guy is an all-star at the very top of his game.

Ty had done a good job of keeping his emotions in check throughout the night but he began to get a bit unraveled during his final encounter with Dead Mum. Kat Hennessey is the regular tour Mum but she was on a week's vacation. Her sub was Susan Haefner, another Toronto/tour actor who has been with Ty throughout his career. Ty was choked up and teary while singing his part of the duet to his long time friend. Susan had a tough time of it as well. Hankies were out throughout the audience.

The hankies stayed out for the Billy/Michael goodbye scene. A teary, shaken Cameron Clifford rides his bike on to the stage and Ty bounds back up on stage. "see ya Cameron." "Ya, see ya Ty." I've always remarked how much I like the way Ty delivers his line. To add meaning Ty would always stop at the top of the ladder to say "see ya Michael" rather than deliver the line while still moving. But not tonight. He said see ya Cameron while still moving. I'm sure he felt that if he stopped for emphasis he'd completely lose his composure.

The finale, with multiple standing ovations, was a mix of tears and smiles for Ty. A hug from Job Christenson surprised him. As the final curtain was about to fall, Rich Hebert took over. In a speach that was both touching and gut-wrenching and with his arm around a crying Ty, Rich let the audience know what Ty meant to him and the company. When Rich said "I'm losing a son" it was more than most could take. Ty wasn't the only person crying on stage. Many adult cast members were visably upset. Child cast members Brionna Trilling (another cast member who had been with Ty throughout Toronto and the tour) and Cameron Clifford could no longer keep their emotions in check.

Rich ends his beautiful speach. The curtain falls. The crowd is stunned. Happy Trails can be heard from behind the curtain. Thanks to Ty Forhan, Rich Hebert, and a remarkable cast, every one of those 1800 patrons will remember this night for ever and ever. More importantly, so will Ty.