St. Paul Reviews

[porschesrule]

Here's the first review out of St. Paul by the Star Tribune and it's a glowing one:

http://www.startribune.com/entertainmen ... er&refer=y

[alexandre]

Yes, fantastic show last night!

Couldn't agree more with this characterisation: "Parets imbued Billy with honesty, sweetness and an indomitable spirit". And I would add technical assuredness with a startlingly pure voice and extremely tidy dancing. An amazing performance from the freshman of this class, a true talent and credit to himself and teachers.

Love, love, love the new Mrs. W, for me, just hit every mark perfectly. Ooh and the pink leggings, rawr

The whole production seems to be flowing so naturally. I can think of one or two other productions that could sharply take some lessons from this company
Very much looking forward to further shows.

I should add that the Ordway is a very nice theatre a bit like a cut down version of Covent Garden in its arrangement. The audience was.. polite, like they needed permission to show enthusiasm though I'm certain most enjoyed the night.

St. Paul is, umm, quiet. Overcast and foreboding weather yesterday made me think this would be the place people feed a woodchipper Fargo style. But much clearer today though the wind makes it a bit nipply. A town that's a grower rather than a show-er

Anon to find something, anything to fill in time. Or at least a nice bar...

[porschesrule]

Happy to hear at least one Billy "superfan" is in St. Paul. Thanks for your observations, alexandre. It's always great to get a forum member's view of things (as opposed to the commercial review aspect).

[porschesrule]

And at the other end of the spectrum is this blogger's review of the show -- which is a definite pan:

http://www.howwastheshow.com/2012/10/bi ... he-ordway/

[ERinVA]

Rarely do we see a review that pans the boy playing Billy. This makes me think that the reviewer has absolutely no clue how difficult the role is, especially for a 13 year-old kid.

[alexandre]

And at the other end of the spectrum is this blogger's review of the show -- which is a definite pan:

http://www.howwastheshow.com/2012/10/bi ... he-ordway/

Utter garbage.

Obviously written by someone without even a scintilla of understanding let alone appreciation of dance.

Yes I am a "fan" but I do object to "superfan" (though I am pretty super ). As anyone who's met me knows I'm more than willing to slate the show and cast including the occasional Billy that's not up to the mark. And I can say without hesitation that this "review" is completely undeserved, unjustified, uninformed and unfair.

If nothing else this shows the importance of quality print journalism. If we lose the top mastheads and the opinion of some blowhard from hicksville with their own website carries the same weight as an established critic then the arts will be much the poorer.

[StevenKing]

Rarely do we see a review that pans the boy playing Billy. This makes me think that the reviewer has absolutely no clue how difficult the role is, especially for a 13 year-old kid.

Yep including this one I can think of only 2...out of close to a thousand. I'll toss this one out as an extreme outlier. The ONLY time I've seen the Dancing of a billy criticized was Jamie Bell by Ebert(with exactly this persons"didn't look good enough to get in" which I honestly agreeded ballet wise). I can honestly say that it's not possible for a Musical Billy to be a bad dancer, I may like some more then others and argue over danceing choices but they ALL do what they are told to do well at worst.

[porschesrule]

Another great review from the mainstream press -- this time the Pioneer Press at Twincities.com:

http://www.twincities.com/entertainment ... rs-perfect

[porschesrule]

Here's a blogger (unlike the other one) who gets it -- a great review:

http://markkthompson.blogspot.com/2012/ ... sical.html

[porschesrule]

And yet another positive blog review from St. Paul:

http://mplsgossipgirl.wordpress.com/201 ... he-ordway/