Hartford Reviews

[mikey2573]

Just back from the matinee. I discovered that the portion of seats on the side of what I thought was the mezz that extended closer to the stage is called the "loge", and it really is much closer than the mezz. From my observation, I'd say the front row of the loge lines up with row 11 or 12 in the orchestra. The front row of the mezz lines up with about the 3rd to the last row of the orchestra. That's a HUGE difference.
Anyway, to today's show. Mitchell Tobin was on as Billy and I have never seen him before. I was a little shocked at how tiny he is, but he plays a tough, scrappy little Billy Elliot which makes it all the more poignant when he breaks. I have to say I really, REALLY enjoyed his performance. He added some nice touches. I particularly liked the way he said the line, "You don't fancy me, do you miss?" It was as if his Billy was so used to girls falling for him that is was starting to become a bit annoying, and how was he going to let this one down easy (reminded me a bit of my son, Ryan, when he was that age--very cocky in the girl department). His LETTER was very moving, not for anything unique he did during the song, but just because his Billy is such a little tuffy throughout that it makes it harder for us to watch him cry. I was looking forward to his LETTER REPLY but for some reason the orchestra jumped ahead a measure in the music. Mitchell sang on and, to his credit, continued to sing the right notes even though the orchestra was playing the wrong ones. Eventually the orchestra stopped playing, listened to where Mitchell was in the song and started up in the right place. But I can't help but think that it had some effect on the final product. But Mitchell certainly was a trooper and never missed a beat. jake Kitchin made a very funny Michael and it looked like Cara Massey on again as Mrs. W.
Another fine performance from this great ensemble of actors.

[jdmag44]

WHAT A GREAT DAY.

Sat Mat. Mitchell/Jake

Mitchell is "precious". I love watching him perform. What a little wonder! I also very much enjoyed Cara. I thought she was even better than yesterday.

Vito,s 26 of us I think. I was overjoyed to finally meet so many forum members in person. Great restaurant,great food,great company.

Sat Eve. Drew/Cameron

Drew is a "Treasure". I am out of superlatives. He amazes me every time. Cameron was as good as I have ever seen him. This Audience tonight was absolutely connected and wildly responsive. Lots of laughter and applause,applause,applause. A standing O for drew after his Electricity.

I could not of had a more perfect day

Joe

[ERinVA]

I have seen three super shows so far here in Hartford. I will leave the reviews to others, but I just want to compliment the Hartford audiences. They have been wonderfully responsive. I realize that there are probably more family members and friends in the audience than usual since the show is winding down, and that might be influencing audience reaction a bit, but whatever the reason, the audience response has been just amazing! Obviously, these people could not care less what the critic at the Hartford Courant thinks. Good for them!

[CJ-Rochester]

Sat. June 22, 2013 evening -- Hartford final weekend

Billy - Drew
Michael - Cameron
Tall Boy - Jake
Mrs W. u/w - Molly Garner

The evening started with about 22 fans gathering for a very nice pre-show dinner at Vito's. We even had a couple of surprise visitors from "up North". Thanks to Ellen for making the arrangements, and to James R and Rich B and others who helped straighten out the confusion surrounding the payment process.

This was a show for the ages! As it was Drew's final show in North America, it was much like other "leaving shows". In addition to the two dozen BETM fans in town for the weekend, many of Drew's family and close friends were present to support him.

This was my third time seeing Drew over the six months he has been Billy. I was very impressed the first time, and he keeps getting even better. He was pure perfection in his all of his big numbers, ie: Solidarity, Angry Dance, Dream Ballet, and of course Electricity. His dancing form is just amazing!

A few other notes about tonight's show:

Boxing -
I noticed Drew laughing when Cameron(as Michael) hit George in the crotch. It made the scene even funnier.

Shine -
I enjoyed Molly Garner as a substitute Mrs. W. She has a nice singing voice, and great diction. She is not as gruff or harsh as most Mrs. Wilkinsons, and smiles a lot more than most. However in most of her scenes with dialog I found her to be too soft spoken.

Express -
Applause tonight at the "scene change" (when the silver curtain goes up to reveal all the colors).

Letter -
This was quite weepy and teary. I haven't seen audience members tear up for a while, but tonight many of them did.

Born to Boogie -
Applause for the rope skipping, which was among the finest I have seen in a long time. When Drew did his flip off the piano at the end, I realized I was probably seeing my last ever piano flip (until either I go to London or the show is revived).

Deep Into the Ground -
I found Rich Hebert to be more emotional tonight than usual. At one point it looked like his eyes were about to tear up. It was very moving.

Electricity -
OMG OMG! Everything was so perfect. Standing ovation by over half of the audience.

Letter reprise -
The Letter Reprise in Act II was even tearier for Drew. It was obvious the emotions of the night had built up. His face was all wet by the end.

As an added bonus casting director Nora Brennan was here today for both shows. By coincidence Nora happened to be sitting next to myself and FifeMajor tonight. It was very pleasant chatting with her. I think she was a bit surprised that there are so many avid fans of the show, and that we all converged this weekend. Nora told me she has been following Drew since he was 9 years old. I expected that Nora would be kind of jaded by now, having been with the show for so long. But she was as blown away by Drew's performance as the rest of us fans.

Can't wait to see what the rest of the weekend has in store!
-Chris

[porschesrule]

Talkin' Broadway has this review from Hartford:

http://www.talkinbroadway.com/regional/ct/ct207.html

[mikey2573]

Saw Drew as Billy last night (my first time seeing him). Another very strong Billy. His "Electricity" got a partial standing ovation. Cameron was on as Michael and he got exit applause when he left the stage in his tutu in Act 2. No musical mishaps tonight with the orchestra (what the hell was that at the matinee? ) and I love the amount of emotion all of these Billys put into "The Letter".
One of the things I noticed today while waiting to enter the theater was the number of young children (and I mean REALLY young children, like 6 or 7) attending the performances. I found myself wondering how much their parents knew about this show and what their reaction would be to the "salty" language. I know the show has been extensively "cleaned up" for the tour, but there are still a lot of "shi*s" and even one very prominent "f**king" (when Michael says, "It's f**ing weird if you ask me."). I was sitting across the aisle from a dad who was with his son who looked about 8 and his son frequently asked his dad, "What did they say?" It went something like this:

Debbie: You look like a D***HEAD to me!
(Audience laughter)
Boy (to Dad): What did she say?
Dad: Shhhh!

Debbie: If you want, I'll show you me hoo-hoo.
(Audience laughter.)
Boy (to Dad): What did she say?
Dad: Shhhh!

I don't think Dad was prepared for that!
Two more shows to go!

[angelenroute]

I'll post a full essay-like summary of the experience eventually, but I--of course--have to echo the praise for Drew, as well as just give you a quick "feel" for the weekend here.

For those reading at home around the world, we are a very large group of fans here. There are about 25 of us in town, and even more showing up today from NY and elsewhere. Yesterday I joined the group at stage door after the matinee. Hugs and handshakes hello to old friends, handshakes and friendly chat with new friends I'd only known here on the Forum. It's always fun for me to introduce new Forum members to the screen names who they know so well. That's "maria" over here and this man here is "johnnyc"... It's a lot of fun, especially since just 5 years ago I was in their position, showing up to The Edison Café and meeting these folks for the first time.

We made a nice walk over to our restaurant--picture 20 or so people walking as a group through a beautiful park to the restaurant on the other side. We sat in one long table--don't think anyone took pictures, but lemme know if "you" did!

And of course shows themselves on weekends like these are fun, because you walk around before the show and at Intermission to smile at fan friends and exchange notes on what you've all just experienced in an amazing Angry Dance and more. It truly is THE greatest way to see any show anywhere, not just Billy.

Drew was every bit the awesome and awe-inspiring talent I remembered from Baltimore. You've no doubt heard high praise for him here and there on the Forum. He really, really is that good and more! A truest of true triple threats, Drew WILL be seen again soon in the big show of Broadway and beyond. It's a mortal lock. And he's such a gentle, sweet soul when you meet him in person. I shook his hand briefly and wished him the best for Brazil, but wanted to just stand there and heap praise on the kid. He had so many fans around him--a hundred?--and as they swarmed the stage door, camera flashes went off and he slowly made his way through the throngs. Other child performers from the cast and just local schools or something all ran to him for autographs and hugs. And every single one of us there knew we were in a special place and time.

Okay, it's 9:30 AM and I'm still waking up. Time to get ready for a great day ahead. One thing is already very clear: Billy Elliot is putting the Hart in Hartford.

Sean

Sean Patrick Brennan/angelenroute

[jdmag44]

OMG IT,S OVER. I am so tired
just wanted to tell you all that as wonderful as the final show was
This afternoons show NOAH'S final was one of the most powerful and beautiful experiences I have had in my 59 shows. Tears flowed like rivers and Janet gave the most beautiful testimonial to Nosh. Noah gave one of his best performances and gave us all a special gift
He did a PIANO FLIP. I will let the many other forum members who are better at this review stuff tell you all about this amazing show in more detail

Joe

[michaelJ]

What a wonderful weekend! A heartfelt thank you to all the cast, and particularly to all the kids and their parents and family members who have gone through so much to bring us this great show. The three Billy's filled my weekend with great performances - the dancing was fantastic! All three of you were born to dance and it is a joy to see you do it, so keep dancin ya little bast....!
lol
Hope to see you back on stage real soon (in the states)!

[CJ-Rochester]

Sun. June 23, 2013 matinee -- Hartford final weekend

Billy - Noah
Michael - Jake
Tall Boy - Cameron
Older Billy u/s - Christopher Howard

The preshow announcements, when they usually give the names who are playing Billy, Michael, etc., have always started with that day's Billy. Today they started with Michael and went down the rest of the list. Then the announcer said: "and for his final time in the North American tour, the role of Billy will be played by Noah Parets". A huge cheer went up in the audience. There was quite a substantial number of Noah fans present. It made sense to put the Billy last, because the applause would have drowned out everything else if he had been named first. Btw there were also a number of Jake fans in the audience, given that it was his final show in North America as Michael.

Janet Dickenson was back today as Mrs. W. I guess her injury the other day wasn't so bad after all. It was great seeing her on stage for these final performances.

One thing that has always impressed me about Noah is his voice. Both singing and speaking, he is clear as a bell.

Noah gave a very solid and technically flawless performance through the entire show. Most of the numbers had huge applause, largely due to the number of family, friends, and fans in attendence. One very enthusiastic lady down the row from me gave every number in the show a standing ovation.

With most 'leaving shows' experienced viewers may pick up extra little glances and gestures here and there. At the end of "Solidarity" I noticed Janet beaming with pride as Noah delivered a perfect finish with his pirouettes.

"Express" also had an unusually strong intensity. Noah and Jake make a great pair, and it was clear that Noah was having the time of his life dancing this number for his final time.

"Born to Boogie" included some great rope skipping and a piano flip at the end. This was the first piano flip any of us fans had ever seen from Noah. Later at the stage door he told us it was his second time in a real performance, but he has done them many times in practice.

The tutu scene in Act II was another case where Jake and Noah worked so well together. In the "just a widdle bit" section, Jake now starts his antics with pretending he is casting a fishing line at Billy and then reeling him in. It's hard to describe, but very fun to see. Exit applause for Jake tonight at the end of the scene.

Electricity -
Technically perfect and a standing ovation by about half of the audience.

Letter reprise -
This was the weepiest I have seen since Peter Mazurowski at the final Broadway show. Noah's face was all emotion. Even Molly Garner (Mum) seemed a little caught up in the emotions.

When Jake rode out on his bike to say the final goodbye, Noah and he took an extra long look at each other. Then came the words that really brought the reality home: "See ya Jake." "Yeah, see ya Noah."


After the curtain call, Janet Dickenson made some post-show announcements. She noted that today was the end of the tour, and said that although the show is going to Brazil some of their "family" will not be. She named 7 or 8 people including backstage, orchestra, and merchandise, who are leaving the company after today. She did not mention names of any cast members who would be leaving after today. She also pointed out some of the cast who have been with the show the longest: Joel Blum, Rich Hebert, Brionna Trilling, and Tim Funnell. Madison Barnes clearly should have been included in this list, although I think it may have been just an oversight.

At the stage door, despite the 92 degree heat and direct sun, everyone hung around for quite a while. Noah stayed and happily signed programs, and posed for photos. One year and 93 performances as Billy. Well done! See ya Noah.
-Chris