March 2009 US

[Mike]

3-28-09 2PM SHOW

TOMMY & DAVID

I'm not good at giving reviews because everything still amazes me. Tommy gave a great performance and as Johnnyc has said his spins are unbelievable. I met his parents at the stage door after the show and they are really nice people. I took some pics and will go thru them after i get back home and send some to Billy Whiz to post. ( and also to edit to make me look as good as him LOL) It was interesting seeing a lil different version of the show since there are some things different in the US show.

Trent and Kiril were also at the stage door and i got some pics of them also and got to meet Trent's dad. David is a fantastic Michae!!! He plays the crowd so well !! Greg was great also. I waited outside the stage door to speak to him but th stage manager said he was giving a back stage tour. Everyone else was excellent also.

BTW after talking to Trents dad, Kiril & Tommys parents i found out that Kiril will be on tonite and Tommy again torrow for the sunday afternoon show.

I'll try to post another mini review after tonite show and maybe add to this one.

[johnnyc]

Tommy gave a great performance and as Johnnyc has said his spins are unbelievable. .

Mike, are you by chance referring to "Tornado Tommy?"

[Billy Whiz]

I took some pics and will go thru them after i get back home and send some to Billy Whiz to post. ( and also to edit to make me look as good as him LOL)

With the camera gear you have Mike your photos will be brilliant.

Thanks for the review. Looking forward to your others.

[Mike]

Sat 3-28-09 8pm

Kiril & David

Great show and all i can think to say about Kiril is WOW !! His dancing defies the imagination!! At the end of the dance with older Billy ( excuse me if i'm wrong) where he spins across the stage to stop in front of Greg he was so fast that it was hard to follow him. You can see it in his face that he truly loves to dance and is having fun.

Again David put on a spectacular performance. He is a entertainer pure and simple.

Greg adds his personal touch to the role of Jackie Elliott and makes it seem the part was wrote with him in mind. The emotion he puts into each scene is fantastic. His dancing and singing when they find out Billy has been accepted leaves everyone in dying with laughter.

I know it has been discussed time and again about the differences between the Broadway & London versions and really i think they work each in their own way. For example during the 2pm show when i saw how they had changed angry dance i didnt really like it. But then at the 8pm performance i watched closer and saw how they involved more of the cast and think it works either way. I liked how in the Broadway version they have Billy throw his blankets and matteress to the stage. Shows more angry emotion !!

I sat next to a couple and their daughter from Maryland who were seeing the show for the 1st time. They had seen the movie but had only read reviews of BETM. They looked at me funny when i said i had attended the 2pm performance also and then even stranger when i said i had seen the show 6 times in London. I of course told them i was a newbie and my number of times seeing was nothing compared to others. After the show they said they would see it again and could understand why people keep coming back.

At the stage door after the show Kiril was mobbed by a crowd of screaming teenage girls. He was very gracious and took all the time it took to sign their playbills and take pics with them. The chaperones kept everything under control and i think London could learn form the NYC group on how to keep the actors safe but at the same time give their fans a some interaction with the actors young and old. I had to wait for a while but i was able to talk to Greg and he is a very friendly person.

As i keep saying i'm not good at giving reviews because usually all i'm saying is my personal observations and opinions. Also if anyone who hasnt been to the Broadway version wants a playbill i was able to get some extras from a very nice usher and would be willing to send them to you for the cost of postage. I think i have around 25 to 30.

[ERinVA]

This review of the show is part of a larger article in the March 2009 issue of the GC Advocate, the student paper of the CUNY Graduate Center, which is published six times a year.

While Broadway musicals are often thought of as lavish and spectacular, Billy Elliot is subdued and visually conservative in comparison to Breuer’s DollHouse. Written by Lee Hall, directed by Stephen Daldry, and featuring music by Elton John, the new musical was adapted from the 2000 film of the same name (which was also written by Hall and directed by Daldry). Set against the backdrop of Britain’s devastating 1984 mineworkers’ strike, Billy Elliot is the story of a boy who discovers, much to his surprise, that he has a talent for, and a love of, dancing. Like blue-collar dance tales from Footloose to Flashdance, this one is a feel-good tale at heart, the poverty and oppressive moral code of the community serving primarily as a foil for the hopes and ambitions of the protagonist. Unlike those others, though, this show succeeds in keeping its class issues relatively front-and-center, and even in maintaining some political bite. "Solidarity," a major production number half-way through the first act, takes pains to dramatize (and choreograph) the strike, while the second act opens with "Merry Christmas, Maggie Thatcher," a song in which the miners cheerfully wish for their prime minister’s death.

It is tempting for many to claim that its politics are what sets Billy Elliot apart from other shows, but this is hardly the first high-profile musical to tackle such issues. Canonical musical theatre fare–from Showboat, to South Pacific, to Oklahoma!, to West Side Story, to Hair among others–has confronted class, race, and other such topical matters again and again, with varying degrees of success. Each time, the show in question is heralded as a surprise, an exception to what we imagine to be the vapid musical norm.

What really sets Billy Elliot apart from so much other Broadway fare is the palpable commitment of its cast, the infectious joy that they exude while performing. Also unusual for a musical is that the music itself is mostly forgettable; I don’t imagine that a great many cast recordings are going to be sold in the theatre lobby. This is in part because the young actors performing in the title role (Kiril Kulish, who starred when I attended the show, is one of three boys who play Billy in rotation) were cast more for their dancing than for their singing. Kulish can carry a tune, but he doesn’t own the stage until he starts to dance. The entire team seems aware of where the show’s strengths lie, though, and they play those strengths for all they’re worth. Daldry’s direction, Ian MacNeil’s elegantly effective set, and even John’s music are all designed to take a back seat to Billy and his friends when they begin to pirouette. (My mother, who was my guest at the performance, would be greatly disappointed if I did not at least mention show-stopper David Bologna, who plays Billy’s flaming best friend Michael with charisma, confidence, and showmanship that are as effective as they are calculated, and who presides over the production’s single most memorable song, a celebration of cross-dressing and individuality called "Expressing Yourself").

[Mike]

sun 3-29-09

Tommy & David

Tommy gave us a excellent performance today. its amazing the talent this young man has. the long pause he takes after being asked if he wants to see Debbies *hoo hoo* is priceless. also the emotion he portrays during the letter makes it seem so real

David was his usual comedic self working the crowd like a pro.

Erin Whyland is a amazing Debbie.

Santino Fontana plays the role of Tony with such emotion that you forget its only a play.

i was speaking to someone on the phone after returning to my hotel and they couldnt understand why i would see the same musical 3 times. i tried to explain to them that each time you see a somewhat different show or catch little things you havent noticed before.

i did notice that they are using the "its cold in here line again" and i said yesterday that the angry dance is somewhat different than in the UK version I guess one way to think about it is that if they dont keep changing things around a little bit every now and then the show might become somewhat stale

one thing i did miss was at the start of the 2nd act they dont have anyone trading banter with the crowd. guess i might have been lucky in that respect because i sat in row AA for two of my shows this weekend. ( got really lucky with finding one ticket)

[angelenroute]

Tommy gave a great performance and as Johnnyc has said his spins are unbelievable. .

Mike, are you by chance referring to "Tornado Tommy?"

Johnnyc, that's Tazmanian Tommy--but close! =)

[angelenroute]

I'm not good at giving reviews because everything still amazes me.

You ARE good at giving reviews and it's BECAUSE everything still amazes you! I have enjoyed all of your reviews of these past few days, please always post and feel free to post more as you remember things any time! =)

Sean

[angelenroute]

...I sat with this really nice family from Colorado that happened to be standing behind me in line for rush (they used their teenagers' student IDs for tickets, and I gave them my extra) and was happily answering all sorts of random theatre and BETM questions during intermission. ...Good times, lol...

I might have to plead for the chance to get in on this student thing with you Geri! You're always eligible for two tickets and usually get one? =)

[johnnyc]

Johnnyc, that's Tazmanian Tommy--but close! =)

Sorry, angelenroute, I took it upon myself to rename the lad.