June 2009 Reviews - NYC

[johnnyc]

Interesting...according to the BETM Twitter, it says Tanner did the matinee today.

He did do the matinee, and was given a bouquet of flowers at the finale. So that show was his last in NYC.

[Billy Whiz]

I was actually at the show last night (Friday June 5th) and found out it was Tanners last show according to Greg and he is leaving back for London today (Sat). What a shame because he truly is amazing, but I will write a review tonight when I have more time. I also have some pics. Just have to figure out how to upload them later

I'm sorry but all of this information is incorrect. Tanner did the Saturday matinee which was his last show and he was presented with flowers at the end of it. His last show will leave lasting memories with the New York audience as he was fantastic and it was clear that the cast were very sorry that he was leaving. His mum told me that he was going home for a well deserved break with his family before returning to London.

[SatinandLace]

I'm glad Tanner is getting a break at home after all the continent-hopping and rehearsals he's been through lately. I know you UKers are excited Tanner will eventually be returning to London, but something tells me Broadway hasn't seen the last of him.

[sgv123]

^ I agree.... like i said earlier.....I can def. see him being the first replacement.

[Cherri]

Interesting...according to the BETM Twitter, it says Tanner did the matinee today.

He did do the matinee, and was given a bouquet of flowers at the finale. So that show was his last in NYC.

...and he gave a fantastic performance and pretty much brought down the house, at the finish.

...and I loved seeing you, again, Johnny C!
Cherri

[Cherri]

I was actually at the show last night (Friday June 5th) and found out it was Tanners last show according to Greg and he is leaving back for London today (Sat). What a shame because he truly is amazing, but I will write a review tonight when I have more time. I also have some pics. Just have to figure out how to upload them later

I'm sorry but all of this information is incorrect. Tanner did the Saturday matinee which was his last show and he was presented with flowers at the end of it. His last show will leave lasting memories with the New York audience as he was fantastic and it was clear that the cast were very sorry that he was leaving. His mum told me that he was going home for a well deserved break with his family before returning to London.

Am always grateful for your input, Billy Whiz, and I was ever so delighted to share some time with you "On Broadway" along with the rest of the gathering.

The photo of the 3 Billys with their Tony's is absolutely fabulous and priceless. I was sooo proud of them and was hooting and clapping so loud in front of my T.V. that a member of my family came down to see if I was okay. (I think they meant "mentally"!)
Take care. Cherri

[Rich B]

Another Billython has come and gone so I thought I’d give a condensed review of all the shows. Of all the Billythons I’ve had, this was by far the most memorable.

On Thursday, June 4th, I was treated to a superb performance by Kiril with David B as Michael. Though he is 6 months older since the last time I saw the show, his voice is still good, although a bit lower. His acting was really good and his dancing? Well, in a word, Fantastic!! In fact, the entire cast was on their “A” game that night which resulted in a thunderous standing ovation at the end.

On Friday, after a pizza lunch with the 4 Billys (yes, I’m still buzzing about that! ), I was treated to a performance by Tanner and Keean as Michael. I last saw Tanner in London back in March and just when you thought he couldn’t get any better, he raises the bar. Some folks near me were disappointed that one of the original Billys was not on that night and that we had the ‘understudy’ . I told them that Tanner was indeed a regular Billy, on loan from London, and after the show, they were gobsmacked at his talent. They couldn’t believe anyone could be better than what they just saw. This show also enabled me to see Keean as Michael for the first time. What a natural performer! Between David B, Frank and Keean, we’ve got a great supply of cheeky Michaels.

Saturday afternoon was the same paring as Friday night (Tanner/Keean) and if the boys were tired, you couldn’t tell, as both of them upped their performance over the night before. As has been mentioned in other threads, that was Tanners last performance before taking a holiday and then going back to London. He was presented with flowers at the end which was a nice touch. Stephen Daldry made an appearance at the stage door after the show and though he seemed to be in a hurry, he was nice enough to chat with fans and sign autographs.

There was no matinee on Sunday due to a little event called the Tonys! After a pre-Tony dinner with several forum members, we headed to the theatre to watch BETM clean up! My hands are still sore from clapping!

Tuesday night was the last night of my Billython and I was fortunate enough to see David A as Billy and David B as Michael. I’ve heard comments about David Alvarez’s voice changing and yes, it’s much lower, however, it has settled down and as long as he sings in a lower key, his voice is just fine. David played a very intense Billy, filled with emotion and angst and this was evident when he sang Electricity with more emotion than I’ve ever heard before from anyone else. And his dancing? No need to comment – 'knock-your-socks-off' brilliant as usual. I’d like to also put in a word about Maria Connelly, who played Debbie in place of Erin. I think this was the first time I’d seen the New York show with a Debbie other than Erin and Maria was superb. Clear diction with perfect timing – an all around great job, Maria!

Rich

[angelenroute]

Review For Wednesday, June 10th, 2009 8 PM Performance
PART 1 - (should be working right now haha so will continue later)

Billy: Trent Kowalik
Michael: Keean Johnson
Tall Boy: Tommy Batchelor

Though I have still yet to see David Bologna perform, I have now finally been able to catch my fellow Long Islander, Trent Kowalik! Yes, I have only seen 5 performances of Billy Elliot The Musical but I have somehow (thank the Lord) seen 5 different Billys! Corey, Kiril, David, Tommy, Trent. And this time I also had the nice treat of seeing Keean as Michael and Tommy as Tall Boy.

Agh, my lunch break's already over, should have begun this sooner. Okay so then for right now just a couple of notes to whet (or ruin) your appetite:

Trent IS a fantastic actor already, so his dreams of going into acting are an excellent idea. He's got a very cool and unique face too, something which will help him stand out as a great star in TV and/or movies in the very near future! His Angry Dance is the best there is and the number, without being compared to London's, is outstanding on its own and the electric shock it gives the audience was very palpable throughout.

Keean is an absolutely endearing, smiley and lovable Michael and I really hope he moves up the ranks soon so to speak as it is extremely evident that he has an incredible stage presense and manages to keep that adorable smile and sparkling eyes shining throughout the hard work of his Expressing Yourself.

On the down side, I had sort of an Icarus reaction last night, having gotten too close to the show both literally and figuratively (will explain later) and appropriately was sweating in my seat--due to poor air conditioning.

Okay, must really stop for now but will write more as soon as I can later on. Good seeing HugsY2k and jillmichael last night! Hope you had good travels home last night and today!

Be back later =)
Sean

[Billy Whiz]

On the down side, I had sort of an Icarus reaction last night

That will teach you to take your wings to the show, Sean

[angelenroute]

Review For Wednesday, June 10th, 2009 8 PM Performance
PART 1 - (should be working right now haha so will continue later)

Billy: Trent Kowalik
Michael: Keean Johnson
Tall Boy: Tommy Batchelor

Okay so PART 2 now...

First off, this Icarus thing: My seats were too close and too far left. I bought row E left orchestra seats, 9, 11, 13 and 15 for myself and my guests. They each paid for their own tickets but as I had seen the show before and they hadn't, I took Seat 15. It wasn't a bad seat per se, and they all loved the show, but I realized how much I enjoy seeing the whole show from a more central position. I looked around a bit and it seemed that the central orchestra even the last few rows would still be a much better view of the whole show than what I had. So, you live and learn. That was the literal part of my Icarus reaction, I was just too close to the stage to appreciate it as much as possible. As for the more figurative sense, and maybe some of you have had shows like this...I found myself not fully enveloped in the story because I was directing the show in my head. Like even though all of the actors who were on for other actors' roles all hit their cues and got their lines done fine, I was pulling for them and worrying for them too much. I really gotta just relax more.

Okay so let's see, what else...

Keean was a great Michael and he seemed so comfortable playing that role even though he hasn't done it that often yet. You can tell he has rehearsed it a lot and is very, very comfortable in it. At the end of the number, the audience made their usual extremely loud cheers of delight for him and he had excellent timing at the end as the lights go out.

Punches. This is random--I know--but the couple of times when punches are thrown (Dad at Tony, Billy at Posh Boy), they really do a great job of timing their slaps with the punches. I heard a few groans from audience members when these happened as it really seemed like people were being hit hard.

Tommy's Mr. Braithwaite has gotten even better since I saw him in February. He has also now finally added in the bit with the baskets of pansies pose which he hadn't done originally. Since he had made note of saying he didn't want to copy the London show and hadn't seen it, I wonder if someone told him about this bit recently or if he saw the show in person or on video. People were whispering behind us about how good a dancer he was, and he really did look in great form. After the show we saw him briefly and he told us he's having the time of his life.

Angry dance was fantastic as I mentioned in PART 1 of this review. I know those who know the British show say that the London version is much better, but as I've already forgotten the differences, I have to say--and the New York audiences obviously agree--it's an awesome scene/number nonetheless and remains one of my favorites.

At intermission, I had a rum and diet coke. Just thought you should know.

Because I'm a novice at the show still, I didn't realize that when the boys come up at the start of the Second Act that they "work" the left aisle looking for donations for the miners. That was a cute little bit even though only the 15-20 of us on that little corner really realized/heard what they were saying. =)

Before Greg sings his song, he was much more jovial and drunk-happy than I'd remembered in the past. I seem to recall him being moodier at older shows. Overall, post-Tony's I think he put even more acting into his part than normal, and since he's always been very strong in his angry bits, it was more evident in his crying/tearful bits. He looked like he was crying hard a couple of times.

Keean's dancing in the tutu was very different from other Michaels I've seen and I really enjoyed watching it. It was--like his performance in general--very carefree and fun, and I really liked it. When I congratulated him after the show, he lit up with that sweet smile and again, bright, glinty eyes. =) Although I was very surprised to see how little he is. On the videos from We Are Billy Elliot, he looks taller, but he's just a wee lad still. =) So lots more time in the show hopefully!

I'm complimenting Keean so much and hardly Trent at all, but honestly, Trent is just so hands down awesome at his acting, dancing and singing that it's easy to forget he's still just a kid soon starting high school. So when I don't say enough about Trent, it's because I can't say enough so much that I don't say enough. To me, that sentence makes sense. LOL

Of the three people with me last night, one was my corker [ehh, that should be coworker, funny typo though haha] who's a Wantagh native (where Trent is from). We bought these tickets months ago and though I hoped to see Trent and she did too, when we realized we would be seeing him, we were both ecstatic. She has a connection to his family too. When she was in high school, she used to be in the local church musical productions under the direction of Trent's mom who was the musical director there. I remember when I first told her that Trent Kowalik was from Wantagh, she said, "I know that name somewhere." So last night, tho Trent's mom wasn't there, my coworker told Trent how she knew his mom and he smiled and agreed to give his mom a note from her. She spoke to Trent's sister for a while too and his sister said Trent would definitely give their mom the note. My coworker is very proud her town has made it to Broadway through Trent. =)

I asked her what she thought of the show--what I should add to my review--and she said that though she's got an obvious hometown bias, she thought the show was amazing and she was so impressed with the scenery, the accents and also Trent's singing. As we walked to Penn Station, she said, "You can tell Trent has a great voice that he could totally boom out some numbers, but instead he's so good at still sounding like a little boy, and it was so nice to hear that in his voice when he sang." One of my other friends was blown away by the show too but I haven't spoken to him since last night when he left earlier to catch a different train back to Long Island. But at 2 AM on his Facebook this morning, I saw he posted: "Billy Elliot? One word: AWESOMETASTIC!" So I think that shares a bit of their enthusiasm. =)

Ahh, it's almost 7:30 PM now and I'd like to go home. =) As usual, I'm giving you a crap review filled with mostly emotional tidbits. Just how my brain tends to work with this show I guess. =) As usual, if I think of more to share I will. And as always, feel free to ask me any questions here or by PM.

Ta Ta
Sean
(angelenroute)