Billy Elliot the Forum

This is the first review from Everett:

http://edmondsbeacon.villagesoup.com/p/ ... tt/1548543

A second, positive review:

http://www.northcountyoutlook.com/story ... /9890.html

A thousand pardons for running so late with this writeup.

I recently saw 4 spectacular performances of BETM as mounted by the Village Theatre at the Everett Performing Arts Center in Everett, Washington.

I flew up there on Friday, leaving myself the one other “Big Thing” to do in the Greater Seattle Area -- touring the Boeing mega manufacturing and assembly plant just down the street. Gotta love those monster 747s, but the experience was not that fabby, leaving me hungry for greater things to see.

The performance schedule in Everett allowed for a BillyManiac such as myself to see 4 shows in just 2 days. That’s great timing and adds to the value of a quick trip north. And I gotta say, with Everett being just a few minutes south of British Columbia, the people up there have been affected by our northern neighbors. Everyone is sooo nice.

The theatre itself is smallish, but it’s a great design with a generous rake in the seating so that there’s really not a bad seat in the entire place. I had spent about 2 nights battling the online ticketing site a month back and was pleased to finally figure out that the ticketing site was manic to sell me “good” seats back in the standard premium seats area. I was of course looking for as close to the stage as possible, so I had to allow the site to attempt to sell me about 20-25 other seats before it finally let me wander around in the front four rows.

Imagine my surprise to find myself about 10 feet from the giant orchestra pit with another 10 feet to the performing area of the stage. I was pumped. Sometimes the BillyGhods grace your efforts with really good seats at a theatre you’ve never been to before.

Small Boy came on stage as the house lights dimmed and the show began. Some familiar images and dialogue accompanied the newsreel that was also augmented by totally new, more instructional words. I suspect it was just enough to allow all those Billy virgins in the audience to figure out where and when they were in history.

The Small Boy was 2 years older than what we’ve been used to in London and I really liked this adjustment because Brandon Oke was phenomenal with all the extra stuff, especially the gags leading up to “Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher.” Brandon has been on stage apparently since he could walk which explains how sharp he was with his lines. Excellent idea. SB should be older from now on.

Then it was time for the adults in BETM to shine during “Stars Look Down.” I had to stifle a gasp as they swelled into that song, singing as clearly and crisply as I’ve ever heard it sung. I thought the entire cast must be chosen from the ranks of a local opera society or something because they just boomed out the words. And of course this isn’t 14 men and 8 women (don’t hate me, I don’t know exactly how many adult cast are normally on the London stage, but in Everett they must have been as much as 50% less than what I am used to). They were sooo good, I’d say they were just showing off raw talent.

My first Billy was Nikita Baryshnikov and like the other three Billys, he plunged right into his role with a hearty “F**ked if I know!” Gotta love that, especially in a smallish regional setting. All the boys have been doing their Billys since the second week of May starting in Issaquah. So I think all of them were pretty similar in how they sang and acted and danced Billy.

The Dancing Billy in Everett on each night was a bit constricted by the size of the stage so the acro and ballet that could be done on a full London stage is cut down by a little more than half. I’m getting used to this. I’m finally softening up my attitude on the changes. Some might even say I’m no longer the curmudgeonly BillyManiac I used to be. That doesn’t mean I don’t long for spectacular tumbling runs and exquisite ballet leaps.

Vincent Bennett’s Billy was something I was looking forward to a lot since seeing him in some of the preview videos. He's a very charismatic Billy, but at the same time he's quite relaxed on stage. I think Vincent was mostly at home with his vocal talents. All four boys were definitely learning to use their voices to greater or lesser effect but I really liked how Vincent handled the vocals.

My third show I was on the front row (hooray) and got to see Philipp Mergener’s Billy at the Sunday matinee. The third show of a Billython can sometimes be a bit of a stretch for me but such was not the case with Philipp. He danced solidly and interacted perfectly with the adult cast as well as those mean old Ballet Girls. Philipp really sank his teeth into his role and gave a solid performance.

My fourth show brought me to Bito Gottesman, a Billy as foreign to my idea of Billy as I could imagine. But as different as Bito played his Billy, all the hallmarks necessary were there to enjoy. Since the majority of the audience in Everett had probably seen BETM roughly a thousand percent less than I they probably didn’t even notice how different Bito’s Billy was.

I’ve never seen a Billy so waifish on stage, so ethereal, so lightly treading the boards as Bito’s Billy. His singing was kinda like Bjork might sound playing the role. He sang about half the time in a soft falsetto that dropped into a lower register when the lines suited. Sometime during “Solidarity” I noticed something else Bito was doing. Almost all of his dialogue ended with an upspeak. Sometimes it was more pronounced than other times, but it was always there. The questioning tone that the upspeak brought out added to the distinctiveness of this Billy. This was a Billy who did not fit into normal parameters and it was quite special. Quite enjoyable.

All the Billys in this production seemed to be Smiley Billys. They were very comfy on stage. No nerves showed. As has been mentioned elsewhere, the wire work for the Billys had all four of them looking down during their spins on the flying rig. Dunno how that works but the audience in Everett loved what they saw.

Of the featured adults on stage, all of them were quite accessible. Finally, a George I didn’t want to toss my shoe at. Mr. Braithwaite came across a little more fun, and his tardiness on stage after a delay at the “Rose & Crown” had him more besodded than I remember ever seeing. Billy’s dad was quite solid and not at all menacing as he sometimes comes across. Mrs. W was great fun to watch. She was not as flashy as some Mrs. Ws but she sang and danced to great effect. I enjoyed all the adults. I don’t think I saw any understudies in the major roles but I’m not certain.

As for the other kids on stage, Jasmine’s Harrick’s Debbie was a hoot. Very passive/aggressive. Maybe that’s because American audiences only get to hear her say “Hoo-Hoo” instead of “f**ny.”

I saw both of the young actors playing Michael. Bryan Kinder is especially appealing even hidden behind his formidable spectacles. Quinn Liebling played his Michael as campily as I’ve ever seen. Both Michaels dragged out every gasp and gape they could. In “Expressing Yourself” Michael’s room was ingenious. It slides right out from audience stage left just where it should be, but there’s an armoire on the right end. Michael gets all of Billy’s outfits from the little closet and the door is shut. A few moments later that door opens and through it come six gracefully garbed dancers in top hats, tails and canes. An inspired set. I loved it. What giant dancing dresses?

The most solid element in the Village Theatre’s BETM is the set. It’s bold, it’s brash, it’s utilitarian all at the same time. It is well behaved. The two-level kitchen/Billy’s room is built of steel and wood and doesn’t seem to mind when Billy’s kicking the hell out of it in “Angry Dance.” I never saw a single missed cue caused by the set. It works magnificently. And I gotta say, it looks even in closeup like something built by true artisans of stagecraft.

Cynthia Savage gets a blue ribbon for her costume designs in this BETM. The police uniforms looked starched and wooly. The miners were kitted out magnificently. I’ve usually been left wanting when it comes to costumes in regional productions of BETM, but Cynthia gets high praise from me.

This regional production of Billy Elliot the Musical is first class all the way.

You’ve got till the 31st of July to catch it for yourself. You could even go up on the 28th for three nights and see the show five times in a row. Go on. You know you wanna.

tzwicky

Thank you, tzwicky, for the excellent detailed review. Even if it might be "late", it is a lot better than "never"; as in my never posting about the 3 shows I saw of this excellent production on its closing weekend in Issaquah. Did not get to see Nikita in the title role, but really enjoyed the others, particularly Philipp's beautiful ballet and Vincent's wonderful portrayal of the bairn.

The extensive training of the Billys in this production really shines through. Aside from regionals that featured Billy school Billys (I maintain that distinction), this is the finest production I've seen among the regionals.

For those who are considering taking the advice to see the show in Everett, the website indeed is not friendly to superfans looking for front row only. What may work a whole lot better is to call the theater. If it is like Issaquah, they will be happy to sell front row only tickets. And you might as well ask if the same deal is available from Issaquah, where your 2nd ticket to Billy Elliot is 50% off!