La Mirada and Glendale Reviews

kport
Site Moderator
Site Moderator
Posts: 7205
Joined: Mon Feb 14, 2011 11:54 pm

Re: La Mirada and Glendale Reviews

Post by kport »

A very interesting review from a labor/union supporting source:

http://peoplesworld.org/billy-elliot-br ... ian-drama/
User avatar
porschesrule
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 9368
Joined: Fri Jun 12, 2009 2:02 am
Location: Rhode Island, USA

Re: La Mirada and Glendale Reviews

Post by porschesrule »

The Edge Media Network chimes in with yet another glowing review of the La Mirada BETM production. How glowing is it? Here's the first sentence: "Every so often a play comes along that is exceptional on every level." Get the picture? :)

http://www.edgenewyork.com/entertainmen ... he_musical
User avatar
porschesrule
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 9368
Joined: Fri Jun 12, 2009 2:02 am
Location: Rhode Island, USA

Re: La Mirada and Glendale Reviews

Post by porschesrule »

Online site Performing Arts Live, which bills itself as "the most comprehensive online source for information about theater, dance and classical music events in Southern California", has posted: "BILLY ELLIOT" @LaMiradaTheatre has a major hit on its hands" the reviews are excellent. WOW!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Performi ... k=timeline
kport
Site Moderator
Site Moderator
Posts: 7205
Joined: Mon Feb 14, 2011 11:54 pm

Re: La Mirada and Glendale Reviews

Post by kport »

“Billy Elliot the Musical” Reviewed by Dan Berkowitz
There are lots of reasons Billy Elliot the Musical walked off with 10 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Based on the popular 2000 film, with a solid book by Lee Hall and a stirring score by Elton John, the story is chock-full of laughs and tears, family love and arguments, eccentric but lovable characters, class differences and political discord, plus the heart-tugging struggle of a young boy to overcome obstacles, triumph over adversity, and achieve a dream which almost everyone else has deemed impossible. On paper, it sounds like a candidate for Thelma Ritter’s famous putdown in All About Eve, “Sheesh, what a story. Everything but the bloodhounds nippin’ at her rear end.” But on the stage, it’s magic.
This paragraph, for me at least, pretty much sums up the attraction of this musical:
Billy Elliot is one of those shows which, when done well, is particularly satisfying, for while it deals with hard truths and life lessons – the tension between fathers and sons, the ache of a parent who wants a better life for his kids, the frustration of wanting to be true to yourself but not knowing if you can make it – it’s entertaining without shortchanging the drama. The show has almost too much heart, but it leavens the tears with genuine comedy, and leaves the audience thrilled and uplifted at the end. What more do you want?
http://www.thelosangelespost.org/billy- ... berkowitz/
cglaid
Small Boy
Posts: 86
Joined: Mon Aug 15, 2011 4:43 pm

Re: La Mirada and Glendale Reviews

Post by cglaid »

mikey2573 wrote:"The final spins are not in a prone position, but at least this afternoon, Billy started the spins entirely upside down in some weird almost swim like position and then physically had to throw his body over to complete the rest of the spins upright. It looked SO scary and SO unsafe. It made me so uncomfortable."

The man in charge of the flying sequences for this production is Paul Rubin, aka The Fly Guy. He spent close to 2 decades flying Cathy Rigby in PETER PAN. Something tells me Mitchell is in good hands.
That may be, but please do not belittle my observation until you've actually seen it.
User avatar
porschesrule
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 9368
Joined: Fri Jun 12, 2009 2:02 am
Location: Rhode Island, USA

Re: La Mirada and Glendale Reviews

Post by porschesrule »

Theatermania offers this mixed review -- the critic loved Mitchell Tobin, but thought the show overall "lacks innovation":

http://www.theatermania.com/los-angeles ... =26jan2015
kport
Site Moderator
Site Moderator
Posts: 7205
Joined: Mon Feb 14, 2011 11:54 pm

Re: La Mirada and Glendale Reviews

Post by kport »

Ken Knox, of Rage Monthly, offers this rather tepid preview.

I think its use of an uncredited stock photo of a Billy, who is clearly not Mitchell, pretty much sums up my trust in the rest of this preview:

http://www.edgemedianetwork.com/enterta ... hrough_air
User avatar
CJ-Rochester
Site Moderator
Site Moderator
Posts: 4671
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 4:35 am
Location: Rochester, NY

Re: La Mirada and Glendale Reviews

Post by CJ-Rochester »

kport wrote:Ken Knox, of Rage Monthly, offers this rather tepid review.

I think its use of an uncredited stock photo of a Billy, who is clearly not Mitchell, pretty much sums up my trust in the rest of this review:

http://www.edgemedianetwork.com/enterta ... hrough_air

This is not a review at all. It's a preview story.
kport
Site Moderator
Site Moderator
Posts: 7205
Joined: Mon Feb 14, 2011 11:54 pm

Re: La Mirada and Glendale Reviews

Post by kport »

CJ-Rochester wrote:
kport wrote:Ken Knox, of Rage Monthly, offers this rather tepid review.

I think its use of an uncredited stock photo of a Billy, who is clearly not Mitchell, pretty much sums up my trust in the rest of this review:

http://www.edgemedianetwork.com/enterta ... hrough_air

This is not a review at all. It's a preview story.
True, and corrected.
skkmercury
Small Boy
Posts: 35
Joined: Sat Nov 19, 2011 2:42 am

Re: La Mirada and Glendale Reviews

Post by skkmercury »

Wednesday, 1/28/2015 7:30 pm show.

Another great performance! It appears the creatives are still working on the show and trying new things. Or perhaps the actors are just being given the liberty to mix things up a bit.

First, I have more to report about the use or absence of profane language (specifically F-bombs) during various points in the show. It has been inconsistent across the three shows I’ve seen. Billy’s answer to Michael’s question at the beginning of the show of what it is the miners don’t like about Maggie Thatcher had been simply, “I dunno”. Last night, the answer was the same as in the London production: “F*&k’d if I know”. In the first and third performances I attended, Billy’s reaction to Mrs. Wilkinson’s reminders the eve before the first scheduled audition was “Ah for f*$k sake Miss, you told us before man”. In the second show, it was “Ah bloody hell Miss, you told us before man”. Mrs. Wilkinson telling Billy he’s “very f*&kn’ special” was there my first show, but the line has been “very bloody special” since then, which I really don’t like. I can’t say if the inconsistencies are done intentionally for whatever reasons or are flubbed lines or are said at the actor’s discretion. What has been consistent are all of the occurrences of “sh&t”, as well as all of the usual F-bombs during Solidarity, plus one F-bomb each for Billy & Michael leading into Expressing Yourself and one for Tony near the end of show where he says 200,000 men can’t all be certain types of dancers.

In a previous review, I had commented that I didn’t care for La Mirada’s transition from the high of Expressing Yourself to the low of what’s happening in the village and back at the Elliot home. Well, I got my wish, they’ve now implemented sound effects of sirens wailing and added somber music, very similar to how it was done in the tour and other versions. Now, if they would amend the end of Angry Dance to resemble the London version, I’d be one happy camper! Just blacking the stage out immediately after Billy falls to the ground and waiting until he inconspicuously runs off stage before turning up the house lights makes for a somewhat anticlimactic and awkward conclusion to the first Act. Experiencing this for the third time has intensified my gripe here. I just hate it. And I hate that I hate something as significant as the end of an Act in a production I otherwise absolutely love!

Okay, just a few notable changes I witnessed last night…

A subtle change I thought was well placed is during the middle of The Stars Look Down. When the miners all start to leave the stage and leave Billy, Michael and Small Boy alone there, Dad comes over to Billy and motions for him to come along. Billy resists, so Dad gives up and waives at him as if to say “suit yourself, stay here if you want to”. I think it sets up Billy’s solo well.

Jake appears to have been given some latitude with certain aspects of performing the role of Michael. He seems to change up the delivery of lines leading up to Expressing Yourself, and in particular, he changes his gestures and antics during the winter scene while trying to entice Billy to “show us some ballet”. His attempt at doing the splits and his delivery of the “nutcracker” line have been different each time I’ve seen him. Each performance has been really good; last night was just priceless. It’s quite impressive to see such a young actor working to improve and to try new things.

As Mitchell has become comfortable in this version of the show, he has upped the degree of difficulty (and thus the wow factor) during Electricity. It seems to me that his finale includes more pirouettes and spins done faster than I’ve ever seen anyone do. While pirouetting, Mitchell has also added the move where he throws and holds his arms up over his head instead of stretched outward to the sides. I’m guessing there’s a name for this move, but I don’t know what it’s called. The pattern I’ve noticed over the years is that Billy’s who have an extensive ballet background will do this move, but those who may not have such a background do not. Likewise, Mitchell’s final spins before the big finish resemble what I believe is called a “scratch spin” in figure skating, where his arms are brought in tightly against his body and/or above his head and spins incredibly fast….. so fast that he’s actually a blur. It’s really something special when these moves are executed well, and Mitchell’s execution looked spectacular to me!

Another subtle change seen in last night’s show but not earlier ones was made when Grandma tells Billy his room has been rented out. Normally, she’s walking away from Billy and emphatically says, “we’ve rented your room out”. Last night, she took Billy by the shoulders, looked into his eyes and said very matter of fact, “we’ve rented your room out”. As much as I like the original method of delivering this line, I thought this new method was fresh and terrific.

Lastly, another change I really liked: It’s during The Letter – Billy’s Reply. Instead of reaching into his pocket to retrieve the letter, he lays his suitcase on the ground to open it and fetch the letter out from where he has apparently stored it for safe keeping. After his reply, Billy says, “bye Mom” and then carefully returns the letter to his suitcase. Last night was the first time I had seen this done. Who knows, for all I know Mitchell may have realized the letter had been mistakenly put in his coat pocket instead of his pants pocket. In this version of the show, Billy packs his coat (and then wears his Dad’s oversized jacket). If the change of where the letter is stashed was intentional, then bravo to the creative mind responsible. If it was a mistake, then this is just another reason why l love live theatre!
Post Reply

Return to “US Regional Productions Archive”