Reviews - Tulsa

[tankntonic]

BETM TulsaFriday April 29
Premier night
Two things :
• I had so much fun and enjoyed the performance immensely
• Any comparison between Regionals and Professional shows are unfair and silly
As I entered the Auditorium, I was amazed by the set, really wasn’t expecting the quality of the product. There is no curtain, the audience is almost in the miner’s welfare, the orchestra (band) is on the side of the stage, as we walked into the theater, it was necessary to walk through the musicians. Billy’s room and the kitchen are located on the right, the bathroom stalls and Michael’s house pull out from either side similar to the U.S. tour. Between scenes the lights were all blacked out as the stage hands changed the set.
The musical director made a little speech and promoted planned productions for the Tulsa PAC.
After that, the co-directors talked about the history of the strike.
As the show started, performers came on from all sides of the stage and through 2 doors built into the backdrop.the stars look down was similar to what we are accustomed to.
The seats were filled mostly by relatives and friends of the cast,I sat in front of Billy’s Mom, and she was understandably not hesitant to announce the fact that her son was Billy. On my left sat Debbie’s parents, and on my right was a nice lady who was a close friend of one of the directors(Lloyd Holt), and he came by and sat next to us for a few minutes.
The orchestra was terrific, 10 musicians, and their’ sound was impressive, especially the brass.( I was not sure if there would even be an Orchestra, so I was surprised at the outstanding sound).
The characters:
Billy played by Ford Mirowski, I don’t believe Ford has had dance training in the past, his strengths are acting and singing. He is a bit large for a Billy, but it was not a big deal. Most of the audience probably didn’t think about it. Ford has a lot of talent. I wish he could spend time with the UK team to work on his dance.
Michael played by Christopher Flippo. Chris is also a good singer and actor, unfortunately, his mic was not working in the first act, at times it was hard to hear him.
Jackie Elliot played by Christopher Middlebrooke. A native of Sheffield, England. He had no problem with the accent. I especially was impressed by his solo time on stage. Awesome facial expressions.
Mrs. Wilkinson played by Sally Train. An impressive performance, great voice and a good dancer.
Debbie played by Kaira Plaster.Debbie was, in my opinion, the closest rendition to the Tour or the London cast. She is very appealing and has real comic timing. The toilet scene generated the most laughs of the entire show, Michael’s nutcracker line was second.
The negatives. Continuous glitches with the sound system Michael was too quiet, Billy was too loud, and feedback noises were a problem in Act 2. At times the music would overwhelm the cast’s vocals.there is very little dance except Express which was well done. Swan lake only lasted a few minutes and there was no flying or Older Billy, as I said, Ford has had little Ballet training. Electricity was also cut down to only a few minutes after the singing. I kept wondering if the directors realize that only a few miles away lives Tanner Pflueger who would be a wonderful help to Ford and Chris. I should have mentioned this to Lloyd the director, but it only occurred to me after he had moved to another seat.
All in all an entertaining show, and I am glad I made the 3 hour drive to see it. I’m sure it will only get better during the short,9 day run. The language was not censored at all. Exactly the same as London. Plenty of F bombs. The directors mentioned the Geordie accent, but it was really and truly practically non existent,

[jdmag44]

A Very Bad Review

http://www.tulsaworld.com/blogs/scene/a ... dd237.html

[Todd]

Sorry to read the bad review, but I'm not completely surprised. After watching the behind the scenes video posted a few days ago, it looked from the rehearsal footage that this was going to be more on par with a middle school production and not the professional quality that many of us are used to. I'm sure the people involved gave it their best shot, but when the actor playing Billy has very little dancing background . . . .well . . . .maybe they should have done a bit more preparation and auditioning to make sure they had the necessary components to stage this show before they decided to do it.

After seeing the excellent quality of the productions in Ogunquit, Maine, Raleigh, NC, St. Louis, MO, and Wichita, KS, I know it's possible to do this show justice at the regional level. But I'm probably going to be a bit selective before investing the time, travel, and money to see a local production - especially with the amazing experiences of the UK tour show in Sunderland and the final performances in London still fresh on my mind.

[tankntonic]

Sorry to read the bad review, but I'm not completely surprised. A
After seeing the excellent quality of the productions in Ogunquit, Maine, Raleigh, NC, St. Louis, MO, and Wichita, KS, I know it's possible to do this show justice at the regional level. But I'm probably going to be a bit selective before investing the time, travel, and money to see a local production - especially with the amazing experiences of the UK tour show in Sunderland and the final performances in London still fresh on my mind.

OF course, all of these productions had the huge advantage of experienced and well trained actors playing Billy. I agree with what you say, and I would not spend a bunch of time and money to witness a high school or regional show either, and I am planning a trip to see the UK tour in Bradford soon. However , despite the problems with the Tulsa show, I am happy that I made a road trip to see it.The newspaper reviewer was correct, but a bit harsh. If only Stephen Daldry and Damien Jackson could spend 6 months working with this cast I am sure it would be a different story.

[kport]

In many ways, we have been lucky with the regionals that have come along so far. The day was bound to come when one would be hit with a bump in the road, as seems to have happened with this review. To be fair, no show should combine its press night with its very first show. That is normally the third performance, when technical glitches and opening night nerves have been sorted. (I was at Ogunguit's first show, and it was a mess, which was sorted by the second show.) And for a producer to make such a boast to the audience, even before Small Boy climbs on the stage, is setting a high bar that is begging to be knocked down, especially when made before a well-known local theatre critic.

We are entering a season of BETM being produced in small community theatres, often using amateur actors (which, in itself, is no hindrance) and produced by those with no former connection with Broadway or Tours productions. In other words, what will be produced will be entirely 'reimagined' to suit local talent by those with no prior connection to the show. Because it is such a challenging show (witness the early problems launching it in Newcastle in 2005, before London. It was abandoned. A regional theatre on Cape Cod has abandoned the show this summer, finding it too challenging.), I am of the firm belief that it should be 'reduced' or simplified into a 'schools' or 'community theatre' version, as has been done for countless other shows. I can find no information on MTI's website that indicates that such a version exists - yet. As I have written before, the Billy Elliot Youth Theatre book and score might be a good place to start.

I wish this production every success, and I hope they take heart in the fact that they were judged on just the opening performance. I am sure it will get better and better. After all, does not the protagonist of this story have to overcome early challenges - and then Shine?

And other community regionals coming up should take note.

[accessmenj]

Most of the regionals have been excellent, and in some ways their enthusiasm has made them more enjoyable than many professional productions. And in the regional productions that I have attended, there was great improvement after the first shows.
Don't be discouraged, Tulsa, it gets better.

[ERinVA]

I got the distinct impression that if the sound had been working as it should have, this critic would not have come down quite so hard on everything else about the show.

[kport]

I would imagine those mic issues would have been distracting for a cast, who have enough to contend with at a first performance. If the problem was that great, the stage director should have stopped the show long enough to get the problem fixed. Let's hope, for the casts' sake, it has been resolved.

[Todd]

And in the regional productions that I have attended, there was great improvement after the first shows.

It will be interesting to see how the upcoming regional show in Seattle fares, since it will be comparable to the Ogunquit production in that they will be going for most of the summer, rather than just the week or so run of many of the regional productions. So they'll have a distinct advantage of being able to hone their craft over a much longer period of time, and will thus have a much greater opportunity to improve.

[porschesrule]

TPTs Executive Director responds to the harsh review of BETM on opening night -- a money back guarantee if a theater-goer to their show is disappointed in the performance.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_ ... age_bubble