Saturday matinee, July 2, 2016
Billy - Bito Gottesman
Michael - Bryan Kinder
Tall Boy - Philipp Mergener
I'm guessing that the perfect weather in Issaquah and the beginning of the 4th of July weekend might have accounted for the smaller crowd at this particular show. It may have also had an effect on the energy of the performance, as everything seemed to be down a notch or two from the other two shows I've seen here so far. A gentleman who sat behind me seemed to be trying to single-handedly make up for the flatness of the audience by laughing loudly and applauding enthusiastically at nearly every scene.
The performing strength of Bito Gottesman (Billy) seems to be his dancing, as he appears to still be navigating his way through some of the other aspects of the role. Bryan Kinder (Michael) stood out for me once again, as he seems very advanced in all areas of his performance for someone his age and is a real triple threat. Hopefully he'll get a chance to reprise this role at another regional production somewhere down the road.
Issaquah Reviews
Re: Issaquah Reviews
Saturday evening, July 2, 2016
Billy - Vincent Bennett
Michael - Quinn Liebling
Tall Boy - Nikita Baryshnikov
I had a ticket tonight to go to the Seattle Mariners game, but after my enjoyable time in Issaquah I felt the pull to come back and see the final of the four Billys I hadn't seen yet. Having already paid good money for the baseball ticket, I decided to go to the first part of the 7 p.m. game and then leave early to come back in time to catch the 2nd act of the show which started at 8.
I'm glad I decided to see at least part of it, as it turned out to be a crackerjack performance in front of an enthusiastic, nearly-full house. I'm sorry I wasn't able to see Vincent Bennett (Billy) in some of the earlier scenes, as he's an extremely talented dancer, actor, and singer. His acting was so strong that it seemed like he wasn't even acting, but was just responding naturally to everything around him on stage. He looked very confident and comfortable, and played the part with just the right mix of seriousness and lightheartedness.
During his superb "Electricity," I found myself thinking that he was at the level of the Billys I saw in the Broadway production. I guess you never know where the next Broadway performers are going to come from, as they could start out right there in your local regional theater ! Such is the case with Vincent, as I would certainly not be surprised to see him have a successful performing career, if that's the path he chooses to take. I was fortunate enough to visit with him after the show and found him to be a humble, well-mannered young man, as he took the time to visit with each person who was there to see him. His younger brother was sitting in the seat in front of me, and it was fun to see him enthusiastically support him throughout the show.
I hope the next stop on their "Seattle tour" in Everett brings them the same success that they've had in Issaquah. It will be interesting to see if they tweak certain scenes as they move to a different theater. One thing that I'm surprised hasn't been an issue in this production is when Billy does his fast spins atop the wire in the "Swan Lake" scene, he looks straight down at the spinning stage until he's brought back down. I would think that would create dizziness and maybe even nausea, which is why I've heard other Billys in interviews say that they were coached to keep their eyes on their extended hand so that they're focusing on a stationary object. It would also be fun to see them add the Wilkinsons' "Swan Lake" door bell which was left out of this production, as well as re-thinking putting the Finale back in, which was also left out.
After the close of the London show, I felt a sad sense of finality that I might not see "Billy Elliot" performed at that level again anytime soon. My enjoyable time in Issaquah has helped me see that a high quality production is indeed possible at the local level, if regional theaters are willing to put in the training, time, and cost that it takes to give this show the quality that it deserves.
Billy - Vincent Bennett
Michael - Quinn Liebling
Tall Boy - Nikita Baryshnikov
I had a ticket tonight to go to the Seattle Mariners game, but after my enjoyable time in Issaquah I felt the pull to come back and see the final of the four Billys I hadn't seen yet. Having already paid good money for the baseball ticket, I decided to go to the first part of the 7 p.m. game and then leave early to come back in time to catch the 2nd act of the show which started at 8.
I'm glad I decided to see at least part of it, as it turned out to be a crackerjack performance in front of an enthusiastic, nearly-full house. I'm sorry I wasn't able to see Vincent Bennett (Billy) in some of the earlier scenes, as he's an extremely talented dancer, actor, and singer. His acting was so strong that it seemed like he wasn't even acting, but was just responding naturally to everything around him on stage. He looked very confident and comfortable, and played the part with just the right mix of seriousness and lightheartedness.
During his superb "Electricity," I found myself thinking that he was at the level of the Billys I saw in the Broadway production. I guess you never know where the next Broadway performers are going to come from, as they could start out right there in your local regional theater ! Such is the case with Vincent, as I would certainly not be surprised to see him have a successful performing career, if that's the path he chooses to take. I was fortunate enough to visit with him after the show and found him to be a humble, well-mannered young man, as he took the time to visit with each person who was there to see him. His younger brother was sitting in the seat in front of me, and it was fun to see him enthusiastically support him throughout the show.
I hope the next stop on their "Seattle tour" in Everett brings them the same success that they've had in Issaquah. It will be interesting to see if they tweak certain scenes as they move to a different theater. One thing that I'm surprised hasn't been an issue in this production is when Billy does his fast spins atop the wire in the "Swan Lake" scene, he looks straight down at the spinning stage until he's brought back down. I would think that would create dizziness and maybe even nausea, which is why I've heard other Billys in interviews say that they were coached to keep their eyes on their extended hand so that they're focusing on a stationary object. It would also be fun to see them add the Wilkinsons' "Swan Lake" door bell which was left out of this production, as well as re-thinking putting the Finale back in, which was also left out.
After the close of the London show, I felt a sad sense of finality that I might not see "Billy Elliot" performed at that level again anytime soon. My enjoyable time in Issaquah has helped me see that a high quality production is indeed possible at the local level, if regional theaters are willing to put in the training, time, and cost that it takes to give this show the quality that it deserves.
-
porschesrule
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9377
- Joined: Fri Jun 12, 2009 2:02 am
- Location: Rhode Island, USA
Re: Issaquah Reviews
Thanks again, Todd, for these wonderful reviews of the Village Theatre production. I felt from the beginning of doing my research on this show for my articles at theskykid.com that this was going to be a first rate production. As you've stated, a large part of what makes any production of BETM successful is the time it puts into the training of its Billys. This production did it right.
As I wrote in my introduction to the four Village Theatre Billys:
[Director Steve] "Tomkins and Village Theatre choreographer Katy Tabb came up with a plan to recruit a small group of local tween boys and train them for nine months as they aged into the role. They started at the first Billy audition with about 60 boys and eventually honed that number down to the four they felt best fit the role. And then the training began.
The boys dove into practicing new skills. The camaraderie they developed proved to be a double-edged sword, driving them into heated competition with each other even as they became fast friends."
Granted, that sort of time commitment to training of their single most important ingredient in this show is probably beyond the resources of most regional theatre productions. But if you can't get an already trained, experienced Billy (ala Jamie Mann) to lead your cast, this is definitely the way to go.
Congrats to the cast and crew for having completed a very successful run in Issaquah and best wishes for continued success this month in Everett.
As I wrote in my introduction to the four Village Theatre Billys:
[Director Steve] "Tomkins and Village Theatre choreographer Katy Tabb came up with a plan to recruit a small group of local tween boys and train them for nine months as they aged into the role. They started at the first Billy audition with about 60 boys and eventually honed that number down to the four they felt best fit the role. And then the training began.
The boys dove into practicing new skills. The camaraderie they developed proved to be a double-edged sword, driving them into heated competition with each other even as they became fast friends."
Granted, that sort of time commitment to training of their single most important ingredient in this show is probably beyond the resources of most regional theatre productions. But if you can't get an already trained, experienced Billy (ala Jamie Mann) to lead your cast, this is definitely the way to go.
Congrats to the cast and crew for having completed a very successful run in Issaquah and best wishes for continued success this month in Everett.