May 2011 Reviews - NYC

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CJ-Rochester
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Re: May 2011 Reviews - NYC

Post by CJ-Rochester »

Great review atreyu! Thanks for that final line which put a smile on my face. :lol:
we see him holding the farewell flowers in his right arm and his left hand forming the Lady Gaga Little Monster thing.
:/
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porschesrule
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Re: May 2011 Reviews - NYC

Post by porschesrule »

Well Done, atreyu. Thanks!

The real last line of the review was my favorite and summed it all up for me:
atreyu wrote:Thank you, Alex, for persevering through the hardships. To a grey world, you have brought so much color, inspiration and joy. Happy trails indeed and here's hoping it won't be too long 'til we meet you again.
Amen!!
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Re: May 2011 Reviews - NYC

Post by jsd337 »

Great review! Wish I coulda been there. Lol at the Little Monster hand. Fun he got that in one last time.
atreyu wrote: The one moment that it seemed Alex might have gotten emotional was - as best as I can now recall - the last "And ...Good luck to you as well, Miss" line with Mrs. Wilkinson. Not sure at all if that was the case as he was mostly turned away from me and also not positive that was the line. I just remember a pause where there usually isn't one and it was around 4 or 5 seconds.
Just wanted to say, of the three Billys I've seen, Alex did that too when I saw him, which was really different. From what I remember, the other Billys would just reply. Alex, after Mrs. W says her good luck, Alex turns and immediately goes "And good..." then pauses for a good 5 seconds, then repeats himself, "And good luck to you as well, Miss..." It adds a lot of impact and drama to the line, I think.

Anyway, again wonderful review! Nice to see all those little special moments for Alex, including Stephen Daldry being there! Wishing Alex the best of luck as always!
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Re: May 2011 Reviews - NYC

Post by atreyu »

jsd337 wrote:Alex, after Mrs. W says her good luck, Alex turns and immediately goes "And good..." then pauses for a good 5 seconds, then repeats himself, "And good luck to you as well, Miss..." It adds a lot of impact and drama to the line, I think.
I had not noticed that before, but your description is spot on.
jsd337 wrote:Anyway, again wonderful review! Nice to see all those little special moments for Alex, including Stephen Daldry being there! Wishing Alex the best of luck as always!
I'm glad I could be a conduit for spreading the cheer. Hope that will continue bringing folks to the Imperial and giving credit to those there that deserve it most!
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Re: May 2011 Reviews - NYC

Post by angelenroute »

Sunday, May 15, 2011.

He Came. He Saw. He Konquered!
Alex Ko's Final Performance In The Role Of Billy Elliot

It had been a few months since I'd seen Alex in the role, but he hasn't changed that much. Height wise he's grown, but he still looks like a little kid, and has the same boyish face as always, although with a deeper (not deep) voice. At the "Finding Billy" screening recently in Times Square, Nora Brennan commented in the discussion afterward that the boys know from the beginning that aging out of the role is an eventual reality. They're reminded from the beginning to enjoy the ride, give it their best and be more grateful than sad when it's finished. And it became abundantly clear to me that Alex, who has had a rockier road than most, as Stephen Daldry told the audience before the show began, has enjoyed being Billy but is now mentally prepared to move on to the next great role and roles ahead of him.

As Stephen took the stage, I and a few others began to applaud and "wooo". He then introduced himself as the director of the show. Much more applause and woooing. As Atreyu already mentioned, Stephen thanked Alex's family for moving from (probably much quieter) Iowa so that Alex could perform in the show. He also told the audience that Alex had a rockier road than most, having lost his dad at an early age and then suffering a serious injury early on in his run in the show. He then said that Alex would continue to be phenomenal in whatever he chooses to do, whether it's acting or dancing "or brain surgery, which I can assure you is fully within his capabilities." [may be paraphrasing but was close] That alone should speak volumes about what people think of Alex, I thought, because we all know the performances he gives and maybe something of his love of all things Gaga. But the brain surgery reference shows that Alex is a really, really smart young man whose intelligence and personality have brought him his successes every bit as much as his talents on stage have.

The show began and the cast sang.

"So we will always stand together, through the frost, the hail, the snow, the starrrrrs are our redemption..." As they sang this last bit, Alex appeared on stage and his Friends Of Billy and Billy Elliot The Forum fans cheered for his arrival. He had just been praised to a packed Broadway audience by a world-famous director and now his very appearance on stage was earning him cheers. Thank you Suzanne aka dancingfool for reminding us of this worthy tradition!

The show itself was great, Alex turning in his usual comic moments and tender moments in turn, thrilling and exciting everyone with his amazing dancing throughout. Worth noting is how hard he got smacked by Michael Arnold as George as well as Tony (Will Chase). I don't know about you, but Alex seems like a sweet kid and the smacks he got were really hard! You can fake a punch on Broadway well, but the actual head smacks given are as real as they get. Will Chase seemed to take special delight in his for Alex too. =)

You've also heard tell of the changes to the goodbyes at the end, and when Mrs. Wilkinson said to Alex, "You are very fu#&in special" his FOB and Forum fans gave Alex a lot of cheers and wooos again. Another wonderful tradition we fans have continued! It made me really tear up and I hope Alex appreciated it. Of course the "See ya Neil" and more so "See ya Alex" sent me over the edge. My face was drenched with tears and I sobbed with shakes. This one small change has got to be the saddest, most visceral moment in theatre history for me. No tears from shows' scripts are as powerful as those with direct, powerful resonance to the real person himself, and saying goodbye within a show is just an incredibly emotional moment.

(This puff just had to walk away from the computer to blow his nose just from remembering the moment.)

Another change I enjoyed was Tony's farewell to Billy. I've noted in the past that Will Chase usually stretches out the "Seeeee yaaaaa Sunshinnnne" line on a Billy's last night, but instead this time he said it the usual way but then smacked down the open suitcase so Alex would have to open it again. =)

All in all, it was a great show. The newest Debbie, Lilla Crawford, is just perfect in the role. She's so funny, says her lines great and is also a very pretty young girl who interacts great with whoever Billy is that show. Her mom and baby sister were three rows back from me and I got to tell her how wonderful I thought Lilla was. Her sister (who's only about 4 or 5?) demanded to know HOW I knew her sister. It was very funny and I had to explain that I just heard that they were her family. She's a real firecracker if you ever see her at the stage door, and her mom is really, really, really sweet!

At stage door, I took a couple of pictures and 2 videos of Alex, which I posted elsewhere but will link below too. Legendary director and producer Kenny Ortega was there and was filming every minute of the fanfare for Alex, big smiles and making sure he captured all of it on film. At one point I stood behind him, placed my hand gently on his left shoulder and whispered with a smile, "You're gonna take good care of him now, right?" He turned to me with a big smile and assured me he would. I told him we're all counting on exactly that! Alex deserves the best! A minute or two later he turned the camera on us and said, "Are you all fans of Alex's?" "Yes," we said happily. He said, "Want to say anything to him on camera?" About 5 or 6 of us each gave Alex a brief best wishes/congratulations/good luck wish in turn on camera. So we can now all say we've been in a Kenny Ortega film!

I think it should be called KO on KO. :D

As Suzanne (dancingfool) had commented recently, Alex has at least two special guardian angels looking over him!!!

It was a fun night, filled with much laughter and many tears.

Alex Ko was never trapped in the Billy Elliot role, but at the same time, I imagine at least some part of him can now feel like shouting, "I'm free!!!" The freedom he has now is a freedom from the script and choreography of Billy Elliot, and it's a freedom to do whatever he wants to with his life, just as Stephen Daldry suggested at the start of the show. Alex was a wonderful Billy, he is clearly a wonderful young man, and I'm sure he has a wonderful and wonder-full life ahead of him!

Sean

Sean Patrick Brennan/angelenroute

--------

Alex emerging from stage door/signing autographs (watch as Kenny Ortega gets scolded at the end haha...we love the child guardians!!! They do a GREAT job!!!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ey5pc0M0vgY

and...

Alex receiving the leaver's book from Linda. Watch for Kenny Ortega filming again here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQ6AHkQ6Z-4

"Good writers define reality; bad ones merely restate it." -Edward Albee
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Re: May 2011 Reviews - NYC

Post by porschesrule »

Thanks for sharing your experiences at Alex's last show, Sean. Again, reading it is almost like being there for those of us who couldn't be. It was obviously a truly special night for a special young man.
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Re: May 2011 Reviews - NYC

Post by Billy Whiz »

Great stuff Sean and atreyu.

Thanks for taking the time to write these terrific reviews.
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CJ-Rochester
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Re: May 2011 Reviews - NYC

Post by CJ-Rochester »

Great review as always Sean! Thanks for helping us feel like we were there with you. :D
-Chris
:/
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Re: May 2011 Reviews - NYC

Post by angelenroute »

atreyu wrote:The final image left to describe is one that would appear to be a spontaneous move by Alex: The curtain is falling for the very last time and as it reaches Alex's height, we see him holding the farewell flowers in his right arm and his left hand forming the Lady Gaga Little Monster thing.

Thank you, Alex, for persevering through the hardships. To a grey world, you have brought so much color, inspiration and joy. Happy trails indeed and here's hoping it won't be too long 'til we meet you again.
Great meeting you Atreyu, and hope to see you again in the future. And thanks for your review and reminders of bits I already forgot. I didn't stand for Angry Dance, not because it wasn't great, but it all happened so quickly and Alex got up and walked away relatively fast. I always loved Michael Dameski's angriest of angry dances where he screamed A LOT and glared angrily A LOT at the end. But Alex's angry dance was certainly tops too. In Angry Dance, Alex's hair was a character all by itself, flopping around so much and adding to the emotion and motion of the scene. Like Trent Kowalik, Alex's head movements forward and back, flailing around this way and that made for an even more exciting performance.

Have to ask though, as someone who (dare I admit it publicly???) is not a Gaga fan (I'm sorry), what is the hand gesture that Gaga and her little monsters do?

Sean

"Good writers define reality; bad ones merely restate it." -Edward Albee
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Re: May 2011 Reviews - NYC

Post by ERinVA »

If you look at Alex's photo countdown, Sean, you will see Alex and Liam making the gesture in one of the photos.
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