January 2010 Reviews - NYC

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madmax1960
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Re: January 2010 Reviews - NYC

Post by madmax1960 »

Thanks Moby-Dick and Dancer for more great reviews. It is ALMOST as good as being there! I love reading them. God willing, I will be in the house on February 21. Who knows what will actually happen that day...but we have our seats, so we will see. I will definitely post a review of whatever we see. Keep the reviews coming. It is great fun.
"See ya Michael."

"Yeah....see ya Billy."
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Re: January 2010 Reviews - NYC

Post by Musical Fanatic »

Michael Dameski debut as Billy
Trevor-Michael
Luke -Small Boy
Full regular cast for performance which was awesome. Stephan Daldry came out to introduce Michael D. He thanked Michael's family for allowing him to come all the way from Australia. that he was very impressed with Michael as a billy. So was I at the end of the show

Stars Look Down
Luke drew his usual awws . The company was in fine form. Michael"s emotion threw body language and voice set the stage for the entire show.

Shine
Boxing: I love Joel's (George) and Luke's funny lines. Michael's boxing dance is as unique and over the top as it should be. Ballet girls drew smile and laughs threw out the whole scene. The scene I like the most is when he does the attitude promenade and the ballet girls,Mrs W and Mr B all stair in surprise.
We'd Go Dancing
Carole Shelleys does justice to grandma. She draws the shock value and laughs from the language and dance that I could see time after time.
Solidarity
Ballet Girls , Miners, Police all dancing and interacting on stage while Mrs W teaches Billy ballet best whole company scene. Michael's ballet is very good.
Expressing Yourself
I love Trevor's I dream of Jeanie bit. He and Michael worked good together in the scene. Michael's reaction are perfect(whole show).
Dear Billy
Dayton and now Michael play this and the reprise with a ton of expressed emotion. I wonder if this came from Australian version. Michael even more I thought than Dayton.
Born to Boogie
Thommie steals the scene in a good way with his dance and antics. I like the progression from beginning ballet to advanced. Michael is as good as any I have seen. Jump rope bit went almost perfect.
Angry Dance
I have never seen a more emotional Billy. (Incredible,Powerful,Stunning) His voice and body threw out the whole dance left the audience stunned at the end of first act.
Merry Christmas Maggie T
The ballet girls and Luke are just so funny. The puppet and the giant Maggie have everyone shaking their heads.

Deep Into the Ground
I thought I would miss Greg J but Phil Whitchurch makes his character just as good for me.
Trevor and Michael play the kiss just right. The tutu gives Trevor the chance to show off and get the laughs he deserves. Dream ballet drew the ohs and ahhs and long applause at end.
Electricity
Another awesome find from down under. One hand flip off the chair. His ballet, acrobatics and dance were just right. Standing O was deserved for this performance
Company Celebration
Michael in front of the Billy sign and then the flips draws another standing O.
Overall
Definitely would see Michael many times again. He just had this strong emotion threw his character from beginning to end that impressed me.
I hope this was agood review. Ihave not done one like this before.
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cincinnati
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Re: January 2010 Reviews - NYC

Post by cincinnati »

Very nice...glad to hear the new Billy did well....and I thought you did fine....I think it's nice the increased number of reviews that we now have on this board. It is most enjoyable.... Our own Solidarity....
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ERinVA
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Re: January 2010 Reviews - NYC

Post by ERinVA »

Thanks for another great review, and especially one of this performance, Michael's Broadway debut.
Michael in front of the Billy sign and then the flips draws another standing O.
Flips???!!! :o Did he start at the back and flip to the front of the stage? I love this in London, and I have missed seeing it in the Broadway production! I hope that all the Billys will now do these when they take the stage alone for their curtain call.
Ellen



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Geridith
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Re: January 2010 Reviews - NYC

Post by Geridith »

Sunday, January 31st (matinee)

BIlly: Michael Dameski
Michael: Trevor Braun
(Phil Whitchurch as Dad)

I came into today's show very excited, having seen Michael's YouTube videos and knowing the caliber of Billy that OZ has produced... and he completely surpassed expectation.

I really can't say what Michael is best at, singing, dancing, or acting, because he is truly phenomenal at all three. He has incredible focus as an actor, which I find amazing in so young a performer, he is never in neutral, even when facing away from the audience. (I was sitting in A10 on the far right.) He had me completely sold throughout Grandma's Song, when he isn't the focus, completely invested in every moment, reacting to every line. It creates a wonderful chemistry with Kate Hennig as well, who tends to feed off the different energies of each Billy.

It was also interesting to see Phil as Billy's dad for the first time. Because they were both new, the performance felt very fresh. My favorite interaction of theirs was definitely Dad's entrance and scene post-Solidarity. Greg showed his anger very physically, it radiated out of his body language. Phil's is definitely a subtler more contained anger, though the way he grabs Billy and throws him around says a lot. Another really amazing moment for Dad, Billy, and Tony was right after the punch before B2B, usually the "stop it, stop it please" is said as one phrase as Tony is being struck. Tonight, Michael broke it up, and the second "stop it please" came after Will had already hit the floor, the line coming across so clearly in the silence, and with such a different inflection than usual, there was a great moment of quiet tension between the three actors.

The Letter.... absolutely heartbreaking. The emotion was free flowing, and Michael keeps his face up the entire time. You see the tears form and start to fall, he shows such vulnerability as Billy. His Billy in general is very well-rounded, very multi-dimensional. I kept watching him in scenes where he was more in the background, and you really can see the character progression throughout the show, he is so expressive. And of course my new favorite altered line from the OBC... "'cept I couldn't wait." Love it.

Angry Dance was an explosion of... well, anger, lol. I kind of thought he was going to break a rail or something up there, he was putting so much force into his movement. He let out a lot vocally too, a fair bit of cursing, and a lot of gut-wrenching screams. And I always hate the weird quiet audiences who don't understand that you're supposed to clap UNTIL Billy gets offstage and the curtain comes down. Drives me absolutely up the wall.

While I enjoy the Dream Ballet, its not usually one of my favorite numbers. I've seen a few mishaps with the chairs which make me always feel a little nervous for them. I've ranted on about how good of an actor Michael is, but his dancing is pretty breathtaking. He's incredibly fluid, and super flexible (will come back to this for Electricity), and very conscious of the synchronization between himself and Older Billy.

Oh heck, I'm just going to skip to Electricity, because I'm pretty sure his choreo is my new favorite. Its a wonderful blend of ballet and acro, and he flows seamlessly from crisp clean ballet into gravity-defying tumbling. Amazing extensions, very polished dancer. AND he can sing. :) You can tell he's had training, he really sustains the notes, and even puts in some vibrato for good measure.

So yeah... short version: Michael's amazing. Go see him. Now. :) Its pretty cool that you can see a Dad from the UK and a Billy from Australia on a Broadway stage. Thank you Steven Daldry for making this all possible. :)
LONDON: Liam M (1), Tom (3), Rhys Y (2), Dean Charles (1); NEW YORK: Trent (11), Tommy (10), Kiril (9), David (8), Tanner (3), Liam R (3), Dayton (3), Michael D (3), Alex (2), Jacob (1); CHICAGO: Tommy (1), Giuseppe (1), Cesar (1) = 63 shows total :)
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Re: January 2010 Reviews - NYC

Post by SatinandLace »

Thanks for the great review, Geri! I've really gotta get back to NY soon to see all the new cast members. :D
~Lauren~
8xTrent 3xSam 3xLayton 2xJosh F. 4xCorey
1xFox 1xHogan 2xScott 1xRhys
4xDavid 4xKiril 1xTanner
2xCesar 1xTommy 1xJ.P.
2xDaniel 2xLex 2xGuiseppe
1xKylend 1xKaine 1xJosh B.
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porschesrule
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Re: January 2010 Reviews - NYC

Post by porschesrule »

Thanks for the great reviews, Musical Fanatic and Geridith.

It seems we have a new star on Broadway. Well done, Michael! As I posted on FOBE, it would seem Michael is as much (and more) as we US fans of the show have been led to believe by our Aussie friends who have been telling us about Michael's three threat talents for weeks on the forums. Seems we have a keeper in Michael Dameski. Now it's just a matter of how long we get to keep him. :lol:

It's also good to hear that Phil Whitchurch has more than capably filled Greg Jbara's very large shoes.

I think the influx of new talent from Australia, Canada and the UK, into the Broadway show, has breathed a new energy into it (and this by no means is meant to take anything away from the original cast which set a very high standard for the show). It's good for a show to be refreshed every once in a while. It's good for publicity for the show and it's good for the veterans who keep finding new reasons to like their favorite musical.

Again, thanks for taking the time, Musical Fanatic and Geridith, to write super reviews of yesterday's show.
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Re: January 2010 Reviews - NYC

Post by ERinVA »

Thanks for your review, geri. :D I was sure you would like Michael, but also glad that you like Phil. I always loved him as Dad in London.
And I always hate the weird quiet audiences who don't understand that you're supposed to clap UNTIL Billy gets offstage and the curtain comes down. Drives me absolutely up the wall.
I have always attributed the silence to the fact that people are absolutely stunned. 8-)
Ellen



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Re: January 2010 Reviews - NYC

Post by Musical Fanatic »

ERinVA

Yes he does start at back of stage with flips. Dayton does this to.
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Re: January 2010 Reviews - NYC

Post by Moby-Dick »

First, would like to echo cincinnati's sentiment:
cincinnati wrote:I think it's nice the increased number of reviews that we now have on this board. It is most enjoyable.... Our own Solidarity....
Thanks so much, Musical Fanatic and Geridith, for taking the time to share your marvelous reviews of the performance you got to see on Broadway! It really is like our own brand of solidarity in sharing the experience with each other. :mrgreen:

Am so happy to hear that Michael's Broadway debut was an absolute success, and now can't wait to see him perform the role. And oohhhh, boy. Have now got another great Angry Dance to look forward to seeing! It is definitely one of my favorite numbers in the show. Seems that the two Aussie Billys share some great similarities in their performances: super-emotional Letter Scenes, amazing Angry Dances, and even the one-armed cartwheels on the chairs during Electricity!

Thanks again for the reviews!

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