January 2010 Reviews - NYC

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Rich B
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Re: January 2010 Reviews - NYC

Post by Rich B »

Wow - we've had some really great, long reviews. Keep 'em coming! :D
Moby-Dick wrote:
Whew! Two performances of Billy Elliot in one week! You know it's true love (obsession) when you skimp on grocery money in order to afford tickets for the show... :lol:
When you start selling your blood plasma to buy tickets, then I'll worry about you. ;)

Rich
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porschesrule
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Re: January 2010 Reviews - NYC

Post by porschesrule »

Moby-Dick,

You've become one of my favorite reviewers. I love the detail and the feeling you put into your reviews. There haven't been a ton of Trent reviews recently, so it was really nice to hear that he continues to live up to his reputation as a triple threat and to his stature as a Tony Award winning actor.

And I agree with Rich B, these long reviews are so great -- keep 'em coming!
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Re: January 2010 Reviews - NYC

Post by cincinnati »

Great review....Trent is really Billy Elliot....Bravo Trent Bravo...
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ERinVA
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Re: January 2010 Reviews - NYC

Post by ERinVA »

Great review Moby-Dick. :D

Everyone, don't forget messages for Trent. See the notice in my signature below. 8-)
Ellen



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-George Balanchine 1904 -1983


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seuchick
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Re: January 2010 Reviews - NYC

Post by seuchick »

What a great month this has been for reviews! I'm so thrilled for all you lucky people who've been to see the show this month (some of you multiple times ;) ) and so thankful that you've taken the time and made the effort to write down your thoughts from the occasion. It really is a treat for those of us who live far away from the bright lights of broadway to be able to live vicariously through your reviews! Keep them coming!!! :D
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Re: January 2010 Reviews - NYC

Post by Dancer »

Being one of the visitors from “across the pond” who angelenroute referred to a couple of pages back, here are my reviews of the two shows I saw last week. I’m afraid they won’t be anything like as long as Moby-Dick’s (memory fades with age, and being a student, Moby-Dick is considerably younger than me with many more active brain cells!), but here are just a few personal recollections!

Tuesday 26th January 2010

Billy – Dayton Tavares
Michael – Jake Evan Schwencke
Debbie – Izzy Hanson-Johnston
Tall Boy – Trent Kowalik
Small Boy – Luke Trevisan
Dad – Donnie Kehr
Mrs Wilkinson – Kate Hennig
Tony – Will Chase
George – Joel Hatch
Mr Braithwaite – Thommie Retter
Grandma – Merle Louise

All the above cast apart from Trent, Will, Joel and Thommie were new to me since my last visit back in September.

It was great to meet up with angelenroute (Sean) and three other US friends for a meal before the show and to chat about our favourite subject! Sean was all for finding out before the show who was scheduled to be on that night but I always like to find out first from the cast board in the theatre’s foyer! My last two trips to Broadway both gave me my first choice Billy and Michael for the first show, Kiril and Frank in April, and Tommy and David B. in September, so would my luck hold out a third time? You bet it did! My first reaction when seeing Dayton and Jake’s names on the board was to “high five” one of my companions as we were equally delighted :D .

We were sitting in row B of the front mezzanine and there were quite a few empty seats around us, including in the front row, but mainly in the side sections. No-one would have had any trouble in getting good seats at the last minute.

I was really looking forward to seeing how the new cast integrated into the show. We learned that this was the first time Donnie had played Dad for eight months, and he had had only a couple of days rehearsal before playing the role until Phil Whitchurch took over later in the week. Donnie was most concerned about his accent, and whilst not being perfect it was nothing to be ashamed of! Considering his lack of practice, Donnie made a good stab as Dad, which was even better on Wednesday as he seemed much more comfortable and settled in the role.

I really liked Kate Hennig as Mrs Wilkinson and her responses to everything Billy did were so natural and how you would expect. This is one of the things I love about the show in that no two lines are ever said the same way, and all the actors respond to how the others play the part in their own individual style.

I’m afraid that the one performance I couldn’t warm to was Merle Louise’s Grandma. I am sure there was nothing wrong with it, but it just left me rather cold. Perhaps it was due to a young woman playing a much older lady.

Luke Trevison must have been the tiniest Small Boy I have ever seen! Everything on stage just towered above him but he played his part with aplomb! In contrast, Trent is definitely the biggest Tall Boy ever to take foot on the stage! He is now all leg and his voice has broken but I smiled at his attempt to do the Posh Boy accent!

Izzy is a brilliant Debbie! She is quite small but speaks her lines clearly and fluidly and seems to get on reasonably well with Billy! One line I really liked was the way she said, “oh”, and then, “see ya”, after Billy tells her, “Me mam’s dead”. In a spilt second Debbie is sympathetic, but an instant later she appears to have forgotten all about it and skips off to join her friends.

Jake is quite a small boy with a gentle and sweet treble voice, not surprising in that he is only 10 years old! He looked like he was thoroughly enjoying himself on stage and worked well with Dayton in Express. After the show, he told us that he had only started playing Michael on Saturday 16th January, just ten days before!

Talking of which, now on to Billy himself. I have followed all the reports and reviews of the Australian production and couldn’t wait to see Dayton on stage. The next best thing to visiting Sydney or Melbourne, I suppose! And he didn’t disappoint! From everything I have read, I did get the impression that perhaps Dayton wasn’t quite as “wild” as he was allowed to be in Australia. He may have been instructed to hold back on the swearing a little, to cater for New York tastes, but his Angry Dance was superb with really fiery tapping. I loved both Jake’s and Dayton’s tapping which was no doubt helped by the 90 odd microphones under the stage! Two Dayton scenes in particular really stood out for me. Firstly, The Letter. This was so emotional with Dayton sobbing his heart out and he was still wiping his eyes when Born to Boogie started. And, secondly, Electricity. The music was the ballet version, and whilst the dance was mainly ballet, Dayton did perform some street moves with a few twists and tumbles.

One of my favourite scenes is where Dad and Billy are packing the case during Deep into the Ground. There is always the sense of finality at this stage, with Billy departing the town of Easington for good, leaving behind his family and friends to start a new life. I do wish, though, that Billy’s clothes would look like they’d fit him! As in the London production, they look far too small! A happy finale ended the first of my mini Billython. There was even a standing ovation from parts of the theatre at the curtain call! One final point I must make is that it felt a bit weird hearing the various orchestrations that have now been incorporated into the London show! To the good, I may add!

It was great to meet Dayton and his mum after the show, and also Jake, and they were all so happy to chat and sign autographs and have photos taken. Luckily it was not too cold! Greg Jbara also appeared at the stage door and said it was strange to be watching the show rather than performing in it! He did his final performance the previous Sunday and would be flying home the next day. Even though we did not see him perform it was good to say hello and give him our good wishes for a well deserved sabbatical!


Wednesday 27th January 2010

Billy – Liam Redhead
Michael – Trevor Braun
Debbie – Izzy Hanson-Johnston
Tall Boy – Jacob Clemente
Small Boy – Seth Fromowitz
Dad – Donnie Kehr
Mrs Wilkinson – Kate Hennig
Tony – Will Chase
George – Joel Hatch
Mr Braithwaite – Thommie Retter
Grandma – Carole Shelley

Well, my luck held out yet again! After seeing Dayton and Jake the night before, I so wanted to see Liam and Trevor, and there they were with their names on the cast board! Nothing against Trent whatsoever, but I had already seen him twice before in my previous visits, and Liam would be new to me in my second and final show this visit. Trent is also looking too old and big to play Billy, and it will be interesting to see if Phil Whitchurch will be Dad in his final show, as he was in London!

The theatre appeared almost full with many teenage children who I think must have been in school parties.

Donnie had really settled down in the role of Dad, and whilst he does not come across quite as fierce as Greg or some of the London Dads, he turned in a good but slightly understated performance. One of the bits I did like was when Billy shouts, “you’re a bastard” in his face, and Donnie clenches his fist, raises his arm a little and really looks like he is about to knock the living daylights out of his son! Billy’s, “oh shit”, couldn't have been more apt!

I was really pleased to see Carole Shelley back as Grandma, as I do love the way she plays the part in her own slightly dotty way. She also has a great rapport with the Billys and has some wonderful facial expressions!

Kate Hennig was just as impressive as the previous night. One of the most moving scenes was once again The Letter. Even though Liam didn’t appear to cry, the way he played the scene was utterly heartbreaking, and it was Kate who was in tears at the end and kept dabbing her eyes with a tissue. You can see that she has a very special relationship with Liam. One funny moment in this scene was when Kate tried to snatch the letter back from Liam. She missed and the look of astonishment on Liam’s face was priceless. He had to hand the letter to Kate!

Seth and Jacob were great as Small Boy and Tall Boy respectively. Perhaps Kylend Hetherington who normally plays Tall/Posh Boy was on holiday.

Trevor Braun has really grown in the last four months. He is much taller and his voice has deepened considerably, so much so that he doesn’t do that little operatic high pitched solo in Express! Despite that, he is a very funny Michael with a great variety of facial expressions and body language. Both his and Liam’s dance tapping were spot on and Trevor milked the audience for his applause at the end of the scene! I am always thrown a little at this point as Michael in Broadway exits stage right from the audience viewpoint, as distinct from stage left in London!

Now on to Liam. My God, we have a little gem on our hands! As with all the Billys, Liam has his own unique way of playing the role, but to me he is quite outstanding. The thing that hits you in the face is his incredible timing. All his dance moves are perfectly timed with the music and not once did he fail to end absolutely spot on with the final note. Liam is a very graceful dancer and flowed supremely well with Easton Smith as Older Billy. He is also a smiley Billy and his grin just lights up his face and illuminates the whole stage. Liam has a very pleasant voice which is as clear as a bell, although he did sing a couple of duff notes. But hey, Billy is not supposed to be perfect! For some reason, Liam didn’t do the flip off the piano at the end of Born to Boogie, just jumped off it (perhaps he didn’t have enough time to change his shoes). I must say it again, this boy’s dancing is amazing and I am so pleased that I got see him as Billy. He got a well deserved standing ovation at the curtain call.

Once again at the stage door, all the cast were happy to talk, and even Alex Ko appeared for a few minutes! He hopes to be back on stage very shortly, although no date has been fixed. So in one way or another I got to see four Billys, the only one not making an appearance was Dayton’s compatriot, Michael Dameski. Kate Hennig was also really nice to talk to and I learned that she was born in England in a town just 30 miles from where I live! It’s a small world! I mentioned to Liam that he reminded me of an ex London Billy, and without prompting he smiled and said Layton (Williams). He’d obviously had this said to him before! In contrast to Liam, Layton does a wholly “street” and “acro” version of the Electricity dance.

I’m afraid that my reviews have turned out rather longer than I expected, but once I start I find it very difficult to stop! So ended another great trip to New York and to see my favourite show with three very good friends :D .
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ERinVA
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Re: January 2010 Reviews - NYC

Post by ERinVA »

Thanks for the great reviews, Dancer. You did a wonderful job despite not being a student. ;) :lol: I just want to comment on the following statement:
I’m afraid that the one performance I couldn’t warm to was Merle Louise’s Grandma. I am sure there was nothing wrong with it, but it just left me rather cold. Perhaps it was due to a young woman playing a much older lady.
I have not seen Merle Louise as grandma, but I looked up her wiki, and she was born in April of 1934, so she will soon be 76 years old. 8-)

Carole Shelley's wiki says she was born in 1939, so Merle Louise is actually the older of the two.

Merle must give the impression of being very "young at heart." :D
Ellen



"I don't want people who want to dance; I want people who have to dance.”
-George Balanchine 1904 -1983


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Moby-Dick
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Re: January 2010 Reviews - NYC

Post by Moby-Dick »

Dancer,

Thanks so much for the marvelous reviews of the two shows you got to see during your visit to New York!

Writing reviews can be such a joy, because like you said,
...once I start I find it very difficult to stop!


Am certainly in agreement with that sentiment because I certainly have found that once I get started on writing a review, I can't seem to get my fingers to stop typing!

But honestly, the length of a review has nothing to do with the enjoyment one gets out of reading it, as I'm sure most of the members of this board would agree. Any and all personal reflections and recollections of performances are such a joy for me to read, and I really appreciate that you took the time to review the two shows you saw! :mrgreen:

Danke sehr!

x
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Re: January 2010 Reviews - NYC

Post by Dancer »

Oh dear, thanks for putting me right, Ellen :oops: . Merle is VERY young at heart and her early photo in Playbill just proves it :D .

Thanks also, Ellen, and to you, Moby-Dick for your kind words. It makes taking the time to write reviews so rewarding!
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Re: January 2010 Reviews - NYC

Post by Billy Whiz »

Oh boy we have been blessed with some fantastic reviews lately.

A big thank you to everybody that has taken the time and trouble to write them. Your time has not been wasted.
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