May 2010 Reviews - Chicago

[olivejuice]

Excuse the backtracking after Musical Fanatic's excellent reviews of this weekend's shows, but I haven't had much internet access the last week so I'm finally getting an opportunity to give some thoughts on the two shows I saw last Wednesday and Thursday evenings.

My friend and I were pretty excited to get an opportunity to have a backstage tour between the matinee and evening shows. The first thing that struck me was how little wing space there is for such a big theatre. As I mentioned before, much of the set that slides on during the show is stored hanging in the air. Although I have seen set pieces stored like this before, seeing things like the piano and the kitchen table hanging above me was a bit shocking but very interesting. All the props are super organized which was really cool to see as well. Overall it was just very cool to see the setup of where things are when they aren't onstage.

Wednesday night I was very excited to find I would be seeing the pair of Tommy & Keean--since I have never seen the show on Broadway this seemed like the next best thing. It was such a joy to watch, it is evident that these kids are good friends offstage and especially during Express they seemed to be having a great time and just very comfortable with each other. Tommy is a wonderful performer and it was great to be able to see some of the little things he has added to his character which some of the younger boys have not--such as the vulcan salute when showing Mrs. Wilkinson the things in he has brought for his dance as well as looking both ways before climbing down the trellis-like thing in Angry Dance as if he is sneaking out of the house. I'm sure people have mentioned both of these things before but now I really see how much little touches like this go in character development. Keean is also such a talent. I am so glad I got the opportunity to see him multiple times. He has great comedic timing and does Michael well without being over the top with the character.

My friend and I were the only ones sitting in the rush seat boxes, which are very close to the stage but definitely obstructed view. I have found that the audience right rush seats (the even numbered seats) are the better ones to try for if you're going to do rush at the Oriental theatre. I would say the theatre was about half full which was a bit of a bummer, so my friend and I decided to take it upon ourselves to be a cheering section for the cast. The crowd itself ended up being a pretty good one, especially for its size.

Thursday night's show was JP and Gabe which I have to say is quite a contrast from the previous night's show simply because JP and Gabe are so much smaller. I was especially nervous for this show because I brought my family with me. Now none of them are very interested on theatre and they all think I'm crazy for seeing the show so many times so I was really hoping they would like it. I have to say, it was like seeing the show for the first time, again. Hard to explain. I have seen JP before and he has grown into the character more since the last time I saw him during previews. I was especially impressed with the no-handed cartwheel he did during his electricity. I hadn't remembered it being there before but that may have just been my memory. His acting is wonderful and I can see that he will just continue to grow. Gabe has a great energy for Michael and I can also see that he has and will continue to grow the more performances he does.

One thing that happened Thursday night was that there was a man with tourette's sitting on the left side of the upper balcony. He was shouting things at the beginning of the show but seemed to quiet down after a while. During Act Two, however, it got pretty bad. I have to commend the actors for keeping their composure and going on as if nothing were wrong. I was a bit surprised the ushers didn't do anything about it as it got worse and worse and some of the things being shouted were kind of inappropriate and horrible. I know that it's not something that could be helped but in the program it does say the theatre staff can remove people at their own discretion. There was also a large group of eighth graders sitting in the same area who eventually started to laugh every time it happened. It was just an uncomfortable situation all around and made it hard to enjoy the show. My family, however, still seemed to like it. Both my brother and dad were really impressed.

I'm sad to be leaving Chicago but glad I've had the opportunity to see some great performances thus far and am excited to come back and visit in the fall and see how much the cast has grown!

[Mike]

BTW, how's the F row seat,MF? I'm searching tickets and F row is the best I can pull right now.

DO NOT use Tickmaster online order system. Call 800-775-2000 and the ticket agent will be able to tell you what seats are available. I was able to sit in Row AA 3 out of 4 shows by calling them. The AA row doesnt pull up on the online system.

[Musical Fanatic]

Thanks for wonderful reviews MF and olivejuice.I really enjoyed reading the details of the show.And about the weird man. Is he drunk? Why they let him doing that during the show!That's crazy.

Anyway I'm going to Chicago next week and looking forward to see Chicago production!

BTW, how's the F row seat,MF? I'm searching tickets and F row is the best I can pull right now.

Row F or lower is fine. AA or A you will have to sit back and look up to see. Much higher stage in Chicago. I would recommend calling ticketmaster directly. I am glad I was in Chicago for the 3 days. Thanks for the comment sctwins. If you decide that you want to get to the stage door. You make a right coming out of theater. Make a right at next street(McDonald's on corner) and the stage door is in an alley in middle of block.
Sam

[Musical Fanatic]

Sat May 15 2PM

Billy-Cesar
Michael-Gabe


Electricity
I need a ballet class so I can describe Cesar"s moves better with the right terminology(sigh).
He and Tommy do a combination move at the back of the stage( two jump spins) that are incredible when pulled off(Tommy slipped on Sat night and was not able to set up to do his second one. Alex is doing these moves in NY.

Sam

Tour en l'air is the move that they are doing. Thank you to the forum member who pointed out the ABT web site. http://www.abt.org/education/dictionary/index.html This is a pretty comprehensive dictionary with videos for the ballet novices among us. It may well be somewhere else on the forum.

[porschesrule]

Back from my trip to Chicago.As I'm really tired from 20 hour train ride,I will start to post my reviews tomorrow

Thanks for the brief comments, Cha. Nice to hear things in Chicago are going well. We'll look forward to more complete reviews tomorrow.

[ERinVA]

Thanks for wonderful reviews MF and olivejuice.I really enjoyed reading the details of the show.And about the weird man. Is he drunk? Why they let him doing that during the show!That's crazy.

Anyway I'm going to Chicago next week and looking forward to see Chicago production!

BTW, how's the F row seat,MF? I'm searching tickets and F row is the best I can pull right now.

Glad you got to see the Chicago show, Cha. I have just booked myself to Chicago for June 22-26. Now I need to find seats.

As for the man that olivejuice mentioned, she said he had Tourette's. People with that disorder often make weird sounds and jerky movements. Often they curse. They don't mean to; they can't help it. It's part of the symptoms of Tourette's Syndrome.

[Musical Fanatic]

Back from my trip to Chicago.As I'm really tired from 20 hour train ride,I will start to post my reviews tomorrow but it was all worth it.Not only I met my first Billy Tommy but also other three immensely talented Chicago Billys.

Quick comments I can think of right now.First,I can guarantee that you will be blown away by any Chicago Billy's Angry Dance. I think four of them are added to top of my favorite Angry Dance list.They might be different in their strenghts but all of them are giving impressive performance in Angry Dance part. Second,the role of Michael is in really good hands.Both Gabriel and Keean are doing wonderful job there. Third, I really like Arnold's Dad,Cynthia's Grandma and Emily's Mrs.Wilkinson and while I like the approach of Patrick's Tony but felt that it needed more work.Ensembles did terrific job in group numbers such as Stars Look Down and Solidarity but they tried too hard to do their best that sometimes their actings(especially gestures) were a bit unnatural.Fourth, I thought the different stage setting and different lines worked pretty well together.I really liked everything about Angry Dance,actually.

Good night and I'll try to post more.

ps>Thanks MF for letting me know where Stagedoor was!

Your welcome. I am glad you enjoyed Chicago. Can't wait to read your reviews.

[ERinVA]

Thanks for all your reviews. I'm looking forward to seeing all these Billys for myself soon!

[Musical Fanatic]

sctwins your reviews are awesome .

Sam

[gpcolo]

sctwins: Thanks for your thoughtful and immensely enjoyable review. Your descriptions of both Guiseppe and Keean left me wanting another dose of this Chicago production. I have one in September but not sure if I can wait that long!