Thommie Retter's BETM Farewell Celebration
Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2012 1:35 pm
How about a separate thread for reviews and comments about Friday's Celebration workshop?
My head is still swimming at the sheer number of celebrities, former and current company members, who were there. It was like a recap of the last 3 years. One of the things that struck me is that because there were 100+ "superfans" in the room, I suddenly didn't feel weird or different to admit publicly that I had seen the show or any particular Billy so many times. Often in the theater or at the stage door it is hard to say you have seen the show many times. But here we were among like-minded fans. The cast members and parents who were there all recognized and appreciated the support we fans give. It was also nice that a few parents actually remembered meeting me last summer, especially Giuseppe's mom Sonia who gave me a hug when she first saw me.
The performances were all outstanding. For me there were two major OMG moments at this event:
1- Joshua Joubert playing "Amazing Grace" on the piano. Joshua performed this 18 years ago at the White House for President Clinton and visiting Russian dignitaries. You wouldn't think "Amazing Grace" on a piano would be anything so special, but it was. His improve style of this piece was totally captivating. The fans all gave a standing ovation at the end.
2- Trent doing "I Can't Stand Still". His tap and step dancing were of course brilliant. We already knew that, and have seen similar demonstrations before. What really amazed me is his new very 'Broadway' voice. Wow!!! Where did that come from? I was blown away by the way he could belt out that song.
It was nice to see many of the ballet girls, who never get to shine as individuals in the show, get to show off their talents. I also really enjoyed the dramatic monologues that Tommy and Jake did from "The Prize Guys". Based on just that small sample of material it is going to be a heck of a powerful movie! Hopefully others will chime in with some more reviews.
My head is still swimming at the sheer number of celebrities, former and current company members, who were there. It was like a recap of the last 3 years. One of the things that struck me is that because there were 100+ "superfans" in the room, I suddenly didn't feel weird or different to admit publicly that I had seen the show or any particular Billy so many times. Often in the theater or at the stage door it is hard to say you have seen the show many times. But here we were among like-minded fans. The cast members and parents who were there all recognized and appreciated the support we fans give. It was also nice that a few parents actually remembered meeting me last summer, especially Giuseppe's mom Sonia who gave me a hug when she first saw me.
The performances were all outstanding. For me there were two major OMG moments at this event:
1- Joshua Joubert playing "Amazing Grace" on the piano. Joshua performed this 18 years ago at the White House for President Clinton and visiting Russian dignitaries. You wouldn't think "Amazing Grace" on a piano would be anything so special, but it was. His improve style of this piece was totally captivating. The fans all gave a standing ovation at the end.
2- Trent doing "I Can't Stand Still". His tap and step dancing were of course brilliant. We already knew that, and have seen similar demonstrations before. What really amazed me is his new very 'Broadway' voice. Wow!!! Where did that come from? I was blown away by the way he could belt out that song.
It was nice to see many of the ballet girls, who never get to shine as individuals in the show, get to show off their talents. I also really enjoyed the dramatic monologues that Tommy and Jake did from "The Prize Guys". Based on just that small sample of material it is going to be a heck of a powerful movie! Hopefully others will chime in with some more reviews.