Re: Baltimore Reviews
Posted: Mon Dec 31, 2012 3:09 am
A 3-show Billython in Baltimore with the primary purpose to check out the 2 new Billys.
Mitchell was on Friday night so I checked him off my bucket list. It was scary how much he reminded me of Julian Elia's rookie days in Toronto. Mitchell is even smaller than Julian was and that really makes it easy to root for a Billy. This was just his 5th performance and he was plugging along as you'd expect a young Billy to do. He dropped a pan in the kitchen scene. Some songs went well, some needed some work. There was a pretty much scream free but well tapped Angry Dance and some nice moments with Sam Poon in their 2 major scenes together. As I said, some ups, some downs, pretty much the expectation I had for this newbie. And then it happened! Out of the blue came one of the best Electricity's I've ever seen. Mitchell started it off by belting out a great rendition of Elton John's song, and followed with a snap aerial, a spectacular handspring (not a cartwheel) off of Dad's chair, more street moves than is normal, more great singing, and another aerial leading to the spectacular finish. I was dumbfounded that this little guy had pulled off this tour-de-force. The rest of the show went beautifully. There was an emotional Letter Reprise and as he went down the stairs suitcase in hand he had tears flowing down his cheeks. And he absolutely nailed the see ya Michael scene by stopping at the top of the stairs, and turning fully to Michael to deliver his final emotional line to his best friend. It was a 2nd Act for the Ages. I can't wait to see him again. His work is at that trip-inducing level. Another viewing of his Electricity will let me better assess just how street he is. So I guess I have to go to Ottawa now.
I saw Noah on Saturday night. I've reviewed Noah many times and again tonight he gave the nuanced performance you'd expect of the senior (he debuted 1 day before Ben) Billy. One thing was different tonight. In Angry Dance he had always jumped up on the police shields but tonight he stopped short and just motioned to the shields. Mitchell did the same thing the night before. Even Zach Manske did the same thing at his final performance in St. Paul. So this makes 3 straight shows, 3 different Billys, and all 3 stop short of the shields. I don't know what is going on here? I thought that maybe another "wow-factor" moment was disappearing from the tour but on Sunday Drew Minard did jump up on the shields. Whew!
Sunday matinee was Drew's 5th ever show. I refuse to believe that he's only done this 5 times. This magnificent performance is what you'd expect from someone who has been doing this for a year or 2. No stumbles, no confusion, just a beatiful, well thought out job throughout. Great singing, spectacular dancing and unusally intense acting. Like Maria said in her review, I've never seen a Billy study Grandma so seriously during Grandma's Song. His scenes with Dead Mum were spot-on and full of emotion (a tour trait). His Electricity was beautifully sung and wowed the audience with an opening aerial, and tremendous ballet. If he is this good now I can't wait to see what he's going to be like in 2 or 3 months. Off the charts is my guess.
In my Buffalo and St Paul reviews I written about the tour's diminished "wow-factor" moments (no piano flips, no jump rope crossovers, AD's devoid of f-bombs and only a few mild screams, miniature dancing dresses during Express, etc). My reviews have generated some responses and those responding forumites generally (in a polite manner) label me immature for needing these "wow-factor" moments and seem to have rationalized in their own way the mediocritization of the tour. Well, I finally got a prominent voice on my side! None other that Kylend Hetherington came down firmly on the "wow-factor" side of things. He didn't do it vocally or on the forum. More importantly, he did it with his actions. These Billys work so hard and dedicate so much of their lives to this show that it stands to reason they have intense pride in their performances. When their run as Billy is coming to an end they want to go out in grand style. Give 'em something to remember. So it is significant to note that in Kylend's last few performances he did a piano flip each time!!! He hadn't been allowed to do one in months. And the piano flips weren't the whole story. I've seen Kylend perform 7 times and only once did he do a crossover during B2B. He did crossovers during each of his final few shows!!! When it mattered most, when he was saying goodbye to BE, Kylend decided to add 2 "wow-factor" elements to his final performances. Let's hope the 4 current, very proud Billys get the chance to show off their skills to the max and not have to wait for their final performances to do so.
Mitchell was on Friday night so I checked him off my bucket list. It was scary how much he reminded me of Julian Elia's rookie days in Toronto. Mitchell is even smaller than Julian was and that really makes it easy to root for a Billy. This was just his 5th performance and he was plugging along as you'd expect a young Billy to do. He dropped a pan in the kitchen scene. Some songs went well, some needed some work. There was a pretty much scream free but well tapped Angry Dance and some nice moments with Sam Poon in their 2 major scenes together. As I said, some ups, some downs, pretty much the expectation I had for this newbie. And then it happened! Out of the blue came one of the best Electricity's I've ever seen. Mitchell started it off by belting out a great rendition of Elton John's song, and followed with a snap aerial, a spectacular handspring (not a cartwheel) off of Dad's chair, more street moves than is normal, more great singing, and another aerial leading to the spectacular finish. I was dumbfounded that this little guy had pulled off this tour-de-force. The rest of the show went beautifully. There was an emotional Letter Reprise and as he went down the stairs suitcase in hand he had tears flowing down his cheeks. And he absolutely nailed the see ya Michael scene by stopping at the top of the stairs, and turning fully to Michael to deliver his final emotional line to his best friend. It was a 2nd Act for the Ages. I can't wait to see him again. His work is at that trip-inducing level. Another viewing of his Electricity will let me better assess just how street he is. So I guess I have to go to Ottawa now.
I saw Noah on Saturday night. I've reviewed Noah many times and again tonight he gave the nuanced performance you'd expect of the senior (he debuted 1 day before Ben) Billy. One thing was different tonight. In Angry Dance he had always jumped up on the police shields but tonight he stopped short and just motioned to the shields. Mitchell did the same thing the night before. Even Zach Manske did the same thing at his final performance in St. Paul. So this makes 3 straight shows, 3 different Billys, and all 3 stop short of the shields. I don't know what is going on here? I thought that maybe another "wow-factor" moment was disappearing from the tour but on Sunday Drew Minard did jump up on the shields. Whew!
Sunday matinee was Drew's 5th ever show. I refuse to believe that he's only done this 5 times. This magnificent performance is what you'd expect from someone who has been doing this for a year or 2. No stumbles, no confusion, just a beatiful, well thought out job throughout. Great singing, spectacular dancing and unusally intense acting. Like Maria said in her review, I've never seen a Billy study Grandma so seriously during Grandma's Song. His scenes with Dead Mum were spot-on and full of emotion (a tour trait). His Electricity was beautifully sung and wowed the audience with an opening aerial, and tremendous ballet. If he is this good now I can't wait to see what he's going to be like in 2 or 3 months. Off the charts is my guess.
In my Buffalo and St Paul reviews I written about the tour's diminished "wow-factor" moments (no piano flips, no jump rope crossovers, AD's devoid of f-bombs and only a few mild screams, miniature dancing dresses during Express, etc). My reviews have generated some responses and those responding forumites generally (in a polite manner) label me immature for needing these "wow-factor" moments and seem to have rationalized in their own way the mediocritization of the tour. Well, I finally got a prominent voice on my side! None other that Kylend Hetherington came down firmly on the "wow-factor" side of things. He didn't do it vocally or on the forum. More importantly, he did it with his actions. These Billys work so hard and dedicate so much of their lives to this show that it stands to reason they have intense pride in their performances. When their run as Billy is coming to an end they want to go out in grand style. Give 'em something to remember. So it is significant to note that in Kylend's last few performances he did a piano flip each time!!! He hadn't been allowed to do one in months. And the piano flips weren't the whole story. I've seen Kylend perform 7 times and only once did he do a crossover during B2B. He did crossovers during each of his final few shows!!! When it mattered most, when he was saying goodbye to BE, Kylend decided to add 2 "wow-factor" elements to his final performances. Let's hope the 4 current, very proud Billys get the chance to show off their skills to the max and not have to wait for their final performances to do so.