Richmond Reviews

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BEtourfan
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Richmond Reviews

Post by BEtourfan »

A nice (though rather terse) review in the Virginia Gazette.
http://www.vagazette.com/entertainment/ ... 1030.story
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Re: Richmond Reviews

Post by BEtourfan »

Another review ... this from Show Biz Radio in Richmond.
http://richmond.showbizradio.com/2013/0 ... ly-elliot/
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ERinVA
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Re: Richmond Reviews

Post by ERinVA »

BEtourfan wrote:A nice (though rather terse) review in the Virginia Gazette.
http://www.vagazette.com/entertainment/ ... 1030.story
Thanks for this one, BEtourfan. The Virginia Gazette is my hometown paper. My guess is that Ann Efimetz drove back to Williamsburg last night after the show, which ran very late, so in order to meet her deadline for today's paper, she had to keep her review short and sweet.

And now, here's my own review:

Off to an excellent start last night with Drew and Jake. There were a number of substitutions, but it was an excellent show nevertheless. Dad was played by Craig Bennett, who normally plays Big Davey, and Grandma was played by Susan Haefner. Other ensemble roles were shifted around accordingly. The show ran reeeealllly loooong. Not sure why, but I suspect it had to do with the subs, as there were some very pregnant pauses at spots that caused me to wonder if a line had been dropped. I don’t think any actually were dropped, but the timing made me think that mental wheels were doing some turning in order to call them up. Curtain after the finale went down at 10:53 or thereabouts. I was afraid the hotel's shuttle, which runs until 11, would have gone to bed for the evening, but I did get picked up with no problem as soon as I called. The hotel is just a very short walk away, but since I was alone, I was not eager to walk back by myself, even though the biggest danger, if any, would probably have been avoiding roaming bands of VCU students out for Friday night fun (the theater is right in the midst of Virginia Commonwealth University’s “campus,” although not actually part of it).

The only bad thing was that I couldn't make it to the stage door, but it was too cold to spend any significant time there anyway. I’m sure the cast wanted to get out of the cold and back to their hotel quickly, especially after having just enjoyed the warmth of Clearwater. Speaking of cold, the lobby at the Mosque…erm…. Landmark was a seriously chilly place to stand around waiting for the auditorium doors to open. Lots of Moorish-inspired tile work on walls and floor, which seemed to absorb and radiate back the cold coming through the front doors. In addition, the lobby is cavernous , which added to the chill factor. Fortunately, the temperature in the auditorium itself was quite comfortable, but at over 3500 seats, it is really big .

I was seated in the very front row, but with the expanse of the large (and very empty—only Bill Congdon and two guitarists occupying the space—other musicians hiding behind closed doors, as we know) orchestra pit, and then a good 8-10 feet of apron before reaching the front edge of the set, well, you get the idea. At first, the sound seemed to be coming out of a large tin can, but after a little getting used to, it wasn’t as terrible as it could have been. There was a good crowd, with most seats in orchestra and balconies filled except on the far sides, and the audience seemed to enjoy the show. The folks next to me did. We didn’t converse much, but the man said he was a dancer, and needless to say, he was really impressed with Drew, who, of course, nailed everything, including the rope skipping in B2B, with ease (by the way, “Billy jump” off the piano instead of a flip). At the end of “Solidarity,” when Billy does his first fouette’s, the woman gasped “Good boy!” And as intermission began, I heard her telling her friend that she started to tear up when she saw that. I can just imagine what she thought when he absolutely drilled the spins at the end of “Electricity,” which, no surprise, got loud applause from the audience. And yes, Billy did fly in “Dream Ballet” too, so whatever the problem was in Clearwater seems to have gone away on arrival in Richmond.

I really enjoyed Drew’s take on Billy. He came across to me as a fairly “no nonsense” Billy, who does what he needs to do to accomplish his desire to dance. Just as Billy is matter-of-fact in telling Mrs. W. that his mother was “just me mum,” I think he would say of himself if asked, “I’m just an ordinary boy.”

This was my second time seeing Jake as Michael, and I enjoyed his take on the character as well. His timing is wonderful, especially in the Winter Scene. And his “Nutcracker” line did not get lost as can sometimes happen. He and Drew worked really well together.

I also really enjoyed Samantha’s performance last night. Of course, she’s priceless in the toilet scene, but the bit I liked the best last night was Debbie’s interaction with her mother when she interrupts the conversation with Dad at the Wilkinsons’ front door. The body language was impeccable! Spin around, pigtails flying, and STOMP back through the door. Funny! But she also made me feel sad for Debbie, whose mother always seems to either ignore her or criticize her.

As for the subs, I thought Craig Bennett did an excellent job as Dad. He has a great voice, which shone in “Deep Into the Ground.” His Dad is fairly subdued in the confrontations with Tony, but it works all the same. One nit to pick would be that the age differential between him as Dad and Cullen as Tony is almost non-existent. We have talked before about Tony’s being too old. Well, here we have Tony, who is too old, and Dad, who is too young. It was a bit hard to swallow at first, but after the initial “shock to the system,” willing suspension of disbelief kicked in.

The same age problem occurs with Susan Haefner as Grandma, although she did a really good job with the role last night. Her delivery of “We’d Go Dancing” is not as befuddled as some, and consequently not as humorous, but it works. Her “dance” doesn’t have the kind of antics that make Billy smile as he watches her, and indeed, Drew did not smile, but watched her very seriously. The “dancer” guy next to me (mentioned above) commented that he really liked Grandma.

I am off to the Landmark again in a few hours to meet a friend for the matinee. My guess is that we will be seeing Noah as Billy, but we’ll see…
Ellen



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rob_hanson1979
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Re: Richmond Reviews

Post by rob_hanson1979 »

Glad you enjoyed it, Erin. I had the same issue in Ottawa with the orchestra. I was in the front row for 2 shows, and it was great, but the orchestra pit is big, so I was still further back than I'd like to be, haha (of course, I'd like to be ON stage). Why do they put some of the musicians in the pit and some in another location? It seems odd and also makes the orchestra look cheap, because people only see 3 or 4 people there.

So this was your first time seeing Drew? I'm glad you enjoyed it. I think he's fantastic. I'm assuming you've seen Noah and Ben, so I'm hoping you'll get a chance to see Mitchell too. He puts a very unique spin on the role.

Craig performed as Dad in Ottawa as well, and I thought he was really good. I hope when the time comes, he'll be considered to play the role permanently. I totally agree with the age issues though. Craig seems the right age to be Billy's father, but Tony? Nah! The issue is mostly just Tony's age. Most of the other age issues would be cleared up if Tony were a bit younger, would make it all more believable. The other issue I have is Mom's age... she seems too young to have a son in his 20s... but I like to think that Billy is imagining her from the pictures he's seen of her, which were taking before she died and presumably before she got sick.
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Re: Richmond Reviews

Post by ERinVA »

But mom is "frozen in time." Of course she is going to look younger.
Ellen



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-George Balanchine 1904 -1983


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rob_hanson1979
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Re: Richmond Reviews

Post by rob_hanson1979 »

Yea, like I said, that would be a likely age that she would be in the photos Billy has seen.

Has it ever been established what happened to her? Like how did she die, and what age Billy was? I could imagine there's a whole story right there! Prequel maybe???
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Re: Richmond Reviews

Post by porschesrule »

Thanks for this first Forum member review from Richmond, Ellen. As far as you know, are you the only Forum member there?

It does seem like the show got off to a great start in Richmond -- despite the cold and the slight sound issues and all the substitutions.

Enjoy the rest of your stay there!
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Re: Richmond Reviews

Post by CJ-Rochester »

Nice review Ellen. I am so glad you were able to experience Drew and see what some of us have been talking about. It was a surprise to hear Susan is back in the cast, as we thought she had left in December. Perhaps she is back just as a short term fill-in. Enjoy the rest of the weekend. :D
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Re: Richmond Reviews

Post by kport »

Nice review, Ellen. I do not envy the cold weather, however!

Susan performed as well in Clearwater, and she went down very well with the audiences, so she has been on all week. I can imagine the age disparity between Cullen as Tony and Craig Bennett as Dad; that tends to disappear when Rich Hebert is playing. Cullen as Tony makes one wonder if Billy was a 'late dividend' - there would appear to be fifteen years between them (whereas in the film, the age difference appears to be much closer).
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Re: Richmond Reviews

Post by maria »

Great review Ellen! Thanks for taking the time to give a "forum" review of the show. Glad you enjoyed Drew, he is quite a find. Hope you get to see Mitchell as well, since you missed those two whilst in Baltimore. And hope you get to see the veterans Ben and Noah as well.
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