Here's a very enthusiastic review of the show's opening night performance in Birmingham.
http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.s ... tiona.html
Birmingham Reviews
- porschesrule
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Re: Birmingham Reviews
Great review! I especially found these opening comments very interesting and hope our friends in tour management read this sterling review:BEtourfan wrote:Here's a very enthusiastic review of the show's opening night performance in Birmingham.
http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.s ... tiona.html
"The folks who run theater touring series these days really don’t like to hear it, but you get what you pay for.
With few exceptions, the less-expensive non-Equity shows pale in comparison to their Equity counterparts, the latter of which feature members of the Actors Equity Association. Cases in point: December’s less-than-stellar production of West Side Story, which was presented under the Broadway in Birmingham banner even though the only thing in that production that had been near the Great White Way was the music; and Billy Elliot, the stellar national tour that opened Tuesday night with Ben Cook, a 15-year-old who already has Broadway credentials under his belt, in the title role."
- CJ-Rochester
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Re: Birmingham Reviews
Let's hope the folks who may be considering making the tour non-union take these comments under advisement.
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- Mr Braithwaite
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Re: Birmingham Reviews
As much as I enjoy Billy Elliot The Musical, I would never attend a non-union show. This review says it all. You get what you pay for.
- ERinVA
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Re: Birmingham Reviews
Well, eventually it will be licensed for local productions, I think. I might consider seeing one of those if it ever happens near me, just because it would be supporting the local arts community, but a non-union tour--don't think so.
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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"I don't want people who want to dance; I want people who have to dance.”
-George Balanchine 1904 -1983
To follow the forum's Twitter at http://twitter.com/BEForum, click on the direct link in Applies to All Forums above.
Re: Birmingham Reviews
Pardon my ignorance, are the many kids that are in the show in the union? Can they be union members at their age?
- angelenroute
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Re: Birmingham Reviews
BEtourfan wrote:Here's a very enthusiastic review of the show's opening night performance in Birmingham.
http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.s ... tiona.html
Ben is of course absolutely wonderful, but it's always fun to hear a reviewer be so sure the others couldn't possibly be as good. Yes, they are! They're all fantastic!And oh, what a Billy Ben Cook makes. It’s a demanding role, and you can see why three other young actors rotate with Cook as Billy, but it’s hard to imagine that any of them would be any better than him.
I've never heard that before, but okay!...Janet Dickinson as Billy’s dance teacher and mentor Mrs. Wilkinson. She gets perhaps the best-known of Elton John’s songs, “Shine,”
- porschesrule
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Re: Birmingham Reviews
Yes. The entire cast, including the child cast members, are Actor's Equity. It's a union show and it's mandated that they be.jdmag44 wrote:Pardon my ignorance, are the many kids that are in the show in the union? Can they be union members at their age?
Re: Birmingham Reviews
Thanks for the clarification. I thought that was the answer but was not sure.