West Palm Beach Reviews

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angelenroute
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Re: West Palm Beach Reviews

Post by angelenroute »

Love this line at the end:
And keep an eye out for the Billys of this production, who should be featured dancers in musicals for years to come.
AMEN!
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porschesrule
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Re: West Palm Beach Reviews

Post by porschesrule »

It's good to see a couple of very positive reviews in contrast to the initial one in this thread. They say it takes all kinds of people to "make the world go 'round", but I still find it hard to understand how two critics can watch the same show and have such different reactions to it. One minor note: the Examiner critic did get his Michael actors confused. It was Sam with Noah on Tuesday night -- not Jake.
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Re: West Palm Beach Reviews

Post by kport »

I will condense my two day Billython in WPB to one post. Many apologies for the length.

Tuesday 6.30 A Pre-Show talk with Steve Carras and Tommy Batcheler:

This took place in the Cohen Center, part of the Kravis, and a good crowd of about 150 turned out. Steve took us through the history of the film, the London production, Broadway and the international productions, plus the Tours. He was especially effective explaining how the story rings true with his own life (he is a former professional dancer, although he began later, at 15 - it was his mother's support that allowed him to chase his dream) and made an interesting statement: 'the show you are about to see is not about ballet, but about finding acceptance'. He then invited Tommy Batchelor to take the stool next to him, and a sort of Actor's Studio Q&A session began.

Tommy told us how he was 'discovered'; the training he had; the excitement of three weeks 'Billy School' in London (walking down a London Street, negotiating crosswalks looking to the right, and not left, how he squeezed his mother's hand and said, "Look, Mom, we're in London!"). How a not-uncommon-for-a-growing-teen case of Osgood-Schlatters meant a period of rest was in order; and how his life has gone on since the heady days of being Billy Elliot. He said his hope is to attend Ohio State where there is a strong dance department, and to pursue a major in dance with a minor in film studies. Steve asked him: Why Ohio State? Tommy told the story about how a BETM fan, who coaches wrestling there, saw the show and kept in touch, untlimately introducing Tommy and his family to the university, was the reason he learned about it. Steve pointed out the wonderful irony of a wrestling coach taking the time to help a young dancer, showing that the power of art and story can overcome perceptions that are inherently flawed. Parallels?

Tommy was pleasant, funny and really came across very well with the audience. The session overran to the point where we had to scramble to the theater for our seats. A very enjoyable and interesting event, especially for those who do not know the story behind the musical and its youthful stars. This sort of thing really adds value to the performance.

Tuesday Evening Performance: Noah, Sam and Jake. All other cast as normal.

What's to say that hasn't been said before? If the producers wanted to chose one show to record 'for posterity', this was it. Everyone was on top form throughout. So let me focus on something else:

The audience.

I have attended performance where an audience might laugh a bit more, or applaud a bit more, or cheer and shout 'Bravo' a bit more (or less); but this audience did all three more than any I have heard. It was audience participation evening, and they 'got' the story from the start. Being an evening, there were a number of family and younger couples there; but this being WPB the majority were a tad older, yet they 'got it'. (This is a community where the arts are cherished: there was a roar of approval when George said that the mining community supports the arts.) Noah soared, and they did; he twirled, and so did their hearts; he cried - no, he sobbed - during the Letter scenes and so did many in the stalls; it was, from start to finish, as near to perfection as I can imagine. You could see the delight on Noah's face; he gave the audience a big kiss as the final curtain swept down. I hope his WPB family were there.

Simply stunning.

Wednesday Matinee - Drew, Jake and Sam. No substitutions.

Drew seems to be in complete control in every scene. Such a solid dancer, perfect actor's timing, and a very nice singing voice; he has the whole package. His hair is longer now, so the awkward head-mic can no longer be seen. He and Jake gave hilarious performances in Expressing, and the audience loved it. The Ballet Girls deserve special mention; having seen four performance over five days I have been able to really study their personal 'takes' on their parts, as well as their tight teamwork. To do that eight times a week must be grueling, but they came to every show as refreshed as though it were their first.

Rich Hebert seems to BE Billy's dad (as does Deka Walmsley in London); his 'Esquire' joke vies with Michael's 'nutcracker' joke as the biggest laugh of all; one of the highlights in the first Act is Patti Perkin's I'd Go Dancing, a moment for those new to the musical to take a breath after trying to sort through striking miners with strange accents; Patrick Wetzell is back to his splits (and we split our ribs in laughter), Joel Blum nearly got the hat trick right (and Cal - Small Boy - had a chance to shout 'Loser!!'). I could go on, but there will be other reviews.

The audience was again about 90% full (most empty seats were in the nosebleed section) and the audience was great (fewer younger ones there, as it was a school day). I thought: why are they 'getting' this musical so well here? And I realized that many are from NYC (and other major cities) and Broadway would be home turf for them, so a musical like BETM would be high on their season's agenda.

A stunning performance; well received!

Wednesday Evening - Ben, Sam and Jake. No substitutions.

After a frustrating half hour in Panera's trying to type a review (and watching through the window a crocodile of young Billy cast walk down Hibiscus Street, just like any group of kids), I made my way back to the theater for the evening performance. A word about the theater:

The Kravis Center is is about 20 years old; the main Dreyfoos Hall seats almost 2200 on several levels. There is no deep balcony overhang, and the interior is almost circular, with upper levels appearing to 'hang' from the walls, not unlike the Straz. This means that even the highest seats have a good view, albeit at about a 40 degree angle, of the stage. The sound system is superb. There are two center aisles as well as side aisles, so SB and Billy can enter or leave as in the VPT. There is a multilevel car park linked to the complex, and for these performances parking was free and very convenient (though leaving was a bit of a nightmare!). There are several other buildings as part of the center, including the Cohen Building, which had a sign outside reading 'Young Singers of the Palm Beaches - this way'. Ah, I thought; they are performing there for their parents and friends.

Entering the grand lobby, which is as high as the theater, with a grand central staircase and four tiers of lobbies overlooking it, and expansive glass walls overlooking the water fountains, it dawned on me that there were a lot of kids standing around, waiting to enter, I mean scores. A hundred? Several hundred. Then, several singers and a piano began to perform from the landing of the staircase. Hundreds of theater-goers in the lobby turned toward the music's location. There was movement. Kids around us started singing, They moved. A flashmob! About 200 kids of Billy Elliot's age were singing the old Coke anthem 'I'd like to teach the world to sing'. They assembled with precision on the staircase - well, you can see it on Youtubes posted elsewhere on the Forum. The audience gasped, then cheered, then reached for phone cams, and the rest is history. The first ever (?) Billy flashmob! As they say, you just had to be there. Seeing those kids somehow enhanced the story that was about to take place on stage. 'We are here! We are inspired! And we can do this!'

And a few minutes later, on stage, the brilliance continued, this time with incredible Ben (who really ought to just produce the whole thing; I reckon they could save money by leaving it up to him and Rich Hebert). There are simply not the words to describe Ben's performance, so I won't waste anyone's time trying. Sam was hilarious in 'Expressing'; and Samantha really 'rose' to the occasion playing her cutely coquettish self with an older Billy.

The highlight of the show (only because I haven't seen it in quite a while) was Ben's flip off the piano.

Once again, Cullen gave a flawless performance, as did the Unsinkable Janet Dickinson, who has a different 'schtick' with each of the four Billys; I enjoy the way she takes Billy's line 'It's a letter' and repeats it, imitating the way that actor said it.

Chris Howard is great. It must be quite taxing 'managing' the flying sequence (and quite a responsibility). Watching Chris and Ben at the start of 'Dream Ballet' showed that there really isn't a lot of difference in size now; that young Billy is morphing into older Billy and soon they will converge into one.

Two interesting items from the Playbill program: there is a twenty (!) page insert with the names of those who have contributed to the Kravis. And there is an interesting full page ad on page 19 for the local VW/MG/BMW dealership which would be unremarkable except for the fact that, in the upper right hand corner, is a photo of Michael Demeski doing a Billy Jump! I hope the residuals are sent to him in Australia! A nice new Mini Cooper would do........

There are five more shows (no evening show on Sunday - they have to reach Peoria for a Tuesday show) in West Palm Beach. If you, and anyone you know in the area, haven't been - Go! This is Billy Elliot the Musical on fire! It will never be better than this!!!
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angelenroute
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Re: West Palm Beach Reviews

Post by angelenroute »

kport wrote:Why Ohio State? Tommy told the story about how a BETM fan, who coaches wrestling there, saw the show and kept in touch, untlimately introducing Tommy and his family to the university, was the reason he learned about it. Steve pointed out the wonderful irony of a wrestling coach taking the time to help a young dancer, showing that the power of art and story can overcome perceptions that are inherently flawed. Parallels?
That's good ol Bart who doesn't post here too often. He got the ball rolling on those beautiful statues of Trent, bringing the plans for them to our fan/forum dinner before Trent's last performance as Billy. My statue stands proudly above my fireplace and is one of my most-treasured possessions! Bart once treated me to a ticket too and we still keep in touch.
kport wrote:the Unsinkable Janet Dickinson, who has a different 'schtick' with each of the four Billys; I enjoy the way she takes Billy's line 'It's a letter' and repeats it, imitating the way that actor said it.
I'd forgotten about this and I can't remember now if we've discussed it here before. Love when she does that! It's especially funny the second or third or fourth time you've seen the showin a Billython when you realize she and the Billys do it differently each time. So funny!
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porschesrule
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Re: West Palm Beach Reviews

Post by porschesrule »

A very nice review from the Palm Beach Arts Paper includes this line:

"If it had not been for the soft economy, Billy Elliot would probably still be running on Broadway. It is anything but a formulaic show; indeed, it is surely the first great musical of this century."

http://palmbeachartspaper.com/1988-thea ... chers.html
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porschesrule
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Re: West Palm Beach Reviews

Post by porschesrule »

Thanks for the great synopsis of your Billython in West Palm, kport. No worries about its length -- loved every sentence of it!

It really does seem that BETM has hit its stride there; really nice to hear!
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jdmag44
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Re: West Palm Beach Reviews

Post by jdmag44 »

Loved your review as always Bill

Thanks for taking the time to share such striking detail - I really appreciate it.

Joe
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ERinVA
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Re: West Palm Beach Reviews

Post by ERinVA »

And another positive, if minimal, review:

http://www.southfloridagaynews.com/news ... sical.html
Ellen



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angelenroute
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Re: West Palm Beach Reviews

Post by angelenroute »

ERinVA wrote:And another positive, if minimal, review:

http://www.southfloridagaynews.com/news ... sical.html
Good review, yeah, but it almost reads like it was written by someone who didn't actually see the show, just read other reviews and pieced things together. :D
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Re: West Palm Beach Reviews

Post by kport »

Saturday March 9th 2.00 Matinee - Drew, Jake, Sam. Joel Newsome as George.

I decided to round out my extended Florida Billython to a tenth show, and had the good luck to see Drew perform again. Jake seems to add more and more twists to his role, and every line is clearly delivered, with excellent timing, giving the audience time to digest and respond. It was good to see Joel fill in again as George; he brings a touch of Leonard Rossiter ('Rising Damp') to the role. Another great performance by a cast who seem to be at the top of their game. Drew was extremely pleasant to those waiting to see him at the stage door; he seems to have quite a following of family and friends in Florida.

Once again the audience was responsive, appreciative and large. West Palm Beach has had some of the best I have seen anywhere, whether on Tour or in London. (One complaint - all week I have heard more cell phones than anywhere else. Turn...them...off!) The theater was about 95% full (the only vacancies were in the top balcony) and have been so all week. Apparently Thursday night was packed with Boca fans of Mitchell Tobin; according to the ticket office, Sundays reprise with Mitch is sold out. No seats left.

Next: Peoria. It is over to you to keep up the Billy enthusiasm! Now there is a challenge!!
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