Schenectady reviews

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StevenKing
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Re: Schenectady reviews

Post by StevenKing »

atreyu wrote:Only have time to mention a handful of slight changes before checking out of the hotel, grabbing lunch and heading to the matinee. It has been fun chatting with kport, michaelj, tomtorfan and muck912 about these changes and speculating about why they are being introduced at this time. So we might as well get the rest of the forum involved as well. ;)

To me, it seems the biggest change is more intensity ("pathos" is kport's term, I believe) with Dad's character and to some extent Billy. It's not like Rich Hebert's performance had been lacking by any means, but he is noticeably more forceful in his confrontations with Mrs W and Tony.

With Billy, it was noticeable with Noah. More expressions and reactions than previous. Mitchell's take has been more feisty since he started, but I daresay that has also gone up a notch. Didn't notice much change for Drew and I continue to love his performances all around.

"Mank" is out. "Rotten" is in.

Michael does not slide through George's legs in the boxing scene anymore.

When Michael attempts to go the gents the second time and flops on his back, it is accompanied by an "I give up!"

"Ripoff" was back for Noah and Drew when paying Mrs. the second 50p.

Tony is not the one pushing the bed on stage when he is bloodied.

The line "It's all kicked off" is spoken by Big Davey, not Dad. (Tomtorfan noticed that one, most of the rest of us missed it)

Tony doesn't state Billy's age anymore, saying "He's just a kid" instead.

The Winter scene ends with "See ya Billy/Michael" without the "Merry Christmas" when Michael reaches the steps.


I'm sure there's more but that's all I have for right now. More commentary later.
I noticed some of these in Costa Mesa. Only a couple of these bother me, I liked the Merry Christmas and VERY much noticed that gone, and Mank being out??? That bit of UKism seemed to be one of the only slang left in to give at least SOME extreme "otherness". Sad that's gone.
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StevenKing
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Re: Schenectady reviews

Post by StevenKing »

michaelJ wrote:Just a little bit of trivial information: the song "Copacabana" is titled "Lola" on the orchestra's sheet music.
It USED to be Lola :D Hell it used to be changed almost daily in a rotation.
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ERinVA
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Re: Schenectady reviews

Post by ERinVA »

Huh? Are we talking about the 1978 Barry Manilow song? What does Grandma ask for? "Copacabana," or "Lola"? And what does the crowd chant? "Lola! Lola! Lola!" is surely easier than "Copacabana! Copacabana!") The orchestra for BETM does not play during the few bars that are actually sung (and that by one of the ensemble, not Jackie) so I am not sure why the conductor would even have any music for it on his stand.
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CJ-Rochester
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Re: Schenectady reviews

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ERinVA wrote:Huh? Are we talking about the 1978 Barry Manilow song? What does Grandma ask for? "Copacabana," or "Lola"? And what does the crowd chant? "Lola! Lola! Lola!" is surely easier than "Copacabana! Copacabana!") The orchestra for BETM does not play during the few bars that are actually sung (and that by one of the ensemble, not Jackie) so I am not sure why the conductor would even have any music for it on his stand.

This is one of the changes. When George asks "who's going to give us a song?", one of the miners has always grabbed the microphone and started singing "Her name is Lola" (the first line of "Copacabana"), before being pushed off. Previously this was done acapella. Now the orchestra plays the music, giving it a karaoke or juke box sound. The crowd does not chant anything, other than booing him off.

I would guess it may be titled "Lola" on the orchestra's sheet music, since they only play that one line from the song.
:/
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Re: Schenectady reviews

Post by ERinVA »

Interesting that the orchestra now actually plays that little bit.

So what has happened to "Give us Big Spender"? Or am I mixing up London and the tour again? I did see the London show most recently after all.
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atreyu
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Re: Schenectady reviews

Post by atreyu »

ERinVA wrote:So what has happened to "Give us Big Spender"? Or am I mixing up London and the tour again? I did see the London show most recently after all.
Grandma still asks for that, but only after the other singer is pushed off the stage and George then selects Jackie.

Could also be a data point that Copacabana (or Lola) this past week remained the song of choice for that scene even when a different actor was in that role. Between that and the music accompaniment, it seems like it is scripted this way now.
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Re: Schenectady reviews

Post by angelenroute »

tomtorfan wrote:Saturday matinee: Mitchell
Muck912 referred to Mitchell audibly sobbing as he made his way up the aisle with his suitcase. He made it almost to the back door before Cameron yelled out his “Oy...dancin’ boy!” Many in the audience would have seen Mitchell’s tears, so that may explain the reaction to what followed. When he ran back to give Cameron the going-away peck on the cheek, something extraordinary happened....

The audience burst into applause.

In all the shows I’ve been to (and other Forum members I talked to said the same), I have never seen applause at that point. A powerful testament to the emotional power of the Mitchell/Cameron duo.
I gasped just now as I read this. So awesome to hear about this, thank you!
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atreyu
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Re: Schenectady reviews

Post by atreyu »

angelenroute wrote:
tomtorfan wrote:Saturday matinee: Mitchell
Muck912 referred to Mitchell audibly sobbing as he made his way up the aisle with his suitcase. He made it almost to the back door before Cameron yelled out his “Oy...dancin’ boy!” Many in the audience would have seen Mitchell’s tears, so that may explain the reaction to what followed. When he ran back to give Cameron the going-away peck on the cheek, something extraordinary happened....

The audience burst into applause.

In all the shows I’ve been to (and other Forum members I talked to said the same), I have never seen applause at that point. A powerful testament to the emotional power of the Mitchell/Cameron duo.
I gasped just now as I read this. So awesome to hear about this, thank you!
Well captured, tomtorfan.

On the subject of applause in a new and unexpected spot, I urge those who will be at the finale in Hartford to see my proposal for a recognition for Rich Hebert.
http://www.billyelliottheforum.me.uk/fo ... 2&start=62
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CJ-Rochester
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Re: Schenectady reviews

Post by CJ-Rochester »

Wednesday evening: Noah/Cameron
Thursday matinee: Mitchell/Jake
Thursday evening: Drew/Cameron

I had a mid-week Billython in Schenectady, and saw three excellent shows Wednesday and Thursday. I didn't get time to write a proper set of reviews because as soon as I returned home I had to dive into dress rehearsals for a production for which I was doing lighting design.

Atreyu, kport, michaelj, muck, and tomtorfan all did great with their reviews and pointing out the recent changes. It's hard to believe after all this time the creatives are still tweaking the show. I found most of the changes to my liking. I do miss "mank" however. That was a word that one easily picks up from the context, even if you have not previously heard it. I especially agree that Tony no longer has to push the set on stage when his face is bleeding. That was a bad idea from the start.

One more small change that was not mentioned by the others is after "Shine", when Mrs. W. asks Billy if he is coming again. Billy now waves the fan while he says "to this crap?" Each Billy does something different, but they all use the fan to make some sort of big gesture.

Others mentioned how good the rope skipping was at the weekend shows. The mid-week shows were not as fortunate in this regard. Both Noah and Mitchell got rope caught in their feet more than once each. Drew did some mean cross-overs. His routine was nearly flawless, but near the end the rope caught the back of his neck. Oh well.

Just before the Thursday matinee I noticed a man wearing the black t-shirt from the final Broadway weekend. Knowing this was such a limited edition, I went up and asked him about it. He said "you must be CJRochester". Well that was a surprise! :o He is another fan of the show, and was at Thommie's Farewell Celebration event in January 2012. He reads this forum, and said he had been meaning to sign up but never did. We enjoyed chatting after the show as well, and since then have stayed in touch. He said he will be at this Sunday's matinee in Hartford, so perhaps some of you may get to meet him as well. I guess this goes to show that there are more people out there reading this forum than we think.

I do think the show is in great shape all around. Every cast member was clearly giving it their all as they wind down these final weeks. Each of the three Billys is amazing in his own way, and each was my favorite at the time I was watching him. They are so uniquely talented, and yet each of them fits the role of Billy so perfectly.

-Chris
:/
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atreyu
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Re: Schenectady reviews

Post by atreyu »

Much better late than never, Chris. You've now earned your jump rope. ;)

This also reminds me. Before one of the shows, either muck or kport walked by me while I was seated in orchestra and alluded to CJRochester whereupon the lady sitting next to me pops up and says, "You're from Rochester?!? I grew up in Rochester!" Alas, I had to let her down, but we got to talking about the show and how much she had been looking forward to seeing BETM. In that regard, at least, she was not disappointed. :lol:
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