Hartford Reviews

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BEtourfan
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Hartford Reviews

Post by BEtourfan »

Here's one of the first reviews from Hartford.
http://www.courant.com/entertainment/ar ... 1502.story
kport
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Re: Hartford Reviews

Post by kport »

Hartford - Tuesday Evening's performance

The rain was torrential and the lightning was wild outside the Bushnell, but inside the first performance in Hartford simply shone. To put it succinctly, it was a fantastic opening night to the Tour's final week.

Once again Rich Hebert nailed the role, and I did sense that his interpretation was a tad - just a tad - less 'angry' that it had been in Schenectady. Perfect. He achieved the ideal balance between bravado, insecurity and pathos. Cullen Titmas has refined his role to one of sheer perfection; a cockier version of his dad coupled with the yearning to escape the drab reality his younger brother possesses; yet Tony knows it will not come to pass, for him. Patti Perkins IS grandma; she is one of three either side of the pond that has, in my view, come to own the role. The same must be said about Joel Blum - again the pre-second act hat trick passed without a flaw, though the audience gave the game away by roaring 'No' in response to his first 'Are we downhearted?' - confirming my suspicion that many of them in have seen BETM before (the other confirmation of that suspicion was the way the 'merche' was flying off the shelves of Nathan's 'merche shop'. Several people had donned BETM t-shirts even before the show started). Janet Dickinson - what a gem! What a star! Her interaction with Billy throughout, and with Mr Braithwaite (an increasingly confident performance by Kilty Reidy) and the Ballet Girls (every one a star) was spot on. This cast is still on a high that it had in Schenectady, and you could sense it had, throughout the performance, an adrenaline rush that simply rocked the theater.

The line up for that evening was Noah, Jake, and Cameron as Tall Boy. Jake turned in another side-splitting turn as Michael; I love the way he 'reels in' Billy as he begs him to 'do some bally'. But it was Cameron who emerged as Michael from the Soup kitchen scene through the finale; Jake must have taken a break for some reason.

Noah. He turned in as near to a perfect performance as is possible last night. He has achieved the sort of character involvement that comes after a year of growth and exploration; yet he still looks the right age and his voice - his singing voice is beautiful. There is lots of time left for Noah and I have a hope that he will be able to continue this amazing interpretation somewhere, if not on this Tour. It would be, in my view, the fulfillment of a talent that is burning at its brightest right now and will do so for many months ahead. London, are you listening?

The cast lingered for a long time at the stage door, and were extremely chatty with those of us who met them. Jake was there, looking chipper, as were Drew and Mitch. It was a pleasure to chat with such a happy group.

The Bushnell is a beautiful theater in an art nouveau style, sited next to Connecticut's gold domed state capital (designed by Richard Upjohn). It is large without being overwhelming; the mezzanine is not so far from the stage that one feels separated from the action. In fact, I would recommend the front row of the mezzanine for some of the best sight lines in the theater if one wants to save some money. I grew up not far from the Bushnell; I attended many school matinee performances there; I sang the solo in Bernstein's Chichester Psalms under the baton of the composer on that stage at the age of 14; I had my high school graduation on that stage. I love the theater, and it certainly loves BETM. It was about 80% full; not bad for a Tuesday night in the rain. I had forgotten how good the acoustics are; it suited last night's cast as well as the acoustics anywhere.

For those driving: free car parking is available in the open air car park directly opposite the theater, across Capital Avenue. Take exit 48B from I84, turn left on Capital, drive past the state capital building and the theater is on the left, with parking on the right. Easy peasy!
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angelenroute
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Re: Hartford Reviews

Post by angelenroute »

Thanks for the great review, kport! I'm jealous that you're already there!!! :D

Sean
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michaelJ
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Re: Hartford Reviews

Post by michaelJ »

I agree with kport, the whole cast was in fine form on Tuesday. The audience was not as "rowdy" as the Schenectady crowds but was very responsive. I love hearing first timer's responses to the "William Elliot Esquire" line. It takes a second to sink in, but when it does... There were a couple of women next to me that laughed so hard they had tears in their eyes.
I have seen Noah four times and I believe this was his best performance of those four. Great acting and beautiful singing and dancing (and some excellent jump rope work ;) ). He may have received the longest applause after Electricity of any of the shows I have seen.
kport
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Re: Hartford Reviews

Post by kport »

michaelJ wrote:I agree with kport, the whole cast was in fine form on Tuesday. The audience was not as "rowdy" as the Schenectady crowds but was very responsive. I love hearing first timer's responses to the "William Elliot Esquire" line. It takes a second to sink in, but when it does... There were a couple of women next to me that laughed so hard they had tears in their eyes.
I have seen Noah four times and I believe this was his best performance of those four. Great acting and beautiful singing and dancing (and some excellent jump rope work ;) ). He may have received the longest applause after Electricity of any of the shows I have seen.
I agree! The applause went on longer than I have heard before.
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porschesrule
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Re: Hartford Reviews

Post by porschesrule »

Here's a Hartford review published in Broadway World:

http://ct.broadwayworld.com/article/BWW ... l-20130619
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michaelJ
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Re: Hartford Reviews

Post by michaelJ »

Wonderful show on Wednesday. Mitchell was more relaxed and patient with his lines when compared to the first time I saw him. It really worked for him, and of course there were tears streaming down his face during the final "Letter". He was also at the top of his game for every dance. Electricity was truly electric!
Drunk as a skunk made an appearance with Cameron.
Dream Ballet: Max got Mitchell spinning and as he released him the cable initially went down instead of up. Max had to duck to avoid the spinning Billy and then the cable lifted Mitch up into the air. It was a hold your breath moment, but both performers continued perfectly as if it hadn't happened.
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angelenroute
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Re: Hartford Reviews

Post by angelenroute »

michaelJ wrote:Dream Ballet: Max got Mitchell spinning and as he released him the cable initially went down instead of up. Max had to duck to avoid the spinning Billy and then the cable lifted Mitch up into the air. It was a hold your breath moment, but both performers continued perfectly as if it hadn't happened.
I stopped breathing as I read that too!
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porschesrule
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Re: Hartford Reviews

Post by porschesrule »

Sounds like they had the counterweights set for Ben instead of Mitchell :lol:
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atreyu
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Re: Hartford Reviews

Post by atreyu »

A few snags in the Thursday performance, including one that we hope will not have lasting influence on the weekend. A house speaker started buzzing during the first toilet scene and could not be shut off for several minutes. Then at the end of that scene, Janet Dickinson apparently took a tumble upon exiting and Molly Garner came out for the private lesson segue to Born to Boogie. Announcement wasn't actually made until the start of the second act. Danielle Kelsey took over as Mum and Marisa Kennedy was Lesley. All performers did well in their respective roles despite the shuffling.

Drew was on tonight and was he on! Truly magnificent. Kudos to Noah as well with a very convincing Posh Boy.

kport captured Rich Hebert's tweak of the passionate Dad exactly right. Backing off just a touch, and it's a good refinement.
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