March 2010 Reviews - NYC

[porschesrule]

I add my thanks to both Musical Fanatic and gpcolo for excellent reviews of last night's show and agree with CJ that they were both very well written and gave one the sense of being at the show. It sounds like a night of excellent theater made more so by the behind-the-scenes emotions that Musical Fanatic mentioned in his review.

I just read a couple of reviews posted about last night's performance in London and know that Tommy Batchelor was also leading the show in Chicago last night. While not surprising that theater-goers attending a BETM performance are awed by what they've seen, it's still amazing to me that in three different locales last night people had the opportunity to see such an excellent show - led by the likes of Michael Dameski, Fox Jackson Keen and Tommy Batchelor. How could one go wrong?

[ERinVA]

The only way to go wrong, as far as I'm concerned, is not to see the show in at least one of its locations if it is playing somewhere that you can travel to! The quality is so consistent that whichever location you go to, and whichever Billy you see, you are going to experience something absolutely extraordinary.

[Moby-Dick]

Thanks, Musical Fanatic and gpcolo for the great reviews!! Had been planning on going to last night's show but ended up not going, so reading your reviews of Michael's marvelous performance was the next best thing. Thanks so much for taking the time to jot down your experiences of the show.

And gpcolo, excellent first two reviews!! Definitely looking forward to reading more of your reviews in the future.

His “Electricity” was a true classic event as he poured it all into the acrobatics and ballet. It was nothing short of perfection. I mentioned in my previous review with Liam that the audience really wanted to give a “Standing O” at the end of Electricity but held back. This time there were about 15-20 of us who stood. Michael at this point broke character and started to get emotional and appeared to be in tears. This brought the rest of the house up giving Michael thunderous applause for what seemed like several minutes. What a moment and very deserving.

Tonight he had the audience in the palm of his hand from just before the(I'm free} till the pose. Michael started to tear up and lost it a little at the pose and actually started crying. I could see his head turned to where his dad was sitting. Michael had me and the people around me crying and cheering. It took a little while but everyone ended up on their feet giving him an ovation. In a way it left me who knew what was going on feeling a little like a voyeur peaking in a window. Ah but was it incredible seeing Michael put on the show of his young live for his dad last show in the states.

What a beautiful and emotional moment to have experienced. You can really tell how much emotion Michael must have poured into this performance - especially for his dad.

After the show I found out from Michael that he had gotten an additional Two minutes of applause for the second half of the show.

How marvelous!! Michael is deserving of every second of applause, and it's great to hear that the audience really showed their appreciation of his hard work and excellent performance!!

A couple of prop miscues didn’t cause any problems though it was amusing to watch...The second occurred when Billy threw Michael the ballet outfit. The top was rather tangled up so Jake had an amusing time trying to untangle it so he could climb into the costume. The time for the scene was extended but Jake handled it with professionalism. After several tries he was able to get it the right way and could finally begin squeezing into the ballet outfit.

Just curious, did Jake do any ad-libbing as he was trying to untangle the top of the tutu? In two of the performances I've seen of him so far, when something as gone wrong with a prop - like a sleeve getting tangled, etc - during the Winter Scene, Jake has thrown in an extra F-bomb. Cheeky kid! Wondering if he did anything similar during last night's show?

x
M-D

[gpcolo]

Jake said something along the lines of "What's wrong with this thing?" and then it got untangled. No time for any extra choice words!

[BillyAddict]

Just want to point out that Michael is not breaking character when he tears up at the end of his Electriicity. He did it on a regular basis with Richard Piper in Australia. Like Richard, Philip in NY responds as the brilliant actor he is and between then Philip and Michael lift the very ending of Electricity into vey rarified territory. It is one of those very special moments of live theatre which I have been privilaged to experience in Australia and recently in New York.

It is however most certainly a deliberate act by Michael and not a break of character.

Thanks, Musical Fanatic and gpcolo for the great reviews!! Had been planning on going to last night's show but ended up not going, so reading your reviews of Michael's marvelous performance was the next best thing. Thanks so much for taking the time to jot down your experiences of the show.

And gpcolo, excellent first two reviews!! Definitely looking forward to reading more of your reviews in the future.

His “Electricity” was a true classic event as he poured it all into the acrobatics and ballet. It was nothing short of perfection. I mentioned in my previous review with Liam that the audience really wanted to give a “Standing O” at the end of Electricity but held back. This time there were about 15-20 of us who stood. Michael at this point broke character and started to get emotional and appeared to be in tears. This brought the rest of the house up giving Michael thunderous applause for what seemed like several minutes. What a moment and very deserving.

Tonight he had the audience in the palm of his hand from just before the(I'm free} till the pose. Michael started to tear up and lost it a little at the pose and actually started crying. I could see his head turned to where his dad was sitting. Michael had me and the people around me crying and cheering. It took a little while but everyone ended up on their feet giving him an ovation. In a way it left me who knew what was going on feeling a little like a voyeur peaking in a window. Ah but was it incredible seeing Michael put on the show of his young live for his dad last show in the states.

What a beautiful and emotional moment to have experienced. You can really tell how much emotion Michael must have poured into this performance - especially for his dad.

After the show I found out from Michael that he had gotten an additional Two minutes of applause for the second half of the show.

How marvelous!! Michael is deserving of every second of applause, and it's great to hear that the audience really showed their appreciation of his hard work and excellent performance!!

A couple of prop miscues didn’t cause any problems though it was amusing to watch...The second occurred when Billy threw Michael the ballet outfit. The top was rather tangled up so Jake had an amusing time trying to untangle it so he could climb into the costume. The time for the scene was extended but Jake handled it with professionalism. After several tries he was able to get it the right way and could finally begin squeezing into the ballet outfit.

Just curious, did Jake do any ad-libbing as he was trying to untangle the top of the tutu? In two of the performances I've seen of him so far, when something as gone wrong with a prop - like a sleeve getting tangled, etc - during the Winter Scene, Jake has thrown in an extra F-bomb. Cheeky kid! Wondering if he did anything similar during last night's show?

x
M-D

[gpcolo]

Instead of "breaking character" a better choice of words might be "playing the emotions of the scene differently." At least compared to the other 5 Billys I have seen.

I have seen some give a slight smile at the pose but most maintain the same expression seemingly ready to burst. I don't know what instructions or directions they are given in how to play the end of this part, but Michael's full blown emoting will be a theater moment I will not soon forget.

[BillyAddict]

Instead of "breaking character" a better choice of words might be "playing the emotions of the scene differently." At least compared to the other 5 Billys I have seen.

..... Michael's full blown emoting will be a theater moment I will not soon forget.

A nice description and I agree it is a moment that is hard to forget. Once seen it is not hard to imagine why he captured the hearts of so many Oz fans with this unique emotional ending.

[Musical Fanatic]

The only way to go wrong, as far as I'm concerned, is not to see the show in at least one of its locations if it is playing somewhere that you can travel to! The quality is so consistent that whichever location you go to, and whichever Billy you see, you are going to experience something absolutely extraordinary.

Ellen I could not agree with you more. One other big thing I would like to point out to potential fans and regular fans. In 20 plus years of going to theater in NY and London the fans particularly forum members, the parents of young cast and the cast(Billy's in particular) are amazing for friendliness. I have seen the Billy's go out of their way and time to give autographs and photo's. I will never forget Trent and his family staying till the last person was done talking to Trent on his leaving night. On Thurs. night well after the rest of fans left Michael got trapped walking by three bus loads of teens just past the theater. They had been to the show and Michael signed every autograph and was in every photo that they wanted. Chicago looks like it is going this way also. This has made the show even more personal to me.

Sam

[porschesrule]

This has made the show even more personal to me.

Excellent point, Sam. It's a shame that something can't be done in London to give the show's fans there that same experience. I'm very aware of the reasons for the restrictions, but as someone pointed a while ago on this forum, there are ways it could be handled while still keeping the kids safe.

[Billy Whiz]

This has been discussed many times.

When the young cast are with their parents then they are usually only too willing to stop and sign autographs etc - which is just how it is all the time in NYC.

The chaperones in London have a very responsible job and their first and only responsibility is to the care of the children. You have not been to the Stage Door at the Victoria Palace porchesrule so how can you say that it can be handled and keep the children safe? The stage door opens on to a narrow pavement and double decker buses and taxis race down the street. Anybody taking one step backwards to "get a better picture" could find themselves being run over. I know this as it nearly happened to me on my first visit to the Stage Door. Even worse could be asking a child to step back for the better picture

So it's no good to keep raising this subject as it is not going to change.

Live with it!