Friday June 4
Billy Michael
Michael Jake
I must say that in the many trips to the Imperial I have come to understand the fact that to me the best seats in the house are between row E and G.....I was in row F right smack in the center....with the "Human Tornado" slated to play Billy....it just doesn't get any better....I sat down in my seat, glad to be in a sport shirt and slacks (summer wear) instead of my suit (winter wear)......the early June crowd to me became pretty obvious was an older crowd, the ones around me consisted of a lot of Broadway rookies ..... very nice people...looking at the Playbill like a People magazine...LOL LOL....Then an elderly man and lady came right in front of me, (we all hope that the ones around us are nice seat mates, and short people to sit right in front of us too..) the man sat down next to me and the lady to his right....The man said "Good evening"...the opening was moments away...I said hello and looked up and sitting next to me was an 87 year old George McGovern...the former Senator from South Dakota and 1972 presidential canidate...what a nice man....what a nice man...What seemed strange to me though was...he was shocked I knew who he was....although the whole evening no one seem to notice until the show was over and I said Good night Senator...that brought some attention....anyway....Senator McGovern sure loved the play...he thought Michael was everything I told him he would be....he was shocked by how good Michael was...
I will not attempt to list each song, number this time....for your reading time's sake.....
Let me just start by saying that Michael Dameski has improved each time I have seen him, this night being the third time I have seen the "Human Tornado".
Jake Evan Schwenck was really on his game this night, his performance in "Express Yourself" was a dead knockout....the facial expressions, the timing is right on....what a great job by Jake....Michael is not an easy role to play....just like the outfielder who replaced Babe Ruth for the Yankees....(I am speaking of the Babe Ruth of the Imperial, David Bologna). Jake has developed into a very solid performer who will not sell anyone short.....I really enjoyed Jake this night....!
Michael had me shaking my head by Solidarity, this is a new record for my head shaking....LOL LOL....that is a sign with me when I am in a mild state of shock about how darn good someone is in a part....I have said many times before in this forum that Carole Shelley and Thommie Retter are just plain great in their roles....I am guilty at times of not reporting how well these two perform...you know...it's like a good Major League baseball umpire....there are so good at their job you just take them for granted and don't talk about them......
Solidarity to me as I have said many times before has to be one of the very very best productions in the history of Broadway....Insert the (Gene Kelly) type talent of Michael Dameski and it's worth the price of the ticket alone.
I must talk of the outstanding singing talent of Michael.....I am a novice about this subject....but Michael can sing and he hit every note this night with haunting perfection, my gosh I thought to myself , how is this possible...?
The acting skills that Michael displays are so dead on, it has you in a state of confussion over reality, there, is that a good enough description coming from a novice.....?
It is very obvious to me that Michael is very cognisant of the fact that by the end of Angry Dance that he is in complete control of entire crowd....much like the puppet show at the start of the second half....Michael has a bit of an air about him, that translates into a cocky style of acting....to me this is a good thing, you can sense command in this 100 pound human dynamo, a sense of I will stir this emotion, this feeling of excitment and this feeling of joy.....he is like a leader of a huge flock of birds with his sweeping arch of talent.
Michael was downright amazing in the Swan Lake....leaving the crowd looking like a deer in headlights on a highway when he came down from flying....the crowd really didn't know what to think, say or do.......it was as if Michael's performance and the smoke that comes from the stage had given the crowd anestesia and were unable to respond....
Electricity....I have not had the same feeling that the "Living Legend" himself, Kiril Kulish had give me numerous times with his work with Electricity....that Michael struck me with.....quite the honest it was shocking how much he nailed this number that night. I stood and clapped while others remained seated around me...
Finale......I saw something during the first few moments of the Finale that only the Great Kulish had done before....when the music stops with the Billy at the front of the stage ....Michael looked like a small child on Christmas moring...he let out a loud YES......
Michael Dameski is a superstar in my opinion...Thommie Retter calls Mikey "Rockstar"....I disagree with my good friend Thommie...take the Rock off of that nickname....replace it with MEGA....then you got the Human Tornado.....Every 100 years or so there comes along a Gene Kelly.....The late Mr. Kelly would have loved to see Michael on the boards of Broadway.......Well, I suggest that Michael is the one that has answered that saying about the 100 years or so.......Now let me get Dorothy to rub those ruby slippers together and wish for my next trip in town to have the "Human Tornado and the "Babe Ruth" of Broadway together....Dameski and Bologna.....like Huntley/Brinkley.....and for now I will just SMILE.....