Billy Elliot the Forum

A place for reviews for the month of February for the Toronto production.

Hope this is the right place to post. Found this:

http://onthegointo.com/?p=3992

Fri. Feb. 18 -
I guess I have the pleasure of being the first forum member to write a review in this section for Toronto.

This will be brief, with more details to follow later. My first Billython of 2011 got off to a nice start with an excellent show featuring Myles and Dillon. The show started more than 10 minutes late, even though the audience was seated and the house doors were closed. We later heard there was some kind of sound problem.

The familiar red cast board is near the Victoria St. entrance. The Programme (their Playbill) does not have the small inserts telling who is playing Billy/Michael. Instead we hear a live announcement from an adult female voice (no accent). Tonight she began with "thank you for your patience", then said who is playing who plus who is conducting the orchestra. Then we hear a small girl with a British accent cut in and give the "turn off your cell phone" speech. My guess is this part is taped, as it is a standard speech. It sounded cute.

Because of the late start they had to cancel the company celebration, just as shimmyshimmy reported from Wednesday's show. The curtain goes up, and cast comes out and calls Billy back to the stage. They bow, curtain comes down, the spots pan the curtain for a few seconds. Then curtain comes up showing just Billy on a bare stage. He bows, calls the rest of the cast back, and the bows continue like normal.

In between all this was a very nice show, although I need to collect my thoughts to write a proper review. Myles has a great personality and accent, dances well, and is is very believable as a boy of Billy's age and background. I was happy to finally get to see Dillon, someone I have heard so much about. He truly is an amazing Michael! I enjoyed seeing Kate Hennig again as Mrs. W, after liking her performances on Broadway so much. The rest of the company from Chicago has transferred over quite nicely. In some way I think they have gelled as unit, as they all seem more comfortable in their roles.
-Chris

Thanks for your inaugural review. Looking forward to the rest!

CJ-Rochester wrote:Fri. Feb. 18 -
I guess I have the pleasure of being the first forum member to write a review in this section for Toronto.

Thanks for the great first review! Looking forward to reading more when you get a chance. Enjoy the city and the other showings of BETM!!! =)

Sean

CJ-Rochester wrote:The familiar red cast board is near the Victoria St. entrance. The Programme (their Playbill) does not have the small inserts telling who is playing Billy/Michael. Instead we hear a live announcement from an adult female voice (no accent). Tonight she began with "thank you for your patience", then said who is playing who plus who is conducting the orchestra. Then we hear a small girl with a British accent cut in and give the "turn off your cell phone" speech. My guess is this part is taped, as it is a standard speech. It sounded cute.

This is what is done on tour as well.

CJ-Rochester wrote: Because of the late start they had to cancel the company celebration

I've noticed this final scene in the show has begun to be referred to more and more as the "company celebration" instead of the "Finale" . . . . which is what I've always called it, and what its name is on the OCR. Is either title appropriate, or is the "Finale" now officially renamed ?

Todd wrote:

CJ-Rochester wrote: Because of the late start they had to cancel the company celebration

I've noticed this final scene in the show has begun to be referred to more and more as the "company celebration" instead of the "Finale" . . . . which is what I've always called it, and what its name is on the OCR. Is either title appropriate, or is the "Finale" now officially renamed ?

The program still calls it "company celebration", so that must be the official title. I think either title is appropriate for forums like this.

I agree. We have evolved our own names for certain parts of the show, such as "Swan Lake" for "Dream Ballet," etc., and as long as we know what we're referring to, it's not a problem.