July 2011 Reviews - NYC

[mikey]

I noticed my review has been "edited". I guess only fawning, positive reviews need apply.

[ERinVA]

I sent you a pm, mikey, which you do not seem to have picked up yet. Please read it, and the rules as well.

Thanks.

[CJ-Rochester]

Also, why do some of the actors use their real names for the final Goodbyes (Kiril, Alex, most famously Ollie Taylor thanks to YouTube) while others do not (again Tommy and Jacob). It reeks of favoritism.

Jacob's mom told us the boys were strongly told not to use their real names for the final goodbye. I recall hearing the same for one of the leaving shows in Chicago, where whoever was leaving was told not to use their real names but did so anyway. I guess it depends on how obedient they are.

[gpcolo]

My understanding was (and I may be wrong in this), that there was no announcement at his final Broadway show nor at his final performance before leaving the role.

I don't know about Tommy's final Broadway performance but before his final turn as Billy in Chicago last October, a person came to the stage and announced it was Tommy's final show after doing the role on Broadway and Chicago. His parents and grandmother were recognized too at this time. Having this special start to Tommy's finale really got the audience in an "up" mood that day.

[angelenroute]

I'll be posting a full review or two of Giuseppe's Broadway premiere and Jacob's swan song in the role, but I just wanted to jump in with a few thoughts ahead of that.

Giuseppe is magnificent! I've been telling people since January how fantastic he was on the Tour and that I really hoped he'd come to Broadway. When I heard he was going to be making his premiere at the Imperial on Sunday afternoon, I decided to buy a ticket to the show. Sooooo happy I did! Part of me worried that my hype to others and myself was overdone, but he came through with flying colors. 1/3 to 1/2 of the audience stood with loud applause at the end of his Electricity. So happy for him to have had such an awesome first show on Broadway!

Jacob's show was beautiful and awesome except for that one hugely unfortunate incident, but I do want to say that even though it confused many audience members (some thought he hurt himself a la the holding his leg in pain choreography at the bottom of the stairs), the rebound in the second act and great show overall impressed everyone tremendously and people seemed mostly unphased. I for one slipped into major depression mode and noticed Jacob's mom looked upset too--we who know Jacob and/or the show all were. But the audience were having a great time overall and since they had never seen Angry Dance before, they just didn't even know how much (or what kind of awesomeness) they were missing!

Cast and fans alike went through a tremendous roller coaster of emotions yesterday because of Giuseppe's first and Jacob's last, the angry dance mess-up part of that too, and I think we all collapsed under the weight of a long day last night.

One final thought: Even though the bed may have come down quickly with a stage hand's help, etc., we don't know what the issue was and when you have that many people watching and waiting, the stress level must have been high. Totally sucks of course, but as it may have just been a wrong decision made on the fly, I hope they will learn from it and Jacob won't worry about it. He'll wow us with tap many more times in the future I'm sure. =)

Ta,
Sean

[Todd]

before his final turn as Billy in Chicago last October, a person came to the stage and announced it was Tommy's final show after doing the role on Broadway and Chicago. His parents and grandmother were recognized too at this time. Having this special start to Tommy's finale really got the audience in an "up" mood that day.

A very good reason why I would think each leaving Billy - or any other prominent character who's leaving - should get pre-show recognition. Anything that gets the audience "up" for the show more than they normally would be - since they know they're about to see an extra special performance - could only be a good thing, in my opinion.

[Todd]

To follow up with what Sean said regarding Giuseppe's first show, I would echo that he was fantastic. There was a nice speech made beforehand by the resident director. She discussed how they had gone about casting him, how he came from Switzerland, etc. Another interesting tidbit was when she said he had helped finance his trip to audition for the part by making and selling his own lip balm ! I was a little surprised that she didn't mention that he had been performing as Billy for over a year now on the national tour. I wonder if some of the audience members thought they were seeing him in his debut performance ? If so, they must have thought he looked like a seasoned pro for someone doing this for the first time !

Giuseppe plays a fairly serious/angry Billy, which may be somewhat of a change from when I remember seeing him in his early days in Chicago, where I remember him being a bit more smiley. It falls into line, I suppose, with his being older and portraying a more sullen, moody Billy as a young teenager, as opposed to a smaller child. Despite being older and bigger now, Giuseppe still sings in the same register as the younger Billys. As mentioned before, his dancing is about as close to perfection as you can get. He's obviously been very well trained and would now have to rank among the smoothest and agile performers I've ever seen. He clearly appears to be doing something he loves and has found his calling, for sure.

I was glad to see him receive a standing ovation from at least part of the audience after his "Electricity" performance. He has a great deal of stage charisma and is someone whom you find yourself watching to pick up all the subtle nuances of his performance. In the Finale, he was all smiles and celebration, as it was fun seeing him relax and have fun up there, with his smile and positive personality showing forth which many of us have had the pleasure to encounter at the stage door.

I'm glad it worked out for me to be there for his Broadway debut, and I'm happy that a whole new audience will be able to now see Giuseppe's talents first hand for as long as he remains in the show.

[yanks1153]

~Jacob & Holly Last Show(July 3, 2011)~
Billy-Jacob Clemente
Debbie-Lilla Crawford
Michael-Neil McCaffrey
Small Boy-Alex Drier
Tony-David Larsen
Grandma-Merle Louise
Lesley-Alison Levernberg
Pit Supervisor-Steven Carrasco
Tall Boy/Posh Boy-Ben Cook
Merle's Track-Heather Tepe

Ballet Girls:
Tracey Atkinson-Ruby Rakos
Margaret Gormley-Annabelle Kempf
Keeley Gibson-Mackenzie Fishenbach
Karen Davidson-Brianna Fragomeni
Tina Harmer-Marina Micalizzi
Julie Hope-Aly Brier
Susan Parks-Kayla Vanderbilt
Sharon Percy-Holly Taylor
Angela Robson-Eboni Edwards
Alison Summers-Ava DeMary
Caroline Workman only Ballet Girl Swing and Swing not on in the entire cast not on for this performance

Preshow- Met up at the Stagedoor after the Matinee and had dinner at the Edison. We had plenty of time to chat, catch up, and eat. It was an very lovely time, and there was nine of us. After dinner we walked around a bit and then headed to the theater.

Preshow at the Theater-We had the whole 35 minutes before the show to start to go to the bathroom and sneak out where everyone was seating. It was also nice to see the people who were not able to meet up for dinner before hand. That is when we found out for good that Holly was leaving after tonight's show. It got very emotional from there. Both Jacob's and Holly's family and friends were both there, most of them taking up the mezzanine. Nice to see Alex Drier’s parents were in attendance in the second row of the orchestra, and also Chelsea Galembo a former ballet girl swing. It would have been nice to have an announcement for Jacob and Holly before the show began. Sold out Performance

Stars Look Down-Alex looked a bit saddened already when the film started while licking his lollipop. Either David Larsen was not working or he felt choked up when he began singing his solo part of the number. When Jacob made his entire there was an big applause from the people who knew it was his last show. That is when people were like why are people clapping like that and we said because it is his last performance tonight. Right from there the crowd was into it more. During “Take me up”, Alex was definitely into it and following Jacob's every step. Jacob gave a smile to him after he said Kush, before taking the lollipop from him. Right at the end of the number there were smiles with every cast member.
Kitchen/Boxing Scene- When Billy starts drinking out of the bottle, Laura Marie Duncan came out almost crying when she saw Jacob. Small Boy's Boxing gloves way too big for him, and his press ups looked liked he was looking for something underneath the bed. Ben Cook looked liked he was trying his best. Neil was absolutely funny as he was doing an yoga move, and his butt up in the air. Neil almost got out of the door to go to the bathroom before George caught him. Alex was dressed very quickly, played with his strap before walking and looking at both Billy and Michael before leaving for home. “Fast Bastard” got a huge laugh. Ben was pulling on George's shirt very hard. When George let Michael go he hit him with the glove. Mrs. Wilkinson's keys landed right in the middle of the stagedoor, thank god Jacob caught them his his gloves because if not those ballet girls would have knocked him over.

Shine-Jacob got shoved a whole lot, and Ava made a lot of faces at him. Holly was smiling and her ballet girls were supporting her 100 percent. Those ballet girls were out of control and out of character tonight. The ones who are suppose to hate each other, but hated on Billy more than ever. Holly gave it her all for her last time, and was taking it all in. It was one of those times where it still sinking in and gut wrenching. You could tell she will be missed. Jacob let the spotlight go to the ballet girls especially Holly and gave her a big smile. It will take me awhile not to see anybody else as Sharon Percy besides her. Marina and Holly almost gave each other a hug after their pointe. Started to cry during this number.

Grandma Song- Merle gave Jacob a kiss on the forehead and a hug at the end of the number.

Solidarity-A show show stopping number. You could tell everyone was enjoying performing the number in the cast. During the puppet part of the number Holly and her puppet by accident knocked over their chair and of course spazzing over to pick it up was Kayla Vanderbilt. Holly did not know until afterward who helped come over to pick it up. Towards the end of the number those ballet girls were getting very sad that Holly was leaving. They did not want her to go. Long applause at the end of the number.

Expressing Youself- Jacob and Neil work together very well. Jacob put his tap shoes on very quickly. You can tell their friendship was truly there. I would love to see the ballet girls, in Micheal’s dresses and not the adult cast members. It would work better, like they do with promotional events.

The Letter- Jacob almost could not do his solo part, so Emily gave him a look to say you could do it. But Emily had to finish his solo. When Laura came out she was in tears and broke down. Gave Jacob a huge hug and a number where Emily had to keep it together.

Born To Boogie-Nothing to special I can see.

Angry Dance- Too bad we could not see the whole number. The boys are told if the bed does not go down, still go down the stairs. But it made the crowd get even more hyped during the second act, which made it 1,000th percent better.

Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher- Gave Jacob 11 dollars for his bucket and gave me a huge smile in disbelief I just did that. Neil was in shock too, he wanted some money too. Before Alex say yes everyone was damn hearted a little boy in the audience said it first. What a way to kick off the second act. Everyone had fun during the number. Could not see Jacob or Holly well.

Dad's Song- Nice to see Heather Tepe in an adult swing track. Jacob kept his mature voice at the end of the number.

Dream Ballet- No mistakes and Steven was smiling at Jacob. You could see he was doing it for Jacob. What a huge Applause.
He Could Go, He Could Shine-All were happy to give money for Billy's audition. Heather Tepe and Jacob were smiling at one another. Heather froze gave Jacob a look and it was sinking in he was actually leaving for good.

Electricity- More than half of an audience gave him an standing ovation. The other Billy's were watching backstage from the wings. You will get more info from other people on this number.

Once We Were Kings- Before the number, Aly got pushed much harder than usual to ask if he got in. Holly looked sadder at this point for many reasons. Lilla gave Jacob a hug and Emily let her take her time with it. I was sitting in orchestra c15, and during the number when Tony gave Billy the miner's lamp he did not want to “say see ya sunshine”. The kids who were standing stage left were crying which included Brianna, Aly, Ben, Alex, and Heather.

Letter Reprise-Jacob and Laura were very sad to say goodbye. One step up from The Letter in the first act.

Finale-Everyone was saying Go Jacob when he began tapping. He was smiling. The cast was giving Holly attention too. Lilla shoved Neil during their bows. Besides giving Jacob fives, their were also giving Holly one too. What a huge applause afterward. I said Were going to miss you Holly.
Alex gave Jacob his flowers, while Ava gave flowers to Holly. Ava and Holly gave each other a hug. Those girls were tearing up, Holly was fighting tears. Nice that Greg brought them both up to the front.
One of those final performances that will be in my heart and mind forever in many ways.

Stagedoor-Lilla was one of the ballet girls who did not come out crying. She signed for everyone. Ava, Annabelle, Aly were an complete mess. Ava took awhile to let those tears go away. Many of their family and friends were waiting around. It was lovely to chat with other cast members. Jacob came out first and signed for everyone. Holly came out about ten minutes after him and was looking for her ballet girls. I am so disappointed I did not get a picture with her.

Jacob Clemente-He was an angry Billy, with a little smile here and there. There is a bright future ahead of him. I am so happy he will have an normal life for awhile.

Holly Taylor- She is one of those true talents that are underrated as a Ballet Girl. I thought she would never leave after a year and half. Like from the youtube video of her dancing, can not wait to see her future if she continues. I am so lost in words for her.
Sharon Percy(Comes from which Billy Elliot Ballet Girl Quiz on Facebook)- You think your the best! Hates Mrs.Wilkinson yet you have to be nice to her if shes going to help you get on broadway someday! You work so hard and love it when you get complimented. You really hate anyone who thinks their better than you.

[johnnyc]

Most everything about Jacob's final performance has been touched on already, but I haven't seen it mentioned yet that in the farewell scene between Mrs Wilkinson and Billy, as the girls left the stage for their "toilet break," Lilla (Debbie) walked up to Jacob and gave him a hug. This is a "goodbye, friend" gesture that I've seen played at many performances where the actor playing Billy is leaving the show. And during the Letter Reprise, at the point where Dead Mum takes a few steps toward Billy, but then backs up and turns to leave the stage, Laura walked up to Jacob and wiped a tear from his face before turning to leave. This was,for me, an incredibly touching moment near the conclusion of a very special performance.

[alex2155]

That's interesting that it is strongly suggested to the boys to not use their real names at the end of their last show. It seems like most ignore this and do it anyways.