Richmond Reviews

[rob_hanson1979]

I'm really glad you enjoyed Mitchell! He's a shining star, isn't he!
When I saw him in Ottawa, there was a problem with the stage that night. It must've been slippery from something because people were falling and tripping through the whole show. I was really worried about his Electricity. I thought he might fall, or he might hold back on some of the choreo, but as far as I could tell he just went for it, and did it all without any issues! I was relieved and impressed when he finished it.... then he went to pick up his Billy bag and fell down. Oh well!

[jdmag44]

Thanks Ellen for your wonderful reviews. Thanks for the details and your unique and personal take on not only the Billies but also the many cast changes. I am happy you got to see the two new Billies and I knew you would enjoy them. I was so very very impressed with them. It's funny that you mention the Billy Bag and young Mitchell. I,t looked so BIG as he carried it, I was thinking he could fit inside it. For one as small as he was I was blown away at what he could do with Electricity. The tour is really in great shape.

[ERinVA]

Thanks, everyone. Here's the next to the last one:

Sunday Matinee

Ben as Billy
Sam as Michael
Joel Blum as Dad
Janet Dickinson as Mrs. W.
Joel Newsome as George

If not watching the Puppy Bowl, I can’t think of a better way to have spent the afternoon leading up to the Super Bowl than this. As the curtain went up on the opening scene, I had the impression that some of the cast just might have been on a bit of a high in anticipation of the coming event (which I am sure they were looking forward to following as much as possible backstage during the evening show). There seemed to be a bit of extra banter, which added to the life of the scene.

Ben and Sam were on as Billy and Michael, and they made a good combination. Ben exudes a great sense of confidence in the role of Billy. He is such a wonderful actor, and he is not afraid to use volume as one of his tools to interpret a line, varying from emphatic statements in some places to phrases that are almost whispered in others. I have to say that the best line delivery of the show was in the exchange between Billy and Mrs. W. in the scene where she is trying to convince him to come to private lessons. Ben brings a nuance to “You don’t fancy us, do ya miss?” that I have never experienced before, and it’s all about the voice. He adds a very subtle “oh…” before the line which shows the wheels turning in Billy’s head as it dawns on him that there might be an ulterior motive in there somewhere. Since Ben’s Billy is older (“twelve,”according to Tony, instead of the usual “eleven”), this seems perfectly in tune with his character. I thought to myself, “That delivery was absolutely genius!”

So what about the singing and the dancing? Ben is an excellent singer. Again, he knows how to deliver lines in song. He doesn’t just sing, he acts; and by that, I mean he goes beyond the usual interpretations that we expect. The dancing was great as well. Ben, by the way, spins the the opposite direction from most Billys, so he travels around the stage the opposite way in “Electricity,” and does his final flips on the opposite diagonal. This all makes for a fresh and interesting experience. And now for the answer you’ve all been waitin’ for: Yes, Ben did the flip off the piano at the end of B2B. He was the only Billy who did the flip over the course of the Richmond run.

Sam had an easier time of it warming up the audience in this show. While the audience response to the ending of “Express” still wasn’t huge, it was much better than he got previously.

I was glad to see Joel Blum on as Dad for this performance. The age differential problem mentioned before was eliminated with him playing Dad opposite Cullen’s Tony. He did an excellent job. His Jackie Elliot is exactly what he should be. I loved his delivery of “Deep Into the Ground.” It was simple and delivered with emotion and sincerity. And at the end, we got the harmonized duet between Billy and Dad instead of Billy’s solo ending. Beautifully done. Atreyu mentioned the packing scene. This too was a lovely intereaction with Ben’s Billy.

Since Joel Blum was Dad, Joel Newsome did the honors as George, and he was really good. His take is different, of course, but he has great comic timing. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing him as George.

All in all, I came away from this performance feeling very happy with how it had gone and privileged to have seen how Ben's Billy has evolved over the months, from his Louisville debut in the role, to Baltimore, and now to Richmond. .

[Billy Whiz]

What terrific reviews from Richmond. Thanks you very much for them.

Just out of curiosity Ellen - what is the Puppy Bowl? A Junior Super Bowl?

[kport]

Great review, Ellen. I too was bowled over by Ben last week.

Ben, by the way, spins the the opposite direction from most Billys

I thought the same in Clearwater...I wonder is Ben left handed? It is common for a lefty to spin counter-clockwise.

[CJ-Rochester]

Ben, by the way, spins the the opposite direction from most Billys

I thought the same in Clearwater...I wonder is Ben left handed? It is common for a lefty to spin counter-clockwise.

Yes he is. This was discussed last year in the Boston reviews I believe. Ben, Ty, and Jacob Clemente are all lefties and spin counter-clockwise.

[kport]

Ben, by the way, spins the the opposite direction from most Billys

I thought the same in Clearwater...I wonder is Ben left handed? It is common for a lefty to spin counter-clockwise.

Yes he is. This was discussed last year in the Boston reviews I believe. Ben, Ty, and Jacob Clemente are all lefties and spin counter-clockwise.

So...in Brazil will they spin clockwise??????????

[ERinVA]

What terrific reviews from Richmond. Thanks you very much for them.

Just out of curiosity Ellen - what is the Puppy Bowl? A Junior Super Bowl?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/lancemadden ... -blackout/

and a more detailed explanation of the game:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/lancemadden ... y-bowl-ix/

[StevenKing]

I'm glad to hear the audience didn't laugh at "really F***in special" They usually do, but to me, this comes out of the emotion that Mrs W feels for Billy, and its not meant to be funny. It should almost be a moment where the audience gets choked up. But alas, anytime you use the F word, you'll likely get giggles.

Perhaps we could buy that reviewer another ticket to see the show again?!?!? Maybe their views would shift a little.

Erin, I've spent a good deal of time in the south, and even lived in Florida (although Florida is not "the south") but I won't pretend to know all the the attitudes and views of everyone in Virginia. However, when I was reading what you wrote, one thing crossed my mind. Do you think maybe the response for Express was so muted because the audience isn't really open to the idea of two young boys crossdressing?

Actually, I think the reviewer might have liked the show better a second time, but perhaps that is giving him too much credit, as what it seems he didn't like was the show itself (10 Tony awards notwithstanding), as opposed to the particular performance. Someone should really zing him with a comment to that effect. Who wants to volunteer?

No rob... I don't think there was an attitude problem with the cross-dressing that could be attributed to Southern roots. Those folks do exist in the South, as they do everywhere, but they are not the ones that buy season tickets to Broadway in Richmond, or individual tickets to theatrical events in town. One couple I met on Friday evening were telling me about the lively local theater scene in Richmond, with several professional and semi-pro companies around town. The homophobes and rednecks buy tickets to events like Monster Truck rallies and tobacco spitting contests. (I'm kidding.)

I still think when the retooled Express they destroyed the ending...it got little response in LA too. Its hurried at the end and because the dresses are WAY less over the top its coming off as weird and less funny. So no I don't think its an audience thing.

[atreyu]

Ellen's reviews of the Richmond shows are fantastic and I will supplement a few thoughts and not steal any thunder for her Richmond finale writeup.

Ellen mentioned the audio being problematic on Friday night and a little better in subsequent shows. My rating is still at mediocre on Saturday and just passable on Sunday. Never achieved much "presence" for the music or intimacy for the dialog and I suspect that this combined with the distance between the viewers and performers kept the audience from getting as involved in the show as at the Imperial, for example.

The location of the sound board was a little out of the ordinary. While there was an enclosed audio booth at the back of the theater, that was not in use for the show. Rather, the audio and video control setups were smack dab in the middle of orchestra level seating, behind Row M, out in the open and well in front of the Grand Tier and Balcony. I would guess that this location makes it real easy to check the house sound, but makes it more difficult to hear fine details in the headphones.

After Saturday evening's show, I chatted a bit with Associate Conductor Daniel Klintworth. He explained why the pit is so empty. Basically, all the instruments with direct sound are located elsewhere to ease the problem of getting the right mix with those instruments that do not directly generate sound, i.e. the keyboards and guitars.

That may have been the goal, but the mix was a large part of the problem. The most glaring examples were the flute being very faint when it needed to be prominent for Michael in the Winter scene and the clarinet being almost non-existent when it is supposed to carry the melody from the time Mum walks off stage after Dear Billy (Billy's Reply) all the way to "See ya Michael". Both were a little better on Sunday, but still substandard.

Suffice it to say I preferred the setup as it was in Boston. Another advantage of having all the musicians in the pit was precluding the chance of hearing musicians laughing or warming up their instruments during quiet sections of the performance.

Anyway, this was only my 2nd and 3rd time seeing Sam Poon and it is striking how natural and confident he is on stage. Sam clearly has a bright future ahead of him. Although this may sound strange to some, I will opine that it is good to see a different look for him (without the glasses) when playing Michael.

Joel Blum's Dad was generally quite good with one distinction being, in my experience and opinion, the best physical reaction to Scottish Dancer, bar none. Impossible to describe in words, of course, but it is genuinely funny while remaining in character and not outrageously over the top. Also with Joel B not doing George, it served as a reminder not to take some special Joel Blum touches for granted with that character. Namely, the dancing during Merry Christmas, Maggie Thatcher, the hat flip to open Act 2 and Joel's unique moves when congratulating Billy at the end.

There was some struggling evident in the a capella opening of Deep Into the Ground and I wonder if that was one reason why Craig Bennett played Dad the other days despite the age issue. Craig does not merely carry tunes, he belts them out.

It's much nicer when you have folks you know to share your Billy enthusiasm (and meals in restaurants) with.

Even nicer when it involves a practitioner of Southern gentilesse. Indeed, the opportunities are very limited to comment about seeing 4 or 5 BETM performances in a single weekend and not get the alien stare.