Saturday evening
Mitchell Tobin as Billy
Jake Kitchen as Michael
Molly Garner as Mrs. W.
Craig Bennett as Dad
Susan Haefner as Grandma
If you didn’t know better, you might think that Mitchell was the Small Boy and Cal was Billy. But of course you would be wrong. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a tinier Billy, including Harris Beattie in London when he started, but Oh.My.Goodness! The package may be small (the Billy bag is almost as big as he is—seriously), but there’s a 20-carat diamond in it. Mitchell’s performance on Saturday evening was polished professional perfection. He is simply a terrific actor, singer, and dancer. Acting-wise, I would call his Billy “sassy.” Singing-wise, I would put him in a boys’ choir, and dancing-wise, I would send him to YAGP’s finals in NY this spring. You might think his “Electricity” would have less complicated choreography than some of the others, but no. The strength and precision were right there in that aerial, those jetes and the spins at the end. I might add that he got huge applause even before the final section of the number, and then even huger applause at the end that went on for quite a long time. The kid is a true triple-threat, and he’s only going to get better.
After what I would call a rocky start on Friday evening, as mentioned above, and an under-appreciated performance to a slow audience on Saturday afternoon, the Saturday evening show attracted a more animated audience. Perhaps the improvement had to do with the steadily warming temperature outside. Whatever the case, I thought the whole cast turned in an excellent show. I have already talked about Jake as Michael, Samantha as Debbie, and the adult principals elsewhere, so I won’t add any more to that discussion. Instead, I will just say that the ballet girls are consistently brilliant, as are all the members of the ensemble. I thank them for having the stamina and the dedication to do this show eight times a week.
Saturday was a very enjoyable two-show day for me on another count as well because I had two friends with whom to share the experience: a friend from home who came into town to see the matinee with me, and atreyu, who had arrived from Boston for the Saturday and Sunday shows. It's much nicer when you have folks you know to share your Billy enthusiasm (and meals in restaurants) with.
My Richmond Billy-thon started yesterday with Noah and ended with Drew. I'd have to call that a Super weekend. Ironically this was my XLVII-th time seeing BETM. And with these wonderful Billys, the day still can't come soon enough when I get to see them in action again.
