Billy Elliot the Forum

This one is far more positive, on all counts, and well written:

http://www.didyouweekend.com/billy-elli ... star-dust/

kport wrote:This one is far more positive, on all counts, and well written:

http://www.didyouweekend.com/billy-elli ... star-dust/

Totally agree, kport. A great review! Thanks for finding/sharing.

kport wrote:This one is far more positive, on all counts, and well written:
http://www.didyouweekend.com/billy-elli ... star-dust/

I agree also, great review. What a fantatic piece of writing!

Closing out the performance with the full ensemble number “Company Celebration” the audience is reminded that sometimes it takes an entire community to support the dreams of one person. This person can serve as a symbol of hope, determination and humanity. This person is Billy Elliot.

I saw both Thursday shows with Mitchell & Drew, Jake & Cameron. This is no review, merely disjointed thoughts.

Madison Barnes was Debbie for the matinee. It was my 60th show and my 50th time seeing Madison (I saw 10 shows in NYC without her) and it was the 1st time I saw her as Debbie. She was fantastic.

Jackie Elliot may be getting his drinking problem under control. For my 1st 59 shows Michael always said during the tutu scene that Jackie was "drunk as a skunk". But now Jake said that Jackie was "pissed as a playtpus" instead. Cameron used the same line in the evening show so it must be in the new script.

You know you have seen BE too many times when you notice that Jackie no longer tells Mrs. W to "shut it, you", it is now just "shut it". And when nobody answers the door at the Wilkinson's Jackie now mutters "fook it" and starts to walk away. I don't remember that line before.

It was great to have Cameron back. I had forgotten many of his funny bits. But it seems he has developed something of a glass jaw. After little Mitchell smacked him in the audition scene, Cameron went down like a ton of bricks and then blatted very loudly as he ran off the stage.

Seeing both Mitchell & Drew play Billy on the same day is a phenomenal treat. They both offer so much. I had seen them both in Baltimore & then both in Montreal, so it was my 3rd time seeing each of them. I'm happy that even with Ben Cook's departure the piano flip lives on. Drew landed a beauty in the evening performance.

When Drew is Billy the show must run a few minutes longer. I've never heard a Billy who paid so much attention to making sure the audience can grasp the dialogue. Despite the accent his elocution is slow and beautiful, and he never tries to talk over laughter or applause. He gets it!

Both of their Angry Dances have gotten angrier. A few more loud screams combined with ferocious tap. They both did a great job with my favorite part of the show.

Mitchell's Electricity continues to be one of my favorites. 2 aerials, a handspring instead of a cartwheel off of the chair, lightning fast priouettes and a very nice singing voice all mixed together for a scene the crowd loved, a partial standing ovation.

Drew continues the proud tour tradition of drenching the stage during the letter. Tears were streaming down his face and onto the floor even before his Dead Mum showed up on stage.

At the end of the show both Mitchell & Drew put on an impressive show for the patrons who were on the aisle. (I was on that aisle both times.) Mitchell was audibly sobbing as he descended the stairs, something I had only seen Kylend do. As emotional as Drew was during both letter scenes I expected to see tears running down his face as he walked up the aisle but there were none. He goes back up to give Michael the goodbye kiss and comes back down the stairs and now there are tears there. I've never seen that before but I think it is fantastic.

Looking forward to seeing these guys again on Saturday & then Noah on Sunday (according to Noah's blog.) One thing I don't get & need help with - I've had parents or grandparents of Billys refuse to tell me when their kid is performing because it would be against the rules and might get those parents into trouble with BETM, Inc. Sometimes they would tell me but swear me to secrecy. Yet throughout Peter Mazurowsky's long run in NYC his full performance schedule was usually posted on his dance school's website. Throughout Noah's run his performance schedule has been posted on his mother's or his blog. What gives?

Jackie Elliot may be getting his drinking problem under control. For my 1st 59 shows Michael always said during the tutu scene that Jackie was "drunk as a skunk". But now Jake said that Jackie was "pissed as a playtpus" instead. Cameron used the same line in the evening show so it must be in the new script.

The "new" line comes from the London show. "Pissed" means "drunk" in this case, instead of "angry."

Looking forward to seeing these guys again on Saturday & then Noah on Sunday (according to Noah's blog.) One thing I don't get & need help with - I've had parents or grandparents of Billys refuse to tell me when their kid is performing because it would be against the rules and might get those parents into trouble with BETM, Inc. Sometimes they would tell me but swear me to secrecy. Yet throughout Peter Mazurowsky's long run in NYC his full performance schedule was usually posted on his dance school's website. Throughout Noah's run his performance schedule has been posted on his mother's or his blog. What gives?

That's a good question. I think that as long as the information is only for one kid here or there, and the entire rotation for all the kids isn't posted, the company sort of looks the other way even though they may not exactly like it. If someone were to put the entire schedule out there, however, I expect that the person revealing the information would probably get a complaint and a warning from the company.

muck912 wrote:When Drew is Billy the show must run a few minutes longer. I've never heard a Billy who paid so much attention to making sure the audience can grasp the dialogue. Despite the accent his elocution is slow and beautiful, and he never tries to talk over laughter or applause. He gets it!

Agreed ! Drew gets especially high marks for his enunciation. I'm always amazed at how careful most of the kids in the show are to speak clearly (as do all of the adults) and then at intermission, I'll still hear some people in the audience say, "It's a good show, but I can't understand half of what they're saying because of that accent."

Thanks Muck for your wonderful "disjointed thoughts". Having seen BETM many,many times as you have I find that part of the thrill for me now is to pick up on these wonderful little changes or additions. I too am amazed at the depth of emotion that both Mitchell and Drew radiate even after so many performances. What a treat for the audience members seeing the show for the first time to get to see that level of acting.

Well done, muck! I enjoyed reading that very much!

Sean

While a little late in the Schenectady stay for this endorsement, the website Kids Out and About based in Albany has this positive review:

http://albany.kidsoutandabout.com/conte ... -musical-0

Only have time to mention a handful of slight changes before checking out of the hotel, grabbing lunch and heading to the matinee. It has been fun chatting with kport, michaelj, tomtorfan and muck912 about these changes and speculating about why they are being introduced at this time. So we might as well get the rest of the forum involved as well.

To me, it seems the biggest change is more intensity ("pathos" is kport's term, I believe) with Dad's character and to some extent Billy. It's not like Rich Hebert's performance had been lacking by any means, but he is noticeably more forceful in his confrontations with Mrs W and Tony.

With Billy, it was noticeable with Noah. More expressions and reactions than previous. Mitchell's take has been more feisty since he started, but I daresay that has also gone up a notch. Didn't notice much change for Drew and I continue to love his performances all around.

"Mank" is out. "Rotten" is in.

Michael does not slide through George's legs in the boxing scene anymore.

When Michael attempts to go the gents the second time and flops on his back, it is accompanied by an "I give up!"

"Ripoff" was back for Noah and Drew when paying Mrs. the second 50p.

Tony is not the one pushing the bed on stage when he is bloodied.

The line "It's all kicked off" is spoken by Big Davey, not Dad. (Tomtorfan noticed that one, most of the rest of us missed it)

Tony doesn't state Billy's age anymore, saying "He's just a kid" instead.

The Winter scene ends with "See ya Billy/Michael" without the "Merry Christmas" when Michael reaches the steps.


I'm sure there's more but that's all I have for right now. More commentary later.