Did anyone else despise BILLY ELLIOT?- Page 2

[MamasDoin'Fine]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 4:02pm

Probably the best.

[Weez]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 4:43pm

...the curtain call. It was well-choreographed and performed. I'm not sure why it's so much worse than actors walking on stage and taking a bow while the orchestra plays peppy underscoring, but to each their own.

Because I want to applaud the performers, not have my clapping disappear into a sea of other people clapping in time with the music. Clapping along with the music isn't the same as applause, and I'd rather give the cast their due than pretend I'm a part of the show.

[MiracleElixir]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 5:50pm

"You seem to be contradicting yourself in one minute hating the whole experience and then going into detail of what you liked, didn't like and what you thought was OK. We are all still wondering why you use such a word as despise when from what your saying now is that basically you had a dislike to the performance!"


You love Billy Elliot. We get it. You're allowed. But I'm also allowed to DESPISE it, without you saying I'm contradicting myself or I don't know what I'm talking about.

And, by the way, looking at a show with nuance (i.e. pointing out what was good, horrible and okay) isn't a bad thing, showing confusion or contradictory feelings. One can appreciate performances or songs on a CD, while still hating their use and context in a show. After all, not all of us can just ejaculate all over a show, proclaiming it the "best ever" and smack down anyone with an unkind word to say.

[StephenSondheimWHOO]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 5:59pm

I LOVE Billy elliot, I saw it in London and on Broadway. I think it is brilliant..
That siad, I do agree with you on the finale, I think they should have left the ending as it is. I think by endind it with them in tutus, it re-inforces the sterertypes that the whole show has been shooting down "Boys that do ballet are sissies"
But other than that, I think it is amazing.

[Here I Am]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 6:09pm

Why do so many people have a problem with the dancing dresses? It was the first (and only time - aside from the Royal Ballet set) that the set was bright and fun. It's because for the first time in the show Michael and Billy get lost in their own imaginations and escape the depressing world around them. What's wrong with their fantasy being campy and fun?

[logan0215]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 7:49pm

First off, Miracle gave a clear, concise review backing up his beliefs and offering another reaction to the show than what has been posted on here otherwise. He was perfectly justified in using any vocabulary he wanted to describe it without half of the thread being turned into a grammar war. Also, I'm pretty sure that one is capable of enjoying the score of a show (i.e the Cast Recording) without liking the show itself. I'm enthralled by "The Rink" but I haven't seen it, and evidently it was a train wreck. ANYWAY, I also saw the show last night:

After having seen the show in London last May, I saw the it again last night. I have to be honest in saying that it felt like a different (read: less moving) experience than my first time seeing it in London. I can say that my grievances are more based on performances than on the actual material. I'll be honest and say that I was fairly unimpressed with our Billy's dancing, (comparatively) and have been under the impression that the dancing of the actor is of the utmost, leaving the singing secondary. I can't say I felt either were really stellar last night or compensated for one another. The accents being put on ranged from well-done to cartoon-ish. I was originally shocked to hear Jbara's name for Dad, but then had faith he could pull it off. I was sort of let down last night. The same goes for the Brother. In London, the introduction to Dad painted him as the surliest man you'd ever meet, and then somehow his brother was introduced and was ever surlier. This created an amazing opportunity for their character arcs to develop which I didn't see last night as Jbara sort of mugged it up to the audience and the brother came off rather one-note.

Michael in London was still played as a little boy, not as some kind of gay icon which I enjoyed and I think was more effective in getting the underlying message of "acceptance" to be translated. Making him more flamboyant and showy just cheapens his message, I do have to say I didn't really have a problem with the shirts, though. The finale was fine by me. The audience last night was crap.

[Here I Am]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 9:49pm

Who did you see play Billy logan?

[kdek004]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 9:57pm

My question exactly, Here I Am. Having seen all three Broadway Billys, I'd be curious to hear who played Billy that would leave someone unimpressed with the dancing.

[logan0215]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 11:34pm

I said unimpressed comparatively, as in, not as good as the Billy I saw in London.

Last night I saw Trent Kowalik and in London I saw Jackie Clune, Chris Lennon, and Corey Snide as Billy (having trouble finding my playbill for Dad, but it was last May).

[Billy Whiz]

Posted: 10/31/08 at 4:54am

I think you will find that Dad in London was played by James Gaddas. You won't find your Playbill as they don't have them in London. I assume you meant your programme which you have to purchase.

[Weez]

Posted: 10/31/08 at 4:21pm

Your programme, which costs twice as much as any normal West End programme, and is approximately the size of a house, being the bastard spawn of programme and souvenir brochure. How impressive, to misplace one so huge!

[Billy Whiz]

Posted: 10/31/08 at 4:44pm

The Wicked programme costs £8. Hairspray £6. Billy Elliot is "only" £5.00

[Weez]

Posted: 10/31/08 at 4:48pm

I thought I'd paid more. :/ Mind you, 'Billy Elliot' was the first show I saw with a programme priced over £3.50 (and I wasn't impressed when I got to 'Wicked' later that evening and had to pay EVEN MORE either XD), so I could have mentally inflated it in my shock, I guess. XD It's still huge, and £5 (probably around $10 at the time) is a faaaaar cry from a free Playbill. :3

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 10/31/08 at 5:17pm

Because I want to applaud the performers, not have my clapping disappear into a sea of other people clapping in time with the music. Clapping along with the music isn't the same as applause, and I'd rather give the cast their due than pretend I'm a part of the show.

I hear what you're saying. But I do notice that most people still give separate applause for the actors throughout the clapping-in-time thing.

I think by endind it with them in tutus, it re-inforces the sterertypes that the whole show has been shooting down "Boys that do ballet are sissies"

See now, I felt exactly the opposite. To me, ending in tutus reinforced the number "Expressing Yourself" which in turn, pretty much sums up the message of the entire show. I mean, if the curtain reinforces the stereotype, then it only does so for those who purposely ignore deverything that occurred in the show from the very beginning.

[Patash]

Posted: 10/31/08 at 6:15pm

"What an awful word to use 'despise'!!!"

HUH? What about the use of the word "despise" filled you with awe?

[logan0215]

Posted: 10/31/08 at 6:42pm

Well, that would explain why I couldn't find it ;]

I thought it might have been in the big pile of things from my Study Abroad experience which I really didn't want to go through.

There may have been an u/s on that night for a minor character which prompted me to assume there was an "insert" to go in the non-existant playbill (west-endbill?).

Billy Whiz - James Gaddas was not him... I believe I was there either a few days prior or post the milestone show of some number of shows that I cannot recall.

Updated On: 10/31/08 at 06:42 PM

[Bwayidiot]

Posted: 11/1/08 at 11:07pm

It was a terrible show and the worst way to start my weekend in New York. Nothing about the show worked for me.

[brettystar]

Posted: 11/1/08 at 11:58pm

What I 'despise' is how if people like a show and someone disagrees with them on this board then they have to jump on them and pick apart their post. If miracle wanted to use 'despise' then he can use the word despise.

For the record, I will never see Billy Elliot as it looks totally unappealing to me - and I loved the film. I despise everything I have seen of it.

[wonkit]

Posted: 11/2/08 at 12:15am

I was interested in seeing it until I found out that my $126 would get me a rear mezzanine seat on the dates I had in mind.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 11/15/08 at 9:14am

I am pasting my thoughts on BILLY ELLIOT from another thread, since they are similar to MiracleElixir's opinions, which appear to be in the minority on this board:

I saw BILLY ELLIOT this past Monday night and let me preface by saying that I am open to all styles of musical theatre. I love being presented with something fresh or unexpected. I very much anticipated this show from all of the raves it had received in London.

The four of five dance sequences were pretty great, if not spectacular, but the book is choppy and uninteresting. As someone who had never heard any of the music prior to entering the theatre Monday night, I can't say that any of it was particularly memorable. I'll say that I am fan of and regularly listen to Elton John's score for AIDA. I also really liked what he offered with LESTAT. His score for BILLY ELLIOT just seems like a rehash to me.

I felt like a lot of the musical numbers didn't do much to further the plot or further the character development. A comparison that comes to mind is the song "My Favorite Suit" in AIDA, which, while it's a really catchy, fun song, it kind of sheds this bizarre, ditzy light on Amneris for no good reason, when later in the show we're supposed to take her completely seriously.

However, I was truly blown away by many of the performances. Trent Kowalik was on for Billy, and he was just terrific. Great dancer and actor. He kind of spoke-sang-shouted his songs, though, however it seemed like they were written to be performed that way, oddly enough. Gregory Jbara turns in a damn fine performance here, especially considering the so-so material he's being given to work with. Haydn Gwynne basically throws the sub-par book out the window and pulls out all the stops to prove that she is a really a gem of a performer. It's also nice to see Carole Shelley originating a role again, even if it's not much of a role here. She's a real legend, and it's nice to see that she is still up and kicking -- literally, at times -- at her age.

The dances were all fine. Just fine. I kept waiting to be wowed, and I just wasn't. It's not a cohesive musical. It's sloppy entertainment, which there is nothing wrong with at all, but this show is far from the next coming.

I also agree that the curtain call feels unnecessarily tacked on, and takes away from any emotional impact left with the audience when the actual musical ends.

The audience did love it, and I know this is going to be another harmless, long-runner on Broadway, and I am certainly not complaining. The show has a heart, and it's nice to know that the vague themes of acceptance will be shared with many audiences, young and old, for years to come.

Overall, I personally just feel that the musical immensely failed to live up to the incredible hype, and I hope we have more promising new musicals coming up this season. I'm particularly eager about 9 TO 5. I miss [title of show].

Updated On: 11/15/08 at 09:14 AM

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 11/15/08 at 9:37am

I cant understand how anyone can call it 'sloppy entertainment'

Posted: 11/15/08 at 11:21am

I was also really disappointed in the show. I saw it in London two years ago and was disappointed then, too. It just doesn't work. The songs are unmemorable, there are a lot of cheap laughs and they are unclear on the tone. The start out with a gritty, mostly serious show but then they have big musical numbers that are colorful and cotton candy light and bear no resemblance to what has come before. There were whole scenes/musical numbers I didn't remember from the London production although I know they must have been there. The cast, on the other hand, was AMAZING and deserve glowing reviews. Unfortunately, I give the show a C plus.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 11/15/08 at 11:54am

I have not seen BE yet...but will be in December. I am quite looking forward to it. I read with interest everyone's opinion, and can't wait to arrive at my own.

If the OP wants to despise it, let him/her. S/he gave the reasons why. He's not right nor is he wrong. That's why it's an OPINION. I cannot see why many of you are hellbent on convincing the poster they are WRONG.

[Liza + Jesus = Patti]

Posted: 11/15/08 at 1:15pm

I AGREE.

I DESPISE IT SO MUCH.

IT'S GARBAGE!!!!!

[Hank]

Posted: 11/15/08 at 3:52pm

Nope!
Not me.