BE Tonight

[Testing1232]

Posted: 6/9/09 at 11:42pm

Just back from the show.. David (my fave) was on as Billy.

The crowd, though enthusiastic, was pretty subdued for a show that followed the Tony wins.

Speaking with a number of people around me, seemed like most of them didnt even know the show won ANY awards.

Hardly any entrance applause... smatterings here and there.

I think Haydn got the most applause. Jbara got some.

I did wonder the entire show how much longer David can stay with the cast. His voice has definitely changed since the opening (unless he was a little under the weather tonight)

Thought some more about using "Angry Dance" as the Tony number, and it was even more obvious why it didnt work. Even people at the show had weird looks on their faces !!!

As far as box office... PACKED prior to the show (as was "God Of Carnage)-

Overall, very good show, but nothing like the energy at "ITH" last year after the Tony win.
Updated On: 6/10/09 at 11:42 PM

[RippedMan]

Posted: 6/9/09 at 11:44pm

"Angry Dance" totally works in the confines of the show, but out of context it's a little confusing. You don't have the whole historical aspect, nor do you have Billy's personal struggling leading up to it. I think it's a brilliant choice to end the first act of a show about dance with a lyrical dance instead of a song showing how "angry" he is.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 6/9/09 at 11:48pm

Overall, very good show, but nothing like the energy at "ITH" last year after the Tony win.

It's a totally different situation. Billy Elliot wasn't a case of the little show that could, or something that the theater community had nurtured and watched develop for a long period of time. It wasn't the Cinderella story. It's a huge show, a transfer, and a commercial dream. It's certainly well-crafted, but in large part a tourist trap, and pedigreed by star power. Of course the post-awards reception isn't going to be the same. And chances are a lot of the people there, even if they knew about the wins, didn't really care; they were there to see the show, which they had probably planned to see well in advance of the Tonys -- not to show their support. It's a completely different dynamic.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 6/9/09 at 11:52pm

True. It's a different case anyways. Both shows draw two different crowds. "In The Heights" has the whole hipster/urban teen vibe, and they tend to be more vocal then the average crowd at Billy Elliot, which I'm guessing is more of the older/white persuasion.

[Testing1232]

Posted: 6/9/09 at 11:53pm

<< It's a totally different situation. Billy Elliot wasn't a case of the little show that could, or something that the theater community had nurtured and watched develop for a long period of time. It wasn't the Cinderella story. It's a huge show, a transfer, and a commercial dream. It's certainly well-crafted, but in large part a tourist trap, and pedigreed by star power. Of course the post-awards reception isn't going to be the same. And chances are a lot of the people there, even if they knew about the wins, didn't really care; they were there to see the show, which they had probably planned to see well in advance of the Tonys -- not to show their support. It's a completely different dynamic.>

Cant disagree with anything that you wrote--- was just stating that the show didnt have the same energy-- for a number of reasons.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 6/9/09 at 11:56pm

What I'm saying has nothing to do with age or race, it has to do with the difference between the hometown theater community audience and the tourist machine. Surely there were people at Billy tonight who have been longtime supports of the show (I know a few), but I'd be willing to bet not nearly in the percentage that you'd have seen last year at In The Heights, or with other smaller shows in the past. I remember a really incredible, receptive, supportive, loving audience at Company in 2007; it was unlike anything I've ever seen, still, and that was because it was a room full of people who knew what was going on and who felt very strongly about it. You don't get that in the same way with a show that's such a commercial machine.

Updated On: 6/9/09 at 11:56 PM

[Testing1232]

Posted: 6/9/09 at 11:57pm

<< True. It's a different case anyways. Both shows draw two different crowds. "In The Heights" has the whole hipster/urban teen vibe, and they tend to be more vocal then the average crowd at Billy Elliot, which I'm guessing is more of the older/white persuasion.
>>

Not entirely true--- "ITH" has one of the most diverse crowds that I have ever seen on a everyday basis. Definitely younger than the "BE" crowd (stating the obvious), but very diverse.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 6/10/09 at 12:00am

Not saying it's not diverse, but that's the crowd it's trying to attract, and it does.

And I'm offended that Billy Elliot is referred to as a machine. While yeah, it has some big names involved, I'm not sure it was such a sure fire hit when they transferred it.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 6/10/09 at 12:04am

Really? I always got the impression it was a pretty built-in hit. It had been doing really well overseas for a pretty long time, and had a huge amount of buzz before it came here. I didn't mean it in any offensive sort of way, it's just a very different kind of show with a very different story of arrival than something like ITH.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 6/10/09 at 12:06am

Oooh, you offended him. You in danger girl.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 6/10/09 at 12:10am

Another element to consider is that audience was probably filled with many tourists who booked their tickets months ago, and not the rabid fans who present themselves to show props to the winner. Karen Olivo may have encountered the same reaction, as most people have had those tickets for months. There were no last minute tickets to grab. Those crowds are very different than the rabid N2N fans that had some wiggle room to get tickets at the last minute.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 6/10/09 at 12:18am

Hold on, gotta go hide.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/10/09 at 12:36am

I dunno. Where I was sitting there was enormous enthusiasm for David, who I predict will be a major international ballet star when he leaves Billy Elliot, for Haydn Gwynne, who was giving a Tony-caliber performance, for Greg Jbara, who made me laugh and cry, and for David Bologna, who was delightfully way over the top.

Maybe you were expecting a different reaction but for those of us who weren't expecting your reaction and maybe don't share your ennui, it was a thrilling evening.

And Carole Shelley gets a PalJoey Lifetime Achievement Award for being a total joy every time she walks onstage.

Updated On: 6/10/09 at 12:36 AM

[NYadgal]

Posted: 6/10/09 at 12:40am

...not to mention that most of the 'entrances' are ensemble entrances in the middle of songs, without well defined pauses for applause...

There was plenty of 'electricity'.

As someone who has attended 'Tony Tuesday' performances for... decades(!), it was thrilling. And appropriate. It doesn't have to be a carnival of applause to celebrate a win.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 6/10/09 at 12:45am

Although I would buy a ticket to a carnival of applause!

[RippedMan]

Posted: 6/10/09 at 12:46am

Oh, Emcee, I'm not offended. And, I just remember reading before the show opened that the producers and stuff were kind of worried that the show wouldn't take with American audiences. I have a friend who saw it in England and hated it because he couldn't understand what they were saying (accents and the slang terms they use). The show wasn't a big, sell-out hit when it first opened either. I mean, it did pretty good business, but I think it took a little while for it find it's footing.

[bythesword84]

Posted: 6/10/09 at 12:52am

Well, also, I mean, the way BE is staged, there aren't exactly many big entrances to get applause. They all sort of just blend in and then become known, the only "big" entrance is Mrs. Wilkinson.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 6/10/09 at 12:53am

... lol. You just said you were offended.

I remember a LOT of anticipation leading up to the transfer, from hardcore theater people to casual theatergoers alike, and I remember it being a pretty hot ticket from the get-go; you had to buy them quite far in advance even early on. So, one of us is looking at the minority, but I don't know who; are we even talking about the same show?

[NYadgal]

Posted: 6/10/09 at 12:53am

...precisely, bythesword!

Updated On: 6/10/09 at 12:53 AM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/10/09 at 12:54am

And now, having seen Billy Elliot twice, I will say that the staging of the "Solidarity" number, in which Stephen Daldry and Peter Darling weave together the striking miners, the fascistic policemen, the klutzy girl ballet students and Billy discovering his dancing ability--all through surprising and intricate and entertaining choreography--is brilliant at a near-Michael Bennett level.

(Which is praise I don't lavish lightly.)

And the Swan Lake/Billy flying sequence would get grudging respect from Jerome Robbins.

(Which is all he was ever able to give.)

There isn't a lot of exciting musical staging on Broadway lately, but there is a lot of it is in Billy Elliot.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 6/10/09 at 12:57am

I agree PJ, which made me offended by the term "machine." I mean, this show wasn't a ploy to make a ton of money. It had some thought put into it. It wasn't brought to Elton John, he thought about the idea himself.

and Emcee, I didn't really mean "offended" in the sense that I was really, truly, honestly pissed. I just meant it as a joke/sarcasm. I'm not really sitting here pissed off at you because of your remark.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 6/10/09 at 12:58am

I know it sounds like I'm detracting from the show here, so I just wanted to say that, PJ, your description of Solidarity reminded me of just how brilliant that scene was. For the record, I liked the show, I was just kind of disappointed because it wasn't what I'd expected after all of the buzz.

And Rippedman, I didn't mean as a piece of theater -- I didn't mean it to speak about the way the show works and functions on stage. I don't think that about it, at all. I meant "machine" as a measure of its commercial presence. Completely separate senses of the word.

Updated On: 6/10/09 at 12:58 AM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/10/09 at 1:01am

I remember the buzz before it opened was that the regional accents would be off-putting to American audiences, even lightened as they were, and that ballet-dancing and crossdressing teenage boys wouldn't be as popular here as it was in London.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 6/10/09 at 1:06am

"I mean, this show wasn't a ploy to make a ton of money."

Oh for crap's sake, when will people grow up and realize BOTH THINGS CAN BE TRUE?

Of course it's a machine. A machine run with an enormous investment of dollars. The dollars created the Billy Training Factory, funded the hype in London, funded the hype over here, funded the Tony hype.

Pixar is a machine too. It just so happens that machine makes product that merges art and commerce. Only naive romantics would feel that have to defend a steam rolling project like Billy Elliot as if it is a quiet little chamber piece with two actors and a xeroxed program.

[yankees1253]

Posted: 6/10/09 at 1:09am

I was at the show tonight again and loved it. Will write more late, but so tired right now.

Billy-David A
Michael-David B
Debbie-Maria Connelly