Billy Elliot - Why The Hate- Page 3

[Yero my Hero]

Posted: 1/14/10 at 7:34pm

HOWEVER... Next to Normal has no dance numbers whatsoever, which is very rare for a Broadway Musical.

- A Little Night Music (besides a waltz), Sweeney Todd, Sunday In The Park With George, Assassins, Passion. It's really not THAT rare. N2N has musical staging like the musicals I listed. A musical doesn't need dance numbers to be good.

You just named all Sondheim shows. Sondheim doesn't write "typical" musicals with big dance numbers - we know this. Further, his shows represent such a tiny percentage of all Broadway musicals that I think it's still fair to say it's rare.

Finally, hicaesar didn't say that BILLY was better because it has dance numbers. He just said that some people might prefer it.

[zepka102]

Posted: 1/14/10 at 7:42pm

I'm pretty open to all shows. I look for the good in them all, whether I like it or not. This was one of the shows that didn't do much for me.

I felt that the performances were excellent. The acting Tony winners (and nominees) were well deserved. I had David and his amount of talent surpassed what I expected. Greg Jbara was perfection in his role. While I thought she was good, I didn't feel Hayden lived up to what I expected, based on everything I heard about her before going in. Leah Hocking has always been a favorite for me. I was upset her role was so small and only hope her next role showcases more of what she can do (just a thought, but I really would love to see her in N2N if she were to replace someone.)

I thought the corkscrew kitchen/bedroom was very creative. The sets that slide in from the side were interesting to watch.

The music, however, was not memorable to me. I didn't walk out wanting to buy the cast recording, which is usually what I feel like doing.

Everyone around me was crying at the end and I wasn't sure why.

I thought it was great, production-wise, but it didn't do much for me. I didn't connect with it at all. I appreciated what I saw, and I'm glad I saw it, but it wasn't something I would recommend unless someone loved the movie.

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 1/14/10 at 8:00pm

zepka102, I saw Leah Hocking when she went on for Mrs. Wilkinson and I thought she was fabulous. I think Haydn started to get a little bored towards the end of her run and she was not as good as she was when I saw the show in the 2nd week of previews.

[bundy5000]

Posted: 1/14/10 at 8:30pm

For what its worth. I feel like the show is like an epic drama. So many types of emotions come from the characters.
I think BE is a show that works best if you relate to the content in some way. It could be about proving someone wrong, dealing with grief, how friendship is valuable......

I do not own the recording, because for me the songs only work so well as the actors performing them live. I listen to only a few songs on my Mp3 player daily. I thought the show was at its best before the Tonys. I have seen minor changes that accommodate the audience but takes away from the show. And personally, the cast makes a huge difference in order for me to enjoy the show.

The more cast changes happen to the show, the less I will probably be willing to see it again and again.

[broadwayfreak4]

Posted: 1/15/10 at 2:07am

Watching the Tonys is a yearly ritual for me, like you guys on here. Though I do not live in New York, I do read the latest Broadway news daily, as it is my crack, but anyway, I've read allll the criticism toward Billy Elliot. I understand that Billy does not have the best score. Next to Normal has a stronger score, in my opinion. I thought it was interesting when I read Billy Elliot was coming to Broadway. I thought that it was such a huge hit in London, it would take Broadway by storm. I guess it has.

If Billy Elliot has problems, why didn't the critics recognize them on opening night? "THE #1 SHOW OF THE YEAR!" "THE BEST BRITISH MUSICAL I HAVE EVER SEEN!" If Next to Normal is amazing as everyone says it is, why isn't it sold out week after week like Billy Elliot? Why didn't it get all the hoopla from critics like Billy did? Why hasn't Next to Normal participated in more TV appearances? After all, the purpose of a TV appearance of a Broadway musical is to sell more tickets, right? I am frankly tired of all the hatred that Billy Elliot has recieved. I have not seen the show, but it can't be that bad. I'm sure it's certainly worthy of its 10 Tonys it recieved. If Next to Normal is so amazing like everyone says it is, why isn't it going on tour like Billy Elliot?

A show is a show. You like it or you don't like it. People are probably going to have different opinions about shows. If and when I'll go see a show, yes, part of my decision of seeing a show will be based on how the show was recieved by critics. Billy Elliot got excellent reviews, won every Best Musical title at every award show, and people are bashing it. If Next to Normal is getting all the acclaim, why didn't it win Best Musical? If it's sooo good, what made Billy win over Next to Normal?

[binau]

Posted: 1/15/10 at 2:20am

"If Next to Normal is amazing as everyone says it is, why isn't it sold out week after week like Billy Elliot?'

Popularity=/='greatness'

Wicked is the most popular show on Broadway, POTO has run for 20+ years, and yet RAGTIME closes in less than 3 months.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 1/15/10 at 5:00am

The Tonys are just as much a financial venture (if not MORE) as they are an artistic one. THIS has been said over and over. MOST of the voters are out of state PRODUCERS are are looking out for their best interest. What can they sell when it tours at THEIR theater? This will continue to get worse as now the critics have lost their Tony vote.

And yes: POPULAR doesn't mean ARTISTIC or GREATNESS. WHY do worthy productions (Ragtime, Finian's to name just a few recent ones) close before their time? Because of the hordes of people that prefer Bway to be more like TV: mindless and spoonfed.

MOST of the people here are responding with MIXED opinions. There aren't too many people saying it is total garbage.

AND AGAIN: the original poster ASKED what people DIDN'T like about it. Those that don't want to read negative things about a show....shouldn't open a thread that has asked that question. There is a "love thread" for BE.....read that one.

Updated On: 1/16/10 at 05:00 AM

[TulitaPepsi]

Posted: 1/15/10 at 11:36am

I loved BILLY ELLIOT. I found it supremely entertaining and very moving. The score isn't memorable but it serves its purpose. It recouped and is a smash hit. This is Good.

I wasn't wild over NEXT TO NORMAL, but I thought Ripley was astonishing - best female star performance since Ebersole. Except for "I Miss The Mountains", I didn't think the score was much. It didn't affect me the way it did a lot of people here. At times I thought it was unintentionally funny. It's an oddball show. Unusual subject matter. New writers, new score. Against all my expectations, it's been chugging along nicely. No sign of closing. It may recoup soon!

This is better.

[Scott Briefer]

Posted: 1/22/10 at 4:37pm

- possible spoilers -

I for one am very pleased that this thread exists...

I saw, Billy Elliot: The Musical, for the first time last night and although I enjoyed the experience, I was ultimately left with: So? Not the breakaway hit that I had been led to believe it would be.

1) the score is extremely mixed. Several of the numbers are serviceable and even a few good, but overall, very mediocre.

2) the book... wow, this really surprised me. I expected it to be at least as powerful as the film. It wasn't. In fact, I found it overly indulgent. Saddest of all, I found very little character development. I thought juxtaposing Billy's struggle with the miners was interesting, but it came at the expense of truly developing characters that I cared about. Where were the moments between father and son, or even Billy and anyone that expressed the depth of his despair? (In all fairness there is the quiet scene where Billy brings Mrs. Wilkinson the letter from his mom.) And, yet there was so much opportunity. The relationship with Michael could have been used to develop the boys so much more. I liked, Expressing Yourself. I liked it a lot, but it developed Michael's character far more than Billy's or their friendship.

I agree with the criticism regarding the grandmother's moment being lost. We'd Go Dancing, was an interesting musical number, and well staged, but the play doesn't draw on this moment. I disagree with the poster who explained this number was about perpetuating violence. I thought the number was about lost possibilities and the call to live one's life as fully as possible. Either way, the grandmother has this very personal moment only to have very little to do with the main character's transformations and/or arc. I believe another lost opportunity.

I thought most of the cast was strong, but the material didn't live up to their potential. Except...

3) the young girls' ballet chorus... excuse me?! They were just awful. I suspect that was intended, but I found writing a large chorus of untalented kids into Billy Elliot a big mistake. They weren't even cute. They were just sloppy.

4) the set. What a poorly designed show! I understand that the subject matter deemed that the stage picture be drab, depressing, but I found the overall look and feel of Billy Elliot just ugly and dull. The elevators were clunky, overused and just got in the way. I sat in the front mezzanine and spent more time fascinated with the technologies used in the various traps, than appreciating the stage design. Setting Billy Elliot in the union hall might have worked, but setting it in an industrialized back of stage with a union hall that keeps sliding on and off for what seemed like very arbitrary reasons just didn't do it for me.

5) direction and timing... Was this only last night, or is this the way the show is directed, but throughout the evening there are about 4 or 5 pregnant pauses that were just wrong. I kept wanting to sort of move things along. Silence can be very powerful. It wasn't last night. Nothing that was happening on that stage deemed the actors taking these obscenely long reflections. At times it almost felt like someone forgot their line. I found it awkward at best.

There were also many interesting and provocative aspects to Billy Elliot, but as this is a thread focused on "why the hate", I will leave those on the love threads. However, I will say that I did enjoy the evening. I thought the dancing mostly excellent (except the young girls chorus). The solo and duet pieces performed by Billy were exemplary and as mentioned above, Express Yourself was fun.

I liked Billy Elliot. I just didn't love it. Maybe if I had sat downstairs and wasn't so distracted by the ugly central elevator/bedroom, please don't bring it up again, set piece, I would have liked it more. Billy Elliot was a 7 out of 10 for me.


Updated On: 1/22/10 at 04:37 PM

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 1/22/10 at 5:00pm

Because of the hordes of people that prefer Bway to be more like TV: mindless and spoonfed.

Or perhaps they sought entertainment, which is the foundation of Broadway. I loved Billy Elliot in London in 2008 and left the theatre assuming it would win the Tony for Best Musical. My expectations were actually a little low, having only heard the CD, but I was totally impressed with how it all came together. The choreography and staging of Grandma's Song and Solidarity were stunning. I never considered anything about Billy Elliot to be mindless or spoonfed. It is a pretty well-constructed and solid musical.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 1/23/10 at 6:56am

^My comments were more of a generality than an attack of BE, particularly in talking of the Tony Awards and Popularity.

Remember, I enjoyed BE....I just didn't think it was fabulous. I now have seen it three times (once accidentally, sort of) and each time I became less enamoured of it.

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 1/23/10 at 10:06pm

I saw the show in London about 2 years ago. I was on a trip with my high school on our way to Scotland. Everyone was raving about it and singing the score incessantly. I left completely cold. The set is hideous, the score is dull, the book is weaker than the film, and the performances were obnoxious. And don't get me started on those damn dancing dresses! The only saving grace, for me, was the incredible choreography for Billy himself and the performance of Fox Jackson-Keen as Billy.

This is truly the only show I look at and think "...What?" How in the world did this get the praise it has received? I understand how it could resonate because I've seen the movie and adore it. But the movie did it better. The emotional impact just wasn't there in the show like it was in the film. And why it won Best Musical is a mystery to me.

[Salene]

Posted: 1/23/10 at 10:44pm

I feel like the only person who (much) prefers the musical to the movie ...