Skip to main content
Shop Merch Add a Show Listing
My Shows
News on your favorite shows, specials & more!
Home For You Chat My Shows Register/Login Games Grosses

David Bologna gets nominated for BILLY ELLIOT!?!! Doesn't he share a role? — Page 2

New Post Search Report Abuse Rules

Welcome Guest. Please Login or Register.

#26

re: David Bologna gets nominated for BILLY ELLIOT!?!! Doesn't he share a r

Posted: 5/5/09 at 10:38am

For real though, Dolce's people should have been on top of this. When they knew that he wouldn't be performing on opening night, they should have made sure that he, along with Bologna, were eligible for a nomination, even if it's the slightest chance that they would be nominated. Now Bologna's got the sole nomination. Someone definitely screwed up there.

I'm sure this isn't a case of the Tony committee denying a request from the producers, right?

~Steven
#27

re: David Bologna gets nominated for BILLY ELLIOT!?!! Doesn't he share a r

Posted: 5/5/09 at 10:52am

I have to say that I saw BE twice, with different Michaels, and David did the best. I'm sorry for Frank, but really, I think they made the right decision when it came to nominating only one.
<--- the set of A Midsummer Night's Dream that I was assistant stage manager for during the 2007 season at the STNJ outdoor stage.

-Dre-
You must remember all the same that at the crux of every game is knowing when it's time to leave the table... And it's important to be artful in your exit. No turning back, you must accept the con is done... It was a ball, it was a blast. And it's a shame it couldn't last. But every chapter has to end, you must agree.
~Dirty Rotten Scoundrels~

There's a special kind of people known as show people. We live in a world full of dreams. Sometimes we're not too certain what's false and what's real. But we're seldom in doubt about what we feel.
~Curtains~

It is a far, far better thing I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest I go to, than I have ever known.
~A Tale of Two Cities ~
#31

re: David Bologna gets nominated for BILLY ELLIOT!?!! Doesn't he share a r

Posted: 5/5/09 at 11:55am

Perhaps that is the reason why they didn't do anything regarding eligibility, because David is the better performer. I only saw David and thought he was great. But maybe they knew David would be the better shot, so they put him on for opening night and just kept it hush-hush.

Did anyone see Greg Jbara's video on Broadway.com when he spoke to David Bologna before the Gypsy Robe ceremony? And how he's waited his whole life (or something to that effect) to experience such a ceremony? Dunno, I was just reminded of that. He seems like a nice kid. (And his autograph is adorable!)

~Steven
#34

re: David Bologna gets nominated for BILLY ELLIOT!?!! Doesn't he share a r

Posted: 5/5/09 at 12:00pm

He plays Michael, Billy's gay best friend.

Bologna plays the role four shows a week, and Frank Dolce plays the role four shows a week.
"Winning a Tony this year is like winning Best Attendance in third grade: no one will care but the winner and their mom."
-Kad

"I have also met him in person, and I find him to be quite funny actually. Arrogant and often misinformed, but still funny."
-bjh2114 (on Michael Riedel)
#36

re: David Bologna gets nominated for BILLY ELLIOT!?!! Doesn't he share a r

Posted: 5/5/09 at 12:09pm

There are four Billys. They each do two shows a week. But only three of them are nominated. And the voters will see MAYBE one of them. But that's all. They may even end up seeing the Billy who isn't even nominated. But they'll still vote!
"Winning a Tony this year is like winning Best Attendance in third grade: no one will care but the winner and their mom."
-Kad

"I have also met him in person, and I find him to be quite funny actually. Arrogant and often misinformed, but still funny."
-bjh2114 (on Michael Riedel)
#38

re: David Bologna gets nominated for BILLY ELLIOT!?!! Doesn't he share a r

Posted: 5/5/09 at 12:12pm

but doesn't it technically not matter which of the three nominated Billys they see?
(still feels like rewarding a role and not the actor, but...)
When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain. -Kad
#41

re: David Bologna gets nominated for BILLY ELLIOT!?!! Doesn't he share a r

Posted: 5/5/09 at 12:29pm

Four Billy's?

In all of the interview and stuff I have only seen three? Is the fourth an understudy or something? If he is on the exact same level as the other three, then this is unfair.

The fourth Billy was originally an understudy (or standby?). They opened with three Billys.
"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt
#43

re: David Bologna gets nominated for BILLY ELLIOT!?!! Doesn't he share a r

Posted: 5/5/09 at 1:11pm

Yep it's definitely nominating the role and not the actor. I saw David Alvarez and while he was an absolutely amazing dancer for a boy his age, he was very mediocre and strained with his acting and had even more trouble vocally (cracking voice and unstable pitch throughout the show).

Perhaps the other two boys are a lot better in the acting and singing disciplines, but I'm certainly not going to labor through the show again to find out. Even if they are leagues better, it's not fair that Alvarez should ride their coattails to the award.

I feel all three boys should have been given a special award vs. nominated in the best actor category. That would certainly be more appropriate. But when you look at the history of the Tony awards nearly every child actor with a sizable role in a musical has garnered a nomination (case in point--go back to 1998 and look at Anna Kendrick's nomination for High Society).
#45

re: David Bologna gets nominated for BILLY ELLIOT!?!! Doesn't he share a r

Posted: 5/5/09 at 1:20pm

I hope Frank Dolce doesn't have a bitchy stage mother. Otherwise, all hell is probably currently breaking loose on his agent.
"Winning a Tony this year is like winning Best Attendance in third grade: no one will care but the winner and their mom."
-Kad

"I have also met him in person, and I find him to be quite funny actually. Arrogant and often misinformed, but still funny."
-bjh2114 (on Michael Riedel)
#46

re: David Bologna gets nominated for BILLY ELLIOT!?!! Doesn't he share a r

Posted: 5/5/09 at 2:17pm

It's a very strange situation.

And I've seen both, and honestly, I couldn't tell the difference. They were both hysterical but one did not stand out for me.
"This table, he is over one hundred years old. If I could, I would take an old gramophone needle and run it along the surface of the wood. To hear the music of the voices. All that was said." - Doug Wright, I Am My Own Wife
#48

re: David Bologna gets nominated for BILLY ELLIOT!?!! Doesn't he share a r

Posted: 5/5/09 at 2:25pm

I've seen each of them multiple times. They're both fantastic and very enjoyable BUT - I always got the impression that David was playing 'Michael' in Billy Elliot, while Frank was playing FRANK, at the Palace. He just went WAY over the top - at least to me.
www.thebreastcancersite.com
A click for life.
mamie4 5/14/03
#49

re: David Bologna gets nominated for BILLY ELLIOT!?!! Doesn't he share a r

Posted: 5/5/09 at 2:55pm

CONGRATS to DAVID B.

Hope the following stats help identify attendance concerns:

"For those who are interested in this sort of thing, some statistics from up through May 3rd, 2009:
There have been a total of 237 performances of Billy Elliot, The Musical since previews began, of those 79 have been matinees (including Sundays) and 158 have been evening shows.
For the role of Billy we have information on 230 performances (76 Matinees, 154 Evening) and of those Kiril has performed 71 times (23M, 48 E), Trent has performed 70 times (23M, 47E), David has performed 67 times (23M, 44E) and Tommy has performed 22 times (7M, 15E).
For the role of Michael we have information on 207 performances (69M, 138E), and of those David B. has performed 107 times (43M, 64E), Frank has performed 93 times (21M, 72E) and Keean has 7 performances (5M, 2E)."

Note that the missing performances were from when both were performing from march 09 on -FOB has 100% of the shows.


Source: www.friendsofbilly.com


Updated On: 5/5/09 at 02:55 PM

#50

re: David Bologna gets nominated for BILLY ELLIOT!?!! Doesn't he share a r

Posted: 5/5/09 at 3:21pm

I feel horrible for Frank, I have seen him three times and he is just brilliant.
2008: Feb. 18- Rent, Feb. 19- Curtains, April 18- Xanadu, April 22- Wicked, April 26- Legally Blonde, May 31- Wicked, June 13- The Little Mermaid, June 28- Wicked and Young Frankenstein, July 2- The Little Mermaid, July 6- A Chorus Line and Legally Blonde, August 16- Xanadu, September 13- Legally Blonde and 13, September 28- Xanadu and Spring Awakening, Oct. 12-GYPSY and [title of show], Oct. 19- Hairspray & Legally Blonde, Nov. 9- Wicked and 13, Dec. 14-13, Dec. 26- Billy Elliot, 2009: Jan 1- Shrek, Jan 2- 13 and Wicked, Jan 4- 13, Feb 17- In The Heights, Feb 19- Billy Elliot, Feb 22- Sweeney Todd (tour), March 28- Mary Poppins, April 4- Mamma Mia!, April 15- Jersey Boys (on tour), April 25- next to normal & 9 to 5 May 1- Billy Elliot, May 3- Spelling Bee (tour), May 8- Chicago, May 21- Wicked, June 6- Everyday Rapture, June 23- The Wiz, June 25- Hair July 15- Shrek, August 9- Wicked, September 7- Rock of Ages, October 11- Next To Normal, October 23- The Marvelous Wonderettes, November 7- Ragtime November 29- Dreamgirls, December 25- Billy Elliot, December 30- Finian's Rainbow, 2010: January 9- Bye Bye Birdie, January 16- Memphis February 17- The Phantom of The Opera, February 18- God of Carnage, March 7- Billy Elliot, March 31- American Idiot

← Back to Message Board

Latest Posts

THE IMAGINARY INVALID Previews Hypochondria is back in style.Bill Irwin returns to Broadway in a revival of Molière’s The Imaginary Invalid, … Last post 6 minutes ago early Tony award predictions 2027 Let’s have some early guesses of who might win at the 2027 Tony Awards.  It’s turning out to be a great season… Last post 15 minutes ago HERE THERE ARE BLUEBERRIES premiering on Broadway this fall https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/27/theater/here-there-are-blueberries-broadway.htmlThe 80-performance run begi… Last post 20 minutes ago Speak Like Sondheim https://www.instagram.com/p/DeFEEFTx3PR/Just what I needed to start my week.   Last post 36 minutes ago Anthony Mackie in Macbeth — Broadway Spring 2027 Well this wasn't a spring production on my bingo card.https://deadline.com/2026/10/anthony-mackie-macbeth-broa… Last post 39 minutes ago
Calling All Talented High School / College Students — Submissions Are Open!

BroadwayWorld TV

View all Videos

Ticket Central
Ticket Central
Ticket Central
Hot Show
Tickets From $58
Hot Show
Tickets From $80
Hot Show
Tickets From $67
Hot Show
Tickets From $59
More Hot Shows Discounts
Recommended For You