#1
Posted: 11/9/08 at 2:42pm
I saw Billy Elliot on Monday night. I was hoping to see Kiril, just liked something about the graceful balletic arch of his back in a photo. David Alvarez, however, was on.
Alvarez brought a stunning athleticism to the role. His ballet form is superb and extends far beyond technique, to be expected with his ABT background. His musicality and rhythm is excellent. Plus he is an acrobat whose flips and dismounts are of circus quality.
His singing is passable, and though it does not have the crystalline ringing quality that we have become spoiled with on Broadway, given that the role is portraying a boy whose talent is dancing and who is becoming a professional dancer, I think singing is secondary in the role to his physicality, so that may work with the role rather than against it. His acting is excellent, though, and takes over and frames his whole performance to a mastery of his role. He delivers a comprehension of his performance with a maturity and sense of dedication to his audience that surprises, given his youth, and he has tremendous physical strength that gleams throughout his performance. I can't imagine the other boys are as strong as this one, but I haven't seen them yet and I hope to do so.
[Just as an aside, I am curious, after the initial hoo-hah with Equity that Americans actors should be cast for the role, whether he has become a naturalized American citizen since he was born in Canada of parents of Cuban heritage, but I expect he has his green card, at the least, as he has studied and performed with ABT in the U.S. for some time.]
Any comments on the performances of the other Billys, Trent and Kiril, or your thoughts about David's performance? Especially what are the particular strengths or styles that each brings to the role which make their individual performance memorable?
© 2008 nomdeplume by pseudonym All Rights Reserved
Alvarez brought a stunning athleticism to the role. His ballet form is superb and extends far beyond technique, to be expected with his ABT background. His musicality and rhythm is excellent. Plus he is an acrobat whose flips and dismounts are of circus quality.
His singing is passable, and though it does not have the crystalline ringing quality that we have become spoiled with on Broadway, given that the role is portraying a boy whose talent is dancing and who is becoming a professional dancer, I think singing is secondary in the role to his physicality, so that may work with the role rather than against it. His acting is excellent, though, and takes over and frames his whole performance to a mastery of his role. He delivers a comprehension of his performance with a maturity and sense of dedication to his audience that surprises, given his youth, and he has tremendous physical strength that gleams throughout his performance. I can't imagine the other boys are as strong as this one, but I haven't seen them yet and I hope to do so.
[Just as an aside, I am curious, after the initial hoo-hah with Equity that Americans actors should be cast for the role, whether he has become a naturalized American citizen since he was born in Canada of parents of Cuban heritage, but I expect he has his green card, at the least, as he has studied and performed with ABT in the U.S. for some time.]
Any comments on the performances of the other Billys, Trent and Kiril, or your thoughts about David's performance? Especially what are the particular strengths or styles that each brings to the role which make their individual performance memorable?
© 2008 nomdeplume by pseudonym All Rights Reserved
