Billy Elliot - That kid can dance

This was definitely one of the best things Kevin and I have seen in a long while.

Is the show perfect? No. There are problems with the book. (I think they expect you to have seen the movie first.) The music, while perfectly fitting in the moment, is forgettable. I don't think I could hum more that two bars of any song. And let me just say, I think the show at this current moment is suffering from "mid-life crisis", the point at which the remaining original cast members begin wishing they were somewhere else. Upon opening the Playbill, about a half dozen "at this performance" notices came spilling out. My friend Doug likened it to Mardi-Gras.

One such cover from the performance we saw was Donnie Kehr as the Dad. Donnie has been around the block in the Broadway world and it's nice to see a friend of a friend getting the opportunity to play a large role. (Interestingly enough, Gregory Jbarra- the original bway Dad- was in the audience. Just couldn't stay away, I guess.) Another cover from our performance was Merele Louise as the Grandma, whom we just saw this past fall performing the "Into the Woods" number with Bernadette Peters in her concert benefit. Nice job, Merele. Sorry the role is a bit one dimensional.

In the tradition of Oliver!, The King and I, Annie and others, Billy Elliot is a musical that summer stock, community theaters and regional productions are going to be reviving for many years. Why? Lots of children's parts. In the opening scenes I was shocked to see that there were, like, six kids on stage. Wow! I thought. That's a lot of kids! But wait; there's more. There are actually about fifteen children's roles, not counting the title character. Now that's a lot of kids. While I'm usually not a fan of the "many childed" musical (something held over from my days as a child star) this group of young performers, especially the extremely funny ballet girls, actually provided some of the high points of the show. The little cross dressing boy, Michael (played by Jake Schwencke at this performance) has a number that, although does nothing to further the story, is one of the best production numbers in the show (until the 8 foot tall surrealistic dresses appear to make you ask, "what show are we seeing, again?")

But let's face it, The show is really all about Billy. Now from what I hear, each of the "Billys" has their own particular strength dance wise. There is the "ballet" Billy, the tap Billy etc. Dayton Tavares, fresh from the two Australian companies, was our "Billy" and he definitely was not the ballet Billy. His ballet moments left something to be desired (It always feels so wrong to critique children, but, hey- them's the breaks) but he certainly is the tap Billy. When it comes to tap and gymnastics the kid was a natural born hoofer! And I really loved the way he chose to perform the songs, with a natural ease of phrasing and conversational style. No Broadway belter here.

Loved the sets, and their multi functional aspect. Costumes? Meh. They get the job done, although I'm living in fear I'll have nightmares of 8 foot tall dresses. Direction? Perhaps a bit over directed with a slant to appeal to the widest audience possible (Some of the "takes" were too mass appeal driven.) but good.

Overall, a great night at the theater and a very Broadway worthy show.
Billy Elliot has now started showing up on the boards at TKTS. We scored 9th row seats (house right) a mere 5 hours before curtain! Go see it!!

Brian

Finian's Rainbow -first show of 2010!!

First off, let's just get this out of the way...
Nobody fills out a pair of jeans like Cheyenne Jackson.

There. I've said it. 30 Rock's new co-star does a wonderful job playing Woody Mahoney, the do-gooder, patriarch of Rainbow Valley in the fabled state of Missituckey. His voice is just right and he's full of the charm and warmth needed for what is really an otherwise bland role. This fault in characterization is not the actor's fault, or even the writer's, but instead is a symptom of a story that just doesn't really resonate with modern audiences. The production is beautiful. The songs stick in your mind (yes, I left humming "Devil Moon"). Choreography, casting, music direction are all first rate, and yet I can't help wondering, "why bother?"

I'm sure the first audiences of this show felt like it was a groundbreaking bit of theater, with a theme that challenged the social norm of the day, but today they're just preaching to the choir.

Kate Baldwin and Jim Norton shine as the father and daughter McLonergans. Alina Faye dances her tootsies off as the mute Susan Mahoney. But once again in a "steal the show" role is Christopher Fitzgerald (Wicked, Young Frankenstein) as the high strung leprechaun, Og. Look for a Tony nod here.

Overall, I'm glad we saw it (thank you TKTS) before it closed. And I'm glad to now say I've seen a live production of Finian's Rainbow, but it's not going to go down in history as one of Broadway's best.

Brian