6 shows – May 20th – 24th, 2009
Billys – David, Kiril, Tanner, David, Kiril, Trent
Michael – David B. was Michael all 6 shows
As some of you may recall from my London review, I have neither the time nor the patience to write 6 reviews, so I will do what I did last time, going over the show scene by scene. And I am not going to shy away from the negatives, so if you want a review that says everything was perfect, go away. 
Also, there are some spoilers here!
“The Stars Look Down” – I like the way this opens, but a funny thing happened one show – there was no audio for the film, and most people never even noticed. The guy came out and started singing and everything went on just fine. Maybe they could cut that movie down and add some other stuff back in.
Of course, this was my first chance to see three Billys and a chance to see a more experience Tanner. It was very surprising to see so many interviews of Kiril and David and then see them on stage with their Geordie accents. The change is startling, and with David their is not even an instant where you think about him being Hispanic in ethnic origin; in fact, later on it is very easy to think he could be Santino’s brother. Tanner’s Geordie has been Americanized big time; he had one of the best Geordie accents of any of the UK kids, but they had to tone it down for the US show, so it really is not as good as it could be.
The boxing scene – Funny as hell every time. David B. is hysterical. Only one negative – in the UK, when Michale hits George below the belt, he really does hit him there with a pulled punch; at least, I recall it that way; in the US he goes between the legs and sometimes so low that there is no way it could have hurt – very unconvincing even if it does get the point across.
“Shine” – I love shine – such a lot of fun. One thing that I did notice is that in picking up the keys, Trent did it successfully with the gloves but then intentionally dropped them so he could use his feet. Haydn is outstanding and the ballet girls are just hysterical. They have such individual characters.
The shadow dance – this is wonderful and needs to be added to London if it has not been. Really a lot of fun to see and that first real hint that Billy really liked what happend in the dance class.
“Grandma’s Song” – Many of you may recall that I was never a fan of this song before I saw it in the UK. This is such a nice piece of theater and Carole Shelley does it so well!!! She is such a great grandma!
“Solidarity” – I could spend hours going on and on about this song. As many of you may remember, it is one of mu favorite songs. A song in a musical has one purpose: to advance the narrative. There is no better example of this in any song in any musical I have seen than “Solidarity”. It compresses a four week period into a singing and dancing masterpiece that should be used in every theater class in this country to show how to do everything right. It is interesting in that during the course of the song it shows Billy developing, and then at the very end they do almost a recap of his growth where Mrs. W. is working with him with pirouettes so that by the time we are at the final “forevers” he is getting better….and better….and be-eh-eh-terrrrrrrrrrr.
I really like how at the end of the scene, when Billy calls his father a bastard, each boy does it differntly – if we have to deliver a prize this one it goes to Trent, who does it so in your face and then his “Oh s***” is just so perfect!
The toilet scene with Mrs. W. – I think this is done very well, and I like how each boy studies Mrs. W. carefully before he asks “Aren’t you a bit old, miss?” I do think that some of the boys rush the “You don’t fancy…” line a bit. Also, every boy I have seen play the role tends to do the “play out” line so that it is hard to catch, and I am sure most US audiences don’t catch it. I just think it needs to be said a bit more slowly.
“Expressing Yourself” – Sadly I never got to see Frank Dolce! Luckily, I saw David B. 6 times!!! What a freaking star! Well deserved of a Tony nod (not to say that Frank is not, but I have not seen him.). I think that overall this is better than the UK version, especially when the dresses come out. Only one minor complaint and that is that after he puts the lipsitck on Billy, Michael would pause and say something like “yeahhhh” between “get some earrings, some mascara, heels and a fan” and “pretty soon….” In the video they show of Expressing it is there. But David did not do it any of the six shows I saw. However, he now has a very funny line for “that’s hideous”. The first show it was “Gordon Bennet, that’s…” but the rest of them it was “Shag me sideways….”. Very funny. I guess I have to give points here to Trent for his tap dancing; it is superb and David is just magnificent in the whole role!!
“The Letter part one” – I think all of the boys were great in this scene, but I will note Kiril did some seriously good acting. When Mrs. W. says what’s this and grabs it out of his hand, and then Billy grabs it back and says, “It’s a letter”, Kiril, when he grabs it back, studies it for a minute as if to say, “Are you an idiot? Can’t you see it’s a letter?” before he actually says, “It’s a letter”. A little thing but very good. Sometimes I am more emotional than others during this scene, and I do not have good enough eyes to really see when a boy is more convincingly emotional than others. Kiril moved me and so did Trent, and…okay, they all did.
“Born to Boogie” – This was fun, a lot of energy and well done………………….but……………..take the damned jump rope s*** out of there! I mean, did someone say, “Let’s put something in our show that is guaranteed to fail 90% of the time?” It adds nothing, and it was not done right once in 6 shows!! This is one of those scenes – there is another coming up – where I just want to grab Stephen, and Peter, and smack their head together! IT DOESN’T WORK!!!
[CORRECTION – I am told that during the first Kiril show I saw, they did do the jump rope routine correctly!]
“Angry Dance” – I heard, before I went to New York, that the Broadway version of this was different and not as good as the UK version. I really could not see it. I thought it was very good, just as powerful, and again Trent was just amazing at it.
“Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher” – I really liked this in the UK better, and I am not sure why they had to change it so much. Although I kind of like it when the four boys sing the opening together. In the UK, Michael is on stage left (house right) helping to encourage the audience to clap, and he is having a fun interaction with Grandma. I missed that in New York, and I htink overall the cast does not do as good a job getting the audience involved! But if you have not seen the show in London, you will not know what you are missing.
(In passing I should note that I saw BETM in London in October, 2008; if they have made any changes since then, good or bad, I have obviously not seen them.)
“Deep Into The Ground” – Greg does a great job of this, and I think the staging is quite nice, although I kind of liked the background interaction between Billy and Tony during this song that I saw in the UK. And at this point I have to say that it is clear that Kiril and David have their expiry dates stamped on their foreheads. They have to reach to hit the notes, and Kiril has to slip into a falsetto. We were told that the score has been lowered for both of them. Tanner and Trent are still doing good.
The winter scene – arrrgghhhhhh! Okay, not really that bad, but this is another point where I want to have a sit-down with Stephen Daldry. The “Why, I’d miss ya!” line! How do these directors not see that this does NOT work! Every Michael I have seen in the US and the UK says this line right on top of Billy’s line! It is un-natural as hell. I know the intention is that Michael is blurting it out without thinking about it, but that does not work. In fact, if I were a Tony voter, I would think twice about David’s acting from this one line!!! What needs to happen is Michael needs to pause for a moment, maybe take a breath as though gathering courage, then say the line slowly, tentatively, and then pause a second and turn away or react in some other way so ewe know he is already regretting saying it.
Diatribe over! Now, having said that, I have no problem with the other change about the warming the hands thing. Where Billy starts to leave and Michael stops him, that works for me. Poor David B. is so short he has to grab even Tanner’s neck to pull him down close enough to kiss! Also, in the Uk , as Michael left, he used to wiggle his butt a bit as he was close to the door; nice touch I wish they would do here.
“Swan Lake/Dream Ballet” – Gawd, this is so beautiful! David and Kiril are absolutely stunning, but the performance of Kiril on Saturday night was absolutely brilliant! Such grace and elegance and beauty!!!
Mrs. Wilkinson’s house – I comment on this only because I think it is another poor moment. When dad kind of drunkenly blubbers the whole “thank you for what you’ve done…” lines. It introduces a laugh where one doesn’t belong. Just stupid.
“He Could Shine” – This is always a very emotional scene for me. I do not like the US version as well as the UK version. Another area where it didn’t need to be messed with. It was a better secen when it was “He Could Be A Star”. It really rings quite false because of course Jackie would never even be allowed into the hall if he had truly gone into the mine even for one day, and it is never really clear why the cop is bringing him back. And the interaction between Tony and dad was better. And please, the blubbery “I’m so sorry” line just doesn’t work. [EDIT: ERinVA reminded me of something that I agree with her does work: I like when Billy comes in and tries to stop the fight and gets whacked a bit. However, thinking about that reminds me that every time I saw it I thought, why isn’t dad or Tony rushing up to Billy to see if he is okay?]
This is prolly a good spot to mention Santino as Tony. I have seen three people play the role, two in the UK and Santino in the US. He really does a great job. I like his Tony very much.
The audition – Still pretty good – I do not miss the whole thing with the tape that they do in London and I think the interaction between Dad and the posh dad and dad and the Scottish dancer are just as funny. I like the punch at the posh boy in stead of smacking his head against the curtain, even though you know, sometimes, that the punch is fake. Trent wins for most convincing real punch, btw. However, another point where I think the direction is weak – when they ask Billy what he likes abuot ballet and the says, “The dancing?” Greg just jumps on that line with his own. It is a funny line and needs a pause after it for the audience to react before Dad chimes in.
“Electricity” – I saw some great shows in New York, but by far the best show was Saturday evening, when Kiril was on. His electricity was awesome, just beautiful. The standing ovation at the end was well deserved, and I don’t think anyone minds that he breaks character during the ovation – how can you not? It was excellent!!
“Once We Were Kings” – I like this moment with dad and Billy packing. And I hope everyone gets the thing about the miner’s lamp that Tony gives Billy for him to find his way home. In the Uk show, when I saw it, dad and Billy teased each other during the scene, and Billy steals dad’s scarf and packs it. But it is still fun to watch.
“The Letter – reprise” – Nice emotional scene – I think the music volume needs to be toned down to hear the lines better at the beginning when they talk about seeing her again, etc.
Funny thing I noticed – David and Tanner both neal for a moment facing the banner on the back wall before they get up and walk off stage; Kiril and Trent did not. Anyone know why?
“The Finale” – Hands down my favorite part of the show. And though the US version is a bit short, it is still just great fun and so cool to see Billy do this energetic dance at the end of the show. And by far the most energetic was Kiril!! He just really gets into it, especially Saturday after the show he had!!!
In conclusion, I thought all of the boys were brilliant! Every one of them gave a great performance. David’s first show, Kiril’s first show, were two of the best I have ever seen.
But Kiril’s second show was absolutely stunning, just amazing, as someone pointed out it looked very much like a last show!
David’s second show I thought he seemed a bit tired, though he is very low key, but he looked wiped out at the stage door, and maybe a bit pale.
Tanner was wonderful as alwaysm and very energetic.
So was Trent, though I have to say that I did not like the seat that much and I think that affected my ability to enjoy him. Also, after the show Kiril did Saturday night, Trent’s great performance was overshadowed, this time, by Kiril’s awesome one. I guess I will need to hurry back, soon.
For Kiril and David, like I said before, they are both on the ropes, sadly, something which I am sure they both know quite well, and I would expect that their departure dates have already been set and will be announced not soon after the Tonys. This is not speculation, but just obvious from observation!