Billy Elliot -The Ordway
Billy Elliot at The Ordway is the perfect show for Minnesota right now. It is a heartwarming story about being yourself and going after whatever it is that you want. If you want to wear a dress, wear a dress. If you want to dance, dance. And most fittingly, if you want to kiss a boy, kiss a boy. It reminded me of the innocence of childhood and how children tend to do what makes them happy until someone tells them that it is unacceptable.
This show has a great storyline and stars Billy Elliot who falls in love with dance after he mistakenly ends up in a dance class. Taking place in the 1980’s in England in coal mining country, Billy faces pressure from his brother, father, and community when they find out that he is in ballet class. They are not happy with his choice of activities and make it known that they do not think a boy should be in dance class.
As expected, the choreography is absolutely wonderful. The use of the stage and the ever-changing formations keep the audience engaged and the story moving. With a young cast that travels, it is hard to take chances with active choreography because you are on a new stage all the time and it is always different. The more active, the more opportunity there can be for mistakes. They handled it with grace and kept the energy of the entire audience up.
Since this show is so dance focused, I appreciated the amplification of the tapping with a microphone. It really added to the fact that these people are actually wearing tap shoes and they are actually dancing.
What makes this an enjoyable show is the choreography and cast, a very young cast. This group is full of the triple treats, people who can sing, dance, and act. Many of them come from Minnesota because we breed talent here. Janet Dickensen is from Bemidji, Minnesota and plays the part of the dance teacher. As well as, one of the Billy Elliot’s, Zach Manske who is from Woodbury Dance Center.
I cannot believe how much talent each and every young person in the cast has. This show does not have easy choreography or music. They had to be able not to only be ballet dancers but also be great at tap dancing all while singing. The show also runs for about 3 hours total which requires stamina for this young talent. If you have young children that you would like to bring be prepared to be up late that night and there is a bit of swearing. Well, swearing with an English coal miner accent.
This show runs until October 14th at The Ordway and I suggest that you dance on down to Saint Paul and grab a seat. As someone who has never watched the movie or been to the musical before, it was something that cannot be missed. The dancing was fantastic!
Billy Elliot paints a very clear picture of what it can feel like when someone says what you are or what you are doing is, “not normal” or unacceptable and what it can look like when someone lifts you up and believes in you. A lesson we can learn and re-learn no matter what our age.
You can buy tickets HERE
because if you needed another reason besides the dancing, The Ordway gives 50,000 tickets a year to school children to see the shows. So come and support them.
@mplsgossipgirl
“Mama’s Good to You” “Chicago” the musical -The Ordway
With a system called rec-i-pro-city, “Chicago” was one of the most entertaining shows that I have attended at The Ordway to date. The Audience was engaged from start to finish, clapping, cheering, and I think I heard a few cat calls. I would suggest front row seats to get up close and personal with some of the dancers and their convenient shirtless costumes. Goodness gracious, if you need an idea for a bachelorette party this would be the show to see.
I now know why Broadway does practice runs of their shows in Minnesota. We are awesome audience members who love a good performance. I cheered along with the other audience members in the middle of songs because I felt connected to each and every character. It was a genuine cast who played their parts much closer to what I saw as the original meaning of what the characters were supposed to be like. Roxy Hart (Tracy Shayne) was not the shy, kind, and nice character that I have seen portrayed in the role before. She wants to be a star and will be ruthless to get to the top. Amos Hart (Ron Orbach) was hilarious, self deprecating, nerdy, and most importantly not boring. I dread the song, “Mister Cellophane” and think it is the worst song in the show. Not this time, I found myself laughing along and enjoying Ron Orbach’s choreography and movements.
The star of the show for me was Matron Mama Morton (Kecia Lewis-Evans) who stole the show with her voice. Mama knew how to work the audience with her tough love and introduced me to a new song called “Class” that I normally overlook.
Another standout performance came from Billy Flynn (John O’Hurley) who is famous for the role of “J. Peterman” on “Seinfeld”. Other performances of “Chicago” that I have attended missed the boat on this character by putting in someone famous who couldn’t sing at all. When this happens, you lose the magic in songs like “We Both Reached for the Gun” and “Razzle Dazzle” and it ruins the show. This was not the case with John O’Hurley, who delivered a wonderful performance with stunning vocals.
I cannot say enough about the wonderful cast. As an avid theatergoer I have seen “Chicago” several times. This version was different because of a smaller cast, a smaller set, and less props. There was only one part in the whole show that needed a bit more dazzle. Otherwise, in no way did smaller mean less entertaining. In fact, the “Cell Block Tango” was enhanced without the stupid jailhouse props that are usually used. The performers did not have to hide their voices behind any unnecessary props.
I am giving this version a round of applause because the second act did not suck. In the past, after watching the first act with most of the familiar hits in it, the second half seems boring and hard to stay awake during. The characters were witty and the humor carried me the songs that when listening, I usually wonder when they are going to be over and changed it to I don’t want this to be over. The humor of the exit music and the interaction between the characters and the orchestra made the difference. It tied up the show with a big red bow or rhinestone buckled shoes.
“Chicago” will be running from August 7th-12th at The Ordway. You can go to their website to find out how to get tickets to this show and other shows for the 2012-2013 season. Bring all of your friends, your bachelorette party, and your mother to see this show and enjoy it as much as I did. Oh, and get those front row seats too!
Many thanks to The Ordway for letting me participate in Blogger Night.
The Ordway
because don’t you deserve a sure thing?
@mplsgossipgirl
mplsgossipgirl 