Anonymous said...
Hi, It's Nony!
I thought the tour was over with all the tour reports drying up. But here's a few from off TWOP.com.
I went to the show last night in Rochester, and it was great! I would love to see the whole thing again. I wish they're release a dvd of the tour. Review and notes from the show below. (If you aren't already sick of reading about the same show yet again...)
Donyelle's routines looked a bit... sluggish, for lack of a better word. I don't know if she reinjured herself, but it looked like she was just going through the motions of her routines. It was really evident in the final Broadway routine, because Benji's energy could be felt all the way back in the nosebleed seats where I was, and Donny just looked tired. I loved her on the show, but the only routine of hers that popped for me was Too Much Booty. Also - they shouldn't make the girl have to emcee right after her solo! Poor thing was so out of breath you could barely hear her! Her VFW dress was beautiful, though. :-)
Natalie was great! I never loved her on the show, but she was amazing live. I wish I could remember the song she used for her solo - I've heard it before and liked it, but forgot to write it down. She didn't have her knee taped, and she looked healthy and energetic. that girl is pure power! Loved when she made Ivan kneel so she could sit on him. Lol.
Dmitry - Rrrrowrrrr! That is all.
Ivan's solo blew me away, as did Why and the Umbrella dance. Why got one of two standing O's. He was very awkward with the mike, though. They should have just had Benji emcee the whole thing. He won, so why not?
Allison was also amazing - she had her ankle taped, and most of her costumes had these heinous sock/bootie things that looked silly, but her dancing was beautiful. Loved her dance with Travis, and that lift where she leans back took my breath away! (So not a dancer - if anything has a technical name, I don't know what it is!)
Martha was ok for me. I liked her hip hop with Ivan, but her solo was just meh. I loved her solos on the show, I was looking forward to some amazing Air Martha leaps, but I was disappointed. Also - she has a smokin' bod! Why was she dressed as Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm?
Heidi was great, always has been, probably always will be. But did they have to keep those awful boots from SexyBack? The Mambo was amazing to see live, as was the WCS. I could watch her all day long. I'm not convinced her hips are actually attached to the rest of her torso! (in a good way!) She got the other standing O with Travis for their bench routine. It was very cute - the crowd went nuts as soon as the crew put the bench onstage, and before Travis started to introduce the dance, they kind of looked at each other and giggled, like "Can you believe this?" The dance was better than I remember, and clearly the crowd's favorite of the night.
Ryan's solo was beautiful - he totally needs to join Alvin Ailey RIGHT NOW. He looked like he was really having fun during the Cuban Rhumba, and he looked better in all the group dances than I remember him being on the show.
Travis was great. Loved him, loved his shirt with his picture on it, loved him especially in SexyBack and the Tranji dance. His choreo with Allison was breathtaking.
Benji was a blast. He Is A Star. Loved his Zoolander bit in SexyBack, and the canned Donny monologue was a bit old, especially after seeing his MySpace entry, but his dancing was great. The Mambo and WCS with Heidi are two of my favorite dances. When he took his shirt off? Boy is ripped! Yowza. I hope his agent gets that kid in tv, movies, anything.
Jayymmyyzz was great in the disco number, and I think he was in cellblock tango also. Jessica was in the disco number, Ramalama, and the finale - I don't know why Donyelle wasn't, since the last Broadway was her number, but it makes me think that she was really hurting last night. It was kind of strange that they were included in the "those who couldn't be here today" montage, and then both of them were onstage in the very next dance.
I didn't wait outside for the dancers, as we had freezing rain last night, but there were a couple of dance studios that had come as big groups that were all waiting around the back doors. Benji, Travis and Ivan were clearly the favorites overall, but I saw a few signs for Allison, too. Overall a great show!
Glad to hear about Ryan getting some love.
There's another recap of the Toronto show on Duckyxdale's blog. Here are some tidbits that I don't think have been mentioned here:
Sadly, not everyone made it through the border and the news spread quickly before the show that our beloved No-Longer-Jailbait (and GMMR fave) Ivan had to remain in New York because of passport problems (DAMN YOU CANADIAN IMMIGRATION... I thought we let EVERYBODY and ANYBODY in?).
The rest of the show basically goes off without a hitch, and in fact, after a month from the last time I saw them, the routines (described in all the tour reports at Dan's site ) were even more polished and smoothly performed. I could still do without the solos and more group dances (and wished they had done Mia Michael's Imogen Heaps "Hide and Seek" routine) but they ran through everything again, only with Jaymz filling in for Ivan in all counts except during the krumping with Martha, where Travis retook his position and reminded me of why they were my front-running faves right from the get-go of the show.
Benji , hamming it up as always (and in a Canada T-Shirt to start), was in excellent form in his newly dyed red hair (apparently done while in Toronto), and hilarious in a throw-away moment that only a few of us had seem to catch, where he dramatically pulled the Fosse stage piece off the stage, pulling with Rico-Suavé flair.
Apparently the group were going to visit the Hairspray movie sets last night (DAMN, I knew I should have held out for that job and not taken this one on a show you all know and love (or should! hehe)) before moving onto the next show today.
He assessed Travis's dancing more favorably than teddy-bear did, but seemed less impressed with Jaymz:
At least we gave Jaymz a great big reception of an applause, though right off the bat from the Technologic routine, it felt like there was something missing and Ivan was sorely missed. No one can groove like that skinny white boy. Now, no disrespect to Jaymz (god, I still hate that spelling), but while he was decent, Ivan really did have something special going on, which was surprisingly most obvious in all the duets with Allison. Most especially during the Argentinian Tango surprisingly enough, which to be honest, was kinda boring this time around. I was sad about "Sexy Love" and their umbrella dance which was a favorite of mine, but luckily Allison and the choreography was still amazing that I could still love it without Ivan, with Jaymz pulling decent enough duty. Meanwhile, the Annie Lennox "Why" routine didn't garner nearly as much applause as the Buffalo audience now without Ivan in place.
Travis by far had the loudest and longest cheers, even much more than in Buffalo (I would say Canadians do have good taste and know how to pick and love them! except I think more than half the Buffalo audience was from Toronto as it seemed everybody waiting for photos and autographs after the show had also been at the Buffalo show like I was, plus the parking lot back in Buffalo was full of Ontario plates). In fact, as soon as the audience caught a glimpse of the now famous BENCH for the Mia Michael's choreographed "Calling You" flower number with Heidi , the roars overtook Travis and Heidi who seemed to be taken by surprise at its overwhelming reception and had to take a longer-than-normal pause before they could be heard doing the introduction to the routine.
Travis of course still pulled most of my attention, as I felt that he seemed to just have that extra little bit somehow in all his dances, from disco to contemporary to his Paso Doblé.
Travis and Ivan were two of his favorites, though, so that could be why. He did confirm that Travis was the only one who didn't take pictures with everyone:
It was nice to see all the dancers seemingly grounded and super nice in the after show (stalking) autograph session by the tour buses, with Donyelle filming the crowd with her own camera herself. Only Travis didn't take pictures with everybody, probably because he definitely elicited the loudest cheers and was in demand the most, so for times sake (and the fact that the dancers were freezing outside in our cold weather (I swear, it's unusually cold right now in Toronto, we aren't always an igloo state)) Travis was rushed through only signing things quickly. Everyone else was extremely cute (but much shorter than I imagined (with the exception of Dimitri, who must be about 6'1" since we were about the same height)) and took the time to pose for pictures with everyone, and Benji really did seem like the nice guy we all would be friends with in school and seemed super excited of everyone posting the photos on his myspace page.
Judging by the comments on his MySpace page, he did take pictures with a few people, at least, though one of them mentioned that he looked sick.
Benji's holding a benefit for his charity (I assume it's in Hawaii? And yes, he can't spell "benefit", but I won't hold it against him):
D.E.M.A.N.D BENNEFIT
nov 15th at the SHARK CLUB
1st show- 5pm-8pm (for the younger audience)
2nd show- 8pm-11pm (for those night owls)
Show by Donelle Jones and FLEX
Jason Williams
Benji and Lacey
a brand NEW solo from benji never before seen.
and more......
there is also a meet and greet and autograph signing.
$15 ticket sale price
$ 150 VIP (space is limited-these will sell out quick!)
VIP- this is the vip section where you can mingle with other vip holders and the D.E.M.A.N.D staff not to mention Benji Schwimmer himself!
tickets should be purchased in advance online at www.benjischwimmer.org [click events] to guarentee entry at the door.
EVERY PENNY GOES TO D.E.M.A.N.D! raffles prizes and signed merchandise also are up for grabs!
for any further questions... please visit the website above thank you
Mmm..The tour bus sounds like a riot. Found this most endearing quote from Travis in an article in Toronto:
After each show, fans are treated to an extended autograph session, which often means not getting back on the bus until 1 a.m. "You can't sleep on the bus, it's really hard because some people are up talking, some are watching movies, so you always want to be a part of that and see what everyone's doing. So you always end up staying up all night," said Allison Holker, 18.
"It's amazing, the tour bus. I'm going to cry when I have to leave it; it's been our home for two months," Wall added.
2:05 PM, October 27, 2006
Anonymous said...
Still Nony, but wait there's more!
What an amazing show those kids put on last night in Toronto. The dancing was incredible and the energy they exuded was so contagious. Ivan wasn't there, so Jaymz filled in for all his numbers and WOW, just WOW...he took the Argentine Tango and Why routines to a fantastic level - he is a truly gifted dancer. Benj was a total star, a superb dancer and equally fantastic with the intros - he has a very special gift with connecting with the audience. Ryan blew us away with his solo, Martha shone in every number, Heidi was amazing, Dimitry and Natalie were fantastic, Donny was brilliant, Allison was great - the only dancing that was less than expected was Travis.
The only bad thing of the entire night was the gestapo tactics and God complexes of the theatre security - during the entire show they were yelling and shining flashlights at people for holding up phones or taking flash photography - yanking people out of the audience to escort them out to have their camera's taken to a check-in till after the show - even going after my daughters and I for looking through binoculars (and we had aisle seats so they could clearly see what we were holding.) Their antics totally disrupted the show, and at least a dozen or more times, our view of the stage was completely blocked by them as they charged up and down and stood in the aisles while they berated some poor kid that was just trying to get a picture of their idols.
Afterwards we braved the cold night and stayed at the stage door till we got pictures with and talked to the dancers. Again, all the dancers were amazing - with the exception of Travis, who totally blew off our section - wouldn't pose for pictures/only would do an autograph (which we didn't want as the program had all their autographs in it along with a handwritten message to the fans) - then he disappeared inside and wasn't seen again even though he said he'd be back to take photos....he lost a few fans near us with his attitude. Everyone else was so appreciative of the fans - Ryan was a total sweetie, Jaymz was so charming and a delight to talk to and has a way of making each fan seem very special - along with a killer smile that just lights up and warmed the crowd. Heidi, Natalie, Martha, Jessica and Allison were so great with the fans and also wonderful to talk to (especially Natalie who was quite sick with a really bad cold but stayed out there till she talked to everyone), and Dimitry was so sweet with everyone and along with Jaymz had all the girls around us totally smitten. Donny was incredible and so appreciative of all the comments and spent a long time talking with everyone. Benji was unbelievable...the poor boy had a raging fever (someone said they heard that he has pneumonia) - but he was out there for nearly 2 hours shivering and flushed faced but giving every last bit of energy making sure everyone got an autograph and pictures and time to talk. Kudos to these wonderful 'kids' that gave so much back to their fans and made last night something my girls (and myself) will remember fondly for a long, long time.
Glad to hear about Ryan getting some love.
There's another recap of the Toronto show on Duckyxdale's blog. Here are some tidbits that I don't think have been mentioned here:
Sadly, not everyone made it through the border and the news spread quickly before the show that our beloved No-Longer-Jailbait (and GMMR fave) Ivan had to remain in New York because of passport problems (DAMN YOU CANADIAN IMMIGRATION... I thought we let EVERYBODY and ANYBODY in?).
The rest of the show basically goes off without a hitch, and in fact, after a month from the last time I saw them, the routines (described in all the tour reports at Dan's site ) were even more polished and smoothly performed. I could still do without the solos and more group dances (and wished they had done Mia Michael's Imogen Heaps "Hide and Seek" routine) but they ran through everything again, only with Jaymz filling in for Ivan in all counts except during the krumping with Martha, where Travis retook his position and reminded me of why they were my front-running faves right from the get-go of the show.
Benji , hamming it up as always (and in a Canada T-Shirt to start), was in excellent form in his newly dyed red hair (apparently done while in Toronto), and hilarious in a throw-away moment that only a few of us had seem to catch, where he dramatically pulled the Fosse stage piece off the stage, pulling with Rico-Suavé flair.
Apparently the group were going to visit the Hairspray movie sets last night (DAMN, I knew I should have held out for that job and not taken this one on a show you all know and love (or should! hehe)) before moving onto the next show today.
He assessed Travis's dancing more favorably than teddy-bear did, but seemed less impressed with Jaymz:
At least we gave Jaymz a great big reception of an applause, though right off the bat from the Technologic routine, it felt like there was something missing and Ivan was sorely missed. No one can groove like that skinny white boy. Now, no disrespect to Jaymz (god, I still hate that spelling), but while he was decent, Ivan really did have something special going on, which was surprisingly most obvious in all the duets with Allison. Most especially during the Argentinian Tango surprisingly enough, which to be honest, was kinda boring this time around. I was sad about "Sexy Love" and their umbrella dance which was a favorite of mine, but luckily Allison and the choreography was still amazing that I could still love it without Ivan, with Jaymz pulling decent enough duty. Meanwhile, the Annie Lennox "Why" routine didn't garner nearly as much applause as the Buffalo audience now without Ivan in place.
Travis by far had the loudest and longest cheers, even much more than in Buffalo (I would say Canadians do have good taste and know how to pick and love them! except I think more than half the Buffalo audience was from Toronto as it seemed everybody waiting for photos and autographs after the show had also been at the Buffalo show like I was, plus the parking lot back in Buffalo was full of Ontario plates). In fact, as soon as the audience caught a glimpse of the now famous BENCH for the Mia Michael's choreographed "Calling You" flower number with Heidi , the roars overtook Travis and Heidi who seemed to be taken by surprise at its overwhelming reception and had to take a longer-than-normal pause before they could be heard doing the introduction to the routine.
Travis of course still pulled most of my attention, as I felt that he seemed to just have that extra little bit somehow in all his dances, from disco to contemporary to his Paso Doblé.
Travis and Ivan were two of his favorites, though, so that could be why. He did confirm that Travis was the only one who didn't take pictures with everyone:
It was nice to see all the dancers seemingly grounded and super nice in the after show (stalking) autograph session by the tour buses, with Donyelle filming the crowd with her own camera herself. Only Travis didn't take pictures with everybody, probably because he definitely elicited the loudest cheers and was in demand the most, so for times sake (and the fact that the dancers were freezing outside in our cold weather (I swear, it's unusually cold right now in Toronto, we aren't always an igloo state)) Travis was rushed through only signing things quickly. Everyone else was extremely cute (but much shorter than I imagined (with the exception of Dimitri, who must be about 6'1" since we were about the same height)) and took the time to pose for pictures with everyone, and Benji really did seem like the nice guy we all would be friends with in school and seemed super excited of everyone posting the photos on his myspace page.
Judging by the comments on his MySpace page, he did take pictures with a few people, at least, though one of them mentioned that he looked sick.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ksTe6KJBeA
Here's a fan interview with Natalie and Allison from off youtube.com
And lastly, here's some photobucket pics from the Much Music Canada stop. Nobody's got the video on youtube or myspace yet. Come on I don't know how to use megaupload.
http://s136.photobucket.com/albums/q165/laurennexoxo/So%20You%20Think%20You%20Can%20Dance/
http://s133.photobucket.com/albums/q49/ChooYum/SYTYCD/
2:12 PM, October 27, 2006
~ Moosey ~
