Message from 'Billy Elliot' Cast Member

My name is Griffin Birney and I play Michael in the Billy
Elliot National Tour. The character of Michael is Billy
Elliot’s best friend. When Billy is faced with the hard
decision of pursuing his passion of dance or pleasing
his father by not dancing, he looks to Michael for advice.
Michael helps him realize that it’s okay to express
yourself as long as you’re happy.  

Griffin Birney and Olivia Wang in Tampa at the beach.

It’s hard to pick my favorite part of Billy Elliot the
Musical, there are so many. One of them is the finale,
it’s the one time the entire cast is on stage together,
I can feel the energy and excitement. Another favorite
scene of mine would be The Letter, because it is
beautifully written and touching, no matter how many
times I hear it from backstage, I never get tired of it.

Being a part of the Billy Elliot cast is like being in school.
I get to see all these veteran actors perform every day,
I watch and I learn from them.  Everyone is very nice,
it’s like having a second family, we get to travel together
and see the country. So far we have been in several
cities, but I can’t wait to get to Tempe, Arizona! There
is so much to see there! We only get Mondays off, so we
have to plan our trips carefully. First on my list is The Grand
Canyon, I want to go all the way down to the bottom and
see the Havasu Falls. I would love to see the Petrified
Forestand hike the Oak Creek Canyon in Sedona. On
my lastMonday I’d like to go to Big Surf and play at
the water park.

I feel like I’m the luckiest kid alive, I get paid to do what I
love and see the country with amazing people.

See you soon, ASU Gammage! 

- Griffin Birney 

Post from Janet Wong (Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company)

The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company is back at ASU Gammage after 10 years to perform Fondly Do We Hope…Fervently Do We Pray on Saturday, March 5. This piece was commissioned by the Ravinia Festival for the 200^th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln. I think the work will look very handsome on the generous stage of Gammage. The title of the piece is a quote from Lincoln’s second inaugural address and I think it is particularly timely as our government threatens to shut down - it challenges the viewer and makes one wonder if we can ever find the “we”.

But onstage, in our community, WE are a company of 10 dancers, 4 musicians and an actor supported by an amazing technical crew, doing something that is essential to us. And WE love the warm weather of Arizona!

This performance falls in the middle of a ten day residency at ASU where we begin working on a new piece tentatively titled Story/Time. This visit also marks the beginning of a three-year relationship with ASU. It takes very brave presenters like Colleen Jennings-Roggensack and Michael Reed to embark on such a journey into the wilderness with us. I must admit that this new work has many challenges - even I am overwhelmed.

For example, our very first rehearsal for this piece is not in a dance studio but in a TV studio in downtown Phoenix. And Colleen and Michael are making this happen for us, whereas others may have balked at the request. Bill wanted a different way of entering this new work, and working in an environment with multiple cameras and a director forces us to do that. Without giving too much away, this work takes its inspiration from John Cage’s “Indeterminacy”. The piece includes Bill writing and reading 90 one-minute stories, one-minute dance activities, one-minute pedestrian/elemental activities, the division of space, the distribution of furniture items, the transformation of space, the camera's perspective, and social media. The positioning of the performative elements are determined by chance, each perhaps having its own score. This process is in part a way for Bill to escape his persona and taste. This residency is the beginning of our experiment -- and what a luxury it is to be able to experiment!

- Janet Wong, Assistant Artistic Director

Message from Fiddler Cast Member!!!

Hi ASU Gammage!

Julianne Katz here, currently playing Hodel in the National Tour of Fiddler on the Roof.

As a Native of Tucson, I cannot even tell you how excited I am to have the opportunity to perform in Arizona. I can’t wait to get to Tempe in March and bring Fiddler to the Gammage stage! Many of my friends and family have actually never seen me perform, and now that I am coming home they can finally see me.

It is surreal to be returning to my old stomping grounds, where I used to sing and dance in shopping malls and with children’s theater groups as a child. Growing up, my parents took me to see touring Broadway shows, and I remember fantasizing about one day being like those actresses I watched on the stage. I would always make my way to the stage door after the shows to see the performers up close and get autographs on my Playbill. I can only hope that there are kids in our audiences that are getting bit by the theaterbug; I hope we inspire young artists just as I was once inspired as a child.

After touring the country for the last five months, I have realized how lucky we are in Arizona to have such incredible theaters that bring in so many wonderful shows. ASU Gammage has brought 11 fantastic, diverse Broadway shows in this season- ELEVEN! No other theater I have been to this year has had that kind of season. Not even close!

THANK YOU, Gammage Patrons, for continuing to support musical theatre and touring Broadway shows. It is your supporting of the arts that allows us to do what we love every night. I am so grateful and honored to join the long list of Gammage performers.

See you soon!

Love,

Julianne