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Billy Elliot
Presented by: Universal Pictures, Working
Title Films and Old Vic Productions
Venue: Capitol Theatre, Sydney
Reviewer: Michelle Rogers
Date Reviewed: 2nd March 2008
Billy Elliot: The Musical was staged at the beautifully restored
Capitol Theatre to what appeared to be a full house, but it did not
deliver a rapturous beginning: no overture was conducted to build
anticipation and sound was initially soft, leaving viewers straining
to hear what was being said by the striking coal miners of Northern
England in 1984 and the boy children of those men, who were sent to
learn to enjoy macho pursuits, like boxing.
Book and lyrics were written by Lee Hall, who wrote the screenplay
of the movie, and Elton John took care of the music. The pair
created a pleasant contrast between the sweet, child-like singing of
Billy and his friends, and the baritone, macho singing of the
striking coal miners. Small girls in tutus danced alongside, yet
separate to, the protesting workers. This emphasised the struggle
between the creative, hopeful life of a child and the harsh reality
of an existence endured by working class men who simply wanted to
work under proper conditions and support their families financially.
‘Solidarity Forever’ was a catchy chant-based tune sung by proud
coal miners, but there were no truly standout numbers in the show.
Instrumental numbers captured the imagination more powerfully,
especially at the conclusion of Act One, when Billy expresses his
frustration and anger tremendously through emotive dance, to the
sound of an incensed score that might capture the mood even better
than ‘A Town Called Malice’ did in the film.
Billy’s Dad (Richard Piper) was the standout of the show, his
expressions priceless and heart-winning as he played the ‘fish out
of water’ character during Billy’s captivating post-audition plea at
London’s Royal Ballet School. Piper played to the audience
splendidly, his comic timing and touching naivety a delight for the
audience.
The boy who played the role of young Michael, a tyke with a penchant
for dressing in his sister’s clothing, was absolutely delightful.
The ‘UK Billy’, Corey Snide, danced up a storm in the Friday night
show, and was a pleasure to watch. His dancing was perhaps a bit
more polished than the Billy we all know and love in the film, but
his acting was fine and his presence filled up the stage.
The dancing is the main star of the show however, and the
choreography was smooth, the dancing flawless and the tap dancing in
particular made one want to get up and dance along with the cast.
Very touching were the respective evolving relationships between
young Billy and his father, Billy and his teacher Mrs Wilkinson
(Genevieve Lemon), and the private moments that Billy experiences,
remembering vividly his beloved mother (Samantha Morley) who passed
away, leaving him with his troubled father, brother Tony (Justin
Smith) and ailing Grandma (Lola Nixon).
Snide’s performance of ‘Electricity’, the song that has him
explaining what dance means to him, was a tear-jerker, as was the
tune sung by, and later, to, his deceased Mum, titled ’Dear Billy’.
The props were a highlight of the show – they moved, or were
unobtrusively pushed out of the way in a seamless, highly effective
manner. Billy’s house was a spiral set, conducive to being the
centre of much action and tension. Some sets rose from the floor
below, and disappeared when switching to a new scene, adding a sense
of height, dimension and movement to the stage.
After the soaring brilliance of Billy’s epiphany at the close of Act
One, the beginning of Act Two lost me a little – it was amateur and
bawdy, involving the audience in a way that didn’t seem fitting for
a musical of this calibre. Momentum was lost until the workers put
aside cheesy gags to sing ‘Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher’, a
scathing song about the common enemy of working class men in 1980’s
Britain.
The show made use of the lighter moments portrayed in the film by
elaborating on them, feeding on the audience reaction in order to
elicit an extra laugh just where it was most appreciated.
Certain moments seemed to be better left unsung – the appealing
subtlety of the film was lost at times, as emotions were translated
into lyrics, sung feverishly by working men who seemed more likely
to keep their feelings to themselves, or at least be a little bit
coy about them.
The show had humour and heart, touching with its story of acceptance
and passion for creativity – and a winning audition scene, made
brilliant by Richard Piper.
Billy Elliot provides a good night out and will pull at your heart
strings, but you probably won’t leave the theatre humming the tunes
– you are however, likely to leave with a newly-acquired Northern
England ‘Geordie’ accent!
Michelle is a musical theatre lover, hooked on viewing and reviewing
musicals. She loves to attend hip hop dance classes and to write as
much as possible and would like to make it onstage herself some day!
Favourite musicals include Sweeney Todd, Wicked (saw it on
Broadway), The Color Purple, RENT and Grease.
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