The choice to go see Billy Elliot came down to the last second. I was choosing between that and Chicago. The man at the box office even processed my Chicago tickets and I changed at the last moment. I spent the hour beforehand thinking I should have gone with Chicago where I knew the music and it was a bit more ”lively” and up-tempo. Well Billy Elliot couldn’t have been more lively and up-tempo.
The music was by Elton John for starters…
I was a little bit annoyed at the beginning as the boy playing billy wasn’t the main lead and he was actually asian which is kinda hard to imagine, this asian guy with a broad mining village accent. But I can’t imagine it could have been played by anyone better. This kid was an absolute STAR.
The story line gripped onto my heart and tugged hard – the relationships were well crafted and very real especially between Billy and his dead mother. The ballet teacher was perfect, initially very Miss Hannigan (from Annie) like but then she softened up and was just really well played.
The Grandma was also hilarious, this rebel figure who kept giving people the finger in a mischievous way. The actress for this was Madame Morrible in the original Broadway cast of Wicked and was just brilliant.
The thing I think that impressed me the most was the dancing. There was so much dancing in it. Im not huge on dancing, especially not ballet (perhaps why I wasn’t so keen initially to see it, but the ballet was phenomenal. There was one scene when Billy dances with an older dancer miming his moves, to Swan Lake. This was just so beautiful and bought me to tears. The stage was all smoked out and he did some wire swinging oh man just breathtaking.
They were also very clever with the set and cast integration. There were really clever movements between the miners and the police and the ballet and boxing.
All round just an incredible performance and I was so thrilled that I chose to see it.
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