Billy Elliot the musical review
I was not sure if I would like the musical. I was pleasantly surprised
to find that Billy Elliot The Musical successfully tells the story, of the
young coalminer’s son who discovers he was born to dance without thinking about the serious social
commentary the story has to offer. The story is wonderfully explained, starting
with an old movie news report which opens the show. The audience is invited
into Billy’s world and to engage with the struggles and hardships of the small
coal town during the British miners’ strike of the mid-1980s. Billy, who was
played by a kid on this particular night
actors share was terrific! This highly talented kid showed amazing skill to
sing, dance, act and charm the audience for a large part of the show. The
supporting cast were really good. Billy’s scatty old grandma was of definitely
one of my favourite. Especially her
show-stopping song about her late husband, Bill’s Grandpa - who she doesn’t
seem to miss very much! - and her youthful nights on the dance floor. I think
the best scenes were the ones with the little ballet dancers in their tutus and
Billy trying desperately to fit in; this pretty much captures the essence of
the whole story. Plus they were very entertaining with their inept dancing and
their rather enthusiastic piano player. There is also a wonderful
dream-sequence scene where Billy dances with the older version of himself. The
set design was rather quirky and very effective; the cast made excellent use of
simple props such as chairs and police shields. There were plenty of good often
comical lyrics and the music was enjoyable although I can’t say that I came out
of the theatre humming any catchy tunes. This show is much more about the
dancing, which I definitely would like to have seen more of. There was not much
that I didn’t like about the show it was perhaps a bit drawn out at times. But
overall an excellent show, with humour and jokes aimed at younger and older
audiences. Audience Billy Elliot contains some strong language and violence. It
is understandable that the writers have sprinkled the dialogue and lyrics with
four letter words for the sake of authenticity, as this is what you would hear
if you were living in a community like Billy’s. The producers of the show
recommend that children under the age of 12 not be permitted to attend;
however, children above the age of 7 will be admitted. Children under the age
of 16 must be accompanied by an adult Theatre Advice Victoria Palace Theater
holds much of its original character, even more so since having the front of
house, auditorium and the dressing rooms refurbished. .
Personal opinion
The musical was very good because I notice there was a lot of work on it
the staging was great. the songs definitely are appropriate for the theme of
the musical . Billy´s grandmother was one of my favourite characters along with
the pianist of the ballet class . the only bad thing that I can say about the
musical is that I don’t believe that the
boy sing´s because he runs jumps and he
doesn’t even breath faster.
