THEATRE REVIEW: Billy Elliot
- Posted on October 24, 2007 12:29 PM
- 0 comments
Billy Elliot
The Victoria Palace Theatre
Review by Naima Khan
I’ve surrendered all my cool points to go and watch Billy Elliot on a Thursday afternoon with my sister and a bunch of grannies who look very excited. It would seem there are few socio-economic groups free at 2.30pm on a weekday; namely students (who have better things to do in the evening), the elderly and out-of-towners. None have a bad word to say about Billy Elliot the musical.
Billy is a miner’s son who just wants to dance. He has to train on the sly during the miner’s strike when Britain is ruled by the Iron Lady.
The show has been expertly put together. Go see it; it pulls on the heart strings, cracks you up, brings you down and cheers you back up again. It’s been done before, but the story of an individual’s success in the face of hardship works every time. It's also nicely positioned beside the tale of a communitie's failure during a battle with the government. Littered with obscenities without being inappropriate, this show uses a light hearted take on senility to perfection. For some reason northerners using expletives just does not lose its entertainment value. Plus, there’s something endlessly funny about watching your gran’s reaction (not my gran but someone’s gran who doesn’t swear).
It’s no surprise that with its winning formula that this show truly ticks every box. The characters are charming and warmly familiar, the acting completely enthralling, the dancing highly skilled and the kids cute. These stage class attendees, clearly skilled, were forgiven their dubious Geordie accents when they started to sound a bit Irish. The bonus dancing at the end was classically choreographed and the singing flawless, truly well received if a little cheery, erasing most of the expertly evoked emotion. The music is good but sadly unremarkable and given that these tunes are from the mind of Elton John, unforgivably formulaic and easily forgotten.
I worried that a child leading the cast of adults would just annoy me but little whatshisface (three young actors play Billy throughout the year) did them proud. Not as endearing as the portrayal in the film, this stage-school produced Billy was not as troubled and shy. It seems the Billy boys each have their own talents and come up a little short on the package deal. This particular night the singing was good, the dancing was great and the acting fair. The other characters hold their own throughout the show; demanding to be appreciated in their own right. It’s certainly worth the unnecessarily long interval just to see the Billy’s hilarious steadily senile grandmother and her comic contributions. A special salute goes to Billy’s cross-dressing best friend Michael who steals the stage with his comic acting and charm; Chris Lennon notably made the part of Tony his own with his tough stance on everything and anything conveying his frustration at the charged political atmosphere . The riot scenes were particularly gripping and climactic, brilliant displays of anger and violence without overdoing it. The ballet lessons showcasing the boys burgeoning talent juxtaposed with the perpetual picket line battles prove to be stirring scenes.
Tags
Post a comment
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.seatwaveblogs.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/1467
