Musicals: Billy Elliot

[Mellisa]

I was wondering if anyone has seen this musical in London yet? I've read about it online and would love to see it come to the USA. I was also wondering if there is much ballet in the show?

 

Any insight would be wonderful. Also, I hear the three Billy's (triple cast due to child labor laws in England) were given voice and dance lessons once picked. Are they talented?

[Dance_Scholar_London]

I will go and see it in the next couple of weeks. The RAD magazine had a feature article about the casting/rehearsals. I don't expect to see much ballet but it will certainly be fun to watch.

 

Not sure if it will come to the US as the movie did not really take off there, did it? (I just imagine Northern England accent on a Broadway stage - hilarious).

 

Hopefully they will make a DVD. It would be great to be able to compare 'from screen to stage'. :-)

[BW]

I thought the movie did quite well here in the USA - at least in the North East. I loved it and know quite a few non dancers who saw it and felt the same way. I believe Elton John is doing the music - so I think it's got a good chance of heading overseas and making it on Broadway. We could certainly use a good musical that isn't a revival!

[elise]

Aww Elton John, I hope he atleast keeps the TRex intact. I couldn't think of a better combination than ballet and TRex.

[BW]

For more info: Billy Elliot the musical

[Dance_Scholar_London]

This is the official website. Enjoy

Edited May 3, 2005 by BW

[BW]

Wonderful! (I just had to remove one too many https out of your link. )

 

I certainly hope it's going to make its way over here!

[Dance_Scholar_London]

I hope it will last a while in London, I would like to take my students there in the next academic year. Some musicals disappear incredibly quick.

[Guest Ashlee2]

I really liked the movie. It would be interesting to see it done as a musical. Thanks for the info!

[balletgirlsmadre]

We just got back from London a week ago. Unable to get tickets for the Royal Ballet while we were there since it was a somewhat last minute trip, so decided to take DD and our son to see Billy Elliott. It was still in "preview" mode however we really enjoyed it. Found myself laughing and crying! It does have some ballet and some tap as well. The young guy who played Billy Elliot was a very strong dancer, a little weaker singing but still good. At 3 hours, it was a tad long and some of the humor went over our head due to references to British politics but I would highly recommend it.

[BW]

Oh, as sorry as I am that you weren't able to catch The Royal Ballet, I am glad you did make it to see this musical and tell us a bit about it!

 

Did you find yourself comparing the actors in the play to those in the film, all the time? I know it can be difficult to accept different portrayals sometimes - at least I find it so....sort of like reading "the book" and then seeing "the movie" and feeling disappointed...

[balletgirlsmadre]

BW-

 

I didn't find myself comparing it to the movie much because it as been a long time since I've seen the movie and the staging is so unique and it being a musical, it's hard to compare the two. Having just seen the musical, though, I defineitly plan to rent the movie soon to see it again. Oh, another thing - true to the movie, the musical has a lot of shall we say "colorful" language in it. My kids are 11 and 8 but it doesn't bother me - they've certainly heard it on the bus and know the difference between hearing it and saying it!

[dazedandconfused]

Husband managed a trip to London, rather last minute, so I'll be seeing Billy Elliot on Wednesday night! There were some tickets available on ebay (hope that's ok to say ). I'll give a report when we get back. I'm really excited about getting to see it. DD's favorite movie and all. I do have a question about seeing Royal Ballet performances. Would love to see Swan Lake (reference the Billy Elliot current obsession) but it's sold out months in advance. Someone was saying you can purchase something called a standing ticket. Anybody have any experience with that? Honestly, I think I'd stand on my own ear to see a Royal Ballet performance of Bourne's Swan Lake.

[BW]

Thanks for the quick reply to my questions, balletgirlsmadre!

 

Lucky you dazedandconfused!! As for those tickets - why don't you start a new thread about that because I'm sure you'll get some helpful replies from our British contingent, if they see the inquiry. I have to say that I'd love to see Bourne's Swan Lake, too. I meant to see it way back when it was in NYC, but never did make it.

[Dance_Scholar_London]

You can get standing tickets for 5 or 10 pounds. But standing really means standing on your feet for a couple of hours, you better have some stamina. :-)