Billy Elliot Musical Review
Oct. 10th, 2010 06:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatTen years ago, I saw the Stephen Daldry film Billy Elliot in the theater. Loved it enough to purchase the soundtrack - and well because it had "London Calling" by the Clash and Cosmic Dancer by T Rex on it. It won three oscars in 2000 - best director, best writing, and best supporting actress - Julie Waters who plays the dance instructor.
Several years later in 2009, Daldry, Elton John and Lee Hall brought the story to Broadway, where it won ten tony awards including best musical.
The story is simple - it's about a thirteen year old working class miner's boy who falls in love with the ballet during the biggest and longset strike in British History, circa 1984. The story deals with in-bred prejudices regarding the arts, the need for hope, class issues, and social justice in working class England during the 1980s.
Here's the historical note in the playbill: In 1984, the British National Union of Mineworkers (The NUM) went on strike to save the coal industry from the threatened closures of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who was politically opposed to state-owned industry and determined to crush the unions.
The strike went on for one year. The miner's families had to survive on handouts from other working people who supported their stand. But by employing riot police to intimidate their communities, and importing coal from Eastern Europe, the unions were broken. Over the subsequent ten years, the Conservative government dismantled the entire industry.
The story of Billy Elliot takes place in the coal fields of Northern England where mining has been the major employer for hundreds of years. In 1984 more than 300,000 men worked in the mining industry,today there are less than 1000. More than 98 percent of coal used for British energy is now imported from abroad.
(Gee, certainly explains the hatred many of the unemployed mining working class families in Wales had towards Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s. Can't say I blame them. My aunts identified because they live in the mining communities of Eastern Pennsylvania, otherwise known as the Poconos. They've seen similar issues up close and personal.)
The musical does a fantastic job of interweaving Billy's pursuit of dance and the strike. There's a particularly moving scene of Billy dancing against the strike brigade, and another of the riot police, strikers and little girl ballerinas, including Billy all dancing amoungst each other, the girls in the middle and the two opposing parties on either side, yet they trade hats as they sing, until it becomes muddled and you see the two parties from a child's pov. The whole tale is told from a 13 year old boy's perspective.
Other stand-out performances include a dance number with Billy's best friend Michael - who dresses up in women's clothing and they sing a song with a bunch of huge dresses about individuality.
Much like the movie it ends on a somber yet at the same time uplifting note, and the dance numbers are amazing, far more striking and memorable than the songs. Well, with the possible exception of Merry Christmas Mrs. Thatcher (a comical political piece with puppets) and Born to Boogie.
There's one number in particular that blew me away, Billy and an adult version of himself, dance with a spinning chair.
The musical is on tour now across the country and abroad, if you get the chance to see it, do, it's an uplifting story about hope in times where no hope appears to be on the horizon and banding together. It is also a story about how the arts can enrich our lives, uplift us. Plus, you can take the entire family. One of the few musicals I've seen that I can say that about. Oh sure, there's some foul language, but kids hear that on the street and at recess.
Overall rating? B+
Several years later in 2009, Daldry, Elton John and Lee Hall brought the story to Broadway, where it won ten tony awards including best musical.
The story is simple - it's about a thirteen year old working class miner's boy who falls in love with the ballet during the biggest and longset strike in British History, circa 1984. The story deals with in-bred prejudices regarding the arts, the need for hope, class issues, and social justice in working class England during the 1980s.
Here's the historical note in the playbill: In 1984, the British National Union of Mineworkers (The NUM) went on strike to save the coal industry from the threatened closures of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who was politically opposed to state-owned industry and determined to crush the unions.
The strike went on for one year. The miner's families had to survive on handouts from other working people who supported their stand. But by employing riot police to intimidate their communities, and importing coal from Eastern Europe, the unions were broken. Over the subsequent ten years, the Conservative government dismantled the entire industry.
The story of Billy Elliot takes place in the coal fields of Northern England where mining has been the major employer for hundreds of years. In 1984 more than 300,000 men worked in the mining industry,today there are less than 1000. More than 98 percent of coal used for British energy is now imported from abroad.
(Gee, certainly explains the hatred many of the unemployed mining working class families in Wales had towards Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s. Can't say I blame them. My aunts identified because they live in the mining communities of Eastern Pennsylvania, otherwise known as the Poconos. They've seen similar issues up close and personal.)
The musical does a fantastic job of interweaving Billy's pursuit of dance and the strike. There's a particularly moving scene of Billy dancing against the strike brigade, and another of the riot police, strikers and little girl ballerinas, including Billy all dancing amoungst each other, the girls in the middle and the two opposing parties on either side, yet they trade hats as they sing, until it becomes muddled and you see the two parties from a child's pov. The whole tale is told from a 13 year old boy's perspective.
Other stand-out performances include a dance number with Billy's best friend Michael - who dresses up in women's clothing and they sing a song with a bunch of huge dresses about individuality.
Much like the movie it ends on a somber yet at the same time uplifting note, and the dance numbers are amazing, far more striking and memorable than the songs. Well, with the possible exception of Merry Christmas Mrs. Thatcher (a comical political piece with puppets) and Born to Boogie.
There's one number in particular that blew me away, Billy and an adult version of himself, dance with a spinning chair.
The musical is on tour now across the country and abroad, if you get the chance to see it, do, it's an uplifting story about hope in times where no hope appears to be on the horizon and banding together. It is also a story about how the arts can enrich our lives, uplift us. Plus, you can take the entire family. One of the few musicals I've seen that I can say that about. Oh sure, there's some foul language, but kids hear that on the street and at recess.
Overall rating? B+