Adult Woman Playing Adolescent Boy

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The part of Billy Elliot being played by an adult woman, as Mary Martin played Peter Pan?

Hate idea, and would never attend show
33
85%
Hate idea, but would still attend show
6
15%
Neutral to idea, and may or may not attend show
0
No votes
Like idea, and think it would improve show
0
No votes
Like idea, and think adults should replace all children's roles
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 39

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atreyu
George
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Re: Adult Woman Playing Adolescent Boy

Post by atreyu »

CJ-Rochester wrote:Peter flies around the stage and talks to a magic light. Billy is like many ordinary boys, except for his special talent and determination. Billy has to be played by a real boy.
Fully agree with your conclusion, CJ-Rochester, although I can't help but draw the parallel that Billy flies around the stage too and talks to a Dead Mum. :P But there too is a big problem. I can't possibly imagine any actress whatever the pedigree being able to produce the impact and emotion of the Letter scenes.

What captured my fascination the very first time I saw Billy Elliot the Musical was the incredible multi-faceted talents of a youngster. Sure, an adult woman would need to be quite talented in the Billy role, but now it is just an average production and no longer a standout work of art.
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Borrobil
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Re: Adult Woman Playing Adolescent Boy

Post by Borrobil »

atreyu wrote:I can't help but draw the parallel that Billy flies around the stage too and talks to a Dead Mum
Who said we all agree? I really take exception to the comparison of Billy’s ascension in Dream Ballet to Peter Pan. It’s an insult to the writing. In my view, that scene is at once a dream of release from his world for Billy and an allegory for the ascent to heaven of the swan in Swan Lake (cf Billy's mum) to heaven. Hardly the action of fairy dust.

As for talking to his dead mum, sorry to get nerdy, but between 6% & 25% of Billy's age group report hallucinations of one sort or another (not drug or wakefulness related and unrelated to psychiatric disorder in later life). Predisposing factors are, amongst others, poor diet, social exclusion and abuse/trauma in the family; so I recon he is just being a normal creative boy. Not quite like talking to Tinkabel!

Back on topic. There are at least 7 distinct references to, or occasions of, cross dressing already in the show, so a female Billy would confuse that issue too.
~ Paul ~
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jdmag44
Michael
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Re: Adult Woman Playing Adolescent Boy

Post by jdmag44 »

Bottom line: It would never work in BETM
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ERinVA
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Re: Adult Woman Playing Adolescent Boy

Post by ERinVA »

I'm going to disagree with you about the flying reference to Peter Pan, Borrobil.

I had not really made the connection to Peter Pan until one time, sitting in the audience watching Billy's shadow dance right before Grandma's Song, it hit me! Yes, there are several subtle "Peter Pan" references in the show, done intentionally, I believe, perhaps as a kind of "inside joke."

Just think a bit. What is the name of the choreographer for this show? PETER . DARLING. Okay, so how does this fit? Well, like Peter Pan, Billy has no mother, so he is in a way a "Lost Boy," if you will. What is Peter Pan looking for when he comes to the window of the DARLING children's bedroom? Isn't it his shadow? In this dance, aren't you seeing a huge shadow of Billy, the "Lost Boy," multiplied by three on the back wall of the set? Not only do you have the shadow connecting Billy to Peter Pan, but if you remember, he makes a swan shadow figure with his hands as part of the dance, thus connecting this moment to the Dream Ballet to come, in which he soars in his imagination, flying like--who else? PETER PAN.

So, yes, I think there are very intentional references to Peter Pan in the production thanks to Mr. Peter Darling. 8-)
Ellen



"I don't want people who want to dance; I want people who have to dance.”
-George Balanchine 1904 -1983


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atreyu
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Re: Adult Woman Playing Adolescent Boy

Post by atreyu »

Well...the allusion to flying and Dead Mum was intended mostly in jest. But at this point I won't stand in the way of a good debate.
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angelenroute
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Re: Adult Woman Playing Adolescent Boy

Post by angelenroute »

ERinVA, great thoughts there, I loved that! :D

And Borrobil, I do like your reminder about the cross-dressing confusion it would cause, good point!

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madashell
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Re: Adult Woman Playing Adolescent Boy

Post by madashell »

madashell wrote:So everyone in this forum seems to agree. But somehow that seems to annoy me.
Ahh! Now everyone seems to disagree. I feel much better
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LiamM
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Re: Adult Woman Playing Adolescent Boy

Post by LiamM »

The other connection to Peter Pan: Billy never grows up. Even though the show has been running for almost 9 years, Billy is still only about 12 years old. ;)
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Borrobil
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Re: Adult Woman Playing Adolescent Boy

Post by Borrobil »

You know, ErinVa, I hadn’t connected the shadow dance reference to dream ballet, I’d just seen it as a filler, referencing a scene from the Peter Pan movie/book. It was a later addition in the UK, I think. It is rushed nowadays so you can miss the jumping of the shadows, depending where you sit.
I don’t know how many shows I’ve seen, but there are still nuances to find.

I’m not sure about the relation to Peter Darling’s name. It’s a bit like Lee Hall being named after a pit (Lea Hall) near Birmingham. (that’s a closed pit of course). May be, I’d agree in both scenes it’s suggesting that Billy is wishing he was like Pan, eternally naïve and free, not bound by reality or the rule of adult convention.
Or may-be there’s even a pun on the audience, who will always remember Their Billy as the Billy on stage, never growing old.
~ Paul ~
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ERinVA
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Re: Adult Woman Playing Adolescent Boy

Post by ERinVA »

Borrobil, as a person who first saw the London show in October of 2005, I am 99% sure that the dance has always been in the show (unless it was added shortly after the show opened); however, at first there were no shadows, and therefore no swan "shadow puppet." So the dance evolved a bit over time with the addition of the shadow elements. As for the pun on Peter Darling's name, well, he is a very witty and clever choreographer, so it's still my opinion that he and Stephen Daldry were quite aware of the connection to Darling's name when they decided to add those shadow elements to the dance.
Ellen



"I don't want people who want to dance; I want people who have to dance.”
-George Balanchine 1904 -1983


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