Paramount Theatre, Aurora, IL (Feb 7- Mar 24, 2024)

[porschesrule]

The headline on this review from the Shaw News Network: ‘Billy Elliot’ musical a glorious leap of faith at Aurora’s Paramount Theatre

“Billy Elliot” is a stellar, emotional musical; everything comes together. It’s not an escapist show. It is a satisfier in its storytelling reality. “Billy Elliot” brilliantly weaves stirring music, fantastic dance and a plot based on true events – guess we can thank Maggie Thatcher for that. The ovation at curtain call is long and deserved; the curtain call itself is highly entertaining. I guarantee “Billy Elliott” will dance into your heart.

https://www.shawlocal.com/northwest-her ... t-theatre/

[kport]

Those who recall the US Tour will remember the billboards placed in theatre lobbies that explained the background to the miners' strike. This is one of the few US reviews I have read (as one who lived in the UK during the strike - I know) that explains it well. Perhaps you had to live through it to understand it. It was a very dark time.

Billy Elliot is uplifting, but only to a point; Hall and John understood that when they crafted this show. Stork and his ensemble also know that Billy’s individual success stands against a grim background of broken promises, changing environments, and depressing prospects for his town and family.

https://chicagoreader.com/arts-culture/ ... t-theatre/

[kport]

Another glowing review. That photo of Dream Ballet is amazing!

‘Billy Elliot’ soars: Paramount’s 4-star revival a spectacle in every respect

https://www.dailyherald.com/20240221/th ... y-respect/

[kport]

This is certainly different...a video podcast by a brother and sister who review shows at the Paramount Theatre. It appears to have more actual video clips of the show than I have seen elsewhere.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_8Rugr ... inFranklin

[porschesrule]

Here's an interview done by local Chicago TV station, WGN, with the two Billys in the Aurora show:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tUmLH3-ZwE

[Todd]

It's been awhile since I posted on this site, but I wanted to weigh in on the Aurora, IL production at the Paramount Theatre. I was able to see two performances of it on Saturday, February 17. Sam played Billy in the afternoon show, and Neo performed in the evening show.

This was one of the best - if not the best - regional productions of BETM that I've seen (right up there with the Lancaster, PA production I saw a number of years ago, and the one at Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut). It was pretty nearly Broadway-quality in all respects, from the sets, the sound, the visuals, and the cast performances. The theater is very nice and ornate, although it has the usual challenges of older theaters of not having enough bathrooms to get everyone taken care of during intermission.

The production had the black & white film at the very beginning, as in the original London and Broadway productions. Billy opens the show on stage, watching the film, unlike in the original productions where he was ushered onto stage by his dad during the first scene. The two Billys were superb, and seemed very comfortable and well-prepared for the role. They both had excellent singing voices (particularly Sam) and seemed to have been well-trained with the Geordie accent. They were also both very accomplished dancers. Curiously, they had Billy do a near-perfect pirouette towards Mrs. Wilkinson in "Solidarity." In every other production I've seen, Billy does it somewhat awkwardly, while showing promise that he might be a diamond in the rough, to which Mr.s Wilkinson delivers her "O.K." line after seeing his impressive move.

The other main characters were very good as well. It was fun seeing Spencer Milford again, returning to the show after having been the tall/posh boy in the Chicago production back in 2010, and now grown up and playing Tony. He's excellent in the role, not playing it quite as angry or mean as others have done before, but showing some nicer traits, smiles, etc. Michelle Aravena was very good as Mrs. Wilkinson, maybe not quite as scruffy as others have played the part previously. Ron Rains did a good job as Dad, portraying him more seriously and not bringing out as much of the comic elements as other actors have done before, particularly during the Royal Academy of Ballet audition. Gabriel Lafazan - as Michael - delivers a performance for the ages, as he's a dynamo of enthusiasm who's clearly loving every minute he's on stage. He was born to play this part.

The only casting misfire was Dakota Hughes, a stocky female actress curiously playing the part of Mr. Braithwaite. That would be fine if they decided to make the character Mrs. Braithwaite, but they still refer to him as Mr. Braithwaite, creating some confusion during those scenes. Even Mrs. Wilkinson got confused at one point, accidentally referring to her as "she" but quickly correcting herself to say "he." Other than that, my only constructive criticism would be that it would have been nice to have had the microphones clipped on the bottom of Billy's and Michael's pants to pick up the tapping sound during scenes like "Express Yourself" and "Angry Dance." Both boys clearly had tap shoes on, but it sounded like they were tapping in tennis shoes. There were also a few times that Billy and Michael didn't emphasize some of the funnier lines very clearly, which didn't get a reaction from the audience like they normally do. That's a problem that should be easily corrected with more practice and performances.

Both shows I saw had nearly full houses and very enthusiastic responses from the audience. Now that the coldest part of the Chicago weather is hopefully done for the winter, I would encourage anyone who's able to catch this production to do so in the next few weeks !

[kport]

Since many of us will not be able to see this production, here is an interesting 30 minute video 'Behind the Curtain With Billy Elliot'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMbexzn ... RADIOVIDEO

[porschesrule]

As the Paramount Theatre production of BETM enters its final week, another review has been published. This one is by the WTTW theatre critic who begins the review with these words:

I will get straight to the point: The run of this grand-scale Paramount production ends on March 24 and, if at all possible, I urge you to try and catch what is one of the most superb shows I’ve seen this season.

https://news.wttw.com/2024/03/18/paramo ... ot-musical

[MusicalFan]

Thanks to the heads-up from members of this forum, I was fortunate to see Billy Elliot the Musical again at the Paramount Theater in Aurora IL. For context, I have seen BETM many many times… first time in London in 2006, then multiple times in London, New York, Chicago, and the US National Tour, as well as several regional and community theater productions. However, it’s been almost 6 years since BETM has been in this area and that I have seen it, so I was extremely excited to see the show again. In brief, this production was phenomenal!

Since I’m a huge fan of the show, I booked seats for both the matinee and evening productions on March 10th, 2024. I had a second row Center Orchestra seat for the matinee show, and a front row Center Orchestra seat for the evening show.

The set was beautifully designed, with 3 levels of sets and movable pieces. (You can perhaps find pictures of this on Instagram from the theater and some of the main actors.) The sides of the stage had large scaffolding and gears as used in a mine, and there were several mobile 2-3 level sets with stairs that were moved around as needed. The stage level is where most of the action happened. Billy’s bedroom was on the second floor, and the highest level was used for scenes in Solidarity and The Stars Look Down.

Neo Del Corral played Billy for the matinee performance. Mr. Braithwaite was played by the understudy, Jared Michael David Grant, and he did a great job at portraying this role! Gabriel Lafazan's portrayal of Michael in both the matinee and evening performances was over the top and hilarious. It was also great to see Spencer Milford in the role of Tony. I had previously seen him as Tall Boy in the Chicago production almost 14 years ago! Spencer’s performance as Tony in this show was spot on – at times funny but also on fire with passion and anger. In all my years of seeing BETM on stage, this was one of the best performances of Tony I have seen!

One of the parts I appreciated about this production is that all the actors very clearly enunciated their lines (granted, I was seated in the first 2 rows). Seeing the earlier comments from Todd, perhaps this is something that improved as the show went on. Another aspect I loved is that all the actors, even when they were in the background, were in character the entire time.

There were also a few differences in this show compared to the other productions of BETM I’ve seen. When the curtain rises at the beginning of the show, Billy, Tony, and Dad are center stage facing with their backs to the audience, watching a screen where the background (the story of the miners, Maggie Thatcher, etc.) is explained in brief movie clips. As the movie ends, Tony and Dad snag the white sheet used as the projection screen while they run off stage, and the opening song starts. After the first part of the Stars Look Down, Billy is left on stage alone, and then begins his song. Small Boy doesn’t appear until the very end, just to say his line. Also, “small” boy in this production is almost the same height and age as Billy and Michael and has a bit of a smaller role. But he still delivers many of the important comedic lines.

Another difference compared with the major (Broadway, West End, US Tour) productions that I must say I really missed in this production is that there was very little tap dancing. The tap dancing was only in one of the numbers – Expressing Yourself. There was no tap dancing in Born to Boogie or Angry Dance. Instead, Angry Dance consisted of more modern dance mixed with a lot of choreography where Billy is being thrown around by alternatively the police and the miners. I missed the intensity that the staccato of tap dancing can provide to this number, but the Billy’s did an amazing job at expressing their anger in this role. The choreography, with Billy being tossed around by both police and miners, in a new way captured the way that Billy’s life was being tossed around by the conflict between the miners and the authority/police. So I can appreciate this new artistic vision. I can also guess why this production went the route of less tap dancing. The Billy’s that they found were exceptionally talented in dance (as well as singing and acting), but mostly ballet and modern dance. Many of the previous large-scale productions of BETM trained the Billy’s for many months in ballet and tap dancing, and that time and infrastructure just isn’t there for a regional production. That said, Billy and Michael’s tap dancing during “Expressing Yourself” was spot on, and clearly the cast is highly talented!

One minor scene in this production, that I hadn’t see in other productions, was in the transition between Shine and Grandma’s song. This is often an awkward time while the set pieces are being moved around. Here, Billy climbed up the steps on one of the mobile set pieces to a second level, and while the other set pieces were being moved around, he was practicing some basic dance and ballet moves. This makes sense since we’ve just seen him participate in his first dance class, and it perfectly captures how intrigued Billy has become by these recent lessons.

Sam Duncan played Billy in the evening show, and his performance was amazing! His dancing was graceful and energetic, and while his voice was starting to change, he hit every note perfectly. I was particularly impressed with his acting – the timing of his lines was perfect, and it felt to me like he was fully into the character. For example, when he’s looking for his shoes at the beginning (Mom: “they’ll be in your room” Billy: “ I absolutely positively know they’re not!”) he pauses for a moment, then spots his shoes, and then shouts “Found them!” Another funny moment happened at the very end of this show, when Dad is showing Billy how to fold the clothes into his suitcase during Once We Were Kings. Dad starts folding the pants, but then ties them into an elaborate knot. Billy tries to copy these steps, but then cracks up. (I asked afterwards, and apparently this was a bit of an ad lib by the Dad, played by Ron E. Rains)

The acting and production of this show was so amazing that I wanted to see the show again, this time for the closing day/night on March 24. So I booked another set of tickets. Neo played the role of Billy for the matinee performance, and Sam played the role in the evening. Again, I had seats in the first 2 rows (first row for matinee, 2nd for eve), but this time far house right. I am so glad that I came back for the final day, because both the matinee and evening performances were emotional and outstanding … in one word, electric!

In these last 2 performances, Dad was played by the understudy, Matt Miles, and he did an excellent job. This time Mr. Braithwaite was played by Dakota Hughes (they/them). In response to the earlier comments by Todd, I thought that the casting was certainly different than has been traditional in past shows, but I thought that they portrayed the role quite well with a traditional gruff masculine outward demeanor, but a more sensitive and complex interior (which fit the line: “it was all down to Diaghilev who ran the Ballet Russe…”). There were also no slip-ups with he/she in the lines that Todd mentioned.

Neo played Billy for the final matinee show, and he once again did an amazing job, giving it his all. The energy and intensity he portrayed during angry dance was very high and made me take a new look at the reimagined choreography. I could also see the emotion on his face, with tears in his eyes during Grandma’s Song and during the final goodbyes to Mrs. Wilkinson, the Miners during Once We Were Kings, and the goodbye with Michael.

After a short dinner break, I saw the final evening performance of BETM at the Paramount, with Sam as Billy. Again, his performance was exceptional, and this time also highly emotional. The tears really started to flow during Once We Were Kings. Also, I did notice one changed line during both the matinee and evening performances. In the final goodbye scene, when Mrs. Wilkinson says, “Now piss off before I start to cry” she said, “Now piss off because I’m crying.” Very emotional scene that left both the cast and audience without a dry eye.

Overall this was an amazing performance of Billy Elliot the Musical, and I am so glad I got to see it again. All of the cast was great! The two boys playing Billy are exceptionally talented and clearly ones to look out for in the future!