March 2010 Reviews - NYC
Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 8:30 pm
Here's a new thread for March reviews.
The new forum for fans of Billy Elliot the Musical
https://billyelliottheforum.me.uk/forum/
https://billyelliottheforum.me.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1460
http://www.pinkbananaworld.com/content- ... ?ID=331331“I can’t really explain it…I haven’t got the words.” This is Billy Elliot’s initial response to being asked what it feels like when he’s dancing. I feel similarly about Billy Elliot: The Musical, the international smash hit. How to capture in words what a monumentally successful, goosebump-inducing, emotionally satisfying theatrical experience this show is, without sounding trite or hyperbolic? Not only did Billy Elliot win ten Tony Awards (it was nominated for fifteen, tying with Mel Brooks’ The Producers as the most-nominated show in history), not to mention its awards in the UK and Australia, but Time Magazine named it the best musical of the decade and the second best theatrical production, right under August: Osage County, on a list that only included two other musicals, Movin’ Out–which is really more of a ballet–and Wicked. What is more astounding upon seeing it is that Billy Elliot isn’t just a product of hype. It deserves every accolade it has received.
Big-budget musicals can be extremely difficult beasts to get right, particularly ones based on films. Far too often, they can be soulless reproductions of their source material, with millions of dollars pumped into making as flashy a presentation as possible, millions of dollars that fail to obscure the show’s inability to capture all but a modicum, if that, of the original’s heart. On the opposite end of the musical spectrum, Billy Elliot doesn’t simply cash in on brand-name recognition. The show never feels like a collection of scenes and lines one could only fully appreciate if one had seen the film (I can vouch for this, having never seen it myself). Instead, it is a full-hearted, brilliantly composed production that succeeds on every single level–as dazzling spectacle, as profoundly moving drama, as a perfect showcase for some of the best acting and dancing to ever appear on any Broadway stage. In many ways, Billy Elliot is the perfect Broadway musical. It is huge in every sense of the word–huge set pieces, huge dance numbers, huge emotions–but it never strikes a false chord.
Billy Elliot is the deeply human and deeply affecting story of a young, working class boy, the son of a coal miner during the mining strikes in 1980s Britain. Unlike his father, older brother and almost everyone else in his community, however, he has higher aspirations than a life of mining. While his father and brother are fully preoccupied by their struggle against Maggie Thatcher’s fascistic police forces, Billy surreptitiously sneaks off to dance class each day; his dream, to become a ballet dancer–a dream he can never reveal to his patriarchal, explosive father, for whom masculinity is of the utmost importance. The musical unfolds as an exploration of Billy’s relationships with the various people in his life–his forbidding father and brother, his best friend, Michael, a boy who has a fondness for trying on his (Michael’s) sister’s clothing, his senile grandmother, his deceased mother, who appears to him numerous times throughout the play, and perhaps most importantly, Mrs. Wilkinson, his dance instructor with balls of brass and a heart of gold, who agrees to teach him in secret. Each of these relationships are handled with delicacy and grace by the actors, by Elton John’s music (easily his best theatrical score), and by Lee Hall’s expert book and lyrics.
One of Billy Elliot’s most striking aspects is the grittiness of its world. One would be hard-pressed to find another feel-good musical that is this grim. Unlike other famous shows that center on down-on-their-luck kids, such as Oliver! and Annie, Billy Elliot is never saccharine. The town is grimy and dingy, and the characters’ lives harsh. (Though the same can be said of both previous shows, the saccharinity of the music and lyrics, preciousness of the children, and simplicity of the happy endings, particularly in Annie, counteract that. Oliver! has had darker interpretations, but still not on this level.) In fact, the kids cuss and curse just as much as the adults. You wouldn’t hear this sort of language coming out of Oliver or Annie’s mouth. Additionally, the adults don’t coddle the children. Even Mrs. Wilkinson is hard, tough, and unyielding to the girls in her class, as well as Billy; she will only dole out a compliment when it is truly deserved. Billy Elliot’s ultimate message is hopeful, and in a different presentation, could have come across as almost pat. In short, it is “Be yourself, no matter how different you may be.” In Billy and Michael’s words, “Everyone is different/It’s the natural state/It’s the facts, it’s plain to see,/The world’s grey enough without making it worse/What we need is individuality.” This, however, is tempered by the sadness of the peoples’ lives surrounding Billy. The finale is simultaneously, overwhelmingly triumphant and overwhelmingly sad.
Billy Elliot is also a much more difficult show for the child star than the aforementioned eponymous shows, both of which have a large number of colorful adult characters like Fagin and Miss Hannigan who take center stage for the majority of the running time. Conversely, Billy Elliot rarely leaves the stage from start to finish. The show truly rests on his shoulders, in a role that in some ways is more difficult than most adult roles on Broadway. He must convey a complex character arc, a wide range of emotions, and also perform jawdropping, exhausting choreography. His dancing must also “improve” over the course of the musical from completely unskilled to confident and polished. Billy Elliot, the character, is never traditionally “cute.” He has a great deal of anger, the result of all of the constant tension and violence in his community, as well as from his father and brother’s attempts to squash his dreams. In the stunning and unique first act finale, “Angry Dance,” Billy explodes in rage he has kept suppressed up to that point (perhaps for years), screaming at the top of his lungs, smashing into things, and dancing his heart out, fighting a wall of police officers in riot gear, behind a glass barricade. One might think that such a prominent role could not work with five child actors playing the role in rotation, and yet the production feels seamless. The Billy I saw, Dayton Tavares, was so phenomenal, I couldn’t imagine anyone else doing it, which is a testament to the excellence of the acting and sophistication of how the production handles its child actors.
This show is the rare case where a huge budget has been used all in the service of telling a story, rather than the other way around. What Billy Elliot’s creative team understands is that no stage magic they could produce with special effects would be as powerful as simply watching the young boy at the center of the play dance. That is not to say that they don’t also indulge in special effects at times, but they restrain themselves for the majority of the piece, which only makes these moments even more impressive, when they do occur. And when they do, they are always used to underline or emphasize the actors and dancers’ performances, not to overwhelm them or to divert the audience’s attention. The show’s most awe-inspiring moments all revolve around dance. In the most impressive group number, “Solidarity,” a ballet class is paralleled with the strike going on outside, with Billy, the girls in tutus, and Mrs. Wilkinson weaving in and out of the men on both sides of the picket lines, yelling at and fighting with each other. The show is demonstrating how, metaphorically, the union and the police are locked in a sort of dance, as well. The two scenes clash and converge upon one another in one of the most intricate, complex dance sequences I’ve ever seen on stage.
With that said, director Stephen Daldry and choreographer Peter Darling also make sure that the relatively simpler dance numbers are just as powerful. The grandmother’s number, “We’d Go Dancing,” is basically composed of a line of men on stools, smoking and drinking, and slowly, inexorably making their way across the stage, and yet it is absolutely perfect. And most importantly, Billy’s dancing is always the main attraction, particularly in the aforementioned first act closer, “Angry Dance,” a gorgeous second-act fantasy scene in which Billy dances with his older self, and “Electricity,” when Billy dances for his audition. It has been a long time, perhaps since West Side Story, that a Broadway musical has so stunningly told a story through dance sequences every bit as involving, if not more so, than dialogue and lyrics. Billy Elliot makes dance feel exciting, fresh, and vital in a manner I have never seen on a Broadway stage before this.
Billy Elliot is also rather unique in that, although it has a wonderful pop and British folk-infused score that includes the beautiful “Electricity” (one of the single most beautiful theatre songs I’ve ever heard) and “Dear Billy (Mum’s Letter)” and the anthemic “The Stars Look Down” and “Solidarity,” the show’s goal is not to present traditionally “pretty” singing. Character and story are far more important, so the actors, particularly in solos, forego vocal pyrotechnics and instead sing in the same manner as their characters speak, making the show always feel authentic and genuine, approximating what it might sound like if real people burst into song.
Despite being set in a very specific time and place, Billy Elliot’s universality keeps it relevant. Practically anyone can identify with wanting to be unique and to rise above one’s drab background. Billy Elliot naturally also has gay undertones. Ballet dancing is a practice often identified with gay men, and so it is not a stretch to see Billy’s being in the closet about his immense dancing talent as being a metaphor for sexuality. This aspect is not even subtextual in the form of Michael, whose affinity for cross-dressing and crush on Billy, Jake Evan-Schwenke (the Michael I saw, and whose Randolph was the lone reason to have seen Roundabout’s Bye Bye Birdie last year) plays with such innocent matter-of-factness that even the most bigoted audience member would be hard-pressed to take issue with him. His big number, “Expressing Yourself,” in which he convinces Billy to play dress-up with him is very much a gay spin on the Artful Dodger’s “Consider Yourself” from Oliver.
The script also provides hints that Billy may be gay himself, but this is never made explicit, and in this situation, this is a good thing. Billy is young enough that his sexuality, whatever it is, most likely wouldn’t yet be clear to him. More significantly, however, making this a simple issue of sexuality would reduce the show’s scope. The ambiguity here allows for a number of interpretations and prevents the universal themes from being overshadowed by any particular issue. Billy would be remarkable for being a brilliant dancer from a non-conducive background whether or not he were gay. If he isn’t gay, he’s certainly remarkable for being a rural boy who is comfortable with his friend, Michael’s sexuality. Their relationship provides an emotionally perfect close to a nearly perfect evening of theatre.
As far as acting, the standouts the evening I saw it were Dayton Tavares as Billy (though I’m sure the other boys are amazing, as well), Philip Whitchurch, who provides a beautiful character arc to Billy’s Dad, ensuring that his humanity ultimately shines through his coarse exterior, and Kate Hennig, whose strong portrayal of the gutsy and tough-as-nails Mrs. Wilkinson nearly steals the entire show.
It has been a long time since Broadway has had such a phenomenal example of its genre to show off. In recent years, musicals have often seemed to be divided into two categories: financially successful star vehicles that are flashy, shiny, and mostly empty, or darker, deconstructionist works that often fail at the box office for being challenging rather than conventionally “fun.” Billy Elliot captures aspects of both. It is an enormously entertaining and simply enormous production that is a wonder to behold, but it is also dark, involving, and uncompromising in its vision. It may not be extremely complex or surprising from a narrative standpoint (despite overturning cliche in a number of key areas), though it is as a production. With breathtaking heart, exquisite direction, and sublime choreography, Billy Elliot is classic in its sweep and modern in its sensibilities. It inspires a rush of tears, adrenaline, and awe unlike any other theatrical experience I have ever had. Billy describes what it feels like when he is dancing as “electricity.” The same can be said of Billy Elliot: The Musical.
And so you should be - it was a great showCJ-Rochester wrote:Glad to hear you all had a good time. I'm jealous.
Thank you ERinVA I'm completely hooked and sunk(credit card smoking ). Thanks CJ for the nice comment as well.ERinVA wrote:Musical Fanatic, I can tell you are seriously hooked! Thanks for another good review. See you tomorrow.