Billy Elliot

[fan_de_LoK]

For BETM on the 17th December, I have seat E18.

[Yorkie]

The latest press kit for BETM:

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This is the current London cast with Dean Charles Chapman playing Billy. They have used a shortened version to advertise the Broadway show with some nice additional footage of Dean doing the Billy jump

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[paul]

The more I see these clips, the more I look forward to the show this month. Can't wait

[Yorkie]

Just under two weeks Paul. In the first clip I posted above you can see at 0:22 Joe West who plays small boy on the shoulders of one of the cast. Reminded me of this clip:

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Joe is playing the role of of Alan Sugar in the UK version of The Apprentice (aka Donald Trump in the US version). For those of you not familiar with the show it's a lampoon of this:

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He's now Lord Sugar, a step up from Sir Alan!

[paul]

That Joe West clip!

Love it

[Murkskis]

Pretty cool! The latest press kit - all the wide-eyed looks to that long awaited letter... like that scene .. one of the scenes I remember from the film as well.
BTW, it reveals a deep respect for privacy (quite a cultural thing), isn't it?

Alan Sugar was also good. His style reminds me Dr. House a bit- slightly harsh but attractive

[maartendas]

Well I finally got to see Billy Elliot last Friday in London, and it was just the best. They outdid the movie in my opinion. Constant high energy, and I was almost constantly choking up with tears (being tired after a long day's travel does that to me ). But seriously, there were a few occasions I almost cried my eyes out. And there were so many memorable scenes and images.

Unfortunately Scott who played Billy in the first half got ill so he was replaced by Ryan after the interval. I had to get used to this new Billy but it worked out good in the end. The boxing teacher even joked when he first saw Billy in the second half: boy you changed I guess it was nice for the audience to be able to see two Billy's on the same night...
Actually Ryan pretty much took the show. When he took his applause after his big Electricity solo he couldn't help himself breaking out of character and smile a giant smile at the audience, which caused more applause and even cheering. He then really had to visibly force himself back into character. He was all smiles and joy, maybe not the way I would see Billy but fun to watch all the same.
(in contrast: Scott had finished his 'angry' solo, the last bit before the interval with an angry/tough 'throwaway' gesture to the audience, sheer energy of that dance which gave it extra power and shine, but afterwards I thought, maybe it came from deep down, if he was already feeling ill... I was actually surprised that he had been feeling ill because I had not detected anything at all in his performance...)
The boy who played Michael was also really good. Very cheeky, and fearless. Hugely inspiring. My friend had ended up getting tickets at row Q which was further back in the stalls so I couldn't really tell afterwards from the programme which boy it had been, but I think it was Connor Kelly. His part really took me by surprise and was the most convincing in terms of acting for me. Although I must say the father was really good too. I had to get used to Mrs. Wilkinson at first but after a while I totally believed her too.

A nice bonus to my Billy Elliot experience was meeting a close friend of the mother of Liam Redhead, one of the New York Billy's at Heathrow airport today We got to talking because she saw my Billy Elliot plastic bag which contained my programme of the show She told me about what goes on behind the scenes and how many people are employed for the kids, and how that makes it such an expensive show. Liam goes to ballet school in Canada and took a year off to do Billy, and stayed the whole time in New York with his mom, who changed places for a few days every month with his dad who had stayed behind in Canada with his siblings. Quite a sacrifice to make. Plus all the training that got into it, because although he could dance he still needed to learn to sing, to act, the accent... It was interesting to hear all this from someone so close to the show.

Another cool thing about this encounter was that during my conversation with this lady I got to talking about Libera and she said she would definitely check them out

[TullyBascombe]

I caught a bit of a NPR segement on the revival of the British coal industry. As portrayed in the "Billy Elliott" Britsh labor clung on even as the industry was dying out, with coal being replaced as a source of energy by other forms. Now sales of British coal are climbing, largely due to the demand for steel in China and India. Most developed countries make the majority of their steel from recycled scrap metal, it's cheaper than making it from iron ore if there are large quantites of scrap available. China and India don't have large quantities of scrap available so they make their steel from iron ore, much of which comes from Australia and Brazil. To make steel from scrap electricity is generally used, but to make steel from iron ore metalurgic coal is used, both as heat source and as a chemical reducing agent (whne mixed with limestone). Hence "Billy Elliott" could not be written today because British coal is enjoying a renaissance.

[maartendas]

I was looking around on the internet for some more information about some of the cast members and found a Billy Elliot fan forum - just like Libera Dreams, only completely devoted to BETM. Yorkie, don't worry, you're not obsessive at all, check the forum out to see why ^^ Here's the link: http://www.billyelliottheforum.me.uk/forum/index.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Among other things, it has a wealth of information about who played when, and a lot of fan reviews that give you an idea of how the show's been doing everywhere night after night.

[maartendas]

Just wanted to put this in here, but it contains spoilers so be warned!

I've been listening to the original cast recording album all the time since my last visit to London and have noticed so many layers in the story that I didn't notice before. At first glance the story is about a young boy finding his dream, while being surrounded by hardship. But there is so much more to it. For instance the related themes of gender role patterns, and family.

Take Grandma's song, which is all about fixed role patterns in marriage and how hard that can be, when the man can be a bastard, while the woman suffers. She sings about how in her days women were women and men were men. And if she could live her life again, she would be a dancer and independent from men. "I'd be me for an entire life, instead of somebody's wife".

Ofcourse there is the boxing vs. ballet contrast (boys vs. girls, masculine vs. feminine). Billy's friend Michael is crucial in this. He dresses up in women's clothes, just like his dad. He fancies Billy and introduces him to homosexuality at a young age. But surprisingly, Michael is NOT the one who goes to ballet class with the girls. Michael is the one who stays behind, in a town where lives are grim and dancing allows for escapism (see Grandma's song, see Mrs. Wilkinson's class). So much for preconceptions ('role patterns')

Billy's own family is disrupted by the death of his mother, and the miners' strike. Both have major impact on the young Billy and his brother and father. Mrs. Wilkinson is maybe sort of a surrogate mother for Billy, a grown up woman who nurtures him into growing up as the man he is meant to be. I like how at the end Billy says goodbye to both Mrs. Wilkinson and the vision of his dead mum. He has become more independent. And ofcourse his relationship with his dad is restored.

Anyway, there is more to say ofcourse but this is what I wanted to share right now.

[Yorkie]

Billy's friend Michael is crucial in this. He dresses up in women's clothes, just like his dad. He fancies Billy and introduces him to homosexuality at a young age.

Just to be clear there is nothing in the story line that suggests Billy is gay - this is never dealt with at any stage. Michael is gay and Billy rejects his advances "just coz I do ballet doesn't mean I'm a puff ya'know" but crucially he doesn't reject Michael's friendship when he discovers Michael's homosexuality.

But then Billy also rejects Debbie "I'll show you my fanny" she asks him "nah, you're all right" he replies. I think Billy's sexuality is deliberately left unanswered so that audience members can chose what works best for them. Which ever Billy you identify strongly with is fine.

[maartendas]

Billy's friend Michael is crucial in this. He dresses up in women's clothes, just like his dad. He fancies Billy and introduces him to homosexuality at a young age.

Just to be clear there is nothing in the story line that suggests Billy is gay - this is never dealt with at any stage. Michael is gay and Billy rejects his advances "just coz I do ballet doesn't mean I'm a puff ya'know" but crucially he doesn't reject Michael's friendship when he discovers Michael's homosexuality.

But then Billy also rejects Debbie "I'll show you my fanny" she asks him "nah, you're all right" he replies. I think Billy's sexuality is deliberately left unanswered so that audience members can chose what works best for them. Which ever Billy you identify strongly with is fine.

I'm sorry, maybe I didn't make myself clear. I didn't mean to imply Billy was homosexual at all. I meant to say that Michael is (probably) Billy's first personal encounter with homosexuality - more than knowing about it, he is confronted with it personally because his friend fancies him.
I agree with what you said about leaving Billy's sexuality unanswered. For me, it is simply not an issue for him at the time. Too much other things to worry about

[Yorkie]

Oh yes, way too much else going on. In the film he was 11 y.o. at this point (where Michael kisses him after the Christmas scene) and in the musical they say he is 12 (when the musical started they also said Billy was 11 but I think over time they changed it to 12 because most of the lads playing Billy are 12 or 13 so it's nearer their real age). It's probably way too early an age for most people to have made up their mind and be certain which way they are leaning

By the way did you know that the lad who plays Michael in the film was 17 at the time

[javerylibe]

By the way did you know that the lad who plays Michael in the film was 17 at the time

The first (and second... and possibly third) time I heard that, I didn't believe it; I thought it must have been a matter of the film being several years in post-production and release, allowing for the actor to have been, say, fourteen during filming and seventeen once the film finally got released. But that's not the case, apparently. And I thought that I looked young for my age!

One question I've always had about the film: in the final scene at the ballet, Billy's brother and father are seated next to a grown-up Michael who pulls something of an 'Oh, sh—" face when he realises who they are. On Michael's other side is a man who is, I think we're meant to believe, his partner or boyfriend. It seemed to me that Michael, in that scene, is wearing a women's wig and make-up, but I'm never quite sure, because it's shot mainly in darkness. I'd wondered if I, knowing that Michael had dressed in women's clothes as a child, just filled those bits in, or if there's a fair consensus that he's dressed as a woman in that last scene. If he is indeed, I find that quite interesting; it would presumably imply that Michael has grown up to become a crossdresser or a transsexual woman, which doesn't jive well with understandings I've seen floating around the 'net and amongst critics that the young Michael is 'just going through a phase.'

[Yorkie]

One question I've always had about the film: in the final scene at the ballet, Billy's brother and father are seated next to a grown-up Michael who pulls something of an 'Oh, sh—" face when he realises who they are. On Michael's other side is a man who is, I think we're meant to believe, his partner or boyfriend. It seemed to me that Michael, in that scene, is wearing a women's wig and make-up, but I'm never quite sure, because it's shot mainly in darkness. I'd wondered if I, knowing that Michael had dressed in women's clothes as a child, just filled those bits in, or if there's a fair consensus that he's dressed as a woman in that last scene. If he is indeed, I find that quite interesting; it would presumably imply that Michael has grown up to become a crossdresser or a transsexual woman, which doesn't jive well with understandings I've seen floating around the 'net and amongst critics that the young Michael is 'just going through a phase.'

I don't think you are imagining it - the guy next to Michael is without doubt his boyfriend and Michael is wearing make up and the full get up. I don't think transsexual though; more drag queen