Sorry its been so long since my las blog post. I've actually seen an opera and a play since the last Ballet I reviewed the opera called The Mikado and the play Dealers Choice. I will review those in due course, university got the better of me, and to be frank I have had enough of typing words to last me a lifetime. However, in order to prolong the pain of my dissertation even longer, and to add a bit more procrastination to my list of things to do to avoid doing my dissertation! Anyway without further ado....
Performance: Billy Elliot The Musical
Performed by:
Date: 5th April 2016
Location: Victoria Palace Theatre, Victoria, London.
Seat: Stalls, Row M, Seat 8.
Rating: 9/10.
So this was a rather nice surprise from the boyfriend, I had no idea we were going until I was steered into the foyer of the Victoria Palace Theatre and he was asking to pick up tickets! It was lovely. We haven't seen anything in a while, and although I have already seen Billy Elliot before when I was about fourteen, he hadn't seen it. The musical was closing and in its last week in London, after running for eleven years, so were very lucky to catch it in its closing days (though we missed Elton!).
The story is based on a young boy in 1984 Britain -(a very different 1984 to the one we saw last June! Thank God!)- living in a small mining village in County Durham, suffering throughout the tyranny of Margaret Thatcher, the strike against the closure of the coal pits and the repercussions that faced the miners who refused to support such closures by working. It is a very clever exploration of the controversy surrounding Thatchers policies, through the eyes of the children. The main story revolves around Billy's love of ballet instead of boxing, his journey through learning the craft of ballet and his ultimate dream of dancing at the Royal Ballet School; all encouraged by his eccentric teacher Mrs Wilkinson. However, the strike, Thatcher and the pit closures, I feel also play an incredibly important role in the construction of the musical. A lot of the musical comically satirizes Thatcher, and the hardships of strike and job loss. Particularly for the likes of the generations who were young adults or teenagers in the 80's (such as my dad) there was a lot of enjoyment as they were reliving their teenage years through comical means. Boyfriend is an avid anti-Thatcher so I think he particularly enjoyed the song 'Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher' in which the words 'Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher, We all celebrate today, cause it's one day closer to your death!' accompanied by a giant oafish puppet Thatcher playing the piano. For me, I got a lot more enjoyment from the musical (particularly since the first time I saw it) since studying Thatcher in my last year of school and my first year of university. Having this prior historical context of Thatchers terms in government, made me understand the humour that little bit more.
Other issues that are scrutinized by the musical are Billy's families difficulty in accepting his passion for dancing, which in turn lead to some interesting gender issues. Despite it only being thirty years ago, Billy's love of ballet is seen by his family as 'poofish' and homosexual in origin. Whilst in our enlightened and arguably more liberated society of today this is obviously ridiculous, it is an controversy very well portrayed by Billy Elliot through the character of Micheal. Micheal is Billy's cross-dressing friend, who takes pleasure in dressing his mothers clothes with the justification 'me dad does it all the time!'. Personally, I believe this issue is epitomized in the song 'Expressing Yourself' in which the boys dance around in dresses, with giant dresses and essentially the moral being that there is nothing wrong with expressing yourself, being yourself, and doing this in the way you want. I feel like this is a perfect way of putting this issue to bed. It is an entertaining and whimsical way of portraying a moral, that we should accept everyone for who they are, and we can express ourselves in any way without it being anything other than exactly that, no compromises. Obviously, the musical ends with Billy's dad and brother supporting Billy, which further adds to this moral. But it is a fantastic, topical and relevant controversy to address and only adds to the brilliance of the musical.
Of course, I cannot talk about Billy Elliot without devoting some of this review to the fantastic music of Elton John and Lee Hall. The music and lyrics are perfect, and there isn't a single weak song in the musical. Each song keeps with the humorous and energetic tone of the musical, which adds a bit of light to a lot of heavy and deep issues. On many occasions I found myself singing and dancing along to the upbeat tones. That said, the music is also touching, particularly when Billy reads his letter from his dead mother out to Mrs Wilkinson. It is the perfect mix of relief, hilarity and humanity. Furthermore, the tap dancing of the musical is one of its most fantastic features! I absoloutley love tap dancing and dancing anyway (as you might have gathered from my love of ballet) so for me this was just the icing on the cake. Specifically in Billy's 'Angry Dance' the tap dancing is just incredible and makes you feel the power, and expression Billy feels when he dances. Its really amazing to behold. The sheer amount of skill it must take to star in a musical like this is just breathtaking. Each cast member tap and ballet dances, sings and acts and our Billy (I'd love to credit him, but I didn't note down which Billy was our Billy i'm afraid!) was incredible. Our Mrs Wilkinson was to boyfriends delight, Ruthie Henshall, who is very famous for her role as Fantine in Les Miserables and she also was very very good!
All in all, Billy Elliot is a hilarious, energetic exploration of 80's Britain, which portrays some controversial issues in a positive and funny light which can be enjoyed both by young and older audiences. Its a real shame that it has finished in London for now, but it is on tour, so if you get the chance please I beg you, go and see it. I highly suspect after the renovations of The Victoria Palace are finished it will resume its rightful place on the West End but that remains to be seen.
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