SOOOO I went to see Billy Elliot last night. Unfortunately it left me feeling half-heartedly intrigued anytime after intermission and two-thirds in both me and Rebecca were definitely wishing it were Rent.
The music: WORST PART. It really is that simple, the music was entirely lacking. I would not listen to it outside of the show, it wasn’t catchy or musically astute or anywhere in-between. The vocals were pretty good, but definitely didn’t make up for the lack of musical development throughout the show. They did keep one recurrent tune, the one song that I was pretty fond of, consisting of “we’re all in this together”—mostly sung by coal miners.
The storyline: Another disappointing aspect. Admittedly, I haven’t seen the movie so I wasn’t entirely sure where the story was going or knowledgeable about what they left in/left out/rearranged/whatever. However, I was under the impression that it was supposed to be inspiring (as the mug I bought has “Be inspired” scrawled on it and all of the clothes are exclaiming SO YOU WANT TO DANCE?) and I did not leave feeling inspired…or even strikingly moved. As a huge supporter of theater and specifically of musical theater, I consider myself moderately easy to move through the arts. This show…it just didn’t deliver for me. Unlike what the lightpole advertises in this photo, it was definitely not the best musical of the decade. The mining aspect was understandably included, as it reflected the difference between what Billy was trying to do and what his place in society expected of him, but that does not mean it needs to take almost half of the story up. I also understand, and actually liked the inclusion of the political side of things during this time and the hatred of Margaret Thatcher. I did not like the random attempt at subtle communist rhetoric (that was way too obvious). Reinforcing that all theater-folk are complete hippydippies who have no idea about what might actually make a difference in the world. This wouldn’t have been a problem had the idea been expanded, or even touched upon in an intellectually stimulating way instead of in a “poor Billy, poor Billy’s dad!” way.
Other Theater/Drama Things: What made the show overall enjoyable for me in spite of the list of negatives or incongruencies was definitely the impact of the director. I keep meaning to check who directed it, but I’m not sure off the top of my head. Even though I didn’t like the story, it was definitely a good theater experience. The visual aspect was absolutely stunning. The combination of old Broadway (think high-kick lines and feathers EVERYWHERE) and (clearly Elton John envisioned) 7 ft tall dancing dresses and 11 year old crossdressers worked in contradiction paradise and I loved every second of that aspect. The set design was nearly from what I could tell, each set change was seamless. They could have used a little more variety for other places, but with such HUGE set pieces, there are going to be limitations.
Obviously, the dancing was out of this world fantastic.
So, overall it was pretty good, and I give major props to all of the dancers and the director….even though from a musical theater perspective and a girl who needed some inspiration’s perspective, it was less than I’d hoped for.
