Billy Elliot (musical)
| Musical dates | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Billy Elliot |
| Original title: | Billy Elliot |
| Original language: | English |
| Music: | Elton John |
| Book: | Lee Hall |
| Lyrics: | Lee Hall |
| Premiere: | May 11, 2005 |
| Place of premiere: | Victoria Palace Theater, London, England |
| Place and time of the action: | County Durham (England) 1984/85 |
| Roles / people | |
& Ensemble |
|
Billy Elliot is a musical based on the 2000 film of the same name, Billy Elliot - I Will Dance . From May 2005 to April 2016, the musical ran in London's Victoria Palace Theater, making it one of the most successful musicals in the history of London's West End . Due to its great success and numerous awards, the play was also successfully adopted on New York's Broadway and other locations, where it also received numerous awards. The music is by Elton John , the book and lyrics were written by Lee Hall , who also wrote the script for the film.
The musical is about the 11-year-old Billy Elliot, who grew up in difficult circumstances and discovered his love for ballet. It is set against the backdrop of the miners' strike in England in 1984/85 .
action
1st act
In 1984, County Durham went on a miners' strike. 11-year-old Billy, who lives with his father, older brother and grandmother after his mother's death, takes boxing lessons at his father's request , but he does not enjoy them. One day when he is staying at the community center after boxing practice, he sees Mrs. Wilkinson's ballet class. Even though there are only girls there, Billy starts dancing too. Since he cannot pay the 50 pence fee at the end of the lesson, he should do so next time.
While his father, his older brother and numerous neighbors are busy with the strike and keep clashing with the police, Billy has given up boxing and now takes ballet lessons from Mrs. Wilkinson regularly, which he hides from his family. Nor does he tell his grandmother, to whom dancing meant a lot in their difficult marriage, about it.
After his father discovers that Billy is taking ballet lessons, he forbids him to participate. Mrs. Wilkinson, who has long since recognized Billy's great potential, wants him to apply to the Royal Ballet School in London and even offers him free private lessons. Since Billy doesn't know how to decide, he visits his best friend Michael to ask him for advice. When he arrives at Michael’s place, he meets Michael’s older sister’s clothes. At first Billy is a little shocked, but Michael explains to him that there is nothing wrong with wearing women's clothes and that this is a way for him to express himself and rebel against the prudish rules of society. Finally, Billy sheds his shyness and doesn't care that his best friend wears women's clothes.
For the first private lesson with Mrs. Wilkinson, Billy brings a letter from his late mother, in which she encourages him to always believe in himself and to be true to himself. During the lessons with Mrs. Wilkinson, a close friendship develops between the two. Meanwhile, the fight between the strikers and the police is getting tougher and it is more and more difficult for Billy's father and brother to feed the family with the strike money.
When Billy is supposed to go to the audition for admission to the Royal Ballet School with Mrs. Wilkinson, he does not appear. Then she drives to Billy's home and sees that Billy's brother was injured in a fight with the police. She tells Billy's family about the private lessons and the audition, which makes Billy's father and brother very angry.
Billy asks his father to continue dancing and tells him that his late mother would have allowed him if she were still alive. But his father finally forbids Billy to dance. Billy is furious about this decision and reacts in a wild dance, while the police and strikers clash again.
2nd act
Six months have passed. At the annual Christmas party at the community center, parishioners make fun of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher , whose policies they see as the evil of social problems across the country, with bitter sarcasm . As the evening progresses and Billy's father drunk and starts an old song that reminds him of his late wife, he finally bursts into tears and leaves the party.
When Billy and his friend Michael are left alone at the community center at the end of the evening, Michael confesses to Billy that he is in love with him. But Billy explains to him that he is not gay just because he dances ballet. Michael gives Billy a kiss on the cheek and asks him to dance for him, which Billy refuses, because it still makes him sad that he is no longer allowed to take part in ballet classes.
After Michael leaves him alone, Billy dreams of being a grown-up dancer and starts dancing again for the first time in months. When his father suddenly appears and watches Billy dance, he is amazed by the quality and touched by Billy's talent. He begins to rethink his mind as he sees an opportunity for a better life for his son. He visits Mrs. Wilkinson to ask her if Billy could really do well as a dancer and escape the hard work as a miner and life in poverty. Mrs. Wilkinson confirms Billy's talent and offers to pay for the trip to London. But Billy's father is too proud to accept this offer and refuses.
In order to give Billy the chance to take the ballet school entrance exam and to be able to pay for the trip to London, his father decides to go back to work and becomes a strike breaker. When Billy's older brother notices this, he gets angry at his father and the two argue about which is more important: the unity of the workers or Billy's future and his chance for a better life. In the course of the argument, Billy accidentally takes a blow. When the other miners see this, they start to raise money for Billy's trip to London, but it doesn't raise enough. Another strike-breaker offers the remaining money, but Billy's older brother angrily refuses. For the good of his son, however, Billy's father forgets his pride and finally accepts the money.
Once in London, Billy has to audition for the entrance exam. While his father has to wait outside, another dancer tells him that his father never supported him and how important it is that the family stand behind Billy. After the audition, Billy has the feeling that he has not convinced. When another boy tries to comfort him, Billy takes out his anger on him and hits him. When the teachers learn this, they emphasize not to tolerate such behavior and remind Billy of the school's tough standards. On the basis of a letter from Mrs. Wilkinson in which she explains Billy's difficult circumstances and praises his great talent, they ask Billy to explain to them what dancing means to him and how he feels when dancing.
Back in Durham, life goes on as usual. The miners are now dependent on getting a warm meal in a soup kitchen. When the long-awaited letter finally arrives from London, the whole family waits eagerly for Billy to find out whether he has passed the entrance exam. And sure enough - Billy is accepted at the school. At the same time the union gives up the strike; the miners lost.
Before leaving for London, Billy visits Mrs. Wilkinson to thank her for all she has done for him. When the workers go back to work, Billy says goodbye to them and his family. In a lonely moment, Billy speaks to his dead mother to read her a letter he wrote in response to her letter.
When Billy leaves town, sad Michael appears to say goodbye to his best friend. When he calls after Billy, he drops his suitcase and runs back to Michael to give him a kiss on the cheek. After all, Billy walks towards his future alone.
Music track
The original instrumentation of the London production is designed for an orchestra with 17 musicians, with most of the musicians taking over several instruments. A smaller orchestra is often used in touring productions.
1st act
- "The Stars Look Down" ensemble
- "Shine" - Mrs. Wilkinson, Billy, Ballet Girls and Mr. Braithwaite
- "Grandma's Song" - grandmother
- "Solidarity" - Billy, Mrs. Wilkinson, ballet girls, miners and police officers
- "Expressing Yourself" - Billy and Michael
- "The Letter (Mum's Letter)" - Mrs. Wilkinson, Billy and his mother
- "Born to Boogie" - Mrs. Wilkinson, Billy and Mr. Braithwaite
- "Angry Dance" - Billy & male ensemble
2nd act
- "Merry Christmas, Maggie Thatcher" ensemble
- "Deep Into the Ground" - Jackie
- "Swan Lake" - Billy and Adult Billy
- "He Could Be a Star" - Jackie and Tony ("He Could Go and He Could Shine" in US productions)
- "Electricity" - Billy
- "Once We Were Kings" ensemble
- "The Letter (Billy's Reply)" - Billy and his mother
- Finale - ensemble
Performances
- May 11, 2005 (previews from March 31, 2005) - April 9, 2016: Victoria Palace Theater, London, England
- November 13, 2007 - November 9, 2008: Capitol Theater, Sydney, Australia
- November 13, 2008 (previews from October 1, 2008) - January 8, 2012: Imperial Theater , New York, USA (a total of 1,312 performances and 40 previews)
- December 13, 2008 - June 14, 2009: Her Majesty's Theater, Melbourne, Australia
- August 14, 2010 (previews from August 10, 2010) - February 27, 2011: LG Arts Center, Seoul, South Korea (first non-English-language performance of the musical)
- November 30, 2014 (previews from November 6, 2014) - November 7, 2015: Circustheater, Scheveningen, Netherlands
- February 24, 2016 - July 23, 2017: UK National Tour
- June 28, 2017 - July 23, 2017: Mehr! -Theater am Großmarkt , Hamburg, Germany (German station of the English tour production)
and numerous other productions, including in Denmark, Estonia, Italy, Hungary and Israel.
Awards and reviews
The London production was nominated for nine Laurence Olivier Awards in 2006, four of which were won, including a. the award for Best New Musical . In 2013 the musical received another Laurence Olivier Award: the audience award for the most popular show.
The Broadway production received ten Tony Awards and ten Drama Desk Awards in 2009 , both of which included the award for Best Musical . With a total of 15 nominations for Tony Awards, the piece is one of two pieces with the highest number of nominations ever. There were also numerous other awards, such as several Outer Critics Circle Awards , the Theater World Award and the Young Artist Award .
The piece also received numerous awards internationally, including a. in Australia, South Korea and the Netherlands.
There was also a lot of praise in the international press. For example, Charles Spencer wrote in the Daily Telegraph about the London production : “The greatest British musical I have ever seen” and the Daily Mail described the piece as a “theatrical masterpiece”.
For example, Time Magazine judged the Broadway production : "The best musical of the decade." And the New York Post found the piece to be "The best show you will ever see".
Origin & Background
- After Elton John saw the film for the first time in Cannes, he immediately approached director Stephen Daldry with the idea of making a stage musical out of the material.
- The London musical version had a production cost of £ 5.5 million. The Broadway version had a budget of $ 18 million. Nevertheless, both productions are a financial success.
- On October 13, 2010, the 3 millionth visitor was welcomed to the Victoria Palace Theater in London .
Sound carrier
- Billy Elliot - The Original London Cast Recording (2005) (contains all tracks except Swan Lake )
- Billy Elliot - Special Edition (double CD, the first CD is identical to the original London Cast Recording , the second CD contains three tracks from the musical sung by Elton John)
recording
On September 28, 2014, the matinee was broadcast live in numerous cinemas in the UK and other countries. In this performance, Liam Mower, one of the first three actors in Billy when the musical began in 2005, took on the role of the older Billy. The other cast included u. a. Elliott Hanna as Billy, Ruthie Henshall as Mrs. Wilkinson, Deka Walmsley as Billy's father, Chris Grahamson as Billy's brother Tony and Ann Emery as Grandma. As an encore, a special choreography by 25 former and current actors of the title role was shown after the finale. This recording was then released on DVD and Blu-ray on November 24, 2014.
- Billy Elliot - The Musical Live (2014) (available on DVD and Blu-ray)
Web links
- Billy Elliot - The Musical - Official homepage of the London production company
- Billy Elliot in Guide to Musical Theater (English)
- Billy Elliot in the Internet Broadway Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hamburger Abendblatt, "BILLY ELLIOT" Hamburg is getting a new musical in summer 2017
- ↑ Official Website - West End press reviews ( memento of March 24, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) billyelliotthemusical.com
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento from September 29, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0249462/trivia
- ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0249462/trivia
- ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0249462/trivia