‘And Suddenly I’m Flying, Flying Like a Bird. Like Electricity, Electricity’ Billy Elliot the Musical-Victoria Palace Theatre, London 11.3.2016

Its sad to hear of so many great musicals and plays coming to an end on West End, and within 3 months many of the greats are taking their last bow, such as Miss Saigon, and recently WarHorse, but no need to panic as in the distance a tour will be starting for both, and also for tonight’s viewing.

Billy Elliot has been performing on the West End for just over ten years having premiered in 2005, and sadly it is due to close at the beginning of April.  The Musical is adapted from the 2000 film of the same name which starred Julie Walters, and Jaime Bell, with lyrics and music written by Elton John, and Lee Hall. It tells the story of a young 11 year old motherless boy Billy who trades his boxing gloves for ballet shoes, and we watch his personal struggle and fulfilment being balanced against a counter-story of family, and the community strife caused by the UK miners strike (1985-1986) in County Durham, in North Eastern England. Its a powerful story of how a boy can overcome something and achieve so much through so much. Its a lovely story and very much known to those especially who have seen the film.

I had seen already seen this musical quite a while back when I was in my last year of Winchester University, I had been bought tickets for my birthday as it reflected the subject of my final Dissertation, ‘The Adaptation of film to musical, and how it affects the audience viewing.’ This particular adaptation was to help demonstrate from script to lyrics and what we gain from it. When studying it was clear that you do gain quite a bit more from the musical, with many different add ins to the story (which usually is the case when the musical is 3 hours and 20 minutes inc interval as opposed to the 1 hour and 50 minutes for the film) and from the Musical we learn a lot more about Grandma through ‘Grandma’s Song’ and also how the events of his Wife’s passing, and the strike affected Billy’s Dad in ‘Deep into the Ground’ and ‘He Could Be a Star’ each sharing their moments to the audience and bringing us closer to the story.

I had seen the film after I had seen Musical and I will admit that I prefer the musical, emotionally, and this was seen through the song ‘Dear Billy, (Mum’s Letter)’ where Billy shares with Mrs Wilkinson the letter that his mum wrote for him for when he turned 18, not surprisingly he opened early, I found that singing the letter hit me harder than watching it being read aloud in the film, and I cried listening to the lyrics (as well as my friend) which didn’t in the film it just shows that music affects you more than words.  However having said that I did find parts of the musical a little tacky, especially during the song ‘Expressing Yourself’ where Michael sings about its not wrong to be different, although I find the song provide a great meaning I found how they directed the song tacky with the big dresses, and trousers, I can see that they were trying to show a child’s imagination but I would have rather of them been on stage dancing then bringing all the fancy affects in, and it killed the vibe of the show. that would only be my dislike to the show other than that its comedy and your laughing out loud (especially with some of the words that come out of the children’s mouth), and choreography (you can’t not smile during all of Billy’s dances or not have your jaw drop at every spin) was breath-taking.

Now tonight’s performance was a special one as it was a treat for my best friends occasion her birthday, and I knew that she has wanted to see this musical since forever, and knowing it was closing it all fell together quite well. There is a deal going on currently with See Tickets #seeyalondon where tickets are reduced from their original price, now last time we were up in the grand circle which I remembered wasn’t a bad view, so I searched for seats again in this section. I went with Row E seats 13 and 14 at the price of £29.50 and I was quite happy when we took our seats with the stage in full sight there wasn’t much to complain about until the couple in front of me sat down and the boyfriend was quite tall so I had to lean to the side at times, plus he had an E cigarette which he must of felt was ok to use during most of the performance! But nonetheless I was quite happy and would recommend these seats to those who are looking into trying to catch this show before it closes, or to any new show that plays at the Victoria Palace in the future (which has yet to be announced) especially with the price I paid, and you can see from the photo.

When we arrived at the theatre I scowled the foyer for the cast list board usually displayed to show who would be performing, but the only one I could see was the children’s cast board as to whom would be playing Billy, Michael, and Debbie, which I was happy to see as I don’t usually find this in other shows like Charlie, and Matilda, I did not however see the other cast board so it wasn’t until the show began where I found who was playing who.

Tonight’s cast was:

Billy – Brodie Donougher

Miss Wilkinson -Wendy Somerville (Alternative)

Billy’s Dad – Deka Walmsley

Tony – Matthew Seadon-Young

Grandma – Gillian Elisa

Mr Braithwaite – Phil Snowden

Michael – Nathan Jones

Debbie – Beatrice Bartley

Now again it wasn’t until I saw the actors on stage, except for children that I knew who was playing, and I had most of the original cast except for Miss Wilkinson who is usually played by Ruthie Henshall and although it would have been lovely to have seen her in action being a huge star on stage, butI know with the West End you are never guaranteed to have the main person, but that’s not to say that the understudy isn’t just as good cause why would they have had that responsibility in the first place? They go through rehearsals learning the role, the lines, and moves and even to some understudies may never get the chance to perform that role, and that to me are the true stars. So I find it sad when people complain when the lead actor or actress isn’t playing and demanding their money back. Give them a chance you may be pleasantly surprised and sometimes I go and see a show when I know the understudy is on (Jon Robyns was alternative Huey, and I made a special trip to see Ian Hawkins play Duey in Rock of Ages). Wendy Somerville demonstrated a great Miss Wilkinson, and I loved watching her perform and turn Billy into the dancer that he became, Phil Snowden (who was playing the same role the last time I saw Billy Elliot) as Mr Braithwaite paired up well with her and brought some great comedy moments to the Ballet classes and dance scenes.

Billy’s family Tony, Dad, and Grandma played by Matthew, Deka and Gillian were a warming trio who each had their own way on stage whether battling the strike, or supporting Billy with his dream. Gilian especially brought smiles to the audience with a brilliant comic timings and then taking our hearts in her song about her past with her husband, I could watch that scene other and other as its just wonderfully directed. Deka was a brilliant dad, and you can see the passion he had for his child and willing to give up so much for him to go far, even if it meant his pride and how his other colleagues and friends would see him, you also watch him change his perception on dance and you gain so much more respect for him for doing what he did. Matthew as Tony also was very good in his role, at times it is hard to warm to the character as he can be quite hurtful at times during the show with how he treats others and Billy but you can see how desperate he is and how far he will go to stand up to what he believes him for himself and others and what lengths he would travel to get it and Matthew shows this journey throughout the performance.

Now onto the children and I always say there is some amazing talent these days shown thorough out children and I know it takes a lot to play the role of Billy, Brodie was spectacular not only through his acting but his dancing was stunning to watch and you couldn’t wait for the next move. I have always loved ‘Electricity’ and the dance sequence that comes with it has a soft spot on my heart as my Nana would love to watch it being performed on the telly, I just wish she could have seen it in real life. Brodie stole the show as many Billys have done in the past and I bet he is very happy to say that he has played the role on  West End Jealous as am he can  . Nathan as Michael had confidence and settled within his role well, his comic moments were beautifully timed and it takes a lot to make a full audience laugh but he did it with every line. and move. Beatrice as the bold and strong Debbie was great and although you showed a thick skin you could see that she just wanted the acceptance of her mum and had a thing for Billy something we can all relate to well us girls anyway.

If you get the chance to a catch this amazing show before it closes your very lucky, but don’t be worried if you miss it, the tour is just around the corner and I would recommend it. I must admit I enjoyed it a lot more this time round than I did the first and if the prices of the tickets aren’t too much then I may even try and catch the tour to see how different it is to its home theatre (as there usually is some changes). So try and get your tickets soon, or see if its coming to a venue, it is defiantly one that you have to see . Oh and hope you enjoyed your birthday Natalie!