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Review of BILLY ELLIOT: The Musical

Many people know Billy Elliot from its movie released in 2000, however in 2005 the film was adapted into a stage musical spectacular with music by Sir Elton John, and book and lyrics by Lee Hall (who actually wrote screenplay for the movie). This wonderful Tony Award Winning musical has been on stages across the globe seen in London, Australia, South Korea and of course the United States. 

Rochester was lucky enough to experience this wonderful production in its 2nd National Tour. I, myself, have never actually seen the movie so I went into the show not exactly knowing what to expect, and I was pleasantly surprised with what I saw. 

At first glance, Billy Elliot: The Musical seems to be a story about a boy who is a ballerina, but by the end of the show we find that Billy just wants to be accepted for doing something that he loves and is passionate about.

At the open of the show we meet a young Billy and instantly find that his father and brother are in the midst of a strike at the minery they work at. Billy encounters Mrs. Wilkinson’s Ballet class after an attempt at boxing which just wasn’t for him. He begins to take classes behind his family’s back and his passion for ballet grows along with his natural talent for it. 

With a huge cast and amazing production numbers, the cast of Billy Elliot genuinely seem to be having fun on stage which is such a wonderful thing to see as an audience member. One of the most amazing parts of live theatre is to feel the energy that you cannot get from watching something on screen which makes this adaptation far from boring!!

With show stoping numbers such as “Electricity”, “Born to Boogie” and my personal favorite “Expressing yourself”, which is a  hilarious musical number where Billy and his best friend Michael dress up in woman clothing and jokingly sing about becoming anything you want and not worrying about what others think, which I think is a great message for everyone, especially children. Self doubt and self esteem issues are something that plague all children growing up and this show sends such a wonderful message of being able to be whatever you want to be with hard work without worrying what the “society norm” is. 

The production rotates between four young actors in the role of Billy because of how extremely physical the performance is. On Rochester’s Opening night, we had Kylend Hetherington in the role of Billy. Kylend is not new to this show as he  was in the broadway production as the characters ‘Michael’ and ‘Tall Boy’ . I was in awe of this boy who at the age of 13 was able to perform both with such talent, and like the character of Billy, you can very much see that he has a love and passion for not only dance but singing.

The show is so beautifully done and I would recommend it to anybody who wants to have a night out at the theatre and see a wonderful musical a great message….. but don’t take my word for it, go see it yourself!! 

Billy Elliot: The Musical will complete its run in Rochester on December 11th, so get your tickets today!!!

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Ps- Be on the look out for my review of SHREK The Musical coming to the Rochester’s Auditorium Theater January 31st - February 5th (Tickets on sale NOW) and be sure to LIKE me on Facebook at Facebook.com/ClaudeRBTL and follow me on Twitter @Claude_RBTL for exciting RBTL new, contests and maybe even some discount codes!!