Critical Review at Hennepin Arts

  If you’re not familiar with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, miners’ strikes or northern England’s historical events, best study up before you watch Billy Elliot. History plays a central part in this show, one of The West End’s most successful musicals. Like Hamilton, knowledge of the history surrounding the plot is helpful to understanding the story.  Billy Elliot’s story began on screen in a 2000 film and was adapted into a musical in 2005. Both are from the same creative team — the musical adds songs by Elton John and choreography by Peter Darling . The show returned to the screen in 2014, this time filmed as a live musical at Victoria Palace Theatre in London. Billy Elliot is set in Northern England during the miners’ strike of 1984— the town is out of work and, it seems, out of hope. Billy accidentally attends a girls’ ballet class after his weekly, despised boxing class— and discovers a deep passion and incredible talent for dance that becomes a glimmer of hop...

  Musicals are so wonderful because of their careful consideration of plot, music, lyrics, acting, dancing, and technical elements.  If a show is extremely strong in at least four of those categories, and decent in the other two, it’s likely to be enjoyed by most.  But what if that’s reversed, and a show only has two extremely strong elements?  Billy Elliot is a show about a young boy who wants to dance ballet, but comes from an unapproving family of coal miners in 1980’s England.  Eventually his father comes around, and he gets into a selective ballet school.  That is the full plot of the three hour long show, and although it was humorous, and the dance numbers and set were very impressive, they did not offset the fact that this show was two hours too long. Being a musical about dancing, the choreography and execution was very well done throughout this show.  Elliott Hanna, the actor for Billy Elliot in the Broadway HD production, was incredible in...

            Why do we constantly need to ask for forgiveness and acceptance in pursuit of our passions? Billy Elliot is a classic story of dreams clashing brutally with reality. When young Billy discovers his passion for ballet amongst the turmoil of County Durham’s coal strike, he must shatter conventionality and beseech his town for financial assistance and approval as he chases a spot in the prestigious Royal Ballet School. Filmed on September 28 th , 2014 in London’s West End Victoria Palace Theatre, this show breaks the customary use of dance breaks, showcases history through the lens of childhood, and demonstrates the toil of discovering who you are when the world screams at you to be someone else.           At first glance, the stage of Billy Elliot is simplistic and traditional of musical theatre. But as the story progresses, and the Elliot house rises from the floor, and new locations are pulled straight out of th...

  Erin Stoeckig Billy Elliot reminds us that we were all “Born to Boogie” From Annie to School of Rock , Oliver! to Matilda , there is a special kind of wonder—and masochism—in seeing a musical prominently featuring child actors. The appeal (and affront for any overly self-conscious audience member) of this growing subgenre of musical theatre is in watching a person a fraction of your age dance, sing, and act their way across the stage with exponentially more skill than you could ever hope for. Billy Elliot the Musical Live , the 2014 filmed production of Elton John’s musical based on the 2000 movie of the same name, keeps with the trend, emphasizing the multitude of young talent it draws on with an additional dance number featuring most of the young men to take up the mantle of Billy during the show’s (at the time of filming) 9 years on the West End. Though the title character’s discovery of his love for ballet is the musical’s major through line, Billy Elliot speaks to the univer...