Billy Elliot Dances Its Heart Out, Distracting from a Thin Plot by Mabel Weismann

 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 hope and escape from his depressed town. 

Not many shows featuring kids as lead characters can avoid being annoyingly overdone — Billy Elliot does a great job, thanks to its incredible casting. This show was carried by the phenomenal child actors, from Elliot Hanna, taking on a role that would be challenging for anyone, much less a 12-year-old, to 11-year-old Zachary Atkinson as Billy’s best friend and fellow misfit Michael. Together, their eight-minute literally show-stopping musical number features Atkinson and Hanna’s impressive dance skills, harmonies and charismatic charms— they receive a standing ovation at the end of this number, unusual in the middle of a performance. Hanna barely has a second off stage and his captivating expressions and jaw-dropping dance abilities enthrall audiences until the end—and then even longer in the unexpected special finale. 

While the dance was spectacular, the plot was confusing. Possibly because the original story is British and intended for people who know about England’s history of the late 1900s, or perhaps because I might not be the intended audience, since I didn’t grow up in the 1980s and don’t know much about Margaret Thatcher, I was lost most of the time. Fortunately, the musical pushed the plot to the side by the middle of the show, making it less necessary to follow the story and easier to focus on the outstanding dancing. Nor could I understand half the lines because the cast’s authentic (but difficult for American ears to comprehend) Northern England Geordie accents were extremely thick. There aren’t subtitles for live theater, but filmed shows like this one might benefit from having the option of subtitles. Elton John’s score seemed fitting for the time period, considering his ‘80s hits and his music in The Lion King. Unfortunately, the songs were less than memorable. 

Like me, you may not fully understand what happened during those three hours, but you’ll leave impressed by the dance talent and the amount of physical stamina it took to perform this show each night. And if you do watch Billy Elliot, do a little research, learn about Margaret Thatcher’s policies, and make sure to turn on the subtitles before pressing play.