Kathy and I spent a marvelous day in Chicago with dear friend Marshall Anderson in what amounted to a tardy celebration of his 50th birthday (on the 11th of June) and an early celebration of Kathy’s ??th birthday (on the 27th of the month.) Although we ate two great meals (one at the CHeesecake Factory and the other at the Berghoff) and enjoyed some fun on Navy Pier (it was a perfect day to be there) the centerpiece of the trip was a performance of the musical Billy Elliot by Elton John.
Marshall saw this show out in New York City and couldn’t stop raving about it – and was very anxious for Kathy and me to see it and hoped that we would enjoy it as much as he did. Towards that end, his birthday gift for Kathy consisted of the DVD of the original Billy Elliot film, the CD of the original cast recording, and a lush full-color souvenir book from the show. Step one was to watch the film, which was tremendously entertaining and moving – and which acquainted us with the story. (In a nutshell, it concerns a young boy who longs to study ballet rather than boxing; that story plays out against the backdrop of a miners’ strike which is causing economic devastation in that small town.) The CD gave us a taste of the score, plus it helped us learn some of the lyrics- which are so clever but which are a little tricky to understand upon first hearing, due to the heavy English accent. (Which reminds me- We followed Marshall’s advice and watched the DVD of the movie with the English subtitles turned on, because quite a lot of the spoken dialogue was all but impossible to make out.) And the souvenir book got us very excited about the production itself. So by the time Saturday rolled around, we were chomping at the bit, excited to see this show and with our expectations sky high.
And I am happy to report that this show did not disappoint us in the least. . . except for the heavy set guy who sat next to my wife during act one who basically smelled like a a deli counter in the Bronx. At intermission, Kathy and I swapped seats so she could watch act two without feeling like she was drowning in a sea of liquid salami. (What an awful way to go!) But the show itself was fantastic- both entertaining and poignant- and the young man who performed the critical role of Billy Elliot was wonderful in every way. Warning: you hear the F word a fair amount in this show (and I don’t mean F as in Frankfurter) and it’s especially jarring to hear it spoken even by the young kids in the cast. But it’s there to give one a sense that these are real live human beings from the rougher side of the tracks- and once we were over the initial shock of it, we were able to accept it and not be unduly distracted by it. Warning #2- Some of the plot revolves around a miner’s strike that’s a little bit confusing, and even Marshall doesn’t quite grasp what all of that’s about. But if you don’t get too hung up on that part of the plot, it’s no big deal. (Maybe as opera fans, we’re used to shrugging off weird and confusing plot lines.) Warning #3- If you’re more of an Oklahoma, Music Man kind of person, you need to know that there are a couple of riot scenes that are quite intense – and wall-shakingly loud. But if you don’t mind that sort of potent drama in your musicals, you will love this show.
I know that we loved it – and that was such a relief because Marshall wanted us to love it, and if we hadn’t, we would have had to do our best to pretend that we liked it more than we did. . . dreaming up compliments that we didn’t really mean. But no such tiptoeing around the truth was necessary. We loved it. And although I can’t say that I’m walking around whistling any of the songs from the show- it is sticking with me in other ways. This is a song that haunts your memory, especially because you can so easily see yourself in one or more of those characters. . . and it’s not often that you can say that about a musical. And the moral of the story- the importance of being who you are, even if that puts you at odds with everybody around you- is about as important a message as a show can convey. By the way, young Billy is an especially sympathetic character because his mom died some years earlier, and the song in which we hear the tender words of a letter his late mom wrote to him (intending him to open it and read it on his 18th birthday, but he couldn’t bring himself to wait that long) had me reaching for my hankie. So did a remarkable scene in which we see young Billy dancing side by side with his taller, older, future self in a scene from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. And we even loved the curtain call, in which every character in the cast interacted with Billy in delightful fashion – and just the sight of every single member of the cast, including the men, sporting tutus drove home the show’s central message that we need to discard some of the fussy, uptight rules we’ve contructed about ourselves and each other. There is such joy to be found in living outside of the box!
Anyway, this is a fantastic show- well deserving of the many Tony Awards it earned- and it’s that kind of rare musical that both entertains you and makes you think. See it if you can. . . but do a little homework ahead of time, so you can really appreciate this show and all it has to offer.
pictured above: Kathy and Marshall right in front of the Oriental Theater, where we saw Billy Elliot. (this is the theater where Wicked played for such a long time.) By the way, the theater itself is incredibly beautiful. . . and they allow any and all concessions inside the auditorium, which is one sure way to win over my heart!