I hope I got the spelling right!
Hmmm....
When I started this blog, I never thought I'd be documenting something live. But I just had to review this one after three hours of wholesome entertainment.
I am in the US for six months (till September) and I had silently made a vow to myself that whenever I go to Britain I'll see the Opera and whenever I go to the US, I will definitely see a Broadway musical. Little did I know it will take me less than a month in the US to fulfil my vow. It just so happened that I was sitting on my favourite couch, with nothing interesting playing on TV, and a newspaper carelessly dropped on the floor caught my attention. It talked about four young 13-14 year old boys whose dreams came true as they were cast in the lead for the musical version of Billy Elliot, with compositions by Elton John!!! and (hold your breath for this) it was to run in Portland for an entire two weeks. Everything seemed right about it......that it was ballet and jazz focused; that it had musci by a biggie; that it had won 9 tony awards; that it was close to where i lived; and that i could accomodate it into my schedule. And so, despite having over-stepped my month's budget already, I decided to buy the $36 (Rs 1,600) ticket. And it was worth all the money.....
Review begins:
The setting was perfect, with one of the grandest theatres I have ever seen. And as the lights dimmed out, a young kid walked up to the stage, moved her tiny bum side-to-side (drawing immediate laughter from the house-full auditorum, although thankfully the seat next to me was empty) and sat down to watch the show as the curtains rose. The next three hours I was lost in a different place; a different country (Britain); a different setting (a miner's village) and a different time (sometime in the 1900's when Margaret Thatcher was in power), losing all consciousness of the actual world I was in. Such is the power of live performances - the depth of vision and surround of sound are unmatchable. I remember having goosebumps that sent a shiver down my spine at more than one instance. And the first 15 minutes, I just couldn't believe I was actually watching a broadway muscial. Oh, what fine acting (from cast of all ages), what melodous singing, and what graceful-yet-strong dancing. It was more than anything I could imagine.
And despite all these goodies, the one thing that really blew me away was the production design. From the first minute that the curtain rose, I could not beleive my eyes when I saw the elaborate sets that were created on stage. Being associated with "poor" campus theatre, I usually see plays that use "the minimal-sets approach". But there is an altogether different charm to using elaborate well-crafted moving sets. The village seemed so real. And as it transitioned into Billy's house with more sets coming in, I couldn't take my eyes of Billy's room up on the first level. The same room would later serve as his "prison" during the "Angry Dance" and it was just awesome use for a set.
Billy is a boy of 12 who discovers his love for dance when he accidentally attends the ballet class which happens in the same room as his boxing lessons (which he has no passion for). As he discreetly attends the classes, his Ballet (pronounced Baa-lii by the villagers) teacher discovers much more than a young boy interested in dancing; she discovers a real talent (and Swiss boy playing the part is really talented!). She encourages Billy to apply to the Royal School of Ballet and he starts dreaming big. But like Bollywood, the hero's father must create obstacles. Now this was a mining town and mining family, and all "boys" were expected to grow into "men". So dance was for girls and "queers". But eventually, the family gives in to Billy's dream due to a combination of circumstances and recognition of Billy's talent. He gets his audition and in the end, he gets through.
What was interesting was the sub-plots that were taking place on stage. Co trary to the review I read in the Oregonian before I went to see it play, I felt that all sub-plots were crucial to making Billy' story and journey more accentuated. For instance, the grandmother, who was an extremely fun and interesting character played by an equally interesting actor, was a rebel of sorts. Her "I'll never be sober" story about how her husband was fun only when he was drunk and how they used to dance when he wasn't sober was something that probably helped Billy decide to take a bold step and attend private Ballet classes on the sly at night to prepare for the audition. Then there was the miners' strike, which not only made clear how important mining (and all the associated values) were to the villagers (the song "Solidarity" still rings in my ears), but also established the circumstances that would first hinder and later brighten Billy's prospects for pursuing Ballet. When the miners' strike toook a violent turn, Billy's brother Tony's character emerged as a stubborn, passionate chap, and his objections to Billy's ballet looked quite natural in the latter scenes. Similarly, in the second half, as the strike continued for over a year and was losing steam as defeat was clear, Billy's father probably realised that the prospects for mining were bleak and could therefore find the will to support his son despite opposition from his elder son. And the entire town pitching in for his audition money also made much more sense in the backdrop of the lost cause for mining.
Another fascinating sub-plot, which dealt with the value system that governed the theme in general, was the interaction of Billy with his best friend Michael. Michael loved to dress up in women's clothing and wear make up and found it to be absolutely normal. Initially both Michael and Billy were skeptical about each other's breaking-the-norm behaviour, but each warmed up tothe other over time. Another important thing established by their Christmas-time interaction was that Michael was homosexual (although he was too young for me to use that word, I don't know how to say it more clearly) and kissed Billy as he assumed Billy was too because he licked to dance! Billy made it clear to him that he was not, and the interaction between them after these revelations was extremely sweet and moving. Billy agreed to keep Michael's secret, and their freindship that lay in their differences grew even stronger.
The Christmas scene I just mentioned was preced by the opening after interval. And this was marvellously done. Before the curtains opened, Santa Claus and his assistancts carried hand held mikes on stage as they talked to the audience. No one had a clue this was part of the play, and responded to Santa Claus as he asked questions. And when Santa claus said, "We welcome you to the second half of...". the audience naturally assumed the next words would be "Billy Elliot", but they were...."....the mining village annual Christams show". And as the curtains rose again, the audience relaised they had become a part of the play itself. I thought that was marvellous and intelligent!
The play had numerous jokes. It was incredibly hillarious and the audience laughed a lot. Jokes were cracked at the expense of Maragaret Thacther, who the village hated. "There's more power in Maggie Thatcher's knickers than in your punch". And the Christmas show had a magnificent puppet show with a larger-than=life size puppet of Mrs. Thatcher. At the end of the show, Mr Elliot sang, and the song reflected his depression of a dying village and a lost family quite well.
The fourth sub-plot which was the most emotional one was Billy's mother. She died when Billy was young, but left him a letter that he was supposed to open when he was 18 but opened a few years too early. This letter was his dearest possesion and connected him to his mom even after her death. There was this beautiful scene where the Ballet teacher asks Billy to get his possessions and he giver her the letter to read. As she reads, Billy can see his mother reading to him, telling him to do what he beleived in and be true to himself and telling him she was proud of him no matter what. It was a very emotional scene. But it was also important because I think it brought Billy closer to his teacher and their grew the akin of a mother-son relationship between them.
There were some beautiful songs in the production.
Solidarity - it was typical Elton John I thought. It had the punch and strength so required. And the choreography was brilliant.
Angry Dance - this must have required so much energy. Billy was refused to go to the audition and he tried to stop himself from dancing but the dance was breaking out of his body (try and imagine a tightly-closed pot at boiling point ready to burst and bubbling out). The actor did a wonderful job. I especially loved the part where his room was transformed into a cage, and then wehn the police barricades were transformed into a cage. I cannot imagine how any actor could have so much power to go through that piece. It was mind blowing.
Women's clothing (I can't remember the words): Man, this was incredible. It is the piece which defined for me that this was a broadway musical. Shimmering backdrops, tap dancing, wonderful costumes, bright spotlights, and all the dresses that Michale wore came out in huge sizes and did a dance of thesmelves. Oh god, I just loved it!
Dad's sad song: Like I said, this was a very important point for me in understanding the graph of the character's emotions.
Grandma's rebel song: This was absolutely wonderful, especially because of the use of chairs by the male ensemble. As grandma danced with men after men representing grandpa in various moods and ages, and the way the drunk grandpa would transform into a sober guy in morning was displayed through choreography was simply maginfique.
Billy and his older self: This dance sort of reflected what Billy could achieve. The older Billy was a dancer class apart. The use of the chair was slpendid in this peiec too. And there were quite interesting lifts and jumps and of course, the aerial act!
Teacher, assistant and Billy dance: This is where Billy takes his private classes at night and the dance reflects passage of time as billy keeps improving. All three actors did a memorable job!
Electricity: This by far was my favourite. It is I think a piece that desribes very well how any passionate artist feels when he pursues the art. It spoke to me at a very personal level. And the choreography was awesome too. (I'm free...the words still linger in my mind even after a week).
All actors were awesome - the men's ensemble, the ballet dancer girls, the miners, Tony (I loved Tony), mother, father, grandma, the teacher, the teacher's cute assistant/musician, the reflection of Billy's older self, the young girl who liked Billy, Michael, and Billy himself (I'm sure all four kids would be great, but I speak only of this one I saw perform).
I loved the ending when Billy tells his mom he would do what he beleived in and be true to himself, and then as he leaves town towards a bright future, the miners go back to the dark mines (strike gets called off after losing to Maggie). Before leaving, Billy kisses Mike goodbye, which was very touching.
In the end, as a bonus, there was a dance to show credits (supposedly Billy is training at the Royal Ballet School), and everyone comes to perform in tutus (all the men too!) It was a lot of fun and absolutely slpendid.
In short, if I had to watch just one musical through my stay, this would be it. I loved Billy Elliot!
Hmmm....
When I started this blog, I never thought I'd be documenting something live. But I just had to review this one after three hours of wholesome entertainment.
I am in the US for six months (till September) and I had silently made a vow to myself that whenever I go to Britain I'll see the Opera and whenever I go to the US, I will definitely see a Broadway musical. Little did I know it will take me less than a month in the US to fulfil my vow. It just so happened that I was sitting on my favourite couch, with nothing interesting playing on TV, and a newspaper carelessly dropped on the floor caught my attention. It talked about four young 13-14 year old boys whose dreams came true as they were cast in the lead for the musical version of Billy Elliot, with compositions by Elton John!!! and (hold your breath for this) it was to run in Portland for an entire two weeks. Everything seemed right about it......that it was ballet and jazz focused; that it had musci by a biggie; that it had won 9 tony awards; that it was close to where i lived; and that i could accomodate it into my schedule. And so, despite having over-stepped my month's budget already, I decided to buy the $36 (Rs 1,600) ticket. And it was worth all the money.....
Review begins:
The setting was perfect, with one of the grandest theatres I have ever seen. And as the lights dimmed out, a young kid walked up to the stage, moved her tiny bum side-to-side (drawing immediate laughter from the house-full auditorum, although thankfully the seat next to me was empty) and sat down to watch the show as the curtains rose. The next three hours I was lost in a different place; a different country (Britain); a different setting (a miner's village) and a different time (sometime in the 1900's when Margaret Thatcher was in power), losing all consciousness of the actual world I was in. Such is the power of live performances - the depth of vision and surround of sound are unmatchable. I remember having goosebumps that sent a shiver down my spine at more than one instance. And the first 15 minutes, I just couldn't believe I was actually watching a broadway muscial. Oh, what fine acting (from cast of all ages), what melodous singing, and what graceful-yet-strong dancing. It was more than anything I could imagine.
And despite all these goodies, the one thing that really blew me away was the production design. From the first minute that the curtain rose, I could not beleive my eyes when I saw the elaborate sets that were created on stage. Being associated with "poor" campus theatre, I usually see plays that use "the minimal-sets approach". But there is an altogether different charm to using elaborate well-crafted moving sets. The village seemed so real. And as it transitioned into Billy's house with more sets coming in, I couldn't take my eyes of Billy's room up on the first level. The same room would later serve as his "prison" during the "Angry Dance" and it was just awesome use for a set.
Billy is a boy of 12 who discovers his love for dance when he accidentally attends the ballet class which happens in the same room as his boxing lessons (which he has no passion for). As he discreetly attends the classes, his Ballet (pronounced Baa-lii by the villagers) teacher discovers much more than a young boy interested in dancing; she discovers a real talent (and Swiss boy playing the part is really talented!). She encourages Billy to apply to the Royal School of Ballet and he starts dreaming big. But like Bollywood, the hero's father must create obstacles. Now this was a mining town and mining family, and all "boys" were expected to grow into "men". So dance was for girls and "queers". But eventually, the family gives in to Billy's dream due to a combination of circumstances and recognition of Billy's talent. He gets his audition and in the end, he gets through.
What was interesting was the sub-plots that were taking place on stage. Co trary to the review I read in the Oregonian before I went to see it play, I felt that all sub-plots were crucial to making Billy' story and journey more accentuated. For instance, the grandmother, who was an extremely fun and interesting character played by an equally interesting actor, was a rebel of sorts. Her "I'll never be sober" story about how her husband was fun only when he was drunk and how they used to dance when he wasn't sober was something that probably helped Billy decide to take a bold step and attend private Ballet classes on the sly at night to prepare for the audition. Then there was the miners' strike, which not only made clear how important mining (and all the associated values) were to the villagers (the song "Solidarity" still rings in my ears), but also established the circumstances that would first hinder and later brighten Billy's prospects for pursuing Ballet. When the miners' strike toook a violent turn, Billy's brother Tony's character emerged as a stubborn, passionate chap, and his objections to Billy's ballet looked quite natural in the latter scenes. Similarly, in the second half, as the strike continued for over a year and was losing steam as defeat was clear, Billy's father probably realised that the prospects for mining were bleak and could therefore find the will to support his son despite opposition from his elder son. And the entire town pitching in for his audition money also made much more sense in the backdrop of the lost cause for mining.
Another fascinating sub-plot, which dealt with the value system that governed the theme in general, was the interaction of Billy with his best friend Michael. Michael loved to dress up in women's clothing and wear make up and found it to be absolutely normal. Initially both Michael and Billy were skeptical about each other's breaking-the-norm behaviour, but each warmed up tothe other over time. Another important thing established by their Christmas-time interaction was that Michael was homosexual (although he was too young for me to use that word, I don't know how to say it more clearly) and kissed Billy as he assumed Billy was too because he licked to dance! Billy made it clear to him that he was not, and the interaction between them after these revelations was extremely sweet and moving. Billy agreed to keep Michael's secret, and their freindship that lay in their differences grew even stronger.
The Christmas scene I just mentioned was preced by the opening after interval. And this was marvellously done. Before the curtains opened, Santa Claus and his assistancts carried hand held mikes on stage as they talked to the audience. No one had a clue this was part of the play, and responded to Santa Claus as he asked questions. And when Santa claus said, "We welcome you to the second half of...". the audience naturally assumed the next words would be "Billy Elliot", but they were...."....the mining village annual Christams show". And as the curtains rose again, the audience relaised they had become a part of the play itself. I thought that was marvellous and intelligent!
The play had numerous jokes. It was incredibly hillarious and the audience laughed a lot. Jokes were cracked at the expense of Maragaret Thacther, who the village hated. "There's more power in Maggie Thatcher's knickers than in your punch". And the Christmas show had a magnificent puppet show with a larger-than=life size puppet of Mrs. Thatcher. At the end of the show, Mr Elliot sang, and the song reflected his depression of a dying village and a lost family quite well.
The fourth sub-plot which was the most emotional one was Billy's mother. She died when Billy was young, but left him a letter that he was supposed to open when he was 18 but opened a few years too early. This letter was his dearest possesion and connected him to his mom even after her death. There was this beautiful scene where the Ballet teacher asks Billy to get his possessions and he giver her the letter to read. As she reads, Billy can see his mother reading to him, telling him to do what he beleived in and be true to himself and telling him she was proud of him no matter what. It was a very emotional scene. But it was also important because I think it brought Billy closer to his teacher and their grew the akin of a mother-son relationship between them.
There were some beautiful songs in the production.
Solidarity - it was typical Elton John I thought. It had the punch and strength so required. And the choreography was brilliant.
Angry Dance - this must have required so much energy. Billy was refused to go to the audition and he tried to stop himself from dancing but the dance was breaking out of his body (try and imagine a tightly-closed pot at boiling point ready to burst and bubbling out). The actor did a wonderful job. I especially loved the part where his room was transformed into a cage, and then wehn the police barricades were transformed into a cage. I cannot imagine how any actor could have so much power to go through that piece. It was mind blowing.
Women's clothing (I can't remember the words): Man, this was incredible. It is the piece which defined for me that this was a broadway musical. Shimmering backdrops, tap dancing, wonderful costumes, bright spotlights, and all the dresses that Michale wore came out in huge sizes and did a dance of thesmelves. Oh god, I just loved it!
Dad's sad song: Like I said, this was a very important point for me in understanding the graph of the character's emotions.
Grandma's rebel song: This was absolutely wonderful, especially because of the use of chairs by the male ensemble. As grandma danced with men after men representing grandpa in various moods and ages, and the way the drunk grandpa would transform into a sober guy in morning was displayed through choreography was simply maginfique.
Billy and his older self: This dance sort of reflected what Billy could achieve. The older Billy was a dancer class apart. The use of the chair was slpendid in this peiec too. And there were quite interesting lifts and jumps and of course, the aerial act!
Teacher, assistant and Billy dance: This is where Billy takes his private classes at night and the dance reflects passage of time as billy keeps improving. All three actors did a memorable job!
Electricity: This by far was my favourite. It is I think a piece that desribes very well how any passionate artist feels when he pursues the art. It spoke to me at a very personal level. And the choreography was awesome too. (I'm free...the words still linger in my mind even after a week).
All actors were awesome - the men's ensemble, the ballet dancer girls, the miners, Tony (I loved Tony), mother, father, grandma, the teacher, the teacher's cute assistant/musician, the reflection of Billy's older self, the young girl who liked Billy, Michael, and Billy himself (I'm sure all four kids would be great, but I speak only of this one I saw perform).
I loved the ending when Billy tells his mom he would do what he beleived in and be true to himself, and then as he leaves town towards a bright future, the miners go back to the dark mines (strike gets called off after losing to Maggie). Before leaving, Billy kisses Mike goodbye, which was very touching.
In the end, as a bonus, there was a dance to show credits (supposedly Billy is training at the Royal Ballet School), and everyone comes to perform in tutus (all the men too!) It was a lot of fun and absolutely slpendid.
In short, if I had to watch just one musical through my stay, this would be it. I loved Billy Elliot!
