[Orchestrator]

saw this again last week and was really disappointed

Sorry if I sound like a pedantic old fart but some of us think of another musical when we see "Billy" on its own without the "Elliot".

[Laughingmonsta]

I have to agree i took a friend last week - i think this is a show that is a one show wonder - i think there is so much emotion in the piece that you know what to expect, the impact isn't as strong! also think part of the factor is the cast needs a complete rechange, most of the cast have been in if for a very long time!

[Job]

I saw it for the first time last week. It's never been a show that particularly appealed to me - in theory at least - but I was dragged along and it would have been churlish to refuse an invitation.

My reaction was at odds with much of what has been said here. I thought the performances were bright and fresh and the production amazingly slick. But get beyond the wonderful choreography and stagecraft and this show stinks. It is mawkish and sentimental, and the play's wannabe-hard-edged political subtext does nothing to disguise its heart of cheese. Blue cheese too: the ripest language is played for sensation in a way that clearly appealed to a bunch of whooping women in the audience - especially as the most colourful swearing is put into the mouths of the smallest children in order to guarantee the cheapest of laughs among the audience. It's no defence to say 'that's how they talk in such families' - that's plain patronising - and besides, I doubt whether many mining fathers in the eighties used to express their emotions in sentimental song, so we're not exactly talking realism here.

Michael's cross-dressing song was a delight - witty and ironic - and some of Stephen Daldry's set pieces took my breath away. The dancing was stunning too. But viewed as a drama Billy Elliot thinks itself to be so much more important than it is, and in my opinion the condescending 'right-on' script insults the very people whose flag it pretends to wave.

Job

[James84]

I'd be inclined to agree. I have seen the show 4 times now - the first couple were excellent. The third time was still good but the last time I saw it (a couple of months ago), it had really lost something. I have seen other musicals again and again and don't think it was just me getting tired of it but the production itself seemed tired. However, the last time I saw it there was a technical hitch which resulted in a 20 minute break and then Billy was taken ill in the interval and replaced for the second act which didn't add to the overall enjoyment sadly.

[Distant_Cousin]

I have to agree with Job's comments- I was bitterly disappointed when I saw this show 2 years ago. It had little of the great qualitites of the film and I thought Dame Elton John's bland score was for the most part forgettable.