Billy Elliot

Let me start off by saying that sometimes great praise can be the cause of great disappointment. Many of the “big time” reviews (NY Times, Variety, etc.) greeted BE with such gushing praise, it reminded me of when I was little and my mom bragged about us to anyone willing to listen. Her hyperbolic praise so effusive you’d think I was the love child of Albert Einstein and Mozart (not that she was too far off, mind you). I should know better than to let reviews cloud my opinion. But they were so darn good and shows lately have been so darn mediocre, I wanted to believe I’d be witnessing the next West Side Story or Sweeney Todd.

As you can probably already guess, I didn’t love BE, although I didn’t dislike it either. I’d say it’s a better than average show, staged and choreographed dazzlingly well with a mediocre score and jaw-droppingly bad lyrics. And I’m being kind about the lyrics. A fourth grader could write more original rhymes. An example - and I’m paraphrasing a bit, but not much, because I don’t have a photographic memory:

Billy’s brother: What should we do? (in reply to an argument regarding letting Billy audition)
Billy’s father (sung): Let him shine, let him grow, let him go.

Ugh. These people are working class, not f*cking idiots. Sir Elton didn’t help much either, supplying forgettable melodies to trite sentiment.

What it lacked in a memorable score, it made up for in near cinematic staging, lighting and choreography. At times, the numbers became morphed into modern dance pieces, the story-telling done through movement and the weaving of disparate groups on stage. For example, in one extended section, choreographer Peter Darling juxtaposed tutu-clad girls with baton-wielding cops to create some dramatic and striking visual images.

Unfortunately, whenever people spoke or sang, the wonderful momentum and excitement created by the dance/movement grinds to a halt. Literally. The stage manager needs to plug up the many “dramatic” pauses littering the performance. These little black holes sucked the life out of whatever forward movement had been created in the preceding dance sequences. I don’t mean that the actors need to bulldoze through the dialogue, but there seems to be a lot of “thinking” going on up on that stage rather than “doing.”

Regardless, the cast works their asses off and all the leads acquit themselves nicely. Of the rotating Billy’s, we saw an amazing David Alvarez. I would kill for his calf and forearm muscle definition. Most of the other actors were solid - acting-wise, that is - but sometimes made some abrupt character choices/changes later in the show that didn’t seem to fit the characters they created at the beginning of the show. I tend to think these were probably directorial choices, so I won’t hold it against them.

For my money, the could have just as well been a theatrical dance piece, minus any sung music. The songs were that forgettable. Otherwise, it’s definitely worth trying to catch for the unique staging, dancing and performances.