Friday night I went with friend to see "Billy Elliot" at the Opera House. I never saw the movie "Billy Elliot," but from all the buzz around the film I knew that the story was set in England and that it's about a young boy who discovers he is a talented dancer despite the lack of support from his family.
After a great dinner at the newly opened restaurant Sip Wine Bar + Kitchen, we headed toward the stunning Opera House to find our seats. I was so excited I couldn't help but snap a new photos.
Here is one of the marquee I took with Instagram:
Our seats were in the orchestra, in row T (yes, nearly the last letter of the alphabet), but we had aisle seats and a great, unobstructed view of the stage.
During our performance the part of Billy was played by Kylend Hetherington. There are four boys who play Billy (likely due to child labor laws) and I have to say, I think we hit the jackpot! Kylend carried some intense emotional scenes, but above all, his dancing was tremendous! Wow, I just sounded exactly like Nigel Lythgoe from "So You Think You Can Dance."
When Kylend was dancing, I couldn't look at anyone or anything else on stage. He was mesmerizing.
The other scene stealer was Ethan Major, who played Billy's best friend, Michael. Michael has a passion for wearing his mother's clothing, stealing Billy's classmates' tutus and playing with Barbie dolls. There is one number that Michael and Billy sing together called "Expressing Yourself" that was my favorite number in the whole show.
About 50% of the show is Billy dancing and the other 50% is dedicated to the story line of the 1984 miner strike in England. Billy's father and older brother are both miners and join the strike. I am not sure if this part of the story was more compelling in the movie, but it was rather boring on the stage.
Whenever the miners came back on stage I wished I could whip out my DVR remote and fast forward to the next part where Billy dances.
The final, all company number has the entire cast tap dancing on stage together in tutus! Young, old, male, female - they all wear those iconic, fluffy, pink tutus. It was fantastic!
If you like live theater, snatch tickets right now on Goldstar. They are selling tickets for half price ($58 per person) for the performances on Friday August 3rd, Saturday August 4th and Sunday August 5th. Buy yours right here.
Now that I've seen this, I can look forward to when "The Book of Mormon" comes to Boston in April 2013!
