first night review: billy elliott: the musical

Photo Credit: John B. Barrois

​Billy Elliott: The Musical @ JPAS
Review by Dorian Hatchett

Set in the backdrop of the 1984 Miners’ strike in County Durham, North East England, an eleven year old boy thwarts his blue-collar roots and ignites not only a personal revolution, but joins in a social one too, as he changes the entire town’s outlook on its own patriarchal beliefs.  

Based on the 2000 British coming of age film of the same name, Billy Elliott: The Musical premiered in London’s West End in 2005, and ran all the way through 2016, amassing a prodigious four Lawrence Olivier Awards, and then ten Tony Awards for the American Production.  The score was written by Elton John, with the book and lyrics by Lee Hall.  

Jefferson Performing Arts presents a brilliant rendition of the show.  In a world where gender roles and expectations are nigh incontrovertible, the fight of one young boy to be who he wants to be, despite enormous social pressure, seems impossible. 

A family of hard bitten coal miners struggles with union strife and constant pressure to do the right thing while young Billy struggles to find his place in the world.  Billy (played by the charming and talented Charlie Stover, whose cast bio reads like the IMDB of an actor thrice his age) doesn’t want to be a revolutionary. He wants to simply be and no amount of bullying by adults who don’t understand him will stand in his way.  

Billy’s father Jackie (played by Louis Dudossat) is a world-weary widower who wants to do right by his family, but is trapped by his own preconceived notions of masculinity. He’s a relatable everyman, driven to the brink by the stress of the union strike and by his own grief. His grandmother (Meredith Long-Dieth) is supportive and loving and seems to be spiraling out into a world of her own memories. 

Mrs. Wilkinson (Leslie Castay) is the dance teacher who will go toe to toe with the miners to get Billy his day in the sun. The ghost of his dead mother (Candice Moses) shows up to give him guidance when everything seems to be coming apart. His best friend Michael (Parker Portera-Dufrene) is the feckless cohort every child deserves, and his brother Tony (Logan Breaux) rounds out the family with the unending angst of the almost-grown.    

With fanciful choreography and a dynamic set, it’s hard not to get lost in the story of the boy who defied the odds to make it all the way to the Royal Ballet.  

Billy Elliott: The Musical Runs through April 6th at the Jefferson Performing Arts Center.  

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