Curtain Call of Billy Elliot... ruins the show?

[Parks]

Posted: 11/21/08 at 1:45am

I saw Billy Elliot tonight--and I'm just curious. Does anyone else think the curtain call (which seems very... family fun musical-like) kind of ruins the feel of the show? I thought it ended in SUCH a nice way--and then all of a sudden--what the hell? A dance number? I understand that it is a dance show... but it's more than just that. I feel like the dancing in the show was much more emotion driven and the dancing in the curtain call was just cute and typical Broadway moves...

Does this make sense? Anyone else feel this way (or have similar thoughts)?

[Dre2387]

Posted: 11/21/08 at 2:00am

Yeah, i do feel the same thing.

but supposedly they left it in cause americans always love a big bang at the end of a musical. that is what I heard.

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 11/21/08 at 2:27am

The West End production ends the same way, so I don't understand what you're saying about "Americans."

I love the curtain call because it's all about the sheer JOY of dance, which lifts Billy out of the miserable, stark, hopeless existence that he, his family and his community face each day.

Lighten up! Rejoice! Let yourself feel elated!

That's the message.

[larry64]

Posted: 11/21/08 at 2:41am

Ugh...give me a break!

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 11/21/08 at 2:46am

I don't mind it. I don't usually associate the curtain call with the actual show. Just a moment to give credit where credit is due.

[mwill]

Posted: 11/21/08 at 2:58am

There are worst things in the show than the curtain call.

[keithp]

Posted: 11/21/08 at 3:30am

one of the main messages of the show is about expressing yourself and I suppose that is what they are doing with the curtain call, which I like.
The show ends on an uplifting beat anyway, albeit quieter so for me the curtain call does not jar as it doesn't seem to for most people at the performances I have seen.
What I do find interesting is the amount of pretty vehement negative opinion about on the US boards even from people who like the show.
As far as I can remember, there wasn't that level of criticsim when the show opened in London - yes some people didn't like the show but not because of the curtain call!

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 11/21/08 at 3:46am

"There are worse things in the show than the curtain call" is a very good point. Maybe that's also why I like it so much.

[Justin D]

Posted: 11/21/08 at 7:45am

I;ve said before that i found it cheapened the whole evening, and turned what was a serious, heartwarming story into a frivilious mess with a bunch of men in overalls with tutus prancing around. It cheapened the whole thing for me.

[EponineAmneris]

Posted: 11/21/08 at 8:19am

Well said, keithp I agree.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 11/21/08 at 9:55am

I loved the curtain call! The show, in its purest form, is a feel-good musical and the way that the "story" ends with Billy saying goodbye to Michael is a bit of a downer. Don't get me wrong, it's incredibly powerful and it had me bawling each time I saw it.

But the curtain call sends the audience out on Cloud 9 almost giving them an experience Billy may have had in his head to get away from all of the horrors of the real world or something along those lines. It felt to me like the curtain call was Billy's escape and celebration of what is good and worth cheering in the world. It made me smile and I actually cried during it during the first time I saw the show.

[kdek004]

Posted: 11/21/08 at 10:04am

Even if you don't really like the curtain call, I'm suprised that it would ruin the ENTIRE show for you if you liked it up until that point.

[cudramacat]

Posted: 11/21/08 at 10:15am

Agreed...seems you can dislike the curtain call and still enjoy the show.

[Dre2387]

Posted: 11/21/08 at 10:23am

i hate the curtain but still like the show.

what gets me (and maybe it has changed since previews when I saw it) was that they ended the show then all came out to bow then went straight into the dancing. I say take out that "bow" and go into the dancing. If people think it is a continuation of the show, let them. But it's silly to have the audience think that the bow is the end but really they are going on for another 5 minutes.

when I saw that "bow," I thought it was the curtain call bow that they did for previews (I had never seen a preview before) and that was the end and that they were working on bows later.

it just bugs me.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 11/21/08 at 10:24am

I saw the show both with and without the curtain call. I prefer it with.
It is a celebration of joyous dance, expressing yourself and at times, just being silly. Nothing wrong with that at all. It also lets the audience leave the theatre on a high note.

[pli1018]

Posted: 11/21/08 at 10:28am

I saw it tonight as well and I didn't mind it, nor did I mind it in Sydney or London. I think it's a lot of fun, but I will admit American audiences are way less into it than British and Australian audiences.

[Billy Whiz]

Posted: 11/21/08 at 10:47am

Well it's quite simple if you ask me. If you go and see Billy Elliot again leave before the curtain call starts - that way it won't ruin the show for you.

Personally I like it.
Updated On: 11/21/08 at 10:47 AM

[Mamie]

Posted: 11/21/08 at 10:48am

I'm with the crowd who liked it. The show is full of emotion - both sad and happy. Even when the tears come from the exhileration Billy feels while dancing - it's still emotional. The curtain call with Billy's dad and brother and all the miners coming out with the tutu's not only enforces the fact that they're all in his corner now, but it also is funny and silly enough to break that emotional tension. There's nothing like spontaneous laughter to lift your spirits!

[Parks]

Posted: 11/21/08 at 11:49am

Sorry--it didn't ruin the ENTIRE SHOW--it just kind of killed the mood at the end, I thought.

[TulitaPepsi]

Posted: 11/21/08 at 12:07pm

I think BILLY ELLIOT is the most thrilling musical on Broadway now, and loved the dancing at the curtain call - but I loathed the tutus on the miners. Just them joyfully (without them) dancing with Billy demonstrates that they are his side, IMHO.

It was the only part of the show that felt "cutesy" and reinforced the stereotype that 'dance is for sissies'.

[BroadwayAbridged]

Posted: 11/21/08 at 1:07pm

I saw it last night too, and I think the Curtain Call works *because* it happens after the bows, in other words, because it's divorced from the show and feels to me more like just dance for dance's sake.

The problem for me is that the show "proper" ends with him saying goodbye to his friend. I sort of wanted the show "proper" to end when the miners went down...

[ashley0139]

Posted: 11/21/08 at 1:36pm

I'm in the camp who didn't like the curtain call. But I love the rest of the show and think it's brilliant. The curtain call was one of only two things I didn't like about the show (the other being the dancing dresses).

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 11/21/08 at 1:37pm

Only a bitchy theatre queen would let a curtain call ruin a show for her.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 11/21/08 at 2:01pm

What SNAFU said. It's part of the curtain call. I don't look at other curtain calls like Les Mis and think, "God, why did they have to come out smiling and bowing after such a dramatic ending? It just killed the mood!" I think the dancing AND the tutus (which are worn in "solidarity" to oppose the stereotype, not reinforce it unless you went to the restroom during every scene involving Michael) are entirely in the spirit and message of the show. If the curtain call was meant to be part of the show, everyone would be taking their bows during the finale. I mean, it's not like they all come out in Elizabethan costumes and start singing the greatest hits of Mel Tillis before the final curtain comes down.

[DRSisLove]

Posted: 11/21/08 at 3:01pm

I've seen the show with the curtain call and without it (they week they were tweaking it).
I do not like it at all. Its so random.