Billy Elliot The Musical — Page 4

Check out the cool Billy Elliot Screen Saver here:

http://www.billyelliotthemusical.com/be_screensaver.html

In the Mood for Dancing

Updated On: 7/18/05 at 01:54 PM

Here they are, the incomparable Liam Mower and the envy of all Broadway (and the rest of West End), the hilarious, courageous, and darn sweet Ryan Longbottom, doing their famous number "Expressing Yourself",



a number where Michael (Ryan Longbottom) explain quite openly his thoughts about cross-dressing. The number would not be complete without the dancing dresses.



Is it sinful if you're blue
To cheer up the place?
What is wrong with dressing up in satin and lace?
Get some earings, some mascara, heals and a fan
Pretty soon you will start to feel a different man

Again, the Whatsonstage.com interview with Liam and Ryan in mp3 format

Leeds Civic Theatre, classroom for the students of the Billy Elliot Academy in Leeds has been very busy during the last year to produce new sets of Billies and Michaels.

One who will play Billy has been ready for quite some time and has been living to and fro together with the other kids at the Billy Elliot House in Ealing Broadway, London.

His name is Leon Cooke, and he is 13 years old. His family is involved in the show in various ways, mum Joy being a chaperone. He is a ballet dancer and has a background with the Birmingham Royal Ballet where he was an associate until he joined the Billy Elliot production. He is an extremely energetic kid who has been dancing since he was two years old, and is looking forward to taking over the part of Billy this fall.

Nine kids (10 to 13 years old) have received vocal training, dance training, etc., every Saturday for eight hours to become right little Geordies. They are from all over England - Blackpool, Cardiff, Manchester even Plymouth, etc. Here are two amazing facts. Two of these tiny kids are brothers (who are into disco and hiphop), and one is a student at the Royal Ballet School, just like Liam Mower, one of the current Billies.

So, who will play Billy and who will play Michael? All of them train together. Some will not play anything at all. When the new ones take over (for possibly a 6 month run), a new class of students will come to the Academy in Leeds and study for four months. Also, new Debbies have been in training as well as new ballet girls.

It seems, after all, like all the current Billies and Michaels will have to retire soon, and so the show will be reshaped and re-choreographed (in part) to fit the new Billies and the new Michaels. The new choreography will highlight their individual strenghts just like with the current set.

Updated On: 8/8/05 at 07:29 PM

On Elton John's newly reissued album, he added these three songs:

13. The Letter
14. Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher
15. Electricity

I know The Letter and Electricity are from Billy Elliot, but is Merry Christmas also?

Apparently it did already...but only in the UK:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0009VJWPE/qid=1121846943/sr=2-2/ref=sr_2_11_2/202-2162004-1403051

Thanks! (Err...I wonder when I'll ever get to see this...)

Updated On: 7/20/05 at 04:09 AM

Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher is a Christmas party in the spirit and tradition of the Spitting Image with masks and dolls, yeah, well, have a look at it yourself:



Then, as if that wasn't enough, why not



Some people from the production team say's this scene would not survive a Broadway transfer. So, it will probably be replaced.


Here's another hard-hitting scene, this time with Trevor Fox (George) and one of the tall boys.

Updated On: 7/29/05 at 06:44 PM

At the earliest, the latter part of 2006 or early part of 2007. The producers have said a decision will probably come before the end of summer, something that, in England, happened right before summer even started.

The scene is a love song to Maggie Thatcher...

But seriously, it is the opening of act two (well, not really, but almost), about 6 months after the events in act one, and it is the annual Christmas party where the towns people put on a small(?) puppet show (and Billy's Dad sings a rather sad song...) to show their hate for the lady who symolizes all their suffering and the loss of the manhood of every single man in town. In a way, this goes well with the fact that one of the themes in the musical is what makes a real man.

Merry Xmas Maggie Thatcher,
May God's love be with you
Merry Xmas, Maggie Thatcher,
We all celebrate today
Cos it's one day closer to your death

Updated On: 7/20/05 at 06:56 PM

Does Westendpro or anyone else know what happened to James Lomas last night??
We went to see it for the second time and all the staff said it would be James Lomas playing Billy and the board in the foyer also said this
However when he came on stage, it was Liam Mower?! Everyone was very suprised... Did something happen to James?
(not complaining as Liam is absolutely fantastic and we saw him previously - but we were slightly worried when Liam didn't land his somersault and fell over - however he carried on just as brilliantly as he did last time! :) )

_clairey_

Regarding your last post, please check your personal messages.

Debbie

Debbie is a very special part for a girl. She is not supposed to look like your ordinary ballet dancing girl at the same time as she must be very good at it, and she must handle the Geordie dialect well, as well as being the sour-faced daughter of a sexually unsatisfied mum who teaches dancing. She introduces Billy to the concept of ballet.

Debbie has a number of famous lines, including

"If you want, I'll show you me fanny!"

Now, for everyone who doesn't know what a fanny is, I'll kindly explain that in private. This line risked being cut from the original manuscript, but according to some of the Billies, it is the funniest line in the show.

I'll introduce the first Debbie today, and the other Debbies later.

Lucy Stephenson (11), who goes on with Liam and Ryan, is the daughter of Helen and Albert Stephenson of Roseberry Avenue, Westoe, and has four siblings, Donna, Fiona (who inspired her to start singing), Lee, and Nicola. She enrolled at the David Ducasse's Performers Stage School in Boldon in January 2004, which teaches drama, dance, and music. But before auditioning for Billy Elliot, Lucy had never really danced, and according to her mum, she never really wanted to, either.

In the summer of 2004 she won Tommy's Talent Show at the Amphitheatre on the seafront in South Shields. Still she thinks Billy is the funniest thing she has ever done, and I'm sure it will open a lot of doors for her.

Here she is, the girl with the black hair, together with Liam.


A very big newspaper scan of Lucy

Updated On: 7/22/05 at 07:12 PM

Debbie's line certainly got one of the biggest laughs of the evening when I saw the show. It was greatly helped along by George Maguire as Billy. He looked seriously and thoughtfully at her for what seemed like a good minute, before giving his answer, which made the audience laugh again.

Because of all the resent questions about James, here is a cute picture of James and his dance teacher, Sharon. (They have all been responded to in private.)



(Bunny2, check you private messages.)

Updated On: 7/29/05 at 03:27 PM

WestEndPro thanks for all the wonderful information you share with us about this unique and magical show ! But please please please, are there any news you are allowed to share about the release of the Cast Recording ? You know how much all us Billy fans are dying for it ! I am sooo counting the days !