It feels weirdly apt that the universe not only conspired to make Haligonian audiences wait four years to see Jeremy Webb’s production of the Elton John/Lee Hall/Stephen Daldry musical Billy Elliot at Neptune Theatre, but it has also conspired to make the review for the show arrive on Closing Weekend, and for that I apologize.
You would be hard pressed to find a better production of Billy Elliot anywhere else: New York, London, Toronto, this Halifax production is truly world-class.
The musical, which premiered at the Victoria Palace Theatre in London, England in 2005 is based on the 2000 film of the same name, and it is as much about the time and place it is set, County Durham during the 1984-85 coal miners’ strike, as it is about a young boy who lives there named Billy who finds out quite by accident that he has a natural ability and a deep enjoyment of ballet dancing. It’s a hard town, filled with violent clashes with police, resentment among classes, and a deeply entrenched toxic masculinity where fighting, repressing emotions, and talking tough with one another is how the men find some semblance of control as their ancestral way of life appears to be crumbling down around them. Margaret Thatcher being the Prime Minister also gives a kind of pass for misogyny; it’s easier for folks to accept the use of derogatory language and ideas if they are directed at a woman who is loathed by everyone. In this community Billy, who loves to dance, Mrs. Wilkinson, who teaches a dance class in the town hall, and Billy’s best friend Michael, who likes to dress up in women’s formalwear, are different. Yet, they are all somewhat able to hide in plain sight because the town is a powder keg with the miners’ strike, and there are constant confrontations with the police keeping everyone else busy and distracted. When Billy realizes he has the opportunity to audition for the Royal Ballet School in London, he has to show this vulnerable side of himself to his father, his hotheaded brother, Tony, and the rest of the community, and hope that he might still be accepted as one of them.
All the performances in this production are excellent. The ensemble of miners and police officers create this tension without a lot of dialogue, through movement, dance, and song, that continually encircles Billy and Michael, showing how they are trapped in this cycle of poverty, violence, despair, and power imbalance. David Light plays Billy’s older brother, Tony, an enthusiastic union member who is enraged and dispirited at having to fight so hard for the only viable future he can see for himself. It’s clear that Tony is hurting, and lashing out at the world through the strike is the only appropriate way he knows to express himself. Tony and Billy’s mother has passed away, another source of stress and sadness for the family, but Billy is able to see visions of her, played beautifully by Julie Martell, which help to anchor him and make him feel less alone. Tim Funnell plays Billy and Tony’s dad, Jackie, also heartbroken over the deep loss of his wife, and unable to help Tony manage his emotions, and also on the front lines of the strike. Funnell does a beautiful job at creating a character who is emotionally unstable, who we see at times erupting with misplaced anger and strength, and then not having enough strength to properly guide Tony, who desperately needs a good role model, but who then is able to find his gentleness and to ultimately be the dad Billy deserves. Ian Gilmore plays Mr. Braithwaite, the accompanist for Mrs. Wilkinson’s dance school, who breaks out with some moves of his own in the joyful song “Born to Boogie.” Conversely, Troy Adams plays Billy and Michael’s boxing teacher, George, who also contributes to the culture of cruelty and humiliation for young boys in this town. Paul Fawcett gives a hilarious exuberant performance as Michael, hamming up every opportunity for a laugh and applause, like a child-sized Elton John.
Nicola Lipman is perfectly cast as Billy’s sweet grandmother, who is having some memory trouble, but is still trying to fill the matriarch role for her young grandson. Lipman’s performance is absolutely flawless. You forget that it is a performance, and truly believe the character in front of you is a real person just living her life there. Patricia Zentilli plays Mrs. Wilkinson, a hardened woman who has probably given up on ever being able to teach at a level higher than lower-intermediate, who is shocked to stumble on Billy’s natural talent. I think Zentilli has a reputation, between the roles she usually plays and her cabaret performances, as being an extremely open-hearted performer, someone whose vulnerabilities usually shine beautifully through, so it was really exciting to watch her play a character whose heart, emotions, and care are barricaded behind a fortress of bricks, cement, and stone, and whose care for Billy comes out rough, indirectly, and tentatively. Zentilli’s singing voice is even more powerful than I remember it to be, and she manages to thoroughly command the audience’s absolute, full attention while there is a whirling dervish of young dancers, and an entire police riot rotating around her. There are two young actors playing Billy Elliot, I saw Lennox Blue Powell, and he was extraordinary. He has a beautiful singing voice, and is an amazing dancer, but it was the depth of his acting ability that really impressed me the most. There is so much going on in Billy’s life, and in Billy’s mind, and Powell really brought the audience into the nuances of it: the death of his mother, the feeling of isolation within his family, figuring out what his love of dance means in terms of gender and sexual orientation while still being eleven years old, trying to understand what the strike and its aftermath will mean for his future and his family, and trying to fit into a world ablaze around him. It would be a truly masterful performance for an adult, but it is even more mind-blowing to see it come from an eleven year old.
The way that director Jeremy Webb and choreographer Ray Hogg have layered the movement of the ensemble characters, as the backdrop of the town, overtop the specific scenes in the town hall, or Billy’s home, vividly shows how the tumult of the strike bleeds over into everything. Neptune’s small stage works really well for this musical, as it increases the feeling of suffocation, and the tension between the two sides. The staging of this show is unique in the way the movement feels constant, but also largely ominous, with the joyful dances of Billy and the rest of the terrific youth ensemble and their teacher emerging out of this context.
I know it’s been a long haul for Jeremy Webb, and everyone at Neptune, and all the actors who were initially cast in this show, which was just about to start rehearsals when everything shut down in March, 2020, but Billy Elliot is really, really worth the wait, and, gauging from their enthusiastic responses, audiences seem to feel the same way. It is one of the best musicals I have seen at Fountain Hall, and that’s one Hell of a great way to bounce back from a global pandemic.
Billy Elliot ends its run this weekend at Neptune Theatre playing until June 18th. Show times are Saturday and Sunday at 2:00pm and 7:30pm. Tickets are available online here or by calling the Box Office at 902.429.7070 or visiting in person at 1593 Argyle Street, Halifax.
Neptune Theatre is fully accessible for wheelchair users. For more Accessibility Information click here.
