The Billy Elliot Drama Film
December 16, 2009
The plot of the Billy Elliot movie is much the same as the Billy Elliot musical play;
Some people have actually never seen the movie of Billy Elliot – the thing that really sparked interest in a stage production about a dancing lad from County Durham, England. Following the release of the movie in 2000, in 2005 the Billy Elliot tale was adapted for the West End stage and Billy Elliot the Musical was born. The musical began its run in Australia in 2007, before finally coming to Broadway in 2008. Unlike the movie, Billy Elliot the stage production has ran and ran. You can buy tickets to Billy Elliot in several major cities today, including Billy Elliot Broadway (Billy Elliot New York), Billy Elliot Chicago, and Billy Elliot West End. But how similar was the movie to the stage show?
The Billy Elliot drama film set set in the rugged, cobbled streets of England’s hilly northeast – in a coal-mining town in County Durham. The town, “Everington”, is fictional, but the region was depicted as very true to its real character. A young lad wanting to be a dancer wold have stood out like a sore thumb in those terraced streets. The gritty backdrops – including the violence and social unrest created by the miners’ strike of 1984 – lent a clever touch to the coming-of-age trials and tribulations of young Billy. Violent conflict between picketing miners and policemen in helmets wielding truncheons and shields provided a contrast to the dancing dreams of Billy. Billy’s dad badgered his son (actor Jamie Bell) into taking boxing lessons, which of course Billy didn’t take to. It was whilst training in the ring that Billy first noticed a ballet class being taught in the same gym. Actress Julie Walters (Educating Rita) starred as Mrs. Wilkinson the ballet teacher, and it is her daughter challenges Billy to take up his dream. When Billy
s dad finds out about the ballet lessons, he insists his son remove himself from the class. Mrs. Wilkinson (Waters) is so impressed with Billy’s natural talent for the footwork, she offers free lessons with a view to Billy taking part in local auditions for entrance the Royal Ballet School. Billy misses the trials after falling foul of the local police,and it is touch and go whether the kid will ever realize his dancing dream. Billy’s dad once again tells Ms. Wilkinson the career path is wrong for his son, but she challenges him on this. Ms. Wilkinson’s insistence that Billy is a born star makes his dad realize that this could be the one chance Billy will get to transcend the rough and dangerous lot of an industrial worker in England’s northeast. Billy’s dad then determines to make the money to ensure Billy can go to London to London for an audition. The rest, as they say, is dancing history!
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