MovieChat Forums > Billy Elliot (2000) Discussion > Billy Elliot the musical

Billy Elliot the musical

posted 12 years ago by vcl3-1
4 replies | jump to latest

Saw the movie in the theatre with my best friend back in 2000. Loved it. What are the reviews on the Broadway musical? And what are they saying about Ty Forhan? Is he a better Billy?

[–] palisade-1 11 years ago

The Broadway musical closed last January. There is however a touring company. You can click on the links here:
http://broadwaytour.net/billy-elliot-tour but be sure to check the "read more" part because some of these dates/locations have been canceled.

I saw Ty Forhan last year and thought he was excellent. You can sample the opinions of others at this Billy Elliot forum:

http://www.friendsofbilly.com/FriendsF/index.php

However, you can rarely be certain which "Billy" you will get to see performing, as the announcement is only made just before the show. Several "Billys" alternate in the role, performing 3x/week each.

[–] fshepinc 11 years ago

I saw one of the original four Billys in London back when the show opened, and I saw the US tour last weekend. I can assure you that the current actors are well up to snuff. The Billy I saw stopped the show several times, and got a mid-show standing ovation. The physical production is reduced from the original in order to be able to tour, but the show remains strong and incredibly moving and exciting. Not a dry eye in the house.

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[–] mammamia1216 10 years ago

Saw the musical in London back in 2012. While I like the BILLY ELLIOT as a film, I think the musical is far, far superior. It's absolutely one of the best shows I've ever seen, and I was reduced to tears on several occasions (and I'm not a crier by nature). And this is just a personal thing, but I liked the way they portrayed Michael in the musical and prefer it to the film. He seemed more pragmatic and cool ("Expressing Yourself" is just a really good song in and of itself). And it seemed to me like the Billy character was a bit more 'talented' in the musical - what I mean is, we all know the story is about Billy and ballet, but the musical incorporates a LOT of tap as well. It was just spectacular.

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[–] vicky_lc2001 (1907) 6 years ago

Let's be honest, a film based on the book and not a musical needs to be more realistic than him prancing around like a professional dancer after a few months of training. Bell himself stated that it was hard for him to try to look very rough and untrained while dancing as he had a background in ballet.