Billy did it for me.

As I sat in the opulent hall of the Oriental Theatre with my 5 coworkers to watch Billy Elliot (the musical), my heart was full of anticipation and trepidation that I may not like this. I saw the movie version and I liked it. The story moved me and I was thoroughly entertained. So I really wanted to like the musical version and also because I have heard so much good things about it from my friends. I did not want it to suffer the same fate that Wicked (the musical) suffered in my humble opinion. A fate that did not live up to my much elevated expectations.

The show started slow with the first three songs and I was screaming "OH NO" in my mind but as soon as they did the first 20 seconds of the fourth song "solidarity", I was hooked. The way the song was done with the juxtaposition of the strike and the ballet (pronounced as bali in the show) scene was brilliant. Although I must add at this point that having watched the movie made me appreciate this song more. And this observation carried through the rest of the show. I do not think I would have understood and held the show in high esteem if I have not watched the movie. And I might also add that the different key point scenes in the movies were transformed nicely into the abridged version of the musical. After the "solidarity " song, it was all uphill for me. I cried so much specially on the scenes where Billy was reading his mom's letter and remembering her. The closing dance number, that was totally a gratuitous number to exhibit their proficiency in dancing, was much applauded by all.

Our Billy was Cesar Corrales. He portrayed Billy quite well and his semblance of the Northern England country accent passed my keen ears. In fact all the major actors who portrayed the major roles delivered an effortless Northern English accent. Our Billy also danced fabulously in my opinion, although I can not claim to be an astute judge of what is fabulous dancing and what is mediocre. But I must say I found no fault at all in his ballet and tap dancing. Even his delivery of the song "electricity" lived up to the high expectation I have after seeing different performances of it from TV and the internet.

We sat in the first center row of the the nose bleed section so I was not able to see much of the faces of the actors. Even with this handicap, the show was able to keep me riveted. In fact I almost want to watch it again with a much closer seat so I may see their faces better!

Billy, you did it for me. Thanks!