Billy Elliot - Leicester Curve

Just got the same email too.
Think I'll just ask for a refund. Luckily I'd not booked a hotel so unless they honour the preview prices I'll not bother.

Press Night is now Weds 20th July 😁

I decided not to wait for the call, as odds-on, they'd call while I'm in a meeting or otherwise unavailable. There was no problem processing the date switch, and any date was allowed without penalty.

Despite being number two in the phone queue, it still took 25 minutes to get answered, so I reckon they've only got one person manning incoming calls with the rest of the team doing the outgoing calls.  Once through, it took less than two minutes to sort out.

I had an answerphone message a couple of days back but then I was booked for the first night so they may be going in order.

If you know what you want to do you could try emailing them.

Was at the first preview tonight. Let me start by saying that I saw the original production 6 times over the years (and the tour in Sydney in 2019) so fairly familiar with the show and the original staging.

Overall, I thought the new production in Leicester was excellent! Sounds fantastic, and it seemed to move at a much faster pace than the original in terms of tempos (indeed, the runtime was 2:30 including interval tonight). The performances are universally great, Samuel Newby was a fantastic Billy Elliot and in great voice. Sally Ann Triplett, Joe Caffrey, Jessica Daley - all brilliant.

Loved the staging, the set is quite industrial and four big yellow metal barriers are used throughout to great effect (especially in Solidarity), and there is a three tiered structure which has the house and also bathroom of the social club, and then lots of scaffolding at the back. Very impressive.

The main difference is that it certainly seemed less “dancy” than the original production. Most of the cut from the runtime seems to have come from dance elements, with what seemed to be a shorter Expressing Yourself, an abridged Angry Dance (no tap or riot shields), a good but less visually impressive dance with older self, and then the big dance following the bows, going straight into the reprise of Expressing Yourself/Shine. I’d guess this choice was probably due to this production overall feeling more industrial and gritty and less metaphorical and theatrical like the original. The choreography in general definitely lacked much ballet, with a much more contemporary feel to it. The only time I really missed it though was in the dance with older self and the end of Electricity.

In my opinion, still one of the best contemporary musicals and I would see it again in a heartbeat if it were to transfer to the West End.

I love Billy Elliot, it is in my top 3 musicals of all time, it was the last British musical to win a Tony for best musical. I saw the original many times, including Broadway and Chicago. It is the greatest musical ever set to dance, the story is a gift for that. The original Billy soared with breathtaking choreography, this one was more decidedly earthbound!!! Which is kind of understandable as this is regional and budgets are a lot less. The original had the Billy Academy, has no potential Billy had the pre requisites to play Billy as the role was that demanding. This production couldn’t do that, so a lot of the great dancing was gone and seemed to be replaced by lighting! Saying that the Swan Lake scene, which was my favourite bit in the original, where Billy flew like a swan, it was done differently here and this production did something that put a tear in my eye.

The acting was efficient and good without blowing me away.

I adored the production, I think stylistically, visually and performance wise it gelled and I honestly couldn't fault it.

Different to London? Definitely, but at the same time, it wasn't radically different. It just took a different direction.

The London production wanted polish and perfection, this focused on a talented kid being found and society at large having barriers in the way. It almost felt like they tackled it as a play but brought it together as a musical.

The themes seem very apt considering the current stats on arts education in schools and uni's cutting courses left right and centre.

As a side note, I really enjoyed being front row. Because your head is very much above the stage and the entrances come from the side, it almost feels like it's in a small studio setting and when the lighting rigs drop it feels like you're actually on the stage.

Full review: thetheatretwittic.com/2022/07/17/review-billy-elliot-at-leicester-curve/

I went with 5 stars, couldn't fault it. It's more raw than the original production and for me, more powerful because of it. Jaden playing Billy was excellent (had no idea he was Lisa from Steps' son). Sally Ann Triplett was as brilliant as you'd expect. Luke Baker is also distracting attractive.

Loved it. A lot.

Haha, thank you! Edited. 🤣 Bayer seems a sweet lad but Baker all the way for me!

It’s a winner in my opinion… show still feels very relevant today.Big fan of Nik Foster and I think that he’s got another hit on his hands.
Lots of 5 ⭐️ reviews from the press and I totally agree.

Caught the show yesterday afternoon and for the most part adored it ! Yes it is different to the original, this feels grittier which I really liked. It seemed to be a bit more focused on the mining aspect , especially in the nods in the set design and coming from a mining family, I liked that.

The main issue for me, and I know I am going to come across as a grumpy old man, the kids from the local community completely let it down. Some just looked completely bored and uninterested. And bless the young girl who made her entrance early in “expressing yourself” and just had to sit there in staring at the audience, thank god it was only for a couple of beats of music l

The kids aren't in it that much, certainly not worth missing the whole production for.