Billy Elliot At The Cinema

[rockyhorrorfan]

Posted: 6/13/14 at 6:37pm

Just wondering if anyone else is planning on going to see the live cinema broadcast of Billy Elliot on Sunday 28th September? Although I've seen the show twice in London I've just booked for this screening as I wanted to see Ruthie Henshall as Mrs Wilkinson. There are special guests planned for the finale (possibly Elton John if he's available).

[mikey2573]

Posted: 7/25/14 at 12:09pm

It was announced this week that original London Billy, Liam Mower, will play Older Billy in the Dream ballet for this broadcast. Also, James Lomas and George Mguire (sp?) will appear for a special dance with the three original Billys for the curtain call.

[turquoisefish]

Posted: 7/26/14 at 12:38pm

I might have to go see the show in the theatre as they are making a real event of it/ has anyone sat at the back of the upper circle (cheap seats!) before? I normally go front stalls restricted view but they are sold out / off sale

[Ajl3]

Posted: 8/19/14 at 4:04pm

Went to see Billy Elliot for the first time (it's been a long time coming!!) the other week. Have to say it's a cracking cast they have for the live broadcast!

My full review here...
Interval Ice Cream Billy Elliot Review

[jonahke]

Posted: 9/10/14 at 9:51am

Is there some news about a DVD/Blu Ray release? Because at Bol.com, a well know Dutch webshop, they say that the DVD and Blu Ray-release is set on November 26. Is this true or...?
Here is a link: http://www.bol.com/nl/p/billy-elliot-the-musical/9200000031418613/

EDIT: I contacted Universal UK and they confirm that the DVD and Blu Ray of Billy Elliot Live will release on November 26

Updated On: 9/16/14 at 09:51 AM

[rockyhorrorfan]

Posted: 9/28/14 at 5:38pm

Absolutely loved seeing Billy Elliot again. Elliot Hanna was great as Billy and I loved Ruthie as Mrs Wilkinson. Special treat having Liam Mower as Older Billy and the finale mash-up (with 28 Billys) was fantastic. Just wish there had been more of a reaction from the cinema audience. There was a little applause when the credits started but other than that silence. At least the audience in the theatre were a lot more receptive.

There are encore screenings on 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th October and the show will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray on 24th November.

[bob8rich]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 3:58am

Saw it at my local cinema yesterday and loved it. Reminded me of what a truly great show it is. Elliot Hanna was exceptional as Billy and the entire cast were superb.

I agree it feels a bit "flat" in the cinema though - no applause etc. But cinema audiences are not accustomed to applauding and even I found it weird applauding when the people I was applauding could not hear it. But still great to get a chance to be a part of this special event as I could not have gotten into London yesterday to be at the theatre.

[devonian.t]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 5:08am

I realize that some people may feel a part of it, but cinema audiences play no role in the live performance: they can't do anything to engage with the performers, many of miles away. That is why, in a way, these live broadcasts do a disservice: if people think that live theatre is really like this, they are missing the point. If they only ever experience performance remotely, they will not understand the visceral connection between the stage and the auditorium.

If I had never experienced Billy Elliot live, the cinema broadcast would have struck me as rather artificial and badly acted (those close-ups didn't do the stage actors any favours- how could they scale their performances appropriately?). I love the show live, but I found the screening too distant- and I certainly would never applaud- it reminds me too much of that question about the tree falling in the middle of an empty forest.

[kp]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 5:26am

Have to say devonian.t I disagree withy most of what you say. I think that the vast majority of the people attending the cinema screenings are regular theatre goers who are well aware of what live theatre is and it is rather patronising to suggest otherwise. They may not go to London theatre regularly but that doesn't make them ignorant of the difference between seeing a show in a theatre and seeing it in a cinema.
I have seen Billy Elliot live several times and I certainly didn't think that the show was badly acted - just the opposite in the case of several performances. I actually enjoyed the close-ups.
As for not applauding, your choice but what I would say it is more about the communal experience of sitting in an audience with many others and having enjoyed that experience. By your logic, we shouldn't laugh either. I have been to many showings of films where the audience applauds.

[devonian.t]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 6:58am

I wasn't being patronising at all. I wasn't considering these transmissions as some kind of cultural outreach programme to the great unwashed.

I sat in a cinema far from London and the audience enjoyed the performance. Who cares if the audience was made of regular theatre-goers? What we know, and what we feel can be different things- we may know that the broadcast is not like the live experience, but that doesn't mean we somehow therefore feel the live experience. Brecht intended to subdue his audience's emotional response by distancing them from the action; the cinema screen distances us from the physical presence of the live actors.

I didn't say that the show was badly acted either. I said that it was impossible for the actors to scale their performances to the correct medium because they were having to be simultaneously stage actors and screen actors- I hope you would acknowledge those are 2 different kinds of performance. As an example I would cite the final moments between Billy and his mother- it was amply clear that Billy wasn't really crying behind his letter and when he lowered the paper there were no tears. From the theatre auditorium that would not be so glaringly visible, but in camera close-up, it rendered the gesture mechanical and insincere.

It is not logical to equate laughter and applause, I'm afraid. Laughter is- when sincere- a spontaneous sound created from a subconscious stimulus. Applause is entirely a social construct- evidenced by the way applause is given in different cultures. Laughter is a response; applause is a signal. In this case, a signal to an absent recipient.

[kp]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 8:25am

You said "if people think that live theatre is really like this, they are missing the point." There is a definite implication that the people watching in the cinema didn't know the difference.
I also think you are wrong on applause - it can be quite spontaneous (as it can be forced) just as laughter can be sometimes. Applause in the cinema may be to an absent recipient but it is very much a response and not a signal, though it can be both.
I take your point about acting but it isn't that different from sitting in the front row of the stalls or the back row of the balcony. If he wan't really crying, that would be noticeable to a big chunk of the people sitting up close.
I have been to quite a few of these live broadcasts and I have often heard the comment (from experienced live theatregoers) saying it isn't the same but they do feel, to a lesser or greater extent, they are part of it. Given they are describing their feelings, it doesn't make them wrong. It also doesn't make you wrong for not having the same feeling. Just different.

[Stewart A]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 12:39pm

I thoroughly enjoyed it and you couldn't help but fall in love with Elliot Hannah as he'd melt the hardest heart with his performance and charm. Ruthie was a revelation and it was good to see her in this role. I'm over 200 miles from London and a few people at my local cinema did clap after the 'Electricity' number and you could tell people were enjoying the show as there was a great vibe in th theatre. The only other live broadcast I've seen in the cinema is Les Miz 25th concert and the audience clapped after every number but that was in a cinema in London.

[phantom39]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 3:17pm

Posted it over at the Broadway board, Amazon has them already:

DVD:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00NXR1EHA/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B00NXR1EHA&linkCode=as2&tag=billy03-21&linkId=TIS3CP3SV4Q3TGD6

Blu-Ray:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00NXR1EEI/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B00NXR1EEI&linkCode=as2&tag=billy03-21&linkId=GD5NYB5URT453SEP

[Phantom of London]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 3:59pm

I haven't seen this as yet, you don't get the same pathos with the audience that you do in a theatre. It is not the same.

However this does show Stephen Daltry as a genius and he is, to direct the same thing for film and then theatre, but yet both so different, the film would not work on stage and vice versa, that is why I say again the man is a genius.

[vassey]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 4:15pm

I sat in awe for the whole three hours - for someone a distance from London, and without a UK tour to look forward to - it was the best way for me to see it! In my screening, I was in front of some old dears, who talked about their trips out with am dram groups, who were 'disappointed' that there was an audience. I think they wanted a single locked camera on the whole stage, rather than multi-camera.

[devonian.t]

Posted: 9/30/14 at 2:30am

Looks like Shenton agrees with me.

http://www.thestage.co.uk/opinion/shenton/2014/09/billy-elliots-live-screening-good-publicity-better-stage/?utm_content=buffer11e72&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

[kp]

Posted: 9/30/14 at 11:57am

I don't think anybody would disagree with him or you saying that being in the cinema would never replace being sat in the theatre. However, you made different points, with which I disagree. The issues you mentioned about performances, he seems to disagree on and about applause, he doesn't even mention. Even if he had made the same points word for word, it wouldn't have made him or you right. (Or me for that matter - it isn't fact just opinion).

Though his point about being in a 3rd full cinema meaning the public may have lost their appetite for such screenings can be refuted by this from the BBC website - "A special live screening of Billy Elliot the Musical Live tops the UK and Ireland box office taking £1.9m - making it the highest grossing event cinema release.* The musical beat the previous event cinema record set by the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special The Day of the Doctor last year, which took £1.8m across 440 locations."

[Jonwo]

Posted: 9/30/14 at 1:44pm

It would be interesting to see the breakdown of where Billy Elliot did well, it could be that it did very well in other parts of the country but not so well in London which wouldn't be a surprise because the show is still running in London and it's not exactly difficult to get a ticket.

It'll be interesting what if the show gets a long term boost in ticket sales due to the broadcast. The DVD/Blu-Ray release may have an effect on sales as well when it's released.

[theeatah]

Posted: 9/30/14 at 3:11pm

Did Stephen Daldry actually direct the broadcast? I didn't read any credits.