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Billy Elliot the Musical has been described as a modern-day fairy tale. It is the heartwarming story of a young boy whose life is changed forever when he discovers an unexpected passion for dance.
The story is set against the turbulent background of the 1984-1985 miners’ strike in the small mining town of Easington in the North East of England. Billy is naturally expected to become a miner like his brother Tony, his father Jackie and his father’s father before him. This particular mining community started in 1899 when industrial leaders sunk a pit, bringing thousands of workers to settle the area and form a relatively tight-knit community. Easington is probably best known for a mining accident on May 29, 1951, when a gas explosion trapped and eventually killed 81 miners.
In Billy Elliot, despite the ravages of the strike, the family scrapes together 50 pence (approximately $0.79) each week for Billy to go to boxing lessons. After boxing one day, when Billy is left to pass the hall keys to the resident dance teacher, the exuberant Mrs. Wilkinson, he finds himself suddenly part of the dance class, connecting with the power of the music which, quite literally, moves him in a way that he would never previously have thought possible. Billy secretly begins to go to ballet classes, unable to tell his family who would never understand. Boys do boxing not ballet, after all. The only person who Billy does confide in is his friend Michael, who is happy to listen in between dressing up in his sister’s dresses, a pastime he can explain away very simply: “Me dad does it all the time.” Sparks fly when Billy’s dad, Jackie Elliot, discovers that his son has been frittering away his hard earned money on ballet instead of boxing. Nevertheless, Billy takes up Mrs. Wilkinson’s secret offer of free private classes in preparation for an audition for the Royal Ballet School.
The strike, meanwhile, is getting more and more heated. There are pitched battles between the police and the miners that split friends and spur Tony Elliot, Billy’s older brother, to take the law into his own hands, as he raids his father’s toolbox for a weapon to use against the police. However, when Jackie Elliot unexpectedly stumbles upon Billy expressing his deepest emotions through dance, he is suddenly struck by how talented his son is, and heads off to see Mrs. Wilkinson to find out more about the audition. “Going back to work to earn travel money for the trip to London…” It may mean breaking the strike, but Jackie is determined.
In the pit communities, solidarity is the watchword and Tony and the strikers agree to pool together what little money they have to help Billy go to London and audition. Money from a strike breaker (a ‘scab’) is unwelcome, but it makes the difference and Billy and Jackie head to the bright lights of London. This is the story of a young boy who reaches beyond “his place in the world” to follow his heart’s desire and fight for his dreams.
Ages: AGE RECOMMENDATION: 8+
Cast and Creative team for Billy Elliot the Musical at Reynolds Hall
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