There were other interesting differences throughout the play, such as when the miners came together to raise money for Billy’s school tuition, which I didn’t remember happening in the movie. There was something striking about that image to me, how it symbolized the importance of the events shaping Billy’s training and foundation. Near the middle of the dance older Billy stands on a chair and uses the younger version of himself for support. There was one moment that I particularly loved. The moment when younger Billy soared through the air? Or when he flew across the stage holding his older counterpart’s hand? Heart wrenching in the very best way. While I have no personal expertise on ballet, I thought both actors were incredibly talented and the dance itself was beautiful. I could feel Billy’s sadness and his mother’s pride, the melancholy and the love.Īnother layer the musical included was a dance between Billy and an older version of himself. I personally loved both of those scenes the song was moving in its simplicity and so were the actors’ portrayals. Yet in the musical she is an actual presence that Billy interacts with, notably in The Letter song, and its reprise. In the movie, she has only a few mentions, enough for the audience to know that she’s dead and her death greatly affected the Elliot household. However, my favorite character inclusion was that of Billy’s mother. This song gives more depth to the character, giving more information on her and making her more than just the grandmother with Alzheimer’s. Similarly Billy’s grandmother has a larger presence in the musical, including her own song, Grandma’s song. Wilkinson that isn’t present in the movie. He also helps teach Billy dance and has a connection to Mrs. Braithwaite is much more than simple background music in the play. Three characters in particular come to mind: Billy’s grandmother, his mom, and Mr. One of the things I really liked about the musical version was how it developed some of the side characters without taking away from Billy’s story. However, there were several changes to the musical that I thought greatly improved the story.
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That scene was one of my favorites in the movie, in part because I liked how emotional Billy’s usually stoic father became at seeing his son dance.
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The movie ended showing an older Billy dancing with his father, brother, and Michael watching him. After all, in Little Shop of Horrors the movie and musical had very different endings.įortunately, the ending of the movie matched the ending of the musical. So I wondered how much the musical was going to differ from the movie. Billy Elliot the movie was released in 2000, preceding the musical version by 5 years. So when I saw that I would be attending Billy Elliot the Musical in Stratford I was really excited. And I am incredibly glad I did, because it ended up being a movie I enjoyed so much I rewatched it several times. Admittedly, I didn’t think much of it when I read the description, but I decided to watch it anyway. Before I ever thought of coming to Stratford I came across the movie Billy Elliot on Netflix.