Billy Elliot (Victoria Palace) 26.01.2013

There I was at last, after resisting so long to see it. I’ve never seen the movie in my life nor had I ever been interested in watching it; I’m just not a Dance-Movie person, I guess. But as the tickets were so cheap for that day, I decided that nothing could go wrong if I’d give it a shot (moreover, I made my friend Kim really happy when I told her to book our tickets, that I’d join her…I’m such an amazing friend, haha).
First thing I noticed when we arrived at the Victoria Palace: the entire place around is under total construction and it’s not easy to find your way through. Second thing: that theatre hall was crowded, oh my! And among the people, so many children! The “bodyguards” at the door were quite well organized, though; they divided the people that came in into the ones who were collecting tickets and the ones who were only accompanying, which I found kind of good, as the entrance wouldn’t be so stuck with people standing around. When we got to our seats, I realized the stage was even higher than I had expected (we were sitting in the very first row and Kim had told me that the stage was quite high), so I “borrowed” a cushion that a kid got but didn’t use to sit a bit higher. When the show started, first thing on my mind: “Holy crap, they are cursing A LOT in here!” But it was amazing, I had a great laugh, and that was more than once. Our Billy that matinee was Harris Beattie, and not only was he really really cute, but he was also an amazing little actor, singer and dancer. He played his role perfectly, and I instantly liked him, and when I think back to that afternoon, I still think how blown away I was by his amazing dance moves. Joe Massey, who was playing Michael…I just have to say “Wow”. That kid is an exceptionally gifted and absolutely talented young man. What an act he played, I just can’t put it into words. At the end, when he sits on his bike, watching Billy leave, that gave me slight goosebumps. Really, they found a great kid for that role. Actually, everyone of the actors were amazing, and it’s a shame I never got to see the lovely Mr. Michael Peavoy, who I heard was amazing as Billy’s older brother. Though I have to say: Killian Donnelly, who we saw in that role, he was breathtaking, seriously. He played every single scene so really convincing…and it was funny, seeing him only one month later on the cinema screen in the “Les Misérables” movie! I honestly didn’t really like the songs, though, they just weren’t mine at all. The only ones I kinda liked were “Merry Christmas, Maggie Thatcher” and the song at the end, “Once We Were Kings”.
When the show was over, my friend and I were actually in kind of a hurry, but still, we went to the Stage Door to catch someone. The only one we actually caught (mostly because were found it kind of creepy to ask one of the kids for a picture and we couldn’t bring up the courage to ask Sergio Giacomelli for one LOL) was Deka Walmsley, who played Billy’s father in that matinee, and who was perfect and just amazing; I still have to grin when I think about that scene at the Dancing School, with the other father waiting for his son to finish his audition, that was just priceless.

Nevertheless, I’m actually really glad I went to that show, and I’d definitely go again – only, next time, on a seat where I can see at least the actors feet! 😉