Tag Archives: Billy Elliot

Come To My Garden

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The Festival Theatre Edinburgh touring company is presenting the musical adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s 1911 novel, The Secret Garden at Toronto’s Royal Alexandra Theatre.

Mary Lennox, the daughter of rich British colonials is orphaned while living in India when a cholera epidemic sweeps through the city.  She is then sent to live with a distant uncle in the moors of England.  Uncle Archibald is still reeling from the decade-past death of his beloved wife and distraught over his convalescent son.  Mary is quickly overcome by the gloomy shadow cast over the house and turns to the servants for companionship.  She soon discovers how beautiful friendships can be while unearthing a secret garden that belonged to her aunt.

The staging, costumes and theatrics of this musical are much more understated than those of Billy Elliot but by no means does this performance fall short.  The performers command of the stage and the strong vocals make for an engaging 2 ½  hours.

After seeing this play, my love for The Secret Garden was renewed.  I returned home to find my twenty year old copy with my name scrawled in oversized loops in the front cover and my favourite passages falling open like a natural part.  I remember receiving this as a gift for my tenth birthday (along with Bridge to Terabithia) and reading it under my covers at until my eyes grew weary.  There are few books that I always go back to – almost like comfort food:  Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, The Great Gatsby, The Picture of Dorian Gray, A Farewell to Arms, The Stone Angel and The Secret Garden.  These special novels line my “secret bookshelf” and provide me with as much affection as the garden provided Mary.

The Secret Garden will not be in Toronto for long.  The company will depart following their March 19th finale.

Electricity!

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We subscribe to over a thousand television channels and I can say with certainty that there is nothing worthwhile watching about 90% of the time.  It used to be that Maury Povich and his “Who’s your daddy?” episodes were the most deplorable, soul-sucking train wrecks on TV.  Now the medium is cluttered with “reality” programs that feature pretty much the dreads of society making a complete mockery of the human race (yet, I find some of it too fascinating to turn off.  Do people really live like that?!?).

In an effort to protect my brain from any further softening and to stop padding the wallets of these “stars”, I have renewed my interest in live theatre.

As a Christmas gift, my brother and I purchased a series of shows from Mirvish Productions for my mother.  The poor catch for her, is that she has to attend each performance with me.

A few weeks ago, we attended Billy Elliot.  To say that it was a musical spectacle worthy of Sir Elton John’s sequined pants is a gross understatement.

Billy is a young boy growing up without his mother in northern, working class England.  His father, brother and most of the village men work at the coalmines.  It is 1983-1984 and while I was just toddling around with my Chatty Cathy doll, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was determined to privatize the long public coalmines of England.  A fierce standoff between the government and the union ensued.  After a yearlong strike that affected more than 300,000 workers the union was defeated.

Billy’s father, a recent widow, is a hard working, hard drinking, hard fighting man.  He scrapes together a few coins a week for Billy to learn boxing.  It is after a boxing lesson that Billy stumbles upon an all-girls ballet class.  The instructor soon identifies a raw talent in Billy but he is torn between his newfound love for ballet and his loyalties to his father.

The storyline tugs at the heartstrings, as Billy faces ridicule from his peers and disappointment from his elders.  However, Billy remains true to himself despite the challenges that he faced with.

There is no disputing that the moral of Billy Elliot is one we can all stand to hear (again) and to share with our children.  The theatre was a full house and many of the seats were filled with boys who watched in awe at what can only be described as musical electricity!

The young boy(s) who plays Billy is destined to be a star.  It is impossible to take your eyes off him during his numerous tap dance solos and the power behind his voice begs one to pay attention.  And it is the attention of Sir Elton John that he caught.

This March Break consider catching a performance of Billy Elliot at the Cannon Theatre in Toronto. Billy is also playing in London and New York and maybe your city too.  Click here to find out!

Coming up: This Thursday, I will be giving my “review” of The Secret Garden.

photo credit:  www.steveonbroadway.blogspot.com