YouOverThere Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 The musical version of Billy Elliot came to Denver. I unfortunately lucked into a $15 ticket. 2.5 hours of my life that I will never get back. It was the worst play that I have ever seen. No originality; totally predictable; absolutely moronic dialogue; zero-dimensional, completely stereotypical characters; wooden "acting" (because the actors weren't given anything to work with); cheezy music; and cheap attempts at sentimentality. Ignore the incredibly talented kid that played the lead role, and what was left was an effort that couldn't even compete with a high school production. I was highly tempted to leave at the intermission, but I guess that I couldn't believe anything could possibly be that bad and I was expecting the second act to be better. Link to comment
Helene Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 I'm sorry it was such a waste of time and money, YouOverThere, but your topic title made me laugh and laugh. Link to comment
YouOverThere Posted June 6, 2011 Author Share Posted June 6, 2011 I'm sorry it was such a waste of time and money, YouOverThere, but your topic title made me laugh and laugh. It seems that in order for a play to receive lots of awards, it has to follow The Formula, with a perfectly predictable plot in which the audience knows EVERYTHING that's going to happen after the first 5 minutes, characters with no depth or complexity, and simplistic, unchallenging dialogue. Link to comment
Mickey Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 I really enjoyed Billy Elliot The Musical and think that every child who dances(especially boys) should see both the Musical and the Film. They are inspirational to all young people who view them. Link to comment
dirac Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Thanks, Mickey, for being willing to speak up and disagree. I'm sorry you had such a bad experience, YouOverThere, but thanks to you also for writing in to tell us about it. I was not the biggest fan of the Billy Elliot movie, but it had some good things in it. My experience with most, not all, cinema-to-stage translations is that the good things in the film tend to get messed up or lost entirely because they can't be reproduced live in a theater and the adaptation can rarely provide anything as successful in their place. I would think this would be true of Billy Elliot, since the urban milieu plays an important role in the film, at least as I recall it. Is there anyone else who saw both versions and can comment? Link to comment
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