“What an amazing show.” “Fantastic acting and such gritty performances.” These were just some of the comments from the audience who watched the School production of Billy Elliot: The Musical. The show is a coming-of-age stage musical based on the 2000 film of the same name, with the music by Elton John, and the book and lyrics by Lee Hall, who wrote the film's screenplay.
The plot revolved around Billy, a motherless British boy who began taking ballet lessons. The story of his personal struggle and fulfilment was balanced against a counter-story of family and community strife caused by the 1984–85 UK miners' strike in County Durham, in North East England. Hall's screenplay was inspired in part by A. J. Cronin's 1935 novel about a miners' strike, The Stars Look Down, to which the musical's opening song pays homage.
This amateur production was presented by arrangement with Musical Theatre International. All authorised performance materials were also supplied by MTI.
We had a fantastic cast of actors from across all year groups, together with an amazing showband which was entirely made up of students from the school, under the direction of Mrs Bowen-Melfi, Head of Music. The actors and musicians were ably assisted by a great tech team, and lots of behind the scenes assistance including wardrobe, set construction and props. They were an amazing team, who worked incredibly hard to bring the show together.
Mrs N Furnell, Team Leader Drama
