In the same way that the musical Annie developed an army of mop-topped little girls able to belt Tomorrow to the last row of the balcony, the stage version of Billy Elliot has generated a passel of pre-teen boys, all expert at ballet, tap, hip-hop and character dance.
And if they are as energetic and talented as J.P. Viernes, the Asian tot who opened in the title role to kick off a two-week run at Fort Lauderdale’s Broward Center, the show should be amazing and entertaining audiences for a long time to come.
It is one thing to create a film about a precocious youngster who gives up his weekly boxing lessons and secretly enrolls in dance class. Through retakes and painstaking editing, one can always piece together a believable series of dance routines. But to place such a multimillion-dollar bet on the tiny shoulders of a few inexperienced boys in devising a major musical: that is the very definition of chutzpah.
The show’s creative team just happens to include the 2000 film’s director Stephen Daldry, its screenwriter Lee Hall (trying his hand at lyrics for the first time) and, its one newcomer ringer, rock star/composer Elton John. So they know the material and believe in it enough to remain quite faithful to it, which means spending much of the evening with the angry miners of the 1984 coal workers’ strike.
That was a seminal event in Great Britain’s 20th-century politics, which means that American audiences probably know little about it. Still, the clash between the miners and riot police, as well as the contrast between the picket lines and the line of pirouetting kids proves to be fertile territory for choreographer Peter Darling.
Still running in London after seven years, its success across the pond did not stop the speculation that the show might be too British for American tastes. That concern was answered when Billy opened on Broadway in 2008, copping 10 Tony Awards. The road version cuts a few corners with Ian MacNeil’s scenic design, but otherwise the musical — and its considerable emotional wallop — are delivered very much intact.
The story concerns motherless Billy, who lives with his father and older brother, who are both on strike from the mines. Although money is tight, Billy is given 50 pence each week for boxing, which he soon uses instead to learn the art of dance. There, under the watchful eye and chain-smoking mouth of Mrs. Wilkinson (a world-weary Leah Hocking), he blossoms, revealing unexpected dance talent, especially compared to the butterballs in tutus alongside him.
Eventually, Mrs. Wilkinson urges Billy to audition for the Royal Ballet’s training school, coaching him privately, much to the eventual dismay of his father (gruff, but ultimately soft-hearted Rich Hebert).
John comes up with his best theater score yet, full of strident anthems for the miners, an infectious political nose-thumber (Merry Christmas, Maggie Thatcher), a guaranteed lump-in-the-throat musical letter from Billy’s dead mum and a rousing it’s-OK-to-be-different duet (Expressing Yourself) between Billy and his younger, smaller, gay sidekick (Cameron Clifford, a born scene-stealer).
There is plenty to like about this show, which mixes sentiment with politics expertly. But ultimately, Billy Elliot works because of the performer playing Billy. As with all productions, the role is played by a rotating trio of young men. There is no reason to think the other two are not just as talented, but Viernes is an amazing little dynamo and Billy Elliot is the first great new musical of the millennium.
BILLY ELLIOT, Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 201 S.W. Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale. Through Sunday. Tickets: $29.25-$81.25. Call: (954) 462-0222.