Divisiveness is everywhere in “Billy Elliot: The Musical.”
It’s in the streets of the sleepy English mining town that’s been beaten down by the iron-fisted fiscal conservatism of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, circa 1984. It eats at the heart of the motherless and dysfunctional coal miner’s family at the center of the tale. Dad can’t cook. Grandma is batty. And young Billy wants to become a ballet dancer, much to the chagrin of this hyper-masculine, blue-collar milieu.
This social and domestic turbulence, this constant struggle over notions of art and sports and gender identity, sets the stage for a dark and ultimately triumphant musical comedy. Based on the beloved 2000 British film and set to music by some-time Atlantan Elton John, the show has pirouetted its way into the Fox Theatre for an engagement through Sunday.
This city's first look at the musical that scooped up 10 2009 Tony Awards brims with exciting dancing and some wonderful character acting (see Leah Hocking as Billy’s dance teacher, Mrs. Wilkinson, and Cameron Clifford as his cross-dressing friend, Michael). Juxtaposing the harshness of baton-wielding police with the innocence of young children in tights and tutus, Peter Darling’s choreography deepens the emotional charge of both the story and the score, a blend of traditional English brass and screeching, guitar-driven rock.
But at Tuesday night's opening, there seemed to be a bit of a disconnect between Billy (J.P. Viernes) and his family (Patti Perkins as Grandma, Rich Hebert as Dad and Cullen R. Titmas as his angry brother, Tony). Though he is an absolutely glorious dancer, Viernes’ grasp of Billy’s north English accent, like his singing, is a tad uneven. (The part of Billy rotates between Viernes, Ty Forhan, Kylend Hetherington and Zach Manske, though it’s never announced who will play the role until just before curtain.)
Overall, it’s a solid company. I just continue to have the same problems with the material that I've always had: Much of the comedy is broad and shopworn (lots of bad cooking jokes and drag gags). The excess of profanity and salty Brit humor undermines the genuine sentiment. And while John pens some lovely solos (Grandma’s memory-soaked “We’d Go Dancing” and Billy’s dance testimonial, “Electricity,” for example), some of Lee Hall’s lyrics are derivative and trite (“Born to Boogie,” “Shine”). (Hall, by the way, is the original screenwriter and the musical’s librettist and lyricist.)
Finally, not all of the dazzling machinery of Ian MacNeil's sets make a successful translation from Broadway to the road -- though Nicky Gillibrand's costumes are pretty delightful.
Still, it’s hard to resist Hocking’s chain-smoking Mrs. Wilkinson, whose bright pink and purple leg warmers, star-spangled tights and fur-trimmed overcoats seem to exemplify all the fashion mistakes of the ’80s. This tower of tackiness is Billy’s surrogate mother, the figure he clings to when he says goodbye. Hebert’s take on Billy’s Dad is heartfelt and convincing, as is the occasional appearance of his ghostlike Mum (Kat Hennessey).
In sum, the arrival of director Stephen Daldry’s “Billy Elliot,” one of the more enduring Broadway phenomena of our time, is a Really Big Deal for Atlanta audiences. But after extended runs in Chicago and Toronto and two national tours, it feels a little tardy to the party. Too bad this classic underdog's tale can't pack the same messy urgency of the Broadway production I caught near the end of its run. Still, when Billy and company are tapping like mad, or donning tutus for the big curtain call, there's nothing else like it.
Theater review
“Billy Elliot: The Musical”
Grade: B -
8 p.m. March 14-17. 2 p.m. March 17. 1 and 6:30 p.m. March 18. Through March 18. $28-$73. Presented by Broadway in Atlanta, Fox Theatre, 660 Peachtree St. N.E., Atlanta. 1-800-982-2787, www.broadwayinatlanta.com .
Bottom line: Solid but not soaring.
