BILLY ELLIOT IS ONE

Happy Birthday Billy Elliot

Last Christmas, friends Scott and Shane chipped in and bought me a very good seat to see the first anniversary performance of BILLY ELLIOT.  In London they had seen that first anniversary, which was a special presentation featuring all three original Billys performing the show at the same time.  We were hoping something equally fun was planned for New York, but it was not to be.  I had at least hoped to see one of the Billys I had not yet seen, such as Tommy Batchelor or the newest Billy, Alex Ko.  Nope, it was good old Trent Kowalik, who I have now seen three times.  Trent was the opening night Billy, so it was appropriate that he would do the anniversary performance.  He is remarkably older looking.  He is lanky now and his voice pops and cracks a bit.  His days as Billy may be coming to an end.  He has some new costumes that do not match the originals exactly––he obviously is growing.  Trent started out as a wee lad in the London production before his year on Broadway.  He was never in a play or musical before BILLY ELLIOT, so the only show he has ever done in his life––his entire acting and singing training––has been his nearly three years in BILLY ELLIOT.  And he has the Tony Award to prove it.  He now exhibits an even greater precision in his dancing and his angry tap dance at the end of the first act is truly stunning.

New to the cast as Mrs. Wilkinson is the Canadian actress Kate Hennig.  She is not as sure of voice as Hayden Gwynne, but she has her own original take on the character and her own specialized wardrobe of crazy ‘80s fashions.  Will Chase, who in real life much too old to play older brother Tony, looks perfectly fine (and perpetually young) on stage.  He gives a good honest performance.  Many of the ballet girls are new, though they have been cast with replicas of the originals.  A new Michael, played by Trevor Braun, has a dozen original bits worked into his character and he is a delightful surprise.  

Even though this performance was not given special treatment for the occasion, it was notable for a few reasons.  In the middle of the dream ballet, the music stopped and the stage manager's voice came over the speakers to tell us they had to stop due to technical difficulties.  Trent Kolwalik and Stephen Hanna (Older Billy) walked off the stage.  One wall of the set had not rolled off into the wings to make way for the flying sequence of the ballet.  Three minutes later the wall started to move out and the black wings dropped in.  Trent Kowalik and Stephen Hanna walked back on stage and took their places.  The music picked up right where they left off as the dance continued.  Trent was hooked up to his fly wire, Hanna thrust him into the air and the audience broke into cheers and applause. It was all, somehow, more exciting for the mishap.  Then there was “Electricity.”  Trent has always done an exemplary job with this show stopper, but now his longer body flies longer through the air, kicks higher to the sky, flips with more force.   And those final twenty Russian turns felt like an Olympian breaking a world record, inciting a roar of excitement from the crowd and a standing ovation.  The woman beside me uttered a word, “Incredible.”  That is just about the size of it.  

Sitting a few seats away from me was the proud grandmother of Trent Kowalik, who was surrounded by a group of fans all chit-chatting with her.  The guy next to me had seen the show twenty-nine times in New York and another six times in London.  He told me his friend, who was sitting down stairs, was seeing the show for the one hundredth time.  I’ve now only seen it five times. I guess I’m not as obsessed with the show as I thought I was.  There is something compelling about certain shows that drive one to keep going back.  BILLY ELLIOT is one that has that power.