Steadstyle Chicago April 2010 Theatre Review by Joe Stead Billy Elliot The Musical "Billy Elliot The Musical" may be the most demanding theatrical assignment ever placed on such small shoulders as the talented youngster(s) who takes the spotlight and the title role.  It is also unique in the nearly smothering hype that has been lavished on the show itself.  How could any show hope to measure up to the media blitz that greeted "The Best Musical of the Decade" according to Time Magazine as it made its highly anticipated Chicago debut at the Ford Center Oriental Theatre?  With a celebrity studded opening night crowd boasting Oprah Winfrey, the Reverend Jesse Jackson and Composer Elton John, among others, we could only wonder if the show would be as good as it promised.  It isn't.  That isn't to say it isn't an experience worth having.  In fact, the over three hour Broadway in Chicago production is giving its well-heeled audiences a big bang for their buck.  It is also giving a huge boon to the downtown theatre district now that such long running mega-hits as "Wicked" and "Jersey Boys" have sung their last notes.  Chicago is hungry for lightning to strike again, and "Billy Elliot" has many of the trappings of a bona-fide hit.  As a work of musical theatre, though, it isn't as remarkable.  Critics are often obliged to separate the artistic merit of a theatrical work from its talent and execution, and that is what I must offer here.  Elton John's occasionally soaring anthem and rock-laden music doesn't really propel the 2000 movie into musical theatre heaven.  The score by John and first-time lyricist Lee Hall, who also wrote the book and original screenplay on which it is based, is sluggish and forgettable.  And where the film was charming and realistic, the musical feels bloated and formulaic. The title character is a gifted 11-year-old son of a mining family in Margaret Thatcher ruled Northern England.  When Thatcher's conservative government decided the unionized miners were expendable, the working community went on a year-long strike they didn't have a chance of winning.  The historic miners' strike provides the backdrop to young Billy's surprising discovery of his special talents as a dancer.  Neither Billy's widowed father nor his grown brother are pleased to have a "poof" for a child, but the family and community ultimately rallies behind Billy's dreams just as their own are crushed beneath the Thatcher regime. Director Stephen Daldry and his fellow creators have opened the story up from the edgy art film with a heart into a big and occasionally vacuous musical comedy entity.  As is often the case, what works on film feels redundant when it is transposed to the live stage, and so it does here.  Turning Billy's cross-dressing school chum Michael, winningly played here by the highly likable Keean Johnson, into a production number complete with dancing dresses feels like unnecessary baggage.  The numbers for Mrs. Wilkinson, Billy's chain-smoking, tough talking dance teacher, are labored and dull in spite of the brassy delivery by Broadway pro Emily Skinner.  And Billy's dad, earnestly played by Armand Schultz, has but one brief musical moment in the whole long show. One can't ignore the poignant timeliness of this story's historical drama with the current West Virginia mining community's horrific ordeal.  And yet the human spirit often thrives under adversities such as these, as does the pursuit of creative expression.  Billy's dead mother inspired her son to always be himself, and that is an important life lesson we can all benefit from at any age.  Whether you have ever danced a step in your life or like me you're lucky to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time, you are likely to be touched by young Billy's story. At least, the stage version does not resort to a blow-by-blow translation of the film.  Peripheral characters like Billy's grandmother (the salty Cynthia Darlow), his dead mother (the divine Susie McMonagle) and even the slovenly rehearsal pianist Mr. Braithwaite (the incredible Blake Hammond) are richly fleshed out here.  The juxtaposition of police guards, striking miners and ballet girls in "Solidarity" is particularly brilliant.  The pas de deux, moved to an earlier place in the play, between adolescent Billy and his older self (the distinguished premier danseur Samuel Pergande) is breathtaking, sending little Billy literally soaring into the flies.  And the genius of Choreographer Peter Darling makes this a powerful and emotional journey in spite of a less than first class book and score.       Only the highest accolades can be used to describe Cesar Corrales, the 13-year-old triple threat who brought enormous sweetness, openness and vulnerability to the title role on opening night of the Chicago company.  Not only must the star be a dancing dynamo who can move seamlessly from ballet to tap to gymnastics, he must also sing, act and conquer a thick Northern England accent.  My hat's off to this little trouper for a truly awe-inspiring and heroic display.  And as if to preview what future audiences are in store for, all four alternating Billy's took the stage at the finale for an exciting tap show off.  I can sincerely say that whichever of the four youngsters you are fortunate to see, and they each get two shows a week, you are guaranteed to be spellbound.  If "Billy Elliot" isn't ultimately the masterpiece it promises to be, it is an experience and an event to remember nonetheless.     For more information on this show, please visit the Theatre In Chicago Billy Elliot page. Click here for a feature interview with "Billy Elliot" star Emily Skinner.   About Joe Stead Joe Stead has enjoyed a lifelong passion for the theatre, which has involved acting, directing, producing, designing and reviewing for the past twenty-five years.  He served as founder, producer and Artistic Director of Curtain Up Productions in Baltimore, Maryland and Four Star Players in Tampa, Florida.  Favorite productions have included "Life With Father," "Deathtrap," "The Odd Couple," "The Miracle Worker," "Brighton Beach Memoirs," "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown" and "Godspell".  He has also performed leading roles in "Fiddler on the Roof," "Pippin," "The Phantom of the Opera," "The Front Page," and most recently as Hucklebee in "The Fantasticks" for Waukegan Community Players.  Joe holds a degree in Commercial Art from Tampa Technical Institute.  As a critic, he has reviewed everything from Broadway to community theatre and major regional theatres throughout the United States including the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey, Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut, and the Asolo Theatre in Sarasota, Florida.  Since 1998, he has been a proud resident of Chicago, the greatest theatre city in America.  He served for two years as Theatre Editor for College News and Central Newspapers.  He created the website Steadstyle Chicago in 2000 to showcase the city's outstanding and diverse theatre scene.  Joe was proud to serve alongside a distinguished panel of theatre professionals as a judge for two seasons of Speaking Ring Theatre's "Vitality" Festival of original short plays.  His most fulfilling role, in addition to reviewer and all-around theatre fanatic, was as director of the 2007 production of Peter Shaffer's "Equus" at Actors Workshop (now Redtwist) Theatre, which was nominated for five Joseph Jefferson Award Citations and won for Best Actor (Peter Oyloe).