Billy Elliot: the Musical @ the Kentucky Center

Onward...

It seems fitting that my first post after the death of my musical-theatre-loving grandmother is about a musical...

Seriously, my grandmother-- Vange-- loved her some musicals. I don't know for how many DECADES she subscribed to Massachusetts' North Shore Music Theatre (side note: last I heard, NSMT was shutting down... I don't have time to investigate, but it looks like they're very much still in operation. Good news!), but it was a lot of decades.  Vange's favorite musical: MAMA MIA because it combined two of things she loved more than anything else in the world-- musicals and ABBA. Seriously, the woman loved ABBA so much that someone put an ABBA CD in her casket at the wake (my boyfriend made the gruesome joke: "I sure hope she finds some way of listening to it... maybe bumps into some avid jogger who was buried with her Walkman." Groan. But funny.).

Anyway, that's neither here nor there... the musical that Broadway Across America is bringing to Louisville this week is BILLY ELLIOT, another of the long tradition of movie musicals. At least this one was a movie about dance.

I've never seen the film, but it was such a pop culture hit, I do know a little bit about it.  Here's the story from the BAA Louisville website:

Based on the Academy Award nominated 2000 film of the same title, Billy Elliot is the story of its namesake star, a young boy in a depressed working-class mining town in the North of England. Set during the history-making 1984 miner’s strike, the show follows Billy, the youngest child of a blue-collar family that has recently lost its Mum, as he discovers his unlikely and extraordinary gift for ballet. While Billy’s father and brother take to the picket lines of the violent and life-changing strike, Billy secretly begins to study the art of dance with the help of a hard-drinking, chain-smoking local dance teacher. But as Billy blossoms and thrives, the world and lives around him continues to wither—and his only escape may be the prestigious Royal Ballet School, a place no working-class boy has ever gone, or been allowed to go to, before.

I don't know who writes the copy for the BAA website, but I kind of love the "Should I See It?" section because it is unfailingly honest.  The short answer for this musical is yes, if you don't mind your musicals on the "dark and complex side," and no for little kids under eight or so.

I'm pretty interested in seeing this. Those of you who know me know that I was a "bunhead" for most of my childhood-- took dance classes from age 3-18 and did a little choreography in high school and college. The show opens tomorrow and runs through Sunday. It's a long one-- 2hr50min with an intermission.

Broadway Across America: BLUE MAN GROUP

Unless you've been living in a cave for the past twenty-odd years (and if you have been living in a cave, good on ya! I hope you at least have wifi!), you've probably heard of The Blue Man Group.  Hopefully, if the world has been kind to you, you've even actually seen the Blue Man Group-- if not live then on television on in one of the documentaries made about the performance group.

I was lucky enough to catch pretty much the original show in 1991 at Astor Place Theatre in NYC. And the first time I attended (after that first time, I took just about every out-of-town visitor who came to town to see them), I was one of the audience "volunteers." They brought me on-stage and made me unwrap and eat a Twinkie-- and then white goo shot out of a spout on a vest they'd put on me. It was HI-LAR-IOUS! (Yeah, you're gonna have to trust me on that one).

I am so super excited to be seeing the Blue Man Group again tonight.  Once again, Broadway Across America brings a little of NYC to Louisville. The show runs through April 15. I promise you, if you go, you will laugh. Hard. And may tinkle yourself a little (but that's okay, there's usually lots of toilet paper involved in the show... I'm serious).

And if my brilliant description of the show isn't quite doing it for you, here's the Q&A from their website:

STORY

Blue Man Group centers on three human(ish) men who have blue heads and no ears. They don’t speak and, in fact, utter not one sound. But look at their faces long enough and you can detect the faintest hint of curiosity and wonder, like when gazing at audience members’ cell phones and Blackberrys as if they were objects from outer space. The ultimate mission of the Blue Men is to share with us their own interesting gadgets, like their sci-fi drum kits and LED-screen thought balloons. Just prepare yourself when they break out the Cap ‘n Crunch and toilet paper.

SHOULD I SEE IT?

What Is Blue Man Group Like?
If the description above didn’t tip you off, Blue Man Group is not plot-driven and has only the slightest thread of a storyline. It is, however, an incredibly entertaining spectacle that incorporates high-tech stage effects, old-fashioned comedy and even a bit of circus-style mime and clowning. As interactive as theater gets, the first few rows come equipped with ponchos and plastic coverings, so audience members can shield themselves from food, paint and whatever other substances fly off the stage. Surely the Blue Men are saying something about life, technology and the failure to communicate. Then again, you might just walk out thinking, “Dude that was way cool!”

Is Blue Man Group Good for Kids?
Yes, by all means. These men don’t speak, hence they don’t even come close to using any bad language, making rude gestures or anything else that might be considered unsuitable subject matter for your children. Fact is, if the Blue Men simply walked onstage and did nothing, kids could busy themselves for hours just looking at their faces. That these guys also roll out many a space-age bell and whistle makes the show an experience kids will never forget. Adults won’t, either.

Tickets available here: Broadway Across America-- Louisville.