BY KAREN BOSSICK
The Tony Award-winning musical “Billy Elliott” is set in a hardscrabble mining town in northern England where miners are barely eking out a living. But Brett Moellenberg sees a lot of parallels to the Wood River Valley.
“It’s a play about community. The miners have gone on strike, and as it goes on, they have less money and fewer resources. But, still, they rally to help a boy achieve his dream. Being in a small community, I connect with this. Once you take out the wealthy second homeowners, we’re really working-class people trying to help the youth in our community achieve their dreams.”
“Billy Elliot: The Musical” will open on Thursday, Sept. 19, and run through Sunday, Sept. 22, at Sun Valley Community School. Showtimes are 7 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday with 2 p.m. matinees Saturday and Sunday.
Tickets start at $15, available at https://ci.ovationtix.com/35974/production/1213035.
It is this year’s Family Main Stage production by St. Thomas Playhouse and features an intergenerational cast of 40 local performers who range in age from 12 to about 80.
“It is St. Thomas Playhouse’s most celebrated project of the year,” said Moellenberg, who is directing the musical.
Set in a northern English mining town against the backdrop of a 1984 coal miners’ strike, it is the inspirational story of an 11-year-old boy’s struggle against the odds to make his dream come true. Billy Elliott stumbles upon a ballet class during his weekly boxing lesson and he quickly discovers a passion for dance that inspires his family and community and changes his life forever.
The music is by Elton John and the book and lyrics by Lee Hall. The musical won 10 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and 10 Drama Desk Awards, as well.
“We wanted to do something that featured a young boy on our Family Main Stage. We have not had that since “Oliver,” and we did that more than 10 years ago,” said Moellenberg. “This is a dance-heavy musical so that’s exciting. A lot of people know the story or have seen the musical, and we always want a show with a lot of kids—this has 11 ballerinas, plus a lot of young boys. And I love that Elton John wrote the music, which is very melodic and features some rock.”
Jack Cohen, a middle school student at Sun Valley Community School and a student at Footlight Dance Center, plays Billy. Mykala McCann and Georgie Payne will take turns playing the role of his friend Debbie. McCann will play Debbie on Thursday and the two Saturday performances. Georgie Payne will play Debbie on Friday and Sunday.
The girls will be part of the cast when they are not playing Debbie.
Ward Loving plays Billy Elliott’s father. It’s a complicated role, said Moellenberg, because it portrays someone who has spent his whole life as a coal miner only to be confronted with the fact that his son wants to do something different, even aspiring to attend a dance academy that seems quite unattainable.
“He’s not particularly likeable, but he has to compromise himself to support his son,” said Moellenberg. “That also is similar to what you see in this community. Kids do all sorts of thing that you might not expect so parents find themselves taking a different path than they might have expected to support them.”
The cast is learning the dialect of northern England--a Yorkshire accent similar to that seen in “Game of Thrones” or the service class in “Downton Abbey.
“It’s a mix between English, Scottish and Northern Irish,” said Moellenberg. “We also see a union theme, which is interesting. One of the funnier songs is ‘Merry Christmas, Maggie Thatcher,’ which the miners sing when they throw a Christmas party despite having no money. It’s fun to see the dynamics.”
Megan Hegewald is providing the choreography. Louisa Waycott provided the music direction before heading back to Washington, D.C., where she has a full schedule teaching private lessons and appearing in operatic shows. Sara Gorby is producing the show and serving as costume director.
The musical is recommended for those 12 and older because of some language and adult themes. It has a running time of two hours and 20 minutes, including intermission.