Blogging Broadway: Go, Billy Elliot!

 
David Alvarez in Billy Elliot (Photo by David Scheinmann)

Here are reviews of two new productions you won't want to miss: the highly-anticipated Billy Elliot musical, fresh from London; and the gripping Off-Broadway revival of the groundbreaking gays-in-the-military drama Streamers. Read on!

GO, BILLY ELLIOT!

Freedom from persecution for one's sexual orientation is vitally important, but so is freedom from the bonds of stereotype. The stage musical Billy Elliot, like the beautiful film that inspired it, is about an adolescent boy who wants to become a professional ballet dancer even though he's not gay — or, to use the British slang terms, not "bent" or a "puff." And shouldn't a kid be allowed to love classical dance without everyone assuming he's a proto-homo?

Billy Elliot has just opened on Broadway direct from London, where it remains a smash hit. With book and lyrics by Lee Hall (who wrote the screenplay for the film) and music by Elton John, the show isn't primarily concerned with whether or not Billy is or will be gay. Rather, it's largely about the English class system and Margaret Thatcher's crushing of the British National Union of Mineworkers in the mid-1980s. Billy's dad and brother are miners, and the boy's attempt to pursue his dream is all the more brave and inspiring given the dire straits of his family and friends.

There were worries that Billy Elliot wouldn't transfer well to Broadway because we Americans might find the politics too complicated — but really, how stupid do they think we are? All the background info you really need to have is that the evil Thatcher and her conservative government busted the union. Then you can focus on the heart of the tale: Billy's yearning to rise above his circumstances and be the best he can be. 

If you saw the film, you don't need me to tell you that the story packs a wallop. Happily, Hall's adaptation is solid, and his lyrics are quite good. And what of Elton John's music? Well, you probably won't feel the urge to listen to this score on your home stereo or iPod, but in the context of the show as experienced in the theater, it works very well indeed.

On Broadway, three boys rotate in the role of Billy. I was lucky enough to catch David Alvarez, who won me over completely. Some audience members may be distracted by the fact that Alvarez, who's of Cuban heritage, looks nothing like his onstage kin; in fact, a friend of mine in attendance wondered half-jokingly if Billy was supposed to adopted. But Alvarez is so awesomely talented as a dancer, actor, and singer, and his Northern English accent is so convincing, that his appearance would be no more than a minor distraction even if his hair were green and his skin purple.

Haydn Gwynne and David Alvarez in Billy Elliot (Photo by David Scheinmann) 

The rest of the huge cast is terrific, especially Haydn Gwynne as Billy's dance teacher (the role she originated in the West End), Gregory Jbara as his dad, Santino Fontana as his brother, and Leah Hocking as the ghost of his mother. A special nod goes to Frank Dolce (who alternates with David Bologna) in the role of Billy's pal Michael, the obvious budding queen of the show. (His duet with Billy, "Expressing Yourself," is a major highlight.) Except for Gwynne, all of the above named actors are American — but their dialect work is so excellent, you'd never guess it.

Billy Elliot is so good overall, and its emotional content so compelling, that one wishes its obvious flaws had been fixed before the Broadway opening. With a running time of just under three hours (and I do mean "just"), the show would have benefited greatly from savvy editing. The construction of the narrative is shaky, and the transitions between scenes are sometimes awkward. Billy's grandma, played to perfection by Carole Shelley, at first seems like she's going to have a major part in the plot but then disappears almost completely until the end of Act II. And so on.

The production is as problematic as the piece itself. Director Stephen Daldry, who did such a superlative job with the mid-'90s revival of An Inspector Calls, doesn't seem entirely comfortable with the rhythms and other niceties of a musical. While Peter Darling's choreography is often impressive, it's not cohesive, and there is simply too much of it. Ian MacNeil's sets are uglier than they need to be in making the point that Billy's existence is squalid, and so poorly designed that the location of several scenes is unclear. Problems continue right through the show's curtain call, which is ill-conceived in several respects.

You might think all of these negatives would sink Billy Elliot, but no. The show has so much heart and soul, and so much talent at work amid the all the miscalculations, that it's ultimately far more successful than any number of other, more polished entertainments. If I were you, I'd do a grand jeté to the Imperial Theater a.s.a.p.

A scene from Streamers (Photo by Joan Marcus) 

GAY(S) IN THE MILITARY, PRE-STONEWALL 
 
David Rabe's Streamers is historically significant in that it was written more than 30 years ago by a heterosexual white male, yet it's an ultimately sympathetic play about sexual, racial and class tension in the military during the Vietnam era. The Roundabout's gripping Off-Broadway revival at the Laura Pels Theatre is one of the company's finest productions ever to be offered in that venue.

Set in an army barracks in Virginia in 1965, Streamers introduces us to Richie, a far more openly gay fellow than one would expect to find in the army at that time. He camps around and flirts shamelessly with his barracks-mates, so much so that they think he may be feigning homosexuality just to freak them out. Richie's behavior eventually leads to violence but, surprisingly, the play contains some gay-positive attitudes — expressed by members of the armed forces, no less. 

Streamers is part of an unofficial "Vietnam trilogy" that also includes Rabe's The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel and Sticks and Bones. It's one of the author's most realistic works, yet it features several near-poetic passages — not to mention some singing, when the guys croon "Beautiful Streamer" to the tune of "Beautiful Dreamer." (The symbolic title of the play is a reference to parachutes that fail to open, and we're subjected to horrific desrciptions of men who found themselves in that unfortunate position.)

The rock-solid cast of the Roundabout production is led by Hale Appleman as Richie, Brad Fleischer as Billy (the object of his affections) and Atto Essandoh as Carlyle, a black man who's terribly conflicted over whether or not he wants to let Richie service him sexually. (I won't tell you what happens, but let's just say it doesn't go well.) Charlie Hewson, J.D. Williams, John Sharian, Larry Clarke, Cobey Mandarino, E.J. Cantu, Jason McDowell Green, and Axel Avin, Jr. round out the cast. Scott Ellis's direction is excellent, and so are the show's design elements, particularly Neil Patel's unit set and Jeff Croiter's lighting.

While Streamers certainly can't be considered an argument in favor of gays in the military, it's an intelligent and powerful piece that shows us how fear of "otherness" is often the biggest problem in situations where people from diverse backgrounds are thrown together. Instead of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," our armed forces would do better to adopt the policy "mind your own business," which is not at all the same thing.