Billy Elliot!

Last night we went to see Billy Elliot.  It's a musical based on the 2001 movie of the same name.  Billy is a young boy living in a coal-mining town in England during the strikes of 1984-1985.  After wandering into a ballet class he discovers his love of dance and dreams of auditioning for the Royal Ballet School.  Meanwhile his father and brother face the brutality of the massive police forces sent to their town to control the strikers.

The musical has won many awards, including the Tony award for best musical.  The music is by Sir Elton John.  We absolutely loved it.  We thought it would be fitting to bring along Jungle Boy's ballet teacher, since the story centers around a young dancer and his teacher.

When we got to the theater, his teacher and I made him do the "Billy Jump" in front of the marquee.  Forgive the blur of my cheap camera - you can still see he gets some height here.

Poor Jungle Boy.  I'm always making him do stuff like that.

After the show, we waited by the stage door and got to meet some of the actors including the incredibly talented Kylend Hetherington, who played Billy for that performance.  There are five boys who alternate performances in this demanding role.

Here is Jungle Boy with Wasabi Girl and his ballet teacher with Kylend.  I love this picture.  Kylend is such a cutie with those dimples.  He was so sweet to all of his fans.  The perfect end to a memorable evening.