REVIEW of Paramount Theatre’s Striking Billy Elliot: The Musical Now Playing Through March 24, 2024

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Paramount Theatre's 

Billy Elliot: The Musical 

Michelle Aravena (right, with cigarette) plays Mrs. Wilkinson, a ballet teacher who sees unusual talent in a young British boy named Billy (Neo Del Corral, center).  All production photos by Liz Lauren.

Inspired new production of the coming-of-age tale 

directed by Trent Stork

February 7-March 24, 2024

REVIEW:

By Bonnie Kenaz-Mara

Before miners or dancers ever step foot on the stage, the sheer magnitude of Paramount Theatre’s Billy Elliot set is sure to impress. With its towering iron scaffolding, towers and wheels, this gritty landscape provides the perfect backdrop for Paramount's blue collar Cinderella story. Billy Elliot comes from generations of overworked, underpaid English coal miners with few options. These hard headed brawlers are often the stereotype of toxic masculinity, but under those hard hats, there's fierce loyalty and community pride. When a year long strike creates financial woes, clashes with the police turn violent and neighbors are pitted against one another as some cross the picket line as scabs. 

Ron E. Rains (center, left) is Dad and Spencer Milford (right) is his son, Tony, leading coal miners on strike in a rural town in 1984 England in  Billy Elliot: The Musical.  In the midst of this stress and upheaval, young Billy Elliot, who has recently lost his mom, accidently discovers a passion for ballet. It's a hard sell to his family and friends, but his raw talent is recognized, and finally even the skeptics are willing to pitch in to help him follow his dreams, get trained, and rise above a dying town, where fossil fuel mining is going the way of the dinosaurs.

Sam Duncan (aloft) plays Billy and Christopher Kelley is Older Billy in Billy Elliot: The Musical. Note: Sam shares the role of Billy with Neo Del Corral.  Billy (Neo Del Corral, center) rehearses with his ballet teacher, Mrs. Wilkinson (Michelle Aravena, right) and Mr. Braithwaite, accompanist for Mrs. Wilkinson’s ballet class, (Dakota Hughes, left).  Here at ChiIL Mama, we couldn't love Paramount's production more. The casting is world class, and the entire confluence of creativity in choreography, lighting, sound, costumes, and set design is superb. This cast just kills it, and there isn't a weak link in the bunch. By the closing number there were few dry eyes in the place, and a rousing standing ovation erupted without coaxing.  Billy (Sam Duncan, right) and Michael (Gabriel Lafazan) perform “Expressing Yourself” in Billy Elliot: The Musical. Note: Sam shares the role with Neo Del Corral.  ChiIL Tips: Come early and grab dinner in Aurora. Free street parking is easier to find if you're early and great restaurants are plentiful. We've tried at least 5 different places for pre-show food and drinks so far, and would happily return to any one of them. As you leave Billy Elliot: The Musical, you may find yourself singing earworm "Solidarity" for days after, but this show's excellent message of inclusion, community, support, and transcending differences is one worth remembering. Paramount's Billy Elliot: The Musical is not just memorable but remarkable.  Don't miss this.   ★★★★ Four out of four stars. Highly Recommended.   Bonnie is a Chicago based writer, theatre critic, photographer, artist, and Mama to 2 amazing adults. She owns two websites where she publishes frequently: ChiILLiveShows.com (adult) & ChiILMama.com (family friendly).

Combating prejudice with dance: Paramount Theatre  rings in the new year with  Billy Elliot: The Musical Sam Duncan (center, back to camera) plays the title role in Billy Elliot: The Musical. Note: Sam shares the role with Neo Del Corral.

February 7-March 24, 2024

Do what you love no matter what other people think. That’s the message that leaps from the stage in Billy Elliot: The Musical, originally nominated for 15 Tony Awards and a winner of ten, including Best Musical. 

Meet Billy Elliot, an 11-year-old English boy who stumbles upon a ballet class during his weekly boxing lesson. His surprise love for dance must be hidden at all costs, especially from his coal miner father. With help from his sharp-tongued teacher, Mrs. Wilkinson, Billy gets the chance to attend a prestigious ballet school and must decide what is most important: doing what he loves or doing what other people want. 

Paramount Theatre rings in 2024 with an inspired new production of this popular coming-of-age tale, set to the music of Elton John, book and lyrics by Lee Hall, directed by Trent Stork. Performances are February 7-March 24, 2024. 

Trent Stork

Director Trent Stork, Paramount’s Artistic Producer and Casting Director, won their first Jeff Award, Director-Musical-Large, in 2022 for Paramount’s Kinky Boots. Stork also helmed Paramount’s current holiday season blockbuster, the Chicago Regional Premiere of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, along with last season’s School of Rock, and Into the Woods with co-director Jim Corti. 

Stork has assembled another stellar design and production team, on point to create a dazzling night of theater: Isaiah Silvia-Chandley, choreographer; Kory Danielson, music director, conductor and music supervisor; Michelle Lilly, scenic designer; Izumi Inaba, costume designer and wig, hair and makeup designer; Greg Hofmann, lighting designer; Adam Rosenthal, sound designer; Mike Tutaj, projection designer; Jesse Gaffney, properties designer; Ethan Deppe, electronic music designer; Susan Gosdick, dialect coach; John A. Tovar, fight director; Max Fabian, intimacy director; Devon Hayakawa, dramaturg; Amanda Raquel Martinez, associate director; Alex Mitchell, associate choreographer; Cameron Tragesser, associate music director and associate conductor; Jinni Pike, stage manager; Maegan Burnell and Lanita VanderSchaaf, assistant stage managers; and Bailey O’Neil and Madeline Scott, young performer supervisors.

Neo Del Corral performs the title role in Billy Elliot: The Musical.

Billy Elliot: The Musical, based on the 2000 film, features music by Elton John. Book and lyrics are by Lee Hall, who also wrote the film's screenplay, inspired in part by A. J. Cronin's 1935 novel about a miners' strike in North East England, “The Stars Look Down.” The musical premiered at the Victoria Palace Theatre in London's West End in 2005 and was nominated for nine Laurence Olivier Awards, winning four, including Best New Musical. The production ran through April 2016. Its success led to productions in Australia, Broadway, and numerous other countries. In New York, it won ten Tony Awards and ten Drama Desk Awards, including, in each case, Best Musical. It was originally directed by Stephen Daldry. Orchestrations are by Martin Koch.

Sam Duncan (left) plays Billy and Christopher Kelley is Older Billy

Times, dates and ticket information

Previews start Wednesday, February 7, 2024 at 7 p.m. Opening Night is Friday, February 16 at 8 p.m. Performances run through March 24: Wednesdays at 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Thursdays at 7 p.m.; Fridays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.; Sundays at 1 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Run time is approximately 2 hours 30 minutes with intermission.

Paramount Theatre is located at 23 E. Galena Blvd. in downtown Aurora. For tickets and information, visit paramountaurora.com, call (630) 896-6666, or stop by the Paramount box office Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and until show time on show days. For group discounts, contact Melissa Striedl, melissas@paramountarts.com or (630) 723-2461. 

Pay What You Can Performances

Paramount will offer two Pay What You Can performances of Billy Elliot: Thursday, February 8 at 7 p.m., and Saturday, February 10 at 3 p.m. Both days, starting at 10 a.m., visit the Paramount box office in-person to request tickets. Limit four per person. Subject to availability. See paramountaurora.com/pay-what-you-can for details. 

Access Services

Paramount offers assistive listening devices free of charge at all performances. Check in at the coat room before the show to borrow a listening device.

Paramount will offer open captioning on Thursday, March 21 at 7 p.m., and American Sign Language interpretation on Friday, March 22 at 8 p.m.

If you require wheelchair or special seating or other assistance, please contact the box office at (630) 896-6666 or boxoffice@paramountarts.com in advance.

Sponsors

Billy Elliot: The Musical is sponsored by Clear Perspective Advisors. Paramount Theatre Broadway Season sponsors are the Dunham Foundation, the City of Aurora, BMO, ComEd and the Illinois Arts Council. 

Paramount Theatre is located at 23 E. Galena Blvd. in downtown Aurora. Single tickets are $28-$79. For tickets and information, visit paramountaurora.com or call (630) 896-6666. For the latest updates, follow @paramountaurora on Facebook and Instagram, and Paramount Theatre on LinkedIn. 

Michelle Aravena (center) plays Mrs. Wilkinson, a ballet teacher who sees unusual talent in a young boy named Billy, (Sam Duncan, right) in Billy Elliot: The Musical. Note: Sam shares the role of Billy with Neo Del Corral.  I'll always hold a soft spot for Billy Elliott, since it was the first Broadway touring production I ever reviewed reviewed for ChiILMama.com, back in 2010. My family was invited behind the scenes, to meet the four boys playing Billy on the national tour, and I got to bring my children to their first Broadway musical, at the ripe old ages of 7 and 9. I've been reviewing theatre ever since and couldn't love it more.

      My daughter Sage, Daniel, my son Dugan, and Billy Elliot -- AKA:  J.P. Viernes

Speaking of coming of age stories... Fourteen years later, these littles are now 20-22 year olds and my son has a theatre degree from Northwestern University! You never know how early exposure to theatre arts will grow. 

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Behind the scenes of Paramount’s Billy Elliot: The Musical 

Performing the title role requires a “triple-threat” young performer who can act, sing and is a highly-trained ballet dancer. Paramount has found their Billy, two of them in fact, Neo Del Corral and Sam Duncan, who will alternate in the role. 

Paramount's Billy Elliot: The Musical will feature “triple-threat” actors/singers/dancers Neo Del Corral (left) and Sam Duncan alternating in the role of Billy.

Jennie Sophia (right, standing) plays Billy’s late Mum, Michelle Aravena(center) is Billy’s ballet teacher, Mrs. Wilkinson, and Neo Del Corral (left) plays Billy.  Neo Del Corral performs the title role in Billy Elliot: The Musical.   Jennie Sophia (left) plays Billy’s Mum, and Neo Del Corral plays Billy in Billy Elliot: The Musical. Note: Neo shares the role with Sam Duncan. Del Corral, a veteran dancer at Miami City Ballet, has played Billy in productions in Florida and California. Duncan, from Connecticut, making his Billy debut, has many credits including John in Fun Home, the young prince in Public Theatre’s Richard III, plus TV appearances on Saturday Night Live and What We Do in the Shadows. Sam Duncan (center, back to camera) plays the title role in Billy Elliot: The Musical. Note: Sam shares the role with Neo Del Corral.

Sam Duncan (aloft) plays Billy and Christopher Kelley is Older Billy

Sam Duncan (center) plays Billy  

Sam Duncan (right) plays Billy and Ron E. Rains is Dad

Billy (Sam Duncan, right) spins Michael (Gabriel Lafazan) upside down in  “Expressing Yourself”  Principal cast members include (top, from left) Michelle Aravena (Mrs. Wilkinson), Ron E. Rains (Dad), (bottom) Barbara Robertson (Grandma) and Spencer Milford (Tony). Michelle Aravena (center) plays Mrs. Wilkinson, a ballet teacher who sees unusual talent in a boy named Billy in Billy Elliot: The Musical, playing now through March 24 at Paramount Theatre in downtown Aurora. Photo credit: Liz Lauren

Youth performers are Gabriel Lafazan (Michael), Omi Lichtenstein and Elin Joy Seiler (rotating as Debbie), Charlie Long and Archer Geye (rotating as Tall Boy/Posh Boy), Levi Merlo and Eli Vander Griend (rotating as Small Boy), Ava Barabasz and Nina Poulimas (rotating as Angela Robson), Maya Keane and Meena Sood (rotating as Julie Hope), Avelyn Choi and Asha Dale Hopman (rotating as Keeley Gibson), Jojo Nabwangu and Willa Zatzenbloom (rotating as Margaret Gormley), Annabel Finch and Katie Romanski (rotating as Sharon Percy), Alexandria Rose Bell and Kavia Suri Kakodkar (rotating as Susan Parks), and Jordyn Helvie and Piper Sobel (rotating as Tracey Atkinson).

The ensemble (at press time) features Brian Bandura, Lydia Burke, Joe Foust, Neil Friedman, Nathan Gallop, Jared David Michael Grant, Dakota Hughes, Brian Hupp, Conor Jordan, Christopher Kelley, Chris Khoshaba, Kevin Kuska, Michael Earvin Martin, Matt Miles, Liz Pazik, Concetta Russo, Jennie Sophia and Matthew Weidenbener. 

It’s 1984 in rural England, and coal miners are on strike in Billy Elliot: The Musical, 

playing now through March 24 at Paramount Theatre in downtown Aurora.