Review: Billy Elliot soars on Sunderland Empire stage for musical's return

I laughed, I cried, I stomped my feet in solidarity - Billy is back!

Fitting that we should arrive at Sunderland Empire to the rich, rousing tune of Easington Colliery Band, which, like Billy himself, is a North East cultural icon born from the fierce community spirit of Easington in County Durham.

Sunderland is the nearest big theatre to Billy’s birthplace, making it a perfect place to debut a revival of the musical based on the hit 2000 film.

It’s ten years since it last toured when it became one of the Empire’s biggest ever shows - and this musical is another breathtaking belter. To use the vernacular of the show: it’s bl**dy brilliant!

From the opening number, The Stars Look Down, it was clear we were in for a special night of theatrical magic, one that resonates all the more deeply with an audience whose families lived through the Miners’ Strike, the scars of lost industry still etched in our villages.

Pun not intended, it’s a striking scene as the miners of Billy’s village fight for their future and that of their families. It’s impassioned, it’s full of heart, it’s a scene strong enough to close a show, and boy I’d missed hearing the North East twang in a major musical as the rallying cry of “all out togetha” blows the roof off the Empire.

As anyone who’s seen that hit film will know, this is a tale of a boy brought up in the grip of the Miners’ Strike as it tears apart communities in East Durham. Unlike his forefathers, Billy’s future doesn’t lie down the pit: he’s destined to dance.

There’s four Billys, Debbies and Michaels on the tour and for press night it was William Gurney who swaps Billy’s boxing gloves for ballet shoes.

They’re tough shoes to fill, but William showed real star quality as he took us through a gamut of emotions. At times I was belly laughing as Billy takes on the potty-mouthed ballerinas in his ballet class, led by the brilliantly blunt Annette McLaughlin as Mrs Wilkinson.

Her little sidekick daughter Debbie is also played with charming sass by Lola Cant.

The show is only a week old, but Billy also has a great chemistry already with his pal Michael, played with class comic timing by Harper Etienne, and the Expressing Yourself scene as Michael prances in his dresses, while poking fun at Billy for ballet, is hugely warm and hilarious.

I was chuckling loads, especially in scenes with the ever great Lesley Joseph as Grandma. Just brace yourselves for the scenes with his dead mam. I rarely cry, but that got me!

It’s a hugely demanding titular role: you’ve got to sing, act, ballet dance, tap, back flip off a piano - all while keeping up an East Durham twang and William sure lives up to the Billy name.

I don’t think I took my eyes off the stage once as we follow a young boy’s path to finding himself in stark contrast to the crumbling community around him that’s losing theirs.

It’s a juxtaposition encapsulated in Angry Dance, a hugely powerful scene as Billy stamps his feet through the cobbled alleys of his village, his frustration leaping off the stage as he slams the police shields.

It’s one of the most politically-charged pieces of theatre out there. Never more so than in Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher, in which the pit village looks forward to her death and a giant Spitting Image-esque model of the former Prime Minister leers above the stage in a menacing fashion.

Geordie actor Deka Walmsley, who revives the role of dad, is perfect casting as the miner battling with his desire to fight and the struggle to make ends meet for his family. He’s got the stiff upper lip that so personified many men of that era, one that Billy chips away at with his love of dance.

Those dancing feet really shine in the Dream Ballet scene as Billy dances with his older self, played by one of the original Billys, Liam Mower. It’s a beautifully done bridge to Billy’s bright future and a really mesmerising watch as he soars above the stage in this sweeping feat of storytelling.

I couldn’t stand up any quicker for that much-deserved standing ovation.

The show is in Sunderland until November 28, before the tour heads to Manchester, Edinburgh and the West End. Gan’ on Billy, blow their socks off.