Billy Elliot: The Musical is one of the most successful musicals produced in the past decade. The musical has won countless awards over the years, including 10 Tony Awards, 10 Drama Desk Awards, and 4 Laurence Olivier Awards. It has won several top prizes (including Best New Musical and Best Musical). The musical features music by Elton John and the production reunites the writer and director of the 2000 film which inspired it.

Set during 1984-85, the story of the musical is one about a young boy named Billy Elliot (Elliot Hanna), 11 years old, who decides to give up boxing lessons to learn how to become a dancer. As Billy becomes a better dancer under the instruction of his dance teacher Sandra Wilkinson (Ruthie Henshall) he starts to dream of being a professional ballet dancer. Billy practices to audition for a spot in the Royal Ballet School. Billy takes a journey as he inspires to be his absolute best as a dancer as he pursues his dream.

Billy's Grandma (Ann Emery) keeps him company and tells him stories. His mother, Mrs. Elliot (Claudia Bradley), passed away. Billy often imagines himself being with his mother again. Billy spends time hanging out with close friend Michael Caffrey (Zach Atkinson). Meanwhile, Billy's surviving family, including father Jackie Elliot (Deka Walmsley) and brother Tony Elliot (Chris Grahamson) struggle on strike as the County Durham community is involved in the coal miners labor strike because of unfair wages.

Billy Elliot actually began as a film which was produced in 2000. Most of the same filmmakers who worked on the feature film version came from a professional theater background. After the film was completed the idea came about to adapt it into a musical version. The original director, writer, and other production members who worked on the film were brought together to explore the story of Billy Elliot in musical form. Unlike the film, the musical version features even more dancing and the addition of music: the lyrics were written by the original screenwriter Lee Hall and the accompanying music was created by Elton John.

The cast is terrific. The lead performance by Elliot Hanna as Billy Elliot is stunning. This is probably one of the most difficult performances imaginable for a child actor given the epic length of the story and the number of song and dance numbers involved. Hanna is terrific throughout.  It's hard to imagine the actor not becoming a huge star in the years to come.

Ruthie Henshall delivers a sharp and energetic performance as the dance instructor Sandra Wilkinson and is one of the most exceptional performers in the entire musical. Ann Emery impresses with a rambunctiousness as Billy's Grandma. Deka Walmsley is superb as Billy's father. The actor brings an emotional weight to the character's efforts to help his son's dream while still dealing with the strike. Zach Atkinson is a scene-stealer as Billy's friend Michael Caffrey and he delivers some of the funniest and most memorable comedic moments in the musical.

The musical also has some memorable sequences set entirely to dance. In one such sequence, an older Billy Elliot (Liam Mower) dances with the young Billy Elliot to Swan Lake. This was an impressive dance which featured excellent choreography. The dancing is uniformly superb throughout the show and was quite impressive. The dancers are highly talented and bring incredible energy to the show.

The musical wouldn't be as fun without the incredible music by Elton John. The musical has excellent showpieces and performances including strong efforts on songs Shine, Solidarity, Expressing Yourself, He Could Be A Star, and Electricity. The craft of the songs is superb. Musicals cannot excel without great music accompanying them. Billy Elliot has become a tremendous hit as a musical largely because of the excellent songs featured throughout.

The quality of the production is superb. This is an impressively done musical with strong production qualities. The effort of the production team shines through with the strong stage designs, costumes, and more. This production was clearly a huge undertaking and the efforts were certainly worthwhile with the end result being a superb show.

Written by Lee Hall (Billy Elliot, Pride and Prejudice, War Horse), who also wrote the lyrics, Billy Elliot is an impressive story which manages to feel emotionally rich and satisfying. The entire musical is largely about following one's dreams: going the distance and making them become a reality. It's a wonderful message and theme to the show. The characters are also compelling and exceptionally written. This is a heartfelt musical with a great story.

Directed by Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot, The Hours, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close), Billy Elliot: The Musical is a tremendous directorial achievement. The performances delivered by the entire cast impress throughout. The pacing and rhythm of the direction is exceptional. The entire production team put forth a strong effort. Daldry's direction for Billy Elliot: The Musical is fantastic and emotionally-rich. The musical's many nominations and awards were well-deserved as Billy Elliot: The Musical is a great production.

The Blu-ray:

Video:

Billy Elliot: The Musical (Live) arrives on Blu-ray from Universal with an exceptional quality 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded presentation. This is a wonderfully produced performance, featuring excellent clarity, depth, and color reproduction. The release is good quality and definitely should satisfy fans.

Audio:

The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio lossless sound quality presentation is superb. This is one of the best sounding music performances I have heard, with the songs by Elton John sounding great throughout. The singers deliver exceptional performances with these songs and the clarity is tremendous. Dialogue is well reproduced as well. The quality of this release is impressive.

Final Thoughts:

Billy Elliot: The Musical is one of the most successful musicals to be produced. The show has been performed around the world with many different actors playing the roles. This is a great production of the musical. The music by Elton John is superb. The lead performance by the young Elliot Hanna is exceptional. The entire cast delivers.

Writer/Lyricist Lee Hall and Director Stephen Daldry (who together made the 2000 feature-film Billy Elliot) have created a wonderful musical which is well worth experiencing. Universal has released a quality release of the musical with excellent audio and video. Fans should consider it an essential release.

Highly Recommended.

Neil Lumbard is a lifelong fan of cinema. He aspires to make movies and has written two screenplays on spec. He loves writing, and currently does in Texas.