Presented by: Northern Light Theatre Company
Reviewed: 28 March, 2025
At the end of last year, Northern Light Theatre Company raised the bar of community musical theatre with their stunning production of The Hunchback Of Notre Dame. Could whatever they produced to follow that show equal it? The answer is YES in toe shoes. In fact, with their production of Billy Elliot: The Musical they have raised the ballet barre to soaring heights.
Based on the coming of age/comedy/drama 2000 British film, this musical stage version has a book and lyrics by Lee Hall (the original screenwriter) and music by Elton John. It has the perfect amount of drama mixed with the perfect amount of musical comedy humour. One might be forgiven to think these two genres might clash as much as the Unionists and Authorities that form a vital part of the story – but not so. Another very vital part of the story set during the Miners’ Strike of 1984/85 is the realisation of one’s dreams and their ability to follow them no matter how adverse the social climate might be.
Michelle Davy’s direction is an homage to both the original film and the professional stage production both in emotion and humour. I recommend you take a box of tissues either to stem the flow of emotional tears or tears of laughter. Davy mounts the whole production on a set designed by Gordon Combes and Brad Munt cleverly representing Northern English streets, the Elliot kitchen, Billy’s bedroom, a community hall and even the stage of the Royal Ballet School. Atop all this, is a cutout of a typical mining factory of the day. Sarah Williams’ stunning choreography cleverly mirrors that of professional versions but with nice tweaks of her own. The entire cast do more than justice to her work with such numbers as the brilliant Solidarity and the extremely energetic We Were Born To Boogie where the two leads and one other are expected to sing while dancing AND skipping – and they do! The incredible curtain call encore featuring the entire cast is more then worth the price of admission alone. Musical Director Billy James St John has the orchestra sounding crisp and clear with the casts’ vocals soaring. I hadn’t heard of St John before, but now that Northern Light have him, they need to keep him!
The extremely hard Geordie accent (watch Geordie Shore if you aren’t sure how it should sound) is handled expertly by 98% of the cast – a couple of the ensemble give us a general North Country accent but not specifically Geordie. But 100% per cent from all with vocals and dance.
Sam Davy plays miner and boxing instructor George with a more defined depth in character that I have not quite seen with this actor previously. Northern Light regular Kate Hodges gives yet another of her beautifully honed performances as Billy’s Mum and show’s who wears the pants in this production (you need to go see the show to share this ‘in’ joke). The Ballet school girls (Callie Congdon, Phoebe Jones, Elaynah Magourilos, Layla Naidoo, Poppy Jayne Oaten, Brooklyn Reid, Ella Sajn, Zara Wilkinson and Stella Zito) are all hilarious and wonderfully ‘bad’. Speaking of hilarity, Milla Ilic plays the dance teacher’s daughter Debbie with terrific precociousness and a scream that could be rented out to horror films. Lucas Mentha does well as Small Boy. Special mention needs to go to the youngest and cutest member of the cast, little 6 year old Finn Davy. The opening night audience all sighed as one the moment he appeared on stage. He was a real little trouper even performing in the curtain call finale with confidence.
Where on earth did Northern Light find dancer Bailey Edwards?!?! As Older Billy, Edwards just soars and is magnificent. Noah Magourilos wonderfully plays Billy’s best friend, cross-dressing Michael. This young man has confidence and presence and we like him from the start just riding his bike across the stage.
Billy’s family are more than well represented. Liam Phillips as older brother Tony gives strength, and a slight stubbornness, to a role that can sometimes be forgotten. The ever wonderful Wendy Rayner almost steals the show as Grandma. Anyone who can have the audience in fits of laughter over the word ‘pasty’ is worth their weight in pastry. Rayner brings out every laugh in her character whilst still making us have a tear in the right spot. Her song Grandma’s Song is just that – Rayner makes it her own. Billy’s father, Jackie, is played with magnificent strength and power by Andrew Mair. The character must start to change in Act Two and show his sensitive side and start to become a fish out of water when he accompanies Billy to an audition in London. Mair does this spot on, with the humour in the London scenes as well-timed and portrayed as his strength and stubbiness throughout the previous act. Just one niggle, not with Mair but a piece of staging during his song Deep Into The Ground sung so beautifully by him. Nobody else should move onstage except to leave. Having people walking about talking, even in mime, and the ballet girls running about at the beginning is terribly distracting and makes it almost impossible to concentrate on Mairs strong, powerful tones.
The leading lady of the show, dance teacher Mrs Wilkinson, is indeed played by a true leading lady, Sarah Hamilton. Hamilton owns the stage from her first entrance and gives her all as soon as she speaks. There is nothing overdone in her performance – it is all beautifully played; from the screeching harridan (think Patti Lu Pone with a Geordie accent) to the caring moments she shares with Billy to her powerful scenes with Billy’s brother and father. She is truly believable as the dancer who couldn’t who believes in a boy who can.
And now for the star of the show, Billy. Young Aidan Salmon is stunningly superb as Billy Elliot! This is a young man whose star is certainly on the rise, shooting through the firmament. He is a true Triple Threat – he sings, dances and acts: all brilliantly. I cannot sing this young man’s praises high enough. He makes us travel every millisecond of Billy’s story as if we are right by his side. We laugh with him; we cry with him; we get angry with him; and we positively soar with him. If Aidan Salmon does not become a leading light in Australia’s musical theatre scene in the future, there are no theatre gods. I’ve mentioned his name in full again so that people can remember it and can say “I first saw him when he WAS Billy Elliot.
Northern Light’s production of Billy Elliot: The Musical shines with electricity.
Reviewed by Brian Godfrey
Venue: Shedley Theatre
Season: Until 12 April 2025
Duration: 3 hrs including a 20 min interval
Tickets: $24 – $40
Bookings: https://nltc.sales.ticketsearch.com/sales/sales
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