Me - Jean - Lulu - Marylou after the show with the theatre in the background
For me - a trip to London is not complete without a pilgrimage to Victoria Theatre and Billy Elliot. This show has one almost every award in the book and has been running for over 5 years and still packing the house nightly.
Simply - it is a story of a boy living in the coal regions of England. There is a strike in the coal mines that has the village in a turmoil. Meanwhile Billy wants to be a ballet dancer. You can imagine all the contrasts in that story.
The play reminds me of my life back in the Coal Regions of Pennsylvania. My Dad was a coal miner and went on strike a few times. I was also a union school teacher and had the "pleasure" of sitting out a strike that closed our school for 60 days in 1985 - the same year the play was set.
This time Marylou and Jean were here to see the show for their first time. We had great seats in the second row. A new blonde Billy was playing the lead.
But the big highlight for me was seeing Spencer again. Spencer is a guy that has gone to the play every week for 5 years! Last year - we sat next to him and enjoyed his coaching on what to look for in the play. I even did a story about him and put his picture on my web page. When we saw Spencer - I yelled out his name and he knew who I was right away. He had his play bag with him and even had a copy of my web page with him! So we took another picture and I am writing another story.
Spencer has to be the biggest expert on Billy Elliot. He has seen the play at least 250 times. I hope he is getting VIP tickets.
Jean and Marylou loved the play - they did not know what to expect and were blown away by story - music - and talented actors.
This is Lulu - Spencer - me and the beard - last year - 2009
Spencer and Harry - tonight - 2010
Alighting the taxicab on the way to the theatre
The theatre crowd
My Web Page Story from June 26, 2009 about Spencer - last year.
Sitting next to us in the front row was Spencer. Billy Elliot has special meaning to him. Spencer has attended every Thursday night show for the last four years! Even though he also saw the matinee a few hours before - simple math (4 years x 50 weeks) has him attending 200 shows. He just loves the show. Every now and then he would give me a nudge and show me where to look to not miss the special action. Not since Nancy's cousin attending over 100 Barry Manilow concerts have I met such a rabid fan. He was wearing his Billy Elliot shirt - carrying his Bill Elliot bag - and showing us his collection of signatures and playbills. He made the night extra special for us.
