Last Night We Went To The Play - Everybody's Talking About Jamie

You all know how much Lulu and I love to go see the play - Billy Elliot. It is a story about a young boy that lives in the Coal Regions of England and wants to become a ballet dancer. That play explores the problems of being different in a small town. It reminds me of Lulu's life story of leaving a small town to be a college professor in Florida.

So - when all the ads over here trumpeted this play as the next Billy Elliot - we had to go.

Monday morning - we took the subway to the West End - London's Broadway. At the box office - I reminded the ticket seller that I wear hearing aids. He gave me three 67 pound tickets in the 5th row for 25 pounds each! We were all set for a great night.

You can judge a nation on how they treat their disadvantaged.

At 6:30 PM - we left the apartment and got to the Apollo Theatre on Shaftsbury Avenue in plenty of time. What we found at the theatre was a distinctly different crowd. First of all - their were more men than usual. Generally - the crowds for West End shows are about 75% women and 25% men. Not this time.

The singing and dancing were really good. There was an ensemble cast of about twelve.  Lulu liked the fact that there were two Muslim girl characters who were really smart and funny.  Sheffield is in the north of England so there was the thick Northern accent that was a bit hard to decipher at some points.  Joan said that the girl who played Cilla Black was so white that she almost looked albino.  But the man who played Jamie cold give her a run for her money.

We got to our seats and they were excellent - but in front of us - there was a full row of about 10 men. They play started abruptly at 7:30 - and the crowd was not even settled.

The premise was simple - it was a true story. In the steel mill town of Sheffield - lived 16 year old Jamie. He was openly gay. His father disowned him - his mother stood behind him. The kids in school readily accepted him - and supported him. His desire was to be a drag queen - the kid could really wear flamboyant clothes. This is where the play steered away from Billy Elliot and into Kinky Boots territory.

I will leave you without the ending. Jamie wanted to wear a dress to the prom - and the school administration did not agree.

At the curtain call - the mother got the biggest applause. And Jamie strutted off stage into the future.