Billy Elliot the Musical Live

[kport]

I have read several articles by or about those behind the Live production, that its purpose is to introduce more people to BETM. One or two have opined that it will bring more people to see it live, in London and elsewhere.

I have also read several articles that point out that the Live recording will mean that those in regions who could visit the West End will now not need to make the effort.

So, the BIG QUESTIONS are these:

-Will BETM Live recordings (dvd/BluRay) increase ticket sales in London?

-Or, will it decrease ticket sales?

-Or, will it have no net effect on ticket sales?

And the spoiler:

Is finally recording the Live Version a sign that the live production on the West End is approaching its finale?

[OliverWaters]

So, the BIG QUESTIONS are these:

-Will BETM Live recordings (dvd/BluRay) increase ticket sales in London?

-Or, will it decrease ticket sales?

-Or, will it have no net effect on ticket sales?

Not everyone is "in to" going to the theatre, so they might like musicals and wish to watch Billy some other way, and the home releases will allow them to do so. In my opinion at least, I'd guess the amount of people it would encourage to go ("wow this is awesome, I wanna see it on stage!") would be about the same as those it would discourage ("no point in going now I have the DVD").

So overall at least I think it would make no real difference, but perhaps an upward trend. Also note that it's not at all difficult to find bootleg video recordings of any show, so if people are desperate to see the show without buying a ticket, they've technically been able to for years. At least there's now a way they can do so that's legal, and will benefit the company.

And the spoiler:

Is finally recording the Live Version a sign that the live production on the West End is approaching its finale?

They're still only booking up to 19 December 2015, so who knows! I'd guess that the decision to make a recording, and the runtime of the show are independent though.

[SolidarityForever]

I went by HMV (Oxford St, London) today to check if they already had a copy for me to take home (sometimes they do) and unfortunately they didn't. But they confirmed that they have 400 DVDs coming in this Monday so if you haven't ordered one yet and want it on the release date: there will be plenty at HMV

[angelenroute]

To kport's question (discussed elsewhere in the past too)...

It's hard to argue with this paraphrased truth spoken by Mr. Wilkinson in the movie and by Grandma in the London musical: if it costs more to run the show than they're making, it only makes sense for them to shut it down.

We all love this incredible show, and we've all met lots of great friends because of it. Some of us have gotten to know the families of the actors or the actors themselves, production members, and so on. In other words, we are, all of us, in this together. Solidarity, right? And yet some are being paid to be in this, and some are paying or have paid to do so. It's not exactly Maggie Thatcher versus the miners, but it's also not exactly the miners and the community. At the end of the day, the fans are a distant thought compared to the bottom line, the pounds and pence, the dollars and cents.

We all have our own investment in the show's success. Billy Elliot Live is, truth be recognized, a fifth brilliant medium for Billy's story (after the movie, the musical, the multiple professional companies, and the multiple regional incarnations). We have been blessed as fans to have so much to celebrate because of Billy Elliot's story, all because of the Creator himself, Lee Hall.

I do hope the stage musical is able to survive and thrive in London's West End past 2015, but either way, I am forever grateful for the past 14 years now of a world with Billy in it. Who knows what joys may come, but either way, I thank everyone involved for so many joys already received!

Sean

[Barry Appleby]

I've been at the show, now this will be my 6th year, November is always a poor month at any show,some like Wicked and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and so on, they have tickets with up to 45% off this month, its also the month for students doing their end of term exams and which exams they will be taking for their, what I call GCE Exams in the summer.On the booking plan for weekends, they are all marked red up to Christmas, also odd Thursdays, even some already over the holidays already are. I see auditions start in January up to May for Billy's etc. You are not allowed over here from about March this year to take your kids off school, its a £60 fine for each child, so the shows have that problem also. It is a large theatre though, when you look at Les Mis, in a smaller theatre, even there they have been advertising some cheaper tickets. Also money is still tight for a lot of families, no matter what the government says, here in the North of England we are not seeing any improvement yet!, some have not had a wage rise for over 5 years and those that have its just around 1%, one big advantage though, you can get some bargain rail fares, I can get to London and back for about £22(480 mile round trip), I don't think you can do that to Gatwick or Heathrow from London, luckily petrol prices are low at the moment.

[LiamM]

I think it was still being considered fairly recently, if some articles that were linked on here were correct, but Live may have changed that.

The interview with Stephen Daldry posted here recently stated that they were still looking at the idea of a musical film, even with Live.

[kport]

Here is a review of the DVD:

http://glasgowtheatreblog.com/2014/11/2 ... -live-dvd/

[OliverWaters]

I think it was still being considered fairly recently, if some articles that were linked on here were correct, but Live may have changed that.

The interview with Stephen Daldry posted here recently stated that they were still looking at the idea of a musical film, even with Live.

Cool for songs like Solidarity, they'd probably be better off with "surreal" type directing, like Little Shop of Horrors and Chicago movies, rather than "realistic" like Oliver.

[OliverWaters]

I see auditions start in January up to May for Billy's etc.

Actually that's a point, there may be a clue for the state of the future there - given the average runtime/finishing age of Billys, how many of our current five could stay until December 2015?

[kport]

I see auditions start in January up to May for Billy's etc.

Actually that's a point, there may be a clue for the state of the future there - given the average runtime/finishing age of Billys, how many of our current five could stay until December 2015?

Given that we know tickets sales are slated to go on through 2015, another crop or two of Billys will be needed. I would imagine that the auditioning/training will continue until it is publicly announced that the VPT will close for refurbishment, and the show will not move to another venue.

Even if the unhappy situation arose that a Billy 'in the pipeline' of training, so to speak, were told that the show would close before his debut, I am sure the training would be beneficial for other West End roles, ballet school, or perhaps regional productions around the world. It is (I believe) exceptional free tuition that cannot be matched, and I would imagine there is an understanding, for all boys being trained, that a role in BETM is not guaranteed.

Hence, I think auditions and training will continue until a public announcement of a hiatus or closure is confirmed.