Billy Elliot June 19 to July 14 2018 Budapest Hungary

[andrewcraig]

State Opera to close season with Billy Elliot
Thursday, June 7, 2018, 08:30

“Billy Elliot – The Musical,” based on the hit film and directed here by Tamás Szirtes, will run from June 19 through July 14 at the Erkel Theater as the Hungarian State Opera’s season closer

https://bbj.hu/culture/state-opera-to-c ... ot-_150357

The production, in Hungarian but with English subtitles, will feature a sequence from “Swan Lake,” with artists of the Hungarian National Ballet. Géza Köteles and István Silló will conduct the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra during the performance.

Further information about the production can be found at http://www.opera.hu. Tickets, ranging from HUF 1,500 to HUF 7,200, are available via http://www.jegy.hu.

[andrewcraig]

Hungarian Opera House hits back after claims Billy Elliot show could turn kids gay
There is a photo showing what could be a much bigger use of the Hungarian ballet than we usually expect. Maybe a local can update.
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Hungarian Opera House hits back after claims Billy Elliot show could ‘turn kids gay’
7 JUNE 2018 · BUDAPEST · HUNGARY


Hungary’s State Opera has defended their latest staging of musical Billy Elliot after accusations that the play could turn children gay.

The show, which follows the story of a working class boy who dreams of becoming a ballet dancer, was first performed by the theatre in 2016.
This year’s rendition is set to feature some of Hungary’s most popular stage actors, as well as a scene from Swan Lake performed by the Hungarian National Ballet.

But the production came under attack from Hungarian writer Zsófia Horváth, who claimed that the show was a “eulogy of homosexuality”, declaring that children could “become homosexuals” after merely watching the show. She also criticised the theatre for failing to support the government’s new “conservative values”, blaming a “delayed regime change” across the arts

“One can very well be gay and conservative at the same time,” he wrote..

[kport]

Sad news.............

https://au.news.yahoo.com/billy-elliot- ... --spt.html

The Hungarian State Opera has, on orders from Victor Orban’s (pictured) government, taken off the musical Billy Elliot after 15 performances.

The reason: ‘all public bodies are obliged to protect the identity and Christian culture of Hungary.’

http://slippedisc.com/2018/06/just-in-h ... christian/

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world- ... n-kids-gay

[Borrobil]

Don't these people see how backward they look to practically all other members of the EU in this decade.

Christian authorities in this country (UK) embraced Billy Elliot, so how their authorities denigrate it on a religious basis is beyond me.
For example https://www.christiantoday.com/article/ ... /14278.htm

[CJ-Rochester]

Here's another article on the topic. It's horrible news.

Billy Elliot forced to scrap dates in Budapest following press hate campaign claiming it will turn kids gay
https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2018/06/21/b ... -kids-gay/

[Borrobil]

This is clearly politically motivated in support (I hope misplaced) for the Orbán government of Hungary from this newspaper. Doesn't say much for the European Convention on Human Rights in this decade.
I would have been more surprised if I had not known maggie thatcher refused to speak against similar prejudice. It's really sad for those caught up in it, particularly as the Hungarian version of Billy Elliot has no gay role model at all. Some Background ref https://hungarianspectrum.org/tag/billy ... e-musical/

[kport]

The controversy calls in the Big Guns:

The NY Times:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/22/thea ... lliot.html

The Guardian:

Hungary is making a mockery of ‘EU values’. It’s time to kick it out

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... ktor-orban

[kport]

This article gives much more detail of the machinations behind this......interesting to see a few familiar names on both sides of the political spectrum - George Soros, and Milo Yiannopoulos - names that have been present in US political issues.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/budapest- ... rformances

[andrewcraig]

Billy Elliot 'gay propaganda' row exposes purge in Hungary
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44602026
part of the article
Billy Elliot tells the story of an 11-year-old boy who decides to become a ballet dancer during the 1984 miners' strike in the UK. One scene in which the boys dress in women's clothes was identified as particularly offensive and "corrupting".

The attack has triggered a storm in Hungarian media.

And Horvath's outrage is peculiar because this is the musical's third season at the Budapest opera. It opened in 2016 and it has never been criticised before.

The head of the opera, Szilveszter Okovacs, also enjoys support from the very top.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his wife Aniko are regular visitors to the opera, which has been granted £62m ($83 million; €70 million) for a complete two-year reconstruction.

But another mystery entirely is that there is no known journalist called Zsofia N Horvath.

[kport]

Here are several new videos of this show. It looks like a fine production:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2qzY0Db9rc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QvORF-XV5c