Success for Billy Elliot

The British musical Billy Elliot has won ten Tony Awards at the American Theatre Wing's annual ceremony in New York. The Independent celebrates the musical's success: "What better story for a time of recession than the heart-warming tale of a boy from the strike-ridden coal industry finding himself and his community's loyalty in pursuit of a career as ballet dancer. Art triumphs over life, hope over despair. Hollywood produced its greatest era of light comedy in the Depression. Maybe this time of recession will also embrace the power of fantasy and dreams. Defeat needs not mean pessimism. ... The performing arts have always understood this, none more than the musical which America has made so much its own. Maybe New Yorkers didn't altogether understand the politics of this passionate celebration of working-class values against the depredations of Margaret Thatcher's free market economics. But they clearly understood the human spirit of the piece, which is ultimately what the musical is all about."

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» To the complete press review of Tuesday, June 9, 2009