/
1x
Advertisement
Proudly Canadian, obsessively Toronto. Subscribe to Toronto Life!
Food & Drink

The one thing you should see this week: a musical about a boy who just wanted to dance

By Stéphanie Verge
Copy link
Cesar Corrales as Billy (Image: Joan Marcus)
Cesar Corrales as Billy (Image: Joan Marcus)

This week’s pick: Billy Elliot

The producers of Billy Elliot owe the National Ballet of Canada Canada’s National Ballet School a debt of gratitude. Three out of the four boys playing Billy in the Toronto production have trained there, including 14-year-old Cesar Corrales, who stunned the opening night audience last week with his technique, stamina and sweet ferocity. The dance is the thing in this show about a blue-collar kid who trades his boxing gloves for ballet shoes during the 1984 miners’ strike in Britain.

Elton John, who has never been accused of fading into the background, composed the music. But you don’t leave the theatre humming any one song (or any song, really), unless it was written by the suddenly inescapable Tchaikovsky and featured in a Swan Lake pas de deux between Billy and his older self. Instead, you leave replaying the “Angry Dance,” which begins with Billy throwing a tantrum in his bedroom and ends with him smashing up against cops in riot gear. It’s the musical’s best number: a perfect combination of bluster, boyishness and Broadway.

The details: To July 10. $36–$130. Canon Theatre, 244 Victoria St., 416-872-1212, mirvish.com.

NEVER MISS A TORONTO LIFE STORY

Sign up for Table Talk, our free newsletter with essential food and drink stories.

By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.
You may unsubscribe at any time.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Advertisement
Advertisement

The Latest

“I’m a Toronto man through and through”: Meet Hassan Phills, the Scarborough comedian sampled by Drake
Culture

“I’m a Toronto man through and through”: Meet Hassan Phills, the Scarborough comedian sampled by Drake

Inside the Latest Issue

The May issue of Toronto Life features the artists, professors, scientists and other luminaries moving north to avoid the carnage of Trump. Plus, our obsessive coverage of everything that matters now in the city.