Billy Elliot

Billy Elliot Foursquare in the gritty-but-heartwarming tradition of Brassed Off and The Full Monty comes Billy Elliot, the first film from noted British theatrical director Stephen Daldry. The setting is County Durham in 1984, and things "up north" are even grimmer than usual: the miners' str...	In The Heights Broadway hasn't been very good at incorporating various strands of pop and rock over the past 40 years. Most of the shows attempting that draw from contemporary chart sounds have felt awkward, rather than "young." It's all the more rewarding, then, that 2008 saw not one but two ...	Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific (The New Broadway Cast) The landmark musical's first-ever Broadway revival! The curtain rang down on Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific in 1954 after five years of extraordinary acclaim and countless awards including nine Tonys and a Pulitzer. Based on James Michener's Pulitzer Prize winning book T...	Gypsy - 2008 Original Broadway Cast Did we really need yet another recording of Gypsy, the 1959 classic by Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim? After all we already have albums headlined by the likes of Ethel Merman, Angela Lansbury, Tyne Daly and Bernadette Peters. The short, answer is an emphatic yes. The 2008 versio...	13 On paper, this tuner about, and played exclusively by kids (the title refers to their age and the bar mitzvah around which the plot revolves) seemed like an odd fit for Jason Robert Brown. This, after all, is a composer who made his initial splash with the somber Parade and the t...
Spring Awakening (2006 Original Broadway Cast) Who would have thought that Duncan Sheik would succeed where Paul Simon and Randy Newman failed, successfully transitioning from the pop-rock world to the Broadway stage? With Spring Awakening, Sheik and book writer/lyricist Steven Slater (who had already worked on Sheik's 2001 ...	Mamma Mia! The Movie (Two Disc Special Edition) The story of a bride-to-be trying to find her real father from three possible candidates told using songs by the popular 70s group abba. Based on the hit broadway musical. Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 12/16/2008 Starring: Meryl Streep Colin Firth Run time: 109 minutes Rating: Pg13	Mary Poppins (2005 Original London Cast) Mary Poppins may be one of the most beloved film musicals of all time, but it took 30 long years for it to transfer to the stage. This recording of the original London cast shows the wait was worthwhile though. The new version mixes in elements from both the original books by P....	Wicked (2003 Original Broadway Cast) No Description AvailableNo Track Information AvailableMedia Type: CDArtist: WICKEDTitle: ORIGINAL CAST RECORDINGStreet Release Date: 12/16/2003	Disney's The Little Mermaid (2008 Original Broadway Cast) Bring home BROADWAY'S NEWEST HIT, LITTLE MERMAID! The Brand-New Cast Recording of Broadway's Sparkling New Musical featuring the beloved hits from the film PLUS 10 ALL-NEW SONGS from the Broadway Show!

Dunce music for dance musical
I greatly admire Sir Elton John's immense talent and extraordinary body of work. Always been a fan. Also been a Broadway musical buff since I was a wee lad. We saw the movie, and greatly enjoyed it, like almost anyone else who saw it, and now have tix to see Billy Elliot on Bway in late February, when my college freshman-who-dances daughter is on break. So I got the cast recording and, after one listen, am deeply disappointed. I appreciate these strictly are book songs, with no meaningful context outside the mounted production, but they betray a seeming laziness, certainly by the neophyte lyricist Lee Hall. In sum and substance, they are simple to a fault, with little evidence of a rigorous imagination and intellect at work. Then again, Sondheim has spoiled us forever. He makes it seem as if anybody can do it, yet hardly anybody can do it well, as recent Broadway efforts painfully underscore. Similarly, as much as I enjoyed seeing "Spring Awakening," the cast album doesn't fare particularly well on its own because the score is too much of a parasite to the book to exist outside the show's visual language. By contrast, as richly mounted as are shows like "Rent" and "Les Miserables," their scores are unfailingly sensual even after countless listens. In both cases, SA and BE, melodic lines are minimal. The lyrics are serviceable at best in BE, a notch or three below the Jerry Herman school of surface slickness that sacrifices substance. I'm hoping BE is one of those scores that improves with progressive listens and that the music will rise to the occasion of seeing the show. Perhaps after that, I'll appreciate the album experience more, as often is the case. If not, I may well regret spurning my spouse's original suggestion of seeing "In the Heights" instead. There are precious few examples of Hollywood providing quality grist for the Broadway mill. I'm curious to see if Billy Elliot is an exception that proves the rule, or the rule that proves me a fool.

Wonderful CD
I thoroughly enjoy listening to the Billy Elliot CD. I can't wait to go to New York and see it

This is not the Broadway Cast Recording
I typed "Billy Elliot Broadway Cast Recording" into Amazon's search field, and this album was the one that came up. But this is not the Broadway, but the London Original Cast. The cast list and the reviews going back to 2006 confirm it. Unless the product has been changed, and this IS the Broadway Cast Recording (and it's unusual for one to come out so quickly after a show opens), and something as odd as Amazon just using the London recording's descriptions and reviews is going on. I love this show, but would like it if buyers knew what they were getting. (Amazon should make it clear in the description.)

Billy Elliot London Cast Soundtrack
It's bloody brilliant. I'm about to see the NY staging and I wanted to get a taste for the music. Elton John's songs tell the narrative in a powerful and believable way and do a great job of setting the stage for what I hope are incredible dance sequences. Haydn Gwynne is a standout as Mrs. Wilkinson and Ann Emery almost steals the show in one number, "Grandma's Song." Other favorites include "Electricity," performed by the titular character and the deeply moving, "He Could be a Star." Definitely recommend the soundtrack.

Billy Elliot CD
I saw the play in London while I was on vacation two years ago and it was fantastic. The film is great but the music from the play is complely different. If you enjoyed the soundtrack from the film you must hear the cast soundtrack.