Billy Elliot The Musical: Opening Night in Seattle!

Friday, 25 March 2011 12:23 | Written by Byron

Faith Prince and Sandra, Lex Ishimoto and Opening Night-er at Billy Elliot the Musical

BILLY IN SEATTLE: The legendary Broadway songbird Faith Prince just told me a wonderfully sweet story about about one of Portland's most accomplished musicians....but I am getting ahead of myself.

First a little background about the last two days of my life.

You see, I am the self-described "Broadway Bitch." And as the "BB" I find myself taking trips to far off lands to see the Broadway shows that will soon be landing on our Portland stage. Such was the case with Billy Elliot the Musical which opens at the Keller Auditorium on April 5. This time out the trip wasn't that far away. Just, Seattle. But the weather there was so wonderful (it was, no lie, sunny!) as was the overall experience that...well...it was just really nice.

First off, my partner Juan had the chance to join me. That meant a lot of shopping before hitting the opening night of Billy Elliot at The Paramount. We hit Barney's, Nordy's, Macy's, we even had a chance to skip down to Pike Place Market. On the way back to our hotel we encountered a food cart I have yet to find in Portland. It's called Dog Japon. This wacky wiener stand takes the lowly American hot dog and douses it in all everything from Japanese seaweed to beef sausage. After these pups are all loaded up they actually look more like meat-flavored banana splits than anything else—and they are damn good.

Speaking of damn good. Billy Elliot the Musical is damn good. It mixes a miner's strike in the early 80's in Great Britian with a young man, Billy, who finds out he is a gifted and talented ballet dancer. Yes, it's a bit strange to see gruff miners mixing with minors in tutus and ballet slippers. And the language is a bit on the saucy side. But it's an amazing story of being true to yourself no matter what situation you might find yourself in. For Seattle's opening night Lex Ishimoto played Billy (there are four other boys who rotate in the role). Trained to perform both ballet and Broadway-friendly choreography, Lex's true passion is B-boy poppin' and lockin' street dance. It shows up in the way he dances and definitely in the way he dresses. At the after party he looked like a young Michael Jackson.

And as for the after party? It was held late at night, down the street from the theater, at Il Fornaio. It was very strange to party with a cast that has sooo many kids in it. In fact it was the first time I've been to an after-party where the kids had their own table of food including mac-n-cheese and healthy fruit platters. They also had a Wii player. And, of course, the kids lasted longer than anyone and actually closed the bar...er...restaurant.

But, most of all, I was incredibly honored to chat with the incredible Faith Prince, who plays Billy's dance teacher, "Mrs. Wilkinson" (in fact she even named her Yorkie after her character "Sandra"). Non-Broadway followers might not recognize her right off. But I bet everyone will recognize her one-of-a-kind voice. Prince is one of the best and has been in everything from Guys and Dolls to The Little Mermaid. On tv you might have seen her in Ugly Betty, Spin City or in a recurring role on Drop Dead Diva.

Faith said she was very excited to come to Portland, as she had been there once before. The reason was very sweet...and very Portland. "I was performing my one-woman show in Orange County and I found a note under my dressing room door," said Prince. "It began, 'you might not remember me, but when I was eight years old I performed with you in Pippin." The note was from Thomas Lauderdale and he was extending an invitation to Prince to come visit him in Portland. "I was thrilled," said Prince. "Pink Martini is huge and I couldn't wait to see him and the band." While in Portland Prince stayed at the Ace Hotel ('loved it!," she said) and even went home with the blankets designed by Lauderdale's partner Philip Iosca. "I ended up playing with Pink Martini in San Francisco with the symphony," said Prince. "It was WONDERFUL."

Now Portland audiences will see just how wonderful Prince and the rest of the cast of Billy Elliot is. This is a show not to be missed.

Click here for show time, dates and ticket information.

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