INSPIRATION It’s not very often that you can say a film changes your life. I had no idea what I was walking into when I accepted an invitation to the premier of Billy Elliot at the Cannes Film Festival. I was aware of the formidable creative reputation of the film’s director Stephen Daldry. My response to the film was profound. The story of young Billy, a gifted working class boy with artistic ambitions seemingly beyond his reach, had so many parallels to my own childhood. Like Billy, the opportunity to express myself artistically was a passport to a better, more fulfilling life. As a child, I dreamt of a career in music, escaping into my treasured record collection for inspiration and hope. It was the unfailing support of my mother and grandmother that helped me achieve my ambitions. With their encouragement and a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music, I started building a foundation that has allowed me to rejoice in a musical career that has exceeded my wildest dreams. To see Billy literally dance his way out of the bleak and cruel environment created by the British mining industry’s demise was inspirational. To see Billy’s family rally behind his artistic gift moved me to tears. By the screenings end, the audience response was overwhelming. As Jamie Bell took a glorious victory lap around the cinema astride Stephen’s shoulders, I had to be helped up the aisle sobbing. The film had really got under my skin. I went along to the after-party, because I wanted to meet Daldry, Lee Hall (the film’s writer) and the extraordinary Jamie Bell. We all got on instantly. Also at the screening and after-party was my dear friend Sally Green from The Old Vic Theatre. Everyone was revelling in the euphoria from the screening when someone suggested that Billy Elliot would make the most amazing stage musical. The T-Rex soundtrack from the film was brilliant, but imagine the opportunity to create original compositions for a story that is so naturally rooted in music. I couldn’t think of a project that I would want to work on more. Billy Elliot went on to become the cinematic successes it deserved to be, garnering amazing box office and several BAFTA and Academy Award nominations. Thankfully, the idea of Billy Elliot the Musical never went away. Several years later when Working Title and Old Vic Productions approached me about the possibility of working on the project, I was immediately interested. Lee Hall had signed on to adapt his screenplay but wanted to have a crack at writing the libretto. Most of my musical life had been spent writing to Bernie Taupin‘s wonderful words, but collaborating with another brilliant lyricist, Tim Rice, for The Lion King and AIDA was hugely enjoyable. The right lyricist is essential, as all of my melodies are lyrically driven. When I sit down at the piano to craft a song, it’s an instinctive and organic process. While immersing myself in the words, I try and connect with the emotional heart of the material. It’s really quite straightforward. Either a melody comes out or it doesn’t. We decided to write the musical chronologically, so the melodic structure follows the emotional highs and lows of the story. Lee Hall had never written a lyric in his life, but you wouldn’t know it from the first words received via fax in Atlanta. The first song written was the anthemic show opener The Stars Look Down. I found Lee’s words to be massively rousing. They evince the miners,’ sacrosanct display of unity struggling at odds with the desperation of their plight. ‘We will always stand together. In the dark, right through the storm. We will stand, shoulder to shoulder. To keep us warm.’ They perfectly depict the backdrop for Billy’s dramatic and artistic journey. Lee’s entire libretto was equally inspirational. The melodies flowed right out of me. Perhaps the words that touched me most are those to Electricity. I’m often asked to describe how I write melodies and I find it quite difficult to elaborate on the explanation given earlier. When Billy is asked at the Royal Ballet School auditions how he feels when he dances, his response comes very close to summing it up for me. ‘I can’t really explain it. I haven’t got the words. It’s a feeling that you can’t control. I suppose it’s like forgetting, losing who you are. And at the same time something makes you whole.’ Billy Elliot the Musical has been an enormous success in London. Smashing box office records in the West End and winning Olivier Awards for the three boys who originated the Billy role has been thrilling. Audiences continue to respond so positively to the show. Every time I watch your performance, I’m always moved to tears. With over 1000 performances under our belt, Billy Elliot the Musical keeps going from strength to strength. Perhaps the most rewarding aspect of this magical production has been working with all the children appearing on stage. The show has become such a springboard for these young, talented, aspiring little performers. Watching them grow in confidence and ability is incredibly heartwarming and immensely rewarding. And now it’s time for our Billy family to grow in Australia, a place that has always been particularly special to me. I know Australian audiences are going to love the show. Australia has always loved a winner and Billy’s inspiring and rousing journey is right up there alley. I am extraordinarily proud of what Lee and I have created for the stage musical of Billy Elliot. The show demonstrates everything I love about the power of art. It can inspire you. You can transform lives. Art can make you look at life in a way you never have before. And you can take your place as well beyond your wildest dreams. By Elton John 14
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