11 Plus Exams Forum

DD who is 8 (nearly 9) would like to see Billy Elliot in the West End. I am concerned about taking her as I do think she is too young and because of the language used in the show.

However I am interested to find out if your DC have seen the show, how old they were when they went, and whether you would take a 9 year old to see it.

as always, any feedback would be gratefully received.

Thanks
Sleepy Head

Sleepyhead,

Has your daughter seen the film? I think if you wouldn't show your DD the film because of the language then I would think twice about the musical.

It is the most fantastic musical though and I can really understand why she is so keen to see it. Both of my DDs have seen it already and DD2 is about to see it again with the school . She is 14 and first saw it when she was 11 as a friend of ours was one of the ballet girls. DD1 also saw it at 11.

I would have been uncomfortable about them seeing it at 8 as there is a significant amount of bad language, but it really depends on how mature your child is and how you think she would cope with it. To be honest I have seen it three times now and each time I have been I would guess there were children younger than 9 there.

It's a tricky one..........

Hello 2outof3, thanks for your reply. really helpful in deciding. I think I will wait a bit, and reconsider in approx 6 months time. It's a good idea to try the film at home first (as I can edit the dodgy bits!)

Glad you loved it as it's a beautiful story line, perhaps I'll go without DD first

sorry if this sounds like an odd question, but of the children in the audience, were there more girls than boys watching the musical please?

Definitely more girls than boys - many, many more!

My DS (a dancer aged nearly 9) is very very keen to go.
I told him maybe as a post 11+ treat in Autumn 2014

I have not seen this musical myself, but I have been told by a friend that it is quite unnecessarily peppered with bad language.

Oh - not keen on bad language. Dd1 who is almost 14 is going with school in summer to see it. I am sure she knows lots of bad language but fortunately at home (at least) she doesn't use it.

I've paid now so she's going, thanks for the warning about the language.

I've been following this one with interest as I've been wondering for a couple of years when I will feel comfortable taking DCs to it.

I was puzzled when I went a few years ago at the astounding proportion of swearing - mostly the F-word, which, as I recall, was used about 3 times in every sentence. The reason I was puzzled is that I felt that the producers would limit their potential audience, not just families, but older people. I was regretting not feeling able to take my children, while a colleague was similarly regretful that he couldn't take his vicar father and mother.

Still it is regularly sold out, so what do I know?

I used to shield as much as I could my child from bad language but hearing the language used on text chats and playground, give up now.