North East

Matt Baker is originally from Easington Colliery which is the setting for the musical.

He's written this diary of his experience, exclusively for the Inside Out website.

Matt's New York Diary...

Day 1

I’m in New York just before Christmas.

Nowhere in the World celebrates the season quite like the Big Apple. There are lights everywhere and to top it all it's snowing bucket loads!

Easington feels a million miles away. Except in one respect - it’s freezing.

Icicles are hanging from car bumpers and the blizzards are almost obscuring the bright lights of Times Square.

What will New York audiences make of the show?

But there’s no hiding the fact that Billy Elliot really has arrived on Broadway.

Buses carrying an advert for the show pass by at regular intervals and there’s a huge billboard for Billy just off 42nd Street.

They should call these things "Billy boards" from now on!

My first port of call is to meet Michael Riedel, the theatre critic for The New York Post, who tells me that Billy Elliot is in his all-time Top 10 musicals.

"I would say that in a very difficult time for this city there is only one bright spot on Broadway and that bright spot is wearing a tutu and is called Billy Elliot."

Slipping and sliding my way down Broadway, I call in to see a couple of members of the cast.

Trent Kowalik is one of three young actors sharing the role of Billy.

He’s a native New Yorker. He’s learned the North East accent with the help of voice coaches and by watching videos.

Trent seemed fascinated to hear the way I spoke  – and with a bit of prompting from me he recorded a few words in his best North East accent.

He was incredibly down to earth and watching him warming up that evening I was taken aback by his dancing ability.

As the producers told me "We’re not looking for stage school kids. Our "Billys" need that grounded, earthy quality."

Haydn Gwynne

Haydn Gwynne is the only non-American on the show.

She tells me they had a few discussions about adapting the show for an American audience but decided the authenticity of the story was all important.

Day 2

I’m so excited about seeing "Billy Elliot".

I always get a great buzz when I sit down in preparation for a show but this time it’s different. It’s about the place where I grew up, my friends and my family.

If it’s even half as good as I’ve been led to believe, then I’m in for a treat.

Well... it’s better than I dared imagine.

There were only three times that I didn’t cry. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up the minute the Easington miners banner was raised  – it was just brilliant.

I felt so proud.

The American cast occasionally struggled to nail the North East accents but frankly, it didn’t matter at all.

The show was a real tribute to the people of County Durham. The sets and the dialogue were really authentic – just how I remember life 25 years ago in Easington Colliery.

It was such a trip down memory lane, I didn’t want it to end. 

Day 3

My head is spinning on the flight back home. And it’s nothing to do with air turbulence.

I have just seen my home town co-star in one of the greatest cities in the World.

It was bizarre and amazing. I can’t wait to get home to tell my family all about it.

Day 4

We’re in Easington Colliery to see how people here view the place being centre stage in New York.

I lived here for the first 11 years of my life and I still love the place.

My dad ran a newsagents a couple of hundred metres from the pit-head.

I used to deliver milk around the streets opposite.

I was just a small lad in 1984 but he was a big supporter of the miners – and helped run a soup kitchen during the strike. 

A few streets have been demolished since I was last here – but the place is much as I remember it even if the colliery is long-gone.

Certainly, that strong community spirit that comes across in the musical is still there despite all the upheaval the place has gone through.

Loads of the locals came to say "hello" and I honestly felt like I’d never left.