Dateline: Sunday 23rd March 2025 Day 5 - Launceston - Another Coincidence!

We were to spend two nights at the Launceston Best Western Plus but we had to forage for our Dinners on both days.  Not that I am complaining about that since it offered an opportunity to find out more about local life and some of my companion guests on the tour.  I finished up in a pub where I met up with  Moira, who was from Christchurch New Zealand.  We quickly attracted another couple from the tour and shared a very pleasant meal together. I, of course, enjoyed my 'go to dish' of fish and chips!

Our route back to the hotel took us past the Princess Theatre where the pavement was busy with theatre goers who had just emerged after a performance. It must have been enjoyed since there was a buzz of excitement in the air.

 

I took a glance at a poster and realised that it had been a performance of Billy Elliot. The film of the musical Billy Elliott is one of my all-time favourites, starring Julie Walters. The story is set in a tough mining village in County Durham at the time of the Miners' Strike in 1984. A young boy has a strong desire to dance and, much against his Father's wishes (A miner), is persuaded to join local ballet classes run by Julie Walters. To cut a long story short, Billy gains entry to the Royal Ballet School and becomes a Principal Dancer.

The coincidence(s), first I lived in an ex-mining village called Sherburn, Durham from 1979 to1987. The film is set in the nearby village of Easington which had been the site of some of the protests. The second coincidence is that I saw a charity pre-opening performance of the Musical Billy Elliot, in London around 2009, with a group of colleagues from the the company I was working for at the time. It was a truly memorable performance, full and innovation and fun telling the stories of the Miner's often violent and bitter fight with the police to keep the pits open on one half of the stage whilst on the other telling the story of Billy's fight to dance.

As if this wasn't enough, as we turned the corner to reach our hotel entrance the young stars, 13-year-old Zeb Peters and 12-year-old George Boyle, both born in Tasmania, were emerging from the Stage Door to be mobbed by a throng of adoring fans!

So how did I find this out, well a bit of sleuthing on the internet with a recall of the name Zeb, yielded the  following AI generated note:

"In the March 2025 Encore Theatre Company production of "Billy Elliot the Musical" in Launceston, Tasmania, the title role was played by George Boyle and Zeb Peters. The show ran from March 14-29, 2025, at the Princess Theatre in Launceston." This led me to search for George Boyle and to discover that he must have played the younger Billy Elliott in the performance that evening.

https://betm.theskykid.com/meet-billy-elliot-george-boyle/#:~:text=With%20his%20debut%20performance%20as,more%20information%20about%20George%2C%20visit:

I quote from the above website:

"With his debut performance as Billy Elliot on 13-Mar-2025, George becomes the 373rd young actor worldwide to play the role of Billy in a professional, regional or community theatre production of the musical."

For my Australian readers, the UK 1994-85 Miners' strike was a major industrial action in an attempt to prevent closures of pits that were uneconomic in the coal industry, that had been nationalised in 1947.

I had no idea when I began this post that it would lead me on such a nostalgic journey, but as you can see travel 'does make memories!'