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Culture Musicals

Proud papa

BILLY ELLIOT THE MUSICAL with music by Elton John, book and lyrics by Lee Hall, directed by Stephen Daldry. Presented by Universal Pictures Stage Productions, Working Title Films and Old Vic Productions at the Canon (244 Victoria). Now in previews, opens March 1 for a limited run, Tuesday-Saturday 7:30 pm, matinees Wednesday, Saturday-Sunday 1:30 pm. $36-$130. 416-872-1212. See listing.

A couple of months after introducing his son to the world with partner Elton John, David Furnish is set to introduce local audiences to another little boy: the title character in the musical version of Billy Elliot.

The Scarborough-born Furnish serves as executive producer on the show, and it was his idea to adapt it into a musical in the first place.

He and John saw the first public screening of Stephen Daldry’s movie – then called Dancer – at Cannes in 2000. Talking afterwards to the creative team, he said it was amazing but that it might be even better told as a stage musical.

“Of course, it went on to become a fantastic success,” says the super-articulate Furnish. “Then [producer] Eric [Fellner] rang me up and asked if Elton would be interested in writing the music for a stage musical. I didn’t need to ask him. I knew he’d leap at the chance to work on it.”

John, says Furnish, could fully relate to the journey of a working-class British boy with artistic aspirations (in Billy’s case, ballet) and a family environment that wasn’t exactly used to that sort of thing and not always supportive.

“By the end of the film he was in floods of tears,” he says.

Because John’s on the road a lot, Furnish acts as his eyes and ears for the various productions.

The show, he says, is more political than the movie – particularly about the plight of the mining community. And John and lyricist Lee Hall have written songs that fill in histories of many characters. For some of the music, Furnish says John was inspired by the sound of the colliery bands, well-known in northern England.

“The songs they play are based on hymns and suggest a specific moment in history. Elton thought drawing from this kind of music would be authentic and profoundly moving.”

Download associated audio clip.

Furnish is careful about what kinds of projects they get behind.

Besides Billy, he and John produced the Broadway play Next Fall, about a gay couple’s religious differences, as well as the recent Gnomeo And Juliet, an animated film based on the Shakespeare play.

“All three works are about bridging communities,” he says. “In Billy, it’s the world of mining with the world of the arts, which appear miles apart. In Next Fall, it’s bringing together the Deep South religious Republicans with the liberal-minded atheistic Democrats. And in Gnomeo And Juliet, two communities of gnomes are divided by colour, red and blue.”

Bridging communities is a subject Furnish knows well, particularly given the media attention around his civil partnership with one of the world’s biggest pop stars, and recently becoming parents via a surrogate.

“Elton and I just try to be ourselves,” he says when I ask if they feel like role models. “I think we’ve naturally broken down barriers by being honest and open about who we are and how we feel about each other.”

There’s still discrimination, however – even for the most famous gay couple in the world.

“It’s interesting how Rod Stewart can father a child at 65, and a straight, single footballer named Cristiano Ronaldo can arrange to have a surrogate have a baby, and neither of them receives any criticism.

“But Elton and I decide to have a child with a surrogate, and we’re told that a child needs a mother, that two men can’t raise a child in the same way that a man and a woman can, and that Elton is too old to have a baby. Scrape all that criticism away and it’s still homophobia.”

And how has two months of fatherhood affected the power couple, who recently gave the first pics of their new family to Us Weekly?

Download associated audio clip.

“We feel much more grounded and content,” he says. “It’s got us feeling closer together. It’d be different for someone in their 20s. But we’ve been together 17 years and have a stable foundation. We have to work on it, obviously, but I don’t worry about the person I’m sharing my life with, nor do I worry about his career or my career. This is a new challenge and a new joy.”

Additional audio clips

On the demands placed on boys playing Billy. (“Stephen” is director Stephen Daldry):

Download associated audio clip.

On gay bullying, suicide, same-sex rights and the divided quality of American society right now:

Download associated audio clip.

On not having gay role models while growing up:

Download associated audio clip.

On what’s happened to Lev, the HIV-positive orphan from the Ukraine that Furnish and John wanted to adopt in 2009:

Download associated audio clip.

glenns@nowtoronto.com

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