Having arrived at the Palace Theatre quite early due to see Billionaire Boy to the specified entry time on our tickets, Chloe and I had plenty of time to fill so sat in the bar chatting about what we would do with 100k a week pocket money – Chloe gave very sensible answers like giving a lot to charity and buying houses to rent out till she was old enough to live in them! We also talked about how it’s sensible to save and invest as you never know when it might all go wrong!
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What Is Billionaire Boy About?
For those of you not familiar with the story of Billionaire Boy – it’s a case of rags to riches and back to rags again… And a clear lesson in the fact that money really can’t buy you happiness and most certainly can’t buy you friends.
Joe Spud, the richest boy in the country, is lonely and getting bullied at school thanks to his Dad’s unusual route to fame and fortune – the invention of a fancy new toilet paper! Joe decides he’d rather go to the local comp where nobody knows him and he can keep his riches a secret, making friends who love him for who he really is.
With some bumps in the road including a gold digger of a fiancée, a crazy dinner lady (who rather reminded me of Victoria Wood) and a helicopter – Joe and his Dad learn that money can’t solve all your problems, and in fact sometimes can make them worse!
Our Review Of The Production
This is not the first time we’ve seen Billionaire Boy on stage, however it was quite a few years ago now and with the costumes and staging being quite different, it almost didn’t feel familiar at all beyond the general gist of the story which we know very well from reading the book, watching the tv adaptation several times over and of course now seeing Billionaire Boy played out on stage for a second time.
This musical adaptation brushes over quite a lot of details from the book / 2016 film version so that you’re almost getting a synopsis of the story. Whilst it is of course impossible to cover the whole story on stage in under two hours, the most important bits are there: Len’s money grabbing girlfriend Sapphire and her extensive gift list or request for crisps for dinner, the Grubb twins and their bin, Len hiring in friends for the engagement party and an actor to be Joe’s friend.
The performance runs for two hours – including an interval – which is a good length for younger theatre goers I think. As with the David Walliams books, I would suggest your target audience is probably children aged around 7 – 11 years (so KS2 / Juniors). That’s not to say there weren’t both younger and older children there enjoying the show of course!
Where Can I See Billionaire Boy?
These tickets were provided in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much to Collette and Chloe from Going On An Adventure Blog for sharing your thoughts with us.
Billionaire Boy is at The Palace Theatre in Manchester until Saturday 12th March and continues to tour the UK through till August stopping at…..
- New Victoria Theatre, Woking, Thu 7 Apr – Sun 10 Apr 2022
- Sunderland Empire, Thu 19 May – Sun 22 May 2022
- Bristol Hippodrome Theatre, Wed 8 Jun – Sat 11 Jun 2022
- Liverpool Empire, Wed 15 Jun – Sat 18 Jun 2022
- Milton Keynes Theatre, Thu 30 Jun – Sun 3 Jul 2022
- Grand Opera House York, Thu 14 Jul – Sun 17 Jul 2022
- Edinburgh Playhouse, Thu 28 Jul – Sat 30 Jul 2022