At the Victoria Palace Theatre, the original home of Billy Elliot, the musical, when milestones passed, they were celebrated. Sometimes by the production of a special "souvenir" lapel badge.
To mark the show's journey from the official press night at the Victoria Palace Theatre through to Hamburg, a "do it yourself" effort went ahead. (The project is entirely "amateur", with no connection with, or endorsement from, the show's "official" people.) All that remains is to get the badges into the hands of those who would like one.
It is a round lapel badge, with a simple pin on the back, diameter 58mm.
This is a work in progress! If you, or a member of your family, were cast or company in either London or on the Tour, you are welcome to one... for free. I have a page about how different people can obtain the badges.
I am willing to work at this beyond the closure of the tour in Hamburg. If "late orders" come in, I will give the dust a little while to settle, order another batch, distribute. There's a line in the show about how art has the power to transform tawdry little lives. That has resonated, for me, since I happened by chance to attend a London performance long ago. So if I can give something back, however small, it pleases me to do so.
I have put an explanation of some of the elements of the design on a separate page. Why 'gjl'/'aehl'? Why 'vhs'? etc.
Early Edition: In the course of creating the badge, a first batch was ordered. And it was distributed. You have to look twice, but a "version 1" badge really isn't quite "good enough". If your badge doesn't have the "See ya Billy", you have a "version 1" copy, and I hope you will feel free to ask for a "proper" one, by the usual channels.
One thing led to another....
To email page's author, Tom Boyd...
You'll have to copy that by hand. It is a graphic, to make things difficult for spam engines. Alternatively, use this link which will take you to a contact form. It "requires" an eddress for you (or it discards your message), but you can put "no@thanks.com" in. That will keep it happy.
Be sure to keep an eye on your spam folder for a few days, if you write to me. Simply because of the yahoo.co.uk domain, many spam filters assume that a reply from me is just spam.
This section left not so much because I anticipate anyone wanting, now, to make more Billy badges (but feel free to do so, if you wish!)... but because I hope it will be helpful to anyone wanting to make a simple badge for something else. I'd never made a badge before, and, through the excellent service at the firm I happened to choose, it was a very rewarding, and not at all "painful" process.
It's easy, and not expensive.
The details of doing the above are spelt out on my Make a Lapel Badge page. On that page, I have put links to give you the Billy Badge artwork, ready for submission, or the source-artwork, for modifying. (Yes, I release the artwork to the public domain. Use (for free) as you see fit.) Or create your own artwork! But Do It Right... the artwork is essential to the success of your project. (You con't need "special" software.)
This site is at present (25 Jul 17) undergoing some re-arranging. If you are looking for something that "was there yesterday", try the old index page.
Thank you, if for nothing else, reading down to here. I hope you got whatever you came for? By all means contact me if you'd like something clarified. (You con't need to send an email address or any other "personal" information.... but answering any question you raise is difficult without something. A really good question would be answered by modifying this site.
Ways to contact page's author. badge maker, bottle washer: Further up page.
Page tested for compliance with INDUSTRY (not MS-only) standards, using the free, publicly accessible validator at validator.w3.org. Mostly passes. There were two "unknown attributes" in Google+ button code, two further "wrong" things in the Google Translate code, and similar in Flattr code. Sigh.