subject: Billy Elliot The Musical - What's Playing In 2010? [print this page] Billy Elliot: The Musical is a theatrical production that is based on the film Billy Elliot (2000). The film takes place in the mid 1980's during the UK miners' strike. The story follows Billy and his devoted love for dancing and his dream to one day work as a professional ballet dancer. His father and brother are both on strike, his mother is dead, and his grandmother also lives with them. Billy's father takes him to gym to try and get him into boxing, but he isn't really interested. His father eventually sees him dancing, and realizes how passionate he is about it.
Billy gets to audition for the Royal Ballet, and once accepted, he leaves home to attend the dancing school when he is only 11 years old. At the end of the movie, the audience sees that, 14 years later, Billy has achieved his goal of being a professional ballet dancer as he performs in Swan Lake, with his brother and father watching from the audience. The musical production follows the same basic premise of the movie.
The musical version of Billy Elliot features music by Sir Elton John and the lyrics are written by Lee Hall, who also penned the screenplay for the film version. The story for Hall's screenplay came, in part, from a book called The Stars Look Down, and the musical version of Billy Elliot features a song that pays homage to the book that inspired the story. Billy Elliot: The Musical originally opened at the West End in London back in 2005. The play garnered a total of 9 Laurence Olivier Awards nominations, and won four, including the award for Best New Musical. It did so well in playing in London that productions went on to play in Australia, on Broadway, and numerous other places.
When it played on Broadway in New York City, it won a total of 10 Tony Awards and 10 Drama Desk Awards, including Best Musical in both cases. In Australia it won 7 Helpmann Awards, tying the record for most awards won. The musical premiered at London's Victoria Palace Theater in March of 2005 and it still continues to play there today. The musical production was said to cost 5.5 million pounds to put together, whereas the film version only cost $5 million. In Australia, it premiered at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney in November 2007. It premiered on Broadway at the Imperial Theatre in October 2008 for preview engagements, and will open elsewhere in the US, including Chicago and LA in 2010.
