‘Billy Elliot’ the Musical Returns to London’s West End in 2027

It’s perfect: Lovely music Billy Elliot will return to London’s West End in February 2027 for eleven years after ending its eleven-year run.

Author Lee Hall’s story follows a young miner’s son from the boxing ring to ballet classes, and was a stage and screen hit in the first half of the century. “It still has legs,” said Stephen Daldry, the show’s director, by phone from New York. “Oh my God… He’s still dancing after all these years. He’s coming back. We’re so happy.”

Daldry (Crown, Student) directed and developed the original 2005 production at Victoria Palace, London with a book by songwriter Hall, composer Elton John and choreographer Peter Darling.

It was based on the 2000 film Universal Title by the same creative team that premiered at that year’s Cannes Film Festival with stars Jamie Bell and Julie Walters in attendance.

Both Daldry’s Eric Fellner and Working Title confirmed to Deadline that the Working Title and Universal Stage Productions show will make its premiere at London’s Adelphi Theater on February 12, 2027, beginning a six-month season.

However, the program will travel outside the city this year first. Fans can catch up Billy Elliot at the Sunderland Empire from November 4-28. It is worth playing this northern town, which in the 18th and 20th centuries was home to a large colliery, and is 20 minutes from Durham County where Billy Elliot The story is set during the tumultuous period of the British coal miners’ strike.

The tour will continue to the Palace Theatre, Manchester from December 2 to January 9 before moving on to the Edinburgh Playhouse from January 19 to February 6. It will then stay at the Adelphi, after which it will resume touring for another nine months. Tickets for all venues will go on sale from March 9.

“Me, Elton, and Lee are over the moon,” Daldry tells Deadline, while noting that every time they do a show, they like to see how it works again. “We are happy that another generation of people will see this game as if it were new.”

It has power in the story, continues Daldry, “that has always amazed me – how it is played all over the world. Some musicals don’t play internationally, but this one is always played around the world – It just finished a run in Zurich. It will open again in South Korea.

“It resonates with such a diverse culture outside the coal mines of Durham County. It’s a straightforward story, but it still resonates deeply, especially in these dark days. The idea of ​​hope and optimism instilled in this dancing boy is something that people really respond to, and in the end, despite the hardships the community is facing, we can all buy this child more happiness in the future.”

The key word there is the c-word… community, something we want to bring back, I mean.

Smiling at the less offensive introduction of the c-word, Daldry considers the story “about a community coming together against great odds and investing in the hopes and aspirations of this one child. And yes, and you’re right, community is something we need so badly – ​​and this celebrates community in a profound way.”

Another zinger that begins with the c-word is the choreography – a spectacular dance narrative of the show driven by dazzling displays of ballet, tap, jazz, back flips and gymnastics created, as if by magic, by Peter Darling and his team. Still, Darling’s footsteps will return, Daldry said.

The stage will be basically the same in that it’s the same set, Daldry insists, but he happily suggests that once rehearsals begin, he and Hall will definitely “be able to change things up in the show again. We always have, and we will.”

The search for the boys who will play this young man started a few months ago. Broadcasters have been scouring communities across the UK and even the United States for the Billies. “We’re always opening our doors to opportunities and international talent, but obviously we’re focused on the UK, but you never know,” said Doldry.

He readily admits that it’s easier now to do an unknown part than it was back in 2004 when top bands across the country were auditioning for leads. The most talented are put through months of training in acting and dancing. Even when rehearsals began in an old film studio in East London, Daldry and his creative team weren’t sure which boys would come out on top. In the end, they decided on Liam Mower, James Lomas and George Maguire, who went on to share the Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical.

Film and stage art hope that one of the reasons for the rise of boys who love “hopefully” on the ground Billy Elliotalthough Daldry admits there are probably “many” other reasons.

In any case, he says: “There are a lot more young dancers now than when we started, so we’re getting a lot of amazing talent from the research we’re doing right now.

Echoing Daldry’s words, Fellner notes that it’s “wonderfully ironic” that the film and music itself “created an environment where it’s now a bit easier to put on a show, but we’re very grateful to the dance communities in the UK and America who are training these young kids.”

In a recent column, I recalled the incredible privilege of watching Daldry, Darling and their colleagues put together the show during the weeks of previews before the official opening night, which the former said was “the most stressful thing you will ever do in your life.

He sighs as he adds: “Yes, we made a show, we made a show in front of an audience, which was challenging and exciting at the same time. We could have done it at the time, of course. We didn’t know what could have happened, and what could have been possible for the boys to do. I hope that now we have created this show, which is on the edge of playing for young people. But you can feel the effort.”

Daldry is currently working with producer Sonia Friedman on arrangements to cast the new cast Stranger Things: The First Shadownow in its second year on Broadway and third in the West End.

On the film front, there are no plans, he insists, to direct the picture anytime soon. When asked about this, he replies that he “avoids them.”

Currently, there are no discussions yet about a Billy Elliot returned to Broadway, where it won ten Tony Awards, including Best Musical. “For now, we’re looking at the UK, but as always, we’ll keep an open mind as to what happens next,” said Fellner.

To follow Billy Elliot around the world, long ago, I used to be amazed at how this story touched the audience wherever I saw it. Fellner sums up my idea of ​​it. “The good thing about it Billy is a universal story about having a dream and finding a way to make it come true.

“It doesn’t matter what country you grow up in, what political beliefs you have or where you’re from geographically, we all want our children to achieve their dreams, and children want to have a dream and a desire to believe in it. That’s what Billy is talking about.”