Billy Elliot the Musical to close on 8 Jan 2012

The 10-time Tony Award-winning Billy Elliot - The Musical will play its final performance at Broadway's Imperial Theatre on 8 Jan 2012, the show had been selling tickets through to 8 Jul 2012. When the musical closes it will have played 40 previews and 1,304 regular performances.

The production recouped its $18 million investment in only 14 months over 492 performances and on Broadway, the show has been seen by 1,659,867 theatergoers to date.

Producer Eric Fellner said, "After three unforgettable years, we are announcing the final performance of Billy Elliot - The Musical on Broadway. To see this story of a small boy from a small town in the North East of England achieve such enormous success and receive such an incredible response from the musical theatre capital of the world has been hugely rewarding. I join my fellow producers in expressing our gratitude to every member of the creative team and the Broadway company for their hard work and dedication to this show. Sadly, all great things come to an end and we look forward to working on Broadway again soon."

Composer Elton John said, "I've said it before and it remains true today, Billy Elliot has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my entire life - seeing this show produced on Broaddway is a dream fulfilled. I'm so proud of the brilliant young performers who have mastered the role of Billy on Broadway, their commitment and sheer talent has been the backbone of this production."

The musical, now in its 3rd year, opened at Broadway's Imperial Theatre on 13 Nov 2008, following previews from 1 Oct 2008.

Billy Elliot - The Musical opened to excellent reviews: "everything about this production is remarkable."
(newyorktheatreguide.com); "enduring appeal" (NY Times); "irresistible new show " (NY Daily News); "head and toe-shoes above every other show this season" (NY Post); "as seriously thrilling as it is deeply lovable" (NewsDay); "Tough, intelligent, exuberant, electric, politically savvy, and fun" (Back Stage).

Billy Elliot The Musical is created by the same team that made the multi-Oscar-nominated film: writer Lee Hall, director Stephen Daldry, and choreographer Peter Darling. The musical's score is by Elton John, who also composed the music for 'The Lion King,' 'Aida' and 'Lestat.'

The Musical was the winner of ten 2009 Tony Awards including: Best Musical; Best Book of a Musical (Lee Hall); Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical (David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik, Kiril Kulish); Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical (Gregory Jbara); Best Direction of a Musical (Stephen Daldry); Best Choreography (Peter Darling); Best Orchestrations (Martin Koch); Best Scenic Design of a Musical (Ian MacNeil); Best Lighting Design of a Musical (Rick Fisher); Best Sound Design of a Musical (Paul Arditti).

Set in England's North East against the background of the miners' strike - Billy Elliot The Musical is the tale of a motherless boy whose father wants him to take up boxing. Instead, the boy discovers a love for ballet that leads him from secret lessons to a place at the Royal Ballet School.

Billy Elliot - The Musical currently features Emily Skinner (Mrs. Wilkinson), Daniel Jenkins (Dad), Katherine McGrath (Grandma), Patrick Mulvey (Tony), Jack Broderick and Cameron Clifford (Michael), and *Giuseppe Bausilio, Tade Biesinger, Joseph Harrington and Peter Mazurowski (alternate as Billy).
*Giuseppe Bausi, one of the show's alternate Billys', leaves the cast on 9 Oct 2011 and will be replaced by Myles Erlick.

Based on the beloved 2000 film, which garnered three Academy Award nominations and three BAFTA awards, the world premiere production of Billy Elliot - The Musical is still playing at London's Victoria Palace Theatre where it opened on 11 May 2005. The London production won Three Olivier Awards: Best New Musical, Best Actor and Choreographer. It also won the Evening Standard Award for Best Musical. A production of the show opened in Sydney in Dec 2007.

The Broadway production features the same creative team as the London production: Ian MacNeil (sets), Nicky Gillibrand (costumes), Rick Fisher (lighting) and Paul Arditti (sound).

The musical is produced on Broadway by Universal Pictures Stage Productions, Working Title Films and Old Vic Productions in association with Weinstein Live Entertainment.