Billy Elliot the Musical

Billy Elliot
The Musical
West End promotional poster
Music	Elton John
Lyrics	Lee Hall
Book	Lee Hall
Basis	Film Billy Elliot by Lee Hall
Premiere	31 March 2005: Victoria Palace Theatre, London
Productions	2005 West End 2008 Broadway 2010 North America tour 2010 US tour 2011 North America tour 2016 UK tour
Awards	Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical Tony Award for Best Musical Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music

Billy Elliot: The Musical is a coming-of-age stage musical based on the 2000 film of the same name. The music is by Elton John, and the book and lyrics are by Lee Hall, who wrote the film's screenplay. The plot revolves around Billy, a motherless British boy who begins taking ballet lessons. The story of his personal struggle and fulfillment are balanced against a counter-story of family and community strife caused by the 1984–1985 UK miners' strike in County Durham, in North East England. Hall's screenplay was inspired in part by A. J. Cronin's 1935 novel about a miners' strike, The Stars Look Down, to which the musical's opening song pays homage.^[1]

The musical premiered at the Victoria Palace Theatre in London's West End in 2005 and was nominated for nine Laurence Olivier Awards, winning four, including Best New Musical. The production ran through April 2016.^[2] Its success led to productions in Australia, Broadway, and numerous other countries. In New York, it won ten Tony Awards and ten Drama Desk Awards, including, in each case, Best Musical. It has also won numerous awards in Australia including a record-tying seven Helpmann Awards.

A live recording of the musical was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 24 November 2014 in the UK.