BILLY ELLIOT Authors John and Hall Take on 'Animal Farm' Musical Adaptation

UK Daily Mail reports that BILLY ELLIOT authors Elton John and Lee Hall will be collaborating again on a new musical based on George Orwell's 'Animal Farm.'

Hall calls 'Animal Farm' "perfectly suited for the stage," and pointed out that its language lent itself well to lyrics. "I'm deep into it," said Hall, "writing songs for pigs and other four-legged friends."

Noting the difficulty of securing the rights to bring the novella to the stage, Hall said, "It's taken about two years. We almost gave up, but there was always that one last licence to go after." Now that the proper rights have been secured, Hall will concentrate his focus on the musical once summer is over. "Having worked with him on Billy Elliot, I know that Elton likes to have the lyrics done and have them in front of him so I'll work on a batch before I give him anything to look at. I would think it's going to take about two years before it's all ready to go."

No word is given on a potential theatre or producer.

Billy Elliot the Musical, the show that Time Magazine called "The Best Musical of the Decade," 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). The production was the recipient of a total of 35 awards including being named Best Musical by the New York Drama Critics Circle, Drama Desk, Drama League and Outer Critics Circle.

Tickets for Billy Elliot the Musical range from $41.50 to $136.50, and can be purchased at the Imperial Theatre Box Office (240 West 45th Street) or by calling Telecharge.com at 212-239-6200 or visiting www.Telecharge.com. The playing schedule for Billy Elliot is as follows: Tuesdays at 7pm, Thursday - Saturdays at 8pm, Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2pm and Sundays at 3pm and 7:30pm.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.