BILLY ELLIOT Celebrates 500th Performance 1/24

The 10-time Tony Award-winning Billy Elliot the Musical will celebrate 500 performances on Broadway this Sunday, January 24th, 7:30pm at the Imperial Theatre (240 West 45th Street).

Billy Elliot the Musical, the show that Time Magazine called "The Best Musical of the Decade," currently stars Michael Dameski, Alex Ko, Trent Kowalik, Liam Redhead and Dayton Tavares as Billy, Kate Henning as Mrs. Wilkinson, Gregory Jbara as Dad, Carole Shelley as Grandma, Will Chase as Tony and Trevor Braun and Jake Evans Schwencke as Michael. The show is presented by Universal Pictures Stage Productions, Working Title Films and Old Vic Productions in association with Weinstein Live Entertainment, based on the Universal Pictures/Studio Canal film.

The show, which recouped its $18 million investment in 14 months (492 performances), has multiple productions across the globe and in development. The U.S. national tour will launch with an extended run at Chicago's Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre beginning previews on March 18, 2010 and opening April 11, 2010 with a second national tour slated to begin in November 2010. Now in its fifth year, the originAl West End production, which won the Olivier Award for Best Musical, continues to thrive at London's Victoria Palace Theatre. The show played in Australia: Sydney from November 13, 2007 through November 23, 2008 and Melbourne December 30, 2008 through June 14, 2009 and received both the Helpmann Award and the Sydney Theatre Award for Best Musical. New international productions are scheduled for Korea (August 2010), Japan (Summer 2011) and productions are in the works for Germany and Holland.

Billy Elliot the Musical is the joyous celebration of one boy's journey to make his dreams come true. Set in a small town, the story follows Billy as he stumbles out of the boxing ring and into a ballet class, discovering a passion that takes him by surprise, and takes his whole family on an incredibly uplifting adventure.

Featuring music by Elton John, book and lyrics by Lee Hall, choreographed by Peter Darling and directed by Stephen Daldry, Billy Elliot the Musical opened at Broadway's Imperial Theatre (240 W 45th St) Thursday, November 13th and was the winner of ten 2009 Tony Awards including Best Musical.

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, Saturdays and Sundays at 2pm, and Sunday at 7:30pm

Billy Elliot the Musical is produced by Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Jon Finn and Sally Greene. Angela Morrison and David Furnish are Executive Producers. The production features scenic design by Ian MacNeil, costume design by Nicky Gillibrand, lighting design by Rick Fisher and sound design by Paul Arditti. Musical supervision and orchestrations are by Martin Koch.