On Friday, April 16th, Billy Elliot the Musical will be featured on "The Oprah Winfrey Show." Composer Elton John will be Oprah's guest, and the stars of Billy Elliot in Chicago, Tommy Batchelor, Giuseppe Bausilio, Cesar Corrales and J.P. Viernes will also make an appearance. "The Oprah Winfrey Show" will air live at 9am Central on ABC7 WLS in Chicago and will air at 4pm Eastern on WABC in New York. Check local listings for additional airings.
Billy Elliot, the show Time Magazine calls "The Best Musical of the Decade," opened to critical acclaim at Chicago's Ford Center/Oriental Theater on Sunday, April 11th.
Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune says Billy Elliot is "Chicago's kind of show! **** Out of four stars." Hedy Weiss from the Chicago Sun-Times calls the show "A gorgeous musical from top to bottom! Explosive and spirit-lifting. Grabs hold of an audience and sends it soaring!" Bill Zwecker from Fox Chicago raves, "If you only go to one show this year - make sure it's Billy Elliot!" while
Janet Davies of ABC7 cheers "Watch out Chicago. Billy Elliot will leap into your heart!"
On Broadway, Billy Elliot is the winner of ten 2009 Tony Awards including Best Musical. The production opened at the Imperial Theatre on November 13, 2008.
Ben Brantley of the New York Times says that Billy Elliot "Sends audiences into a mass swoon!" Time Out says it's "The most electric and passionate show in years." The Daily News calls Billy "So exhilarating that you feel like leaping!" The New York Post says Billy Elliot is "The best show you will ever see!"
Liz Smith calls the show "Absolutely awesome," The New York Observer raves that Billy is "The best thing to happen to Broadway in a long while," and WOR's
Dave Richardson cheers, "All I can say is WOW!"
Billy Elliot features music by
Elton John, book and lyrics by
Lee Hall, is choreographed by
Peter Darling and directed by
Stephen Daldry.
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.
Billy Elliot 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.
For more information about Billy Elliot in Chicago, please visit
www.BroadwayInChicago.com
