TV Flashback: BILLY ELLIOT's Opening Night!

Today Broadway bids goodbye to a show that's become a 45th Street fixture over its past three years at the Imperial Theatre: BILLY ELLIOT. Take a look back at BILLY's memorable opening night celebration - 40 preview and 1,304 regular performances ago - with the in depth Broadway Beat special that originally hit the web in 2008. Click below to watch!

Billy Elliot 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). The Broadway 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. 

The production recouped its $18 million investment in only 14 months over 492 performances and on Broadway, the show has been seen by more than 1.7 million theatergoers. Featuring music by Elton John, book and lyrics by Lee Hall, choreographed by Peter Darling and directed by Stephen Daldry, Billy Elliot began previews Wednesday, October 1 and opened to critical acclaim on November 13, 2008.