BILLY ELLIOT, Starring Noah Parets, Begins Tonight at La Mirada Theatre

LA MIRADA THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS & MC COY RIGBY ENTERTAINMENT present pure "electricity" with the third show of their 2014-2015 season, the Southern California Regional Premiere of the ten-time Tony Award-winning musical, BILLY ELLIOT THE MUSICAL, music by Elton John, book and lyrics by Lee Hall, musical direction by John Glaudini, choreography by Dana Solimando and directed by Brian Kite. BILLY ELLIOT THE MUSICAL will preview tonight, January 16, 2015 (with a press opening on Saturday, January 17) and run through Sunday, February 8, 2015 at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd in La Mirada.

Millions of fans...Thousands of standing ovations...Ten Tony Awards including Best Musical...and one show shines above the rest. This is BILLY ELLIOT THE MUSICAL the spectacular show with the heart, humor, and passion to be named Time Magazine's "Best Musical of the Decade!" Set in a northern mining town, against the background of the 1984 miners' strike, BILLY ELLIOT THE MUSICAL is the inspirational story of a young boy's struggle against the odds to make his dream come true.

Follow Billy's journey as he stumbles out of the boxing ring and into a ballet class where he discovers a passion for dance that inspires his family and community, and changes his life forever. This show contains some mature language.

BRIAN KITE (Director) has directed across the United States and abroad. His La MiradaTheatre/McCoy Rigby directing credits include the critically acclaimed productions of Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, Little Shop of Horrors, Dinner With Friends, Steel Magnolias starring Cathy Rigby, Driving Miss Daisy starring Michael Learned and David Auburn'sProof. He is the recipient of the 2013 Los Angeles Ovation Award for Best Direction of a Musical for his production ofSpring Awakening. He directed the National Tours of In the Heat of the Night and The Graduate for LA Theatre Works and last year, he staged the first production of Miss Saigon to ever play in China when his show closed the Macau International Music Festival. This past summer, he directed Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers, starring Margaret Colin, which toured throughout mainland China. The production was the first U.S. production of a play at Beijing's National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA). Prior to that, he helmed a production of Cabaret in Bermuda under the patronage of the Queen's Governor and directed Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie at The Actors Co- op in Hollywood. Other recent credits include two Los Angeles revivals, J.B. by Archibald MacLeish and The Crucible by Arthur Miller, as well as the West Coast premiere of Václav Havel's The Beggar's Opera. He directed the Philadelphia production of Glenn Wein's Grandma Sylvia's Funeral and worked with Tony Award-winning director Daniel Sullivan on the Geffen Playhouse's production of Hedda Gabler starring Annette Bening. He directed over 20 productions at French Woods Festival in New York where he was the Director of Theater Programs for over 7 years. Brian is a member of the directing faculty at U.C.L.A.'s School of Theater, Film and Television, serves as the Chair of the LA Stage Alliance's Board of Governors, and is the Artistic Director of the award-winning Buffalo Nights Theatre Company.

DANA SOLIMANDO (Choreography) Choreography credits include Ragtime - 3D Theatricals, La Cage Aux Folles - California Musical Theatre, Parade - 3DT, Les Miserables - McCoy Rigby Entertainment, Miss Saigon - McCoy Rigby and The Macau International Music Festival, Little Miss Scrooge with John and Sam Caird and Paul Gordon - Rubicon Theatre Co (World premier), Spring Awakening - La Mirada OnStage, The Wizard of Oz - California Musical Theatre, Grease - Paramount Theatre, All Shook Up - 3DT, Little Shop Of Horrors - MRE, Hairspray - 3DT, South Street - Pasadena Playhouse, Jesus Christ Superstar - Really Useful (Broadway Nat'l Tour) starring Sebastian Bach and the late Carl Anderson, Swing! - multiple productions, Crystal Cruises- Route 66 and Maestro. Broadway performance credits: Swing! (Country/West Coast Feature), Peter Pan (Tiger Lily), Cats (Rumpleteazer). www.danasolimando.com

JOHN GLAUDINI (Musical Direction) As Musical Director: For La Mirada Theatre/McCoy Rigby - Les Miserables, Cats,Spring Awakening (Ovation Award nom), Miss Saigon. For Musical Theatre West - Sweeney Todd (Ovation award), Altar Boyz (LA Drama Critics Circle nom), Andrews Brothers (Ovation Award nom), I Love A Piano, Spamalot. For Musical Theatre Guild - Aspects Of Love, Street Scene. For California Conservatory Of The Arts - Andrew Lippa's A Little Princess (West Coast Premiere), Defying Gravity, A Light In The Piazza, Curtains.

John is a musical consultant for the Disneyland Resort and is currently the musical director for Disney's "Aladdin, A Musical Spectacular," now in its 12th year at Disney's California Adventure. As arranger/orchestrator: Fantasy Faire(Disneyland), Minnie's Fly Girls (California Adventure); Heaven Help Us (Florida Stage; Denver Center), The Prince and The Pauper (Lamb's Theatre), I Love A Piano (Denver Center, Florida Stage), Pete 'n' Keely (John Houseman).

He co-wrote the revues, Are We There Yet?, A Christmas Survival Guide, and I Love New York (NY Bistro Award - Best Revue) which have been playing throughout the country. His career began assisting composer Stephen Flaherty on the shows Lucky Stiff, Ragtime, Seussical, and the film Anastasia.

He has worked in the music departments on the pre-Broadway productions of 9 To 5 (LA), Legally Blonde (San Francisco), Spamalot (Chicago), Bounce (Kennedy Center), and A New Brain (NYC)--to name a few. He is a member of the Dramatist Guild and an alumni of the BMI Workshop in NYC. As a composer, his show, How The Nurse Feels was accepted into the Disney/ASCAP workshop (LA). A revue of his music was performed at Birdland in NY.

ELTON JOHN (Music) The monumental career of international singer/songwriter and performer Elton John has spanned more than three decades. He is one of the top-selling solo artists of all time, with 35 gold and 25 platinum albums and more than 250 million records sold worldwide. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences has awarded Elton multiple Grammy® Awards, including the Grammy® Legend Award. In the early 1990s, Elton collaborated with lyricist Tim Rice on the soundtrack for "The Lion King," winning him an Academy Award®. The album produced two top-selling, award-winning singles: "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" and "Circle of Life." The Tony Award®-winning Broadway productions of The Lion King and Aida both awarded Elton with Grammy® Awards for Best Musical Show Album. Billy Elliot was nominated for a record-tying 15 Tony® Awards and won 10 including Best Musical. In 1992, Elton established the Elton John AIDS Foundation, which today is one of the leading nonprofit HIV/AIDS organizations. In 1998, the Queen of England knighted him Sir Elton John, CBE. In 2004, Elton received the Kennedy Center Honor for his lifetime contributions to American culture and excellence through the performing arts.

In 2013, Elton was honored as the first recipient of the prestigious BRITs Icon Award, and released The Diving Board, his first solo studio album in seven years, to stellar reviews.

LEE HALL (Book and Lyrics) was born in Newcastle Upon Tyne in 1966 and studied English Literature at Cambridge University. He has worked as a writer in theatre, TV, radio and film. He has been writer in residence at the Royal Shakespeare Company and Live Theatre, Newcastle Upon Tyne. Theatre: Wittgenstein on Tyne, Live Theatre 1996; Bollocks, RSC Fringe, 1998; Genie, Paines Plough, 1998; Cooking With Elvis, Live Theatre/West End 1999 - nominated for an Oliver Award for Best Comedy; Spoonface Steinberg, Ambassadors Theatre, London 2000; Two's Company, Live Theatre/Bristol Old Vic, 2001; Billy Elliot the Musical, 2004 - Oliver Award Best Musical; Pitmen Painters, Live Theatre, Newcastle/Royal National Theatre/ National tour/Broadway, 2007-2010. Theatre adaptations:Leonce and Lena (Buchner), The Gate Theatre, 1997; Mr Puntila and his man Matti (Brecht) Almedia Theatre, 1998, A Servant to Two Masters (Goldoni) RSC/ Young Vic 1999; The Adventures of Pinocchio (Collodi), Lyric Theatre,Hammersmith, 2000; Mother Courage (Brecht), Shared Experience/Ambassadors Theatre; The Good Hope(Heijermans) Royal National Theatre, 2001; The Barber of Seville (Beaumarchais), Bristol Old Vic, 2003. Opera: Adaptation of Il Pagliacci/The Comedians for the English National Opera, 2008. TV: "Spoonface Steinberg" 1997, BBC; "A Prince of Hearts" 1998, BBC; "Wind in the Willows" 2007 BBC. Film: "Billy Elliot" Working Title Films, 2000. His screenplay for "War Horse" directed by Steven Spielberg came out in 2011.

The Cast for BILLY ELLIOT features: Noah Parets as Billy (National Tour, Billy Elliot), Vicki Lewis as Mrs. Wilkinson, David Atkinson as Billy's Father, Jake Kitchin as Michael (National Tour, Billy Elliot), Stephen Weston as Tony, Jamie Torcellini as George, Marsha Waterbury as Grandma, Kim Huber as Billy's Mum, Brandon Forrest as Adult Billy, Neil Dale as Mr. Braithwaite, Sammy Gayer as Debbie, R.J. Higton as Tall Boy and the Ensemble will feature (In alphabetical order): Nicholas Adorno, Andrew Blake Ames, Brooke Besikof, Emma Bradley, Aaron Czuprenski, Rachel Davis, Michael Dotson, Jeremy Duvall, Emily Frazier, Zachary Hess, Brendan Knox, Olivia Knox, Emilie Lafontaine, Tyler Ledon, Julia Nicole Massey, Jenna McConnell, Bruce Merkle, McKenna Perez, Gary Lee Reed, Benni Ruby, Natalie Sachse, Brian Steven Shaw, Hannah Jean Simmons, Ashley Kiele Thomas, Brooklyn Vizcarra, Justin Wilcox and John B. Williford.

The Design Team for BILLY ELLIOT is as follows: The Scenic Design is by Stephen Gifford. The Lighting Design is by Steven Young. The Sound Design is by Josh Bessom. The Costume Design is by Ann Closs-Farley. Wig and Make-up Design is by Katie McCoy. Flying Sequences choreographed by Paul Rubin. The Props Designer is Terry Hanrahan. The Casting is by Julia Flores. The Production Stage Manager is Jill Gold.

BILLY ELLIOT will preview tonight, January 16, 2015 (with a press opening on Saturday, January 17) and run through Sunday, February 8. Performances will be 7:30pm on Wednesdays & Thursdays; 8pm on Fridays; 2pm and 8pm on Saturdays; and 2pm on Sundays. There will be no matinee performance on Saturday, January 17. Talkbacks with the cast and creative team will be on Wednesday, January 21 and Wednesday, February 4.

Tickets range from $20 - $70 and can be purchased at La Mirada Theatre's website, www.lamiradatheatre.com or by calling the La Mirada Theatre Box Office at (562) 944-9801 or (714) 994-6310. Student, Senior and group discounts are available. LA MIRADA THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS is located at 14900 La Mirada Boulevard in La Mirada, near the intersection of Rosecrans Avenue where the 91 and 5 freeways meet. Parking is free.

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