Dutch BILLY ELLIOT Not To Be Moved to Dutch Mining Town

Rest assured, fans of the original version of Billy Elliot. The Dutch version of Billy Elliot will not be moved to a Dutch mining town, said Maurice Wijnen in the Parool newspaper today. Wijnen is artistic director at Stage Entertainment Netherlands, who hope to present Billy Elliot. To do so, they will first need to demonstrate that there are sufficient young talents in the Netherlands. For that purpose, the Billy Elliot sCOOL was recently opened.

Mines have been operation in the southern part of the Netherlands from 1815 to about 1975. Their closure, due to decline of the coal industry, brought 75.000 workers on the dole. This was 10 years before the famed UK miners' strike, which is the backdrop for Billy Elliot.

Says Wijnen: "We have considered removing [the scene with Margaret Thatcher dolls] and transferring the musical to the Dutch mines. But there's no need. In the US, where people know even less about Thatcher than we do, the scene works. It works even in Korea. If the show will happen - and there's a good chance - we will put an information sheet in the theatre programme. We will keep Billy Elliot as it is."

The interview with Wijnen also reveals that the Dutch Billy Elliot is aiming to premiere in 2014.