News
Billy Elliot Youth Theatre 2011
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Billy Elliot the Musical has announced the successful theatre groups which will perform an adapted version of the show at the second Billy Youth Theatre West End Gala on Sunday 17th July 2011 at 7pm. 13 groups have been chosen from around the country and will get a chance to take to the stage at the Victoria Palace Theatre – the London home of the hit musical. Visit the Billy Youth Theatre Website here. |
Musical Encourages the Next GenerationBilly Youth Theatre was launched in 2009 when the team behind the show encouraged theatre groups across the country to stage their own small-scale productions. Besides offering young people the chance to get involved with drama, the scheme offered a unique opportunity for the directors of each local production to visit the Victoria Palace Theatre and take part in a Billy Elliot master-class led by the show’s creative team. Since its launch over 10,000 young people aged 10-19 have taken part nationwide, including Connor Lawson, the boy who recently took the role of Billy’s best friend “Michael” in the West End musical after being spotted in a Billy Youth Theatre production. Theatre Groups Shine at Regional ShowcasesThe groups taking part in Billy Youth Theatre 2011 have already performed their own productions of Billy Elliot at regional showcases held around the country. Schools and youth groups initially submitted DVDs of their cast in rehearsal or on stage in the hope of wowing the Billy Elliot Creative Team. Many were then invited to perform in a regional showcase at one of four theatres (Poole, Sunderland, York and Milton Keynes). The shortened version of the production was created by Billy Elliot writer Lee Hall together with Musical Supervision and Orchestrations by Martin Koch. The selected groups from the regional events will now be challenged to come together and perform as one company at the West End Gala, under the guidance of Billy Elliot’s Creative Team. |
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The youth groups chosen to appear are: Act 1 Youth Productions from Aberdare; Bristol Youth Musical Productions; Fearworks Media Productions from Newcastle; Golden Ratio from Reading; Jago Performers from Worcester; Liverpool Empire Youth Theatre; Northern Academy of Performing Arts from Hull; Shine Youth Music Theatre from Lanarkshire; Stagecoach Newcastle and Sunderland; Stage Productions Staffordshire; STP Musicals from Southampton; Upstagers from Ilkley and Yeovil Youth Theatre. |
A Young Boy with a Passion for DanceBilly Elliot the Musical opened at the Victoria Palace Theatre in 2005. Based closely on the Oscar-nominated film, Billy Elliot the Musical is an inspirational story of one boy's dream to realise his ambitions against the odds. Set in the North East of England against the background of the historic 1984/85 miners' strike, Billy pursues his passion for dance in secret to avoid disapproval of his struggling family. |
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