To purchase the Original London Cast Recording of BILLY ELLIOT, click on the image above.
Playbill has reported that Billy Elliot, the musical with book and lyrics penned by Lee Hall and music by Elton John that is based on the popular film of the same name, will be closing on 8 January 2012.
I’m sad to see the show, which TIME magazine named as the best of the decade, closing when so many other shows with weaker books and scores are staying open. Billy Elliot is most certainly one of the stronger screen-to-stage adaptations we’ve seen in the last decade or so. I really enjoyed the film and I truly enjoy the adaptation of the stage show too. I liked it long before it ever won any Tony Awards and while I know that many people are miffed by the fact that Billy Elliot took home the Best Musical prize over Next to Normal, I’m know I’m not. Billy Ellot may not be 100% perfect, but neither is Next to Normal. The score, which shows a huge jump forward for Elton John as a musical theatre composer, has some excellent moments and the show hangs together very well.
Musical Cyberspace 
People need to realise Elton John composed very little of the Billy Elliot score – which is why he won no Tony for it, but Martin Koch did. Martin did most of the harmonies and all the orchestrations and incidental music. It took Elton 3 weeks to write his contributions – and it shows. Elton can’t write musical theatre scores – and shouldn’t do them.
Everything else in the production is brilliant, however!