On a world tour for years, “Billy Elliott, The Musical”, the musical comedy adapted from the English film “Billy Elliott” (2000), is being performed for the first time in Switzerland at the MAAG Halle in Zurich until March 23, 2025 . A German-speaking version as good as the original.
In 2000, the film “Billy Elliott” was released, directed by Stephen Daldry. The world discovered the story of this boy, from the working class of a mining town in the north-east of England, who preferred dancing to boxing. A family drama set in the early 1980s, with breathtaking dance scenes set against the backdrop of a miners’ strike.
The film was so successful that it was quickly adapted into a musical. First performed in London in 2005, then on Broadway and around the world, the show composed by Elton John and written by Lee Hall arrives for the first time in Switzerland, in Zurich, translated into German.
The community at the heart of the show
The musical begins with a BBC announcement about the miners’ strike. On the stage of the MAAG Halle in Zurich, miners and their relatives gather and sing a protest song. The sets transform to take the audience from the entrance to the mine, past young Billy’s family kitchen, then to the dance hall of his ballet school.
The scenario is identical to that of the film: Billy grows up in difficult circumstances, in a harsh mining context. He is different from the others. Instead of boxing, like other boys his age, he is drawn to classical dance. Ignoring conventions and despite resistance from those around him, Billy manages to realize his dream of becoming a dancer.
Unlike the film, the musical emphasizes the community more than just the character of Billy. In the end, it’s not just his family, but the whole town that stands up to applaud him. The importance of community is represented from the beginning through music.
International distribution
The production of “Billy Elliott, das Musical” is by Mitch Sebastian, an English dancer and choreographer who has lived in Switzerland for years. As for the two main roles of Billy and his friend Michael, they are played alternately by six boys aged 10 to 12 years old.
With an international cast and extras recruited from local dance schools and trained for more than a year in singing and dancing, this German version has nothing to be ashamed of compared to the original, even if the nuances and the humor of Lee Hall’s original text remains much richer in English, according to SRF journalist Gabrielle Weber who attended the Zurich premiere.
Radio subject: Gabrielle Weber (SRF)
Adaptation web: ld
“Billy Elliott, the Musical”, staged by Mitch Sebastian, with Moritz Fischli, Justin Périer, Isabelle Flachsmann, Sabine Martin, Pascale Aleardi, Léo Lemmerich, Névio Reymond, Chalers Bänziger and Oscar Wittek. MAAG Halle, Zurich, from 1 November 2024 to 23 March 2025.
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