Billy Elliot prepares to celebrate ten years in West End as booking extends

Billy Elliot the Musical has extended its booking period to 16 May 2015, which will take the show into its tenth year in the West End.

Over 570,000 tickets were released last week for Elton John's award-winning musical, which received its world premiere at the Victoria Palace Theatre on 31 March 2005.

Based on Lee Hall's 2000 film and set against the North-eastern mining strikes of the 1980s, the musical recounts the tale of a motherless boy whose father wants him to learn to box but who instead discovers a love for ballet that leads him from secret lessons to a place at the Royal Ballet School.

The current cast features Anna-Jane Casey as Mrs Wilkinson and Ann Emery as Grandma, a role which she also played in the original cast. The London production has seen 34 different boys playing Billy.

The show has been seen in productions across the world, including on Broadway, as well as in Sydney, Melbourne, Chicago, Toronto and Seoul.