The banner is up outside Newcastle's Civic Theatre and the countdown to Billy Elliot the Musical's opening night has begun.
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Presented by The Very Popular Theatre Company, the musical will make its Newcastle debut on October 7 and run for three weeks.
Billy Elliot the Musical is a coming-of-age story about a young boy's journey from the boxing ring to the ballet studio and is set in a northern English town during the miners' strike of 1984-85. It features music by Elton John and became a feature-length film of the same name in 2000.
"We are presenting the show with the original West End choreography but our set and costumes will look and feel a little different," producer Daniel Stoddart says.
"It's very much a period piece, set firmly in Northern England in the 1980s when the Thatcher government was ever present.
"The goal has been to make sure we are capturing the spirit of this small town at this particular time in history."
Stoddart sees similarities between Newcastle's industrial heritage and the fictional town of County Durham depicted in the musical.
"The struggles, dreams and aspirations of the working-class community as depicted in the musical, and their sense of community and resilience, parallel those of us who grew up here in Newcastle," he explains.
"Both the musical and the city celebrate the values of hard work, determination and the pursuit of dreams despite challenging circumstances.
"The experiences of the characters resonate with Newcastle, who now, as a city, is faced with the need to adapt to a changing world."
Billy Elliot the Musical has, to date, been seen by more than 12 million people worldwide.
"It's about a boy becoming a ballet dancer and gained much of its acclaim for its promotion of individual identity, its challenge to restrictive gender norms and its celebration of artistic pursuits," Stoddart says.
"This is what it is about at first glance. Underneath, I think everyone understands what Billy is going through.
"We all like to see the underdog succeed, which he eventually does at the end of the show. Against the might of the world, Billy breaks free! We love to feel that feeling because we all want it for ourselves."
The creative team was, he says, "spoilt for choice" when it came to the casting call.
"The talent made it very difficult to decide on a final cast," Stoddart says.
"This is one of the only musicals in the world that heavily leans on young performers to hold the show all on their own. Usually that pleasure is reserved for more accomplished and highly experienced mature actors who have worked their way through the industry over many many years.
"This show's star is a young primary school age boy. It is an unimaginable responsibility and task for a young person this age to hold the audience in the palm of their hand for two-and-a-half hours, so I think when these kids pull it off, there is a huge amount of respect garnered for them as a professional.
"If they can play Billy, they can certainly play anything."
Lewis Nicholson and Fergus Paterson were both cast as Billy Elliot.
Lewis is a student at Hunter School of the Performing Arts and currently trains with the National College of Dance in classical ballet, contemporary, jazz, acrobatics and hip hop. He has performed as a featured dancer in StarStruck and Madagascar: A Musical Adventure, and regularly competes in the NSW State of Dance competition.
Fergus is a dancer, singer and actor whose first role at the age of eight was Gaston in Disney's Beauty and the Beast JR. He has played lead roles in Gosford Musical Society's Disney's Aladdin JR, School of Rock, and Disney's Frozen JR and, most recently, landed the major lead of Spongebob in The Spongebob Musical. He also sings with Toni Williams Singing Studios in Gosford.
Conway Oakhill-Saarenpaa and Charlie Murphy will be playing Billy's best friend, Michael. Chloe Dallimore has been cast as dance teacher Mrs Wilkinson.
Stoddart is hopeful major productions will continue to be staged in Newcastle. The Very Popular Theatre Company brought Jersey Boys to the Civic Theatre last year and is one of only three companies granted a licence to stage Billy Elliot the Musical outside of an Australian capital city.
Read more: Jersey Boys ready to rock the Civic Theatre
"We will definitely be seeing this trend continue if I have anything to do about it," he says.
"I hate when people say that they deserve something, but I really feel that Newcastle, as the largest city in Australia outside a capital city, should be striving and setting the bar much higher when it comes to entertainment.
"Amateur theatre will always have its place, because it gives new performers and creatives the opportunity to train and test out their skills, but the ultimate goal is a professional theatre company based right here in the Hunter."
Tickets to Billy Elliot the Musical are available from the Civic Theatre ticket office, online at civictheatrenewcastle.com.au or by phoning 4929 1977.
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