Billy Elliot the Musical releases official production photos from the UK and Ireland tour

Official production photographs of the UK and Ireland tour of Billy Elliot the Musical have been released, taken by Tristram Kenton. The pictures show the company on stage at Sunderland Empire, where the production opened on 4 November 2026 and plays until 28 November, before it continues to Manchester, Edinburgh, London, Cardiff, Dublin, Bradford and Bristol.

They follow the rehearsal photographs from this tour, published last month, which showed the company at work in the rehearsal room. Kenton's new pictures are the first look at this staging under stage lighting, in costume, and on the finished set.

The photographs catch both the public life of the story and its private one. In the header image, the company stands beneath a Durham Miners Association banner, holding a Save Our Community sign and placards that include one for Easington School against pit closures. It is a useful place to start, because the tour opened in Sunderland, in the same county as the mining communities the story draws on, and because Ian MacNeil's set places that world squarely on the stage: a painted banner, a street front, and a crowd of neighbours, miners and schoolchildren.

Other pictures turn to the ballet class that changes Billy's life. Annette McLaughlin as Mrs Wilkinson leads a lively number in a bright blue jacket, pointing forward as young dancers sweep white feather fans through pink light. A quieter frame shows her guiding a young performer in the title role through a ballet pose, watched from the sides of the room, with Adam Crossley as Mr Braithwaite looking on.

Lesley Joseph as Grandma appears in a lilac nightdress, pointing a finger as she talks to a young performer in a red vest, and again with a scarf unfurling as she dances among wooden chairs. Deka Walmsley as Dad sits in a leather jacket beside a young performer, both held in a single spotlight on an otherwise dark stage. Jack Bandeira as Tony lifts a young performer in his arms in front of a stacked kitchen set with blue stairs and patterned wallpaper. Liam Mower as Older Billy is caught mid leap in a wide split against blue stage smoke, a reminder of the dancer this story is heading towards. In another leap, a young performer in the title role flies above Crossley, who balances upside down on a wooden chair.

Billy Elliot the Musical: the story and the creative team

Billy Elliot the Musical is based on the 2000 film and is set in a northern town during the miners' strike of 1984/5. It follows Billy from the boxing ring to the ballet class, where he discovers a passion for dance that will change his life. The official tour site describes it as one of the most successful and beloved British musicals of all time, seen by over 12 million people across five continents and honoured with more than 85 awards worldwide. Ten years after it last played to audiences in London and the UK, the original production comes back, first on this tour and then for 25 weeks at the Adelphi Theatre.

The stage version is the work of the same creative team that made the film: writer Lee Hall (book and lyrics), director Stephen Daldry and choreographer Peter Darling, joined by Elton John, who composed the score. Set design is by Ian MacNeil, costume design by Nicky Gillibrand, lighting design by Rick Fisher, sound design by Paul Arditti, and hair, wig and make up design by Campbell Young Associates. Musical supervision and orchestrations are by Martin Koch. The tour director is Simon Pollard and the associate choreographer is Jeroen Luiten. Adult casting is by Natalie Gallacher CDG for Pippa Ailion and Natalie Gallacher Casting.

The original London production opened at the Victoria Palace Theatre in 2005 and won five Olivier Awards, including Best New Musical. Our guide to every song in Elton John's score sets out how that music carries the story from the picket line to the ballet class, and why the numbers for Grandma, Mrs Wilkinson and the community still land with such force. The production photographs released this week make that structure visible: the strike and the ballet class share the same stage, often in the same frame.

The show is presented by Universal Theatrical Group and Working Title Films and is based on the 2000 film from Universal Pictures and Studio Canal. It is produced by Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Jon Finn and Sally Greene. Executive producers are David Furnish, Angela Morrison and Rebecca Quigley for Working Title Films, and Mark Rubinstein. General management is by Short Street Productions.

Billy Elliot the Musical tour: the adult company

Four young performers share the title role. Billy's best friend Michael, Debbie and the ballet girls are also played by teams of young performers who alternate.

Annette McLaughlin returns to Mrs Wilkinson, the role she played on the first UK tour in 2016. Deka Walmsley plays Dad, a part he has played before at the Victoria Palace Theatre. Lesley Joseph, who was nominated for an Olivier Award as Frau Blücher in Young Frankenstein, plays Grandma. Liam Mower, who was in the original London cast as Billy and won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical, returns as Older Billy. Jack Bandeira, whose television work includes Happy Valley, Andor and Sex Education, plays Tony. Adam Crossley plays Mr Braithwaite, and Natasha J Barnes appears as Dead Mam.

The company also includes Tanesha Aba, Marc Akinfolarin, Robbie Boyle, Lydia Bradd, Jack Bromage, Jennifer Caldwell, Alex Christian, Natalie Durkin, Nathan Elwick, Ian Gareth-Jones, Shirley Jameson, Jenny Legg, Jay Luca Allan, Charlie R Miller, Lewis Mortier, Perry O'Dea, Matt Overfield, Mark Pearce, Aidan Stuart and Lucy Warway.

That company was first set out in the casting announcement for the West End return, when Mower's homecoming as Older Billy was confirmed alongside the adult principals. The production photographs now give a clearer sense of how those performances sit together: McLaughlin's attack in the ballet class, Joseph's comic ease as Grandma, Walmsley's stillness as Dad, Bandeira's physical warmth as Tony, and Mower's leap as the grown dancer Billy might become.

Billy Elliot the Musical UK and Ireland tour dates

The official tour site lists the following dates. Sunderland Empire is already in performance, from 4 November to 28 November 2026. The rest of the route then runs as follows.

• Sunderland Empire: 4 November to 28 November 2026
• Palace Theatre, Manchester: 2 December 2026 to 9 January 2027
• Edinburgh Playhouse: 19 January to 6 February 2027
• Adelphi Theatre, London: 12 February to 31 July 2027
• Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff: 10 to 28 August 2027
• Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin: 14 September to 9 October 2027
• Alhambra Theatre, Bradford: 19 October to 6 November 2027
• Bristol Hippodrome: 1 to 26 February 2028

The Adelphi Theatre season is billed as 25 weeks and marks the production's return to the West End, a decade after it last played in London. The Cardiff, Dublin, Bradford and Bristol dates take the same staging on from that London run, through late 2027 and into February 2028. We also published a five star review of Curve's 2022 production when that staging played in Leicester, a different production that showed how strongly the story still speaks to British audiences.

Billy Elliot tickets for the Adelphi Theatre and the tour

For the London season at the Adelphi Theatre, see Billy Elliot tickets.

You can also look back at the rehearsal photographs from this tour for an earlier view of the company at work, before these production pictures placed the same performers on the finished set.

Header image: © Tristram Kenton