Billy Elliot - Canadian Company

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Billy Elliot - Canadian Company

Posted: 11/26/10 at 1:31pm

A Canadian Actors' Equity Chorus Call went out this week for Ensemble Dancers. So they are partially casting the show locally.

Also, this is an excerpt from a Chicago article about the show's failure there:

"When “Billy Elliot” reopens in Toronto, it will be reorganized as a Canadian production, albeit with generous concessions, made following negotiations with the Actors Equity union, to allow most of the current U.S. cast to make the trip north. What happens thereafter will depend on how the show does in Toronto — I think it will do well in a country rather closer to English culture than here in the Midwest. But then, I also overestimated the show's appeal in Chicago."

Plans for the San Francisco and Los Angeles legs of the tour after Toronto have also been cancelled apparently.

Anyone have more info?
Chicago Tribune

Billy Elliot - Canadian Company

Posted: 11/27/10 at 10:36am

Presenters have not taken it off their schedules. Jones likes to state heresay as fact all the time, then the once out of ten times he's actually right he can trumpet himself in an "I told you so," manner. Remember this is the man who when the show was announced (and when it opened) touted it as the "CHICAGO production," implying a sitdown/open end run in Chicago, which it never, ever was. It was always merely the first stop of a tour.

As to the hiring of Canadians, that just makes sense. It's a big show, and chances are a majority of the ensemble had contracts that were just for the Chicago run since it was to be so long. Cheaper to hire locals (no matter the market) when your run is that long.

If the show continues beyond Toronto to SF, and LA, many of the Canadians hired would probably be offered a contract to continue with the tour.

But it remains, as it has always been, a first national/north american touring production.

Billy Elliot - Canadian Company

Posted: 11/27/10 at 4:42pm

The Billy Elliot Tour website is not presently listing San Francisco or Los Angeles and only has dates (for the second tour) going up to next August. One would think, though, that major cities like SF and LA would get the show--perhaps it's not clear which tour they'll get, depending on how long the show can run in Toronto.

http://www.billyelliottour.com/tickets.php

Coach Bob knew it all along: you've got to get obsessed and stay obsessed. You have to keep passing the open windows. (John Irving, The Hotel New Hampshire)

Billy Elliot - Canadian Company

Posted: 11/27/10 at 7:41pm

Canmark, the plan was (is?) for the first national to go from
Chicago-->Toronto-->San Fran-->LA with extended sitdowns in each city.

Billy Elliot - Canadian Company

Posted: 11/27/10 at 11:48pm

Right. SHN (SF) lists it as "begining Dec 2011" on their site, but its said that for a while.

In reality, SF and LA have always known they'd get it when it was ready (IE SF would get it whenever it runs out of steam in TO, LA would get it in the same fashion after SF.) I do think the show will fare better in Toronto than in Chicago (where it didn't really do bad business until the end).

Billy Elliot - Canadian Company

Posted: 11/30/10 at 11:06pm

I thought I had read somewhere that the planned SF and LA stops after Toronto had been cancelled.

Billy Elliot - Canadian Company

Posted: 12/1/10 at 12:21am

Rumor (started by Chris Jones in the Chicago Tribune).

They're not cancelled, they are "on hold" pending how well the show does in Toronto. IE if the show goes gangbusters in Toronto, they're not about to schlep off to SF in Dec 2011 as planned. If the show tanks in TO, yeah, then they'll probably cancel it.

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