Annette McLaughlin returns as Mrs Wilkinson and Lesley Joseph takes on Grandma in the full company announced today for Billy Elliot the Musical, which tours the UK and Ireland from November before a limited West End season at the Adelphi Theatre.
Annette McLaughlin will play Mrs Wilkinson, Deka Walmsley Dad, Jack Bandeira Tony and Lesley Joseph Grandma in Billy Elliot the Musical. Universal Theatrical Group and Working Title Films confirmed the full company today, for a UK and Ireland tour opening in November and the limited West End season that follows it in 2027.
McLaughlin already knows the part, having played Mrs Wilkinson on the last UK and Ireland tour of the show. Her West End credits include Marya Dmitriyevna in Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, Warwick in Player Kings, Mrs Wormwood in Matilda The Musical, Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Olivia in Twelfth Night, Velma Kelly in Chicago and Erma in Anything Goes.
Deka Walmsley returns to Dad, a role he played to acclaim in the West End production and on screen in Billy Elliot the Musical Live. His other stage work includes Porter in Macbeth and George Brown in The Pitmen Painters, and his screen credits take in Steve in Netflix's The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself, Tony Hutchinson in The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe and Gary Mincham in Vera.
Jack Bandeira, who takes on Tony, comes to the tour from a run of screen work including Blade Runner 2099, Smoggie Queens, Andor, Black Mirror, Lockwood & Co, The Witcher and Happy Valley. Lesley Joseph, who plays Grandma, is known to a generation as Dorien Green in Birds of a Feather and has a theatre list that runs from Miss Hannigan in Annie and Grandma in The Addams Family to an Olivier Award-nominated Frau Blucher in Young Frankenstein, as well as Sister Act The Musical and Calendar Girls.
Four young performers share the title role: Noah Mannion (13, from Stockport), Rafferty Smale (12, from Leigh-on-Sea), Spencer Collins (13, from California) and William Gurney (13, from Berkshire), all announced earlier. Liam Mower plays Older Billy; he created the role of Billy in 2005 and won an Olivier Award for it.
Michael, Billy's best friend, is shared by Harper Etienne (10, from Derbyshire), Dalton Jones (9, from South Yorkshire), Theo Kamande (12, from London) and Oisin-Luca Pegg (13, from Birmingham). Lola Cant (10, from Durham), Paige Cook (10, from Durham) and Scarlett Gardener (9, from Sunderland) alternate as Debbie.
The company also includes Tanesha Aba, Marc Akinfolarin, Natasha J Barnes, Robbie Boyle, Lydia Bradd, Jack Bromage, Jennifer Caldwell, Alex Christian, Adam Crossley, 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.
The Ballet Girls are Vivien Abreu, Ivy-Rae Battams, Chloe Boyle, Mikeila Buljan-Bakotic, Rose Butler, Ella Collins, Willow Crabtree, Amari Dumbuya, Ava Evans, Daisy-Mae Ford, Kyla Fowles, Lux Hardy, Marian Nguema Ndjondjo, Zizha Nguema Ndjondjo, Jessica Pipe, Eva Ramtohul, Mia Raggio and Anabelle Tran.
The tour opens at Sunderland Empire on 4 November 2026 and runs there until 28 November, before dates in Manchester and Edinburgh take it to its first West End run in more than a decade, at the Adelphi Theatre. Four venues were added to the itinerary today, in Cardiff, Dublin, Bradford and Bristol, and further dates are still to be announced.
- 4-28 November 2026: Sunderland Empire
- 2 December 2026 - 9 January 2027: Palace Theatre, Manchester
- 19 January - 6 February 2027: Edinburgh Playhouse
- 12 February - 31 July 2027: Adelphi Theatre, London
- 10-28 August 2027: Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff - on sale 9 October 2026
- 14 September - 9 October 2027: Bord Gais Energy Theatre, Dublin - on sale 11 September 2026
- 19 October - 6 November 2027: Alhambra, Bradford - on sale 14 September 2026
- 1-26 February 2028: Bristol Hippodrome - on sale 22 September 2026
Set in a northern mining town during the 1984-85 miners' strike, the musical follows Billy from the boxing ring to the ballet class, and the passion for dance that changes his family and his community as much as it changes him. Adapted from the multi BAFTA award-winning, Academy Award nominated film, it has been seen by just over 12 million people across five continents and has collected more than 85 awards internationally, including ten Tony Awards and five Olivier Awards. In 2006 Liam Mower, James Lomas and George Maguire, the first three boys to play the title role, became the youngest winners of the Olivier Award for Best Actor, in a year the show also took Best Musical. Over 125 boys have now played the part worldwide.
The book and lyrics are by Lee Hall, the score by Elton John, with direction by Stephen Daldry and choreography by Peter Darling - the creative team behind the film. Scenic design is by Ian MacNeil, costume design by Nicky Gillibrand, lighting by Rick Fisher, sound by Paul Arditti, and hair, wig and make up design by Campbell Young. 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, and children's casting by Nick Hockaday CDG for Jessica Ronane Casting.
The production is presented by Universal Theatrical Group and Working Title Films, based on the Universal Pictures/Studio Canal film, and is produced by Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Jon Finn and Sally Greene. Executive producers for Working Title Films are David Furnish, Angela Morrison and Rebecca Quigley.
Billy Elliot the Musical opens its limited West End season at the Adelphi Theatre on Friday 12 February 2027, with the final performance on Saturday 31 July 2027.
