Photo: René Tanner
The musical "Billy Elliot" returns to the Maag Halle in Zurich for another season in October 2025. From international TV appearances to record sales: Here are seven facts about the hit musical.
Musical history was written: Billy Elliot was performed in German for the first time ever in Zurich on October 31, 2024. The musical has already been translated into numerous languages such as Spanish, Italian and Korean. However, a German version was missing until now.
Producer Darko Soolfrank announced a new milestone back in May: 100,000 tickets have already been sold for the production. This record underlines the phenomenal success of the musical, which was originally only scheduled to run until March 2025.
With production costs of CHF 5.5 million, "Billy Elliot" is not only MAAG Moments' biggest production, but also one of the most expensive musical productions ever staged in Switzerland.
The search for suitable child actors turned out to be a "search for a needle in a haystack": While 3,000 boys applied for the role in London in 2004, only five candidates initially came forward in Switzerland. The production team had to spend months canvassing ballet schools throughout Switzerland to find enough talent.
Leo Lemmerich from Frauenfeld was allowed to sing a duet with pop queen Helene Fischer as Billy Elliot in her 2024 Christmas show. The 13-year-old was chosen by lot from the three Billy actors and was allowed to sing in front of over 3 million TV viewers.
The success was crowned with the highest Swiss show business award: "Billy Elliot" won the Prix Walo 2025 in the "Best Stage Production" category. The 100-strong jury of experts recognized the exceptional quality of the Swiss production of the West End and Broadway hit.
Following the overwhelming success of the first season, "Billy Elliot" will return to the MAAG Halle for a second season from October 24, 2025 to the end of March 2026. With existing and new, partly international adult performers as well as around 50 children from Switzerland. This includes most of the existing lead actors Billy and Michael as well as new talent that is being sought and trained in the current casting process.