Joseph Harrington is Broadway’s Newest Billy Elliot

Broadway's Tony Award winning Billy Elliot is welcoming a new actor to the title role, 11-year-old Joseph Harrington. Harrington is the tenth Billy to perform on Broadway, and will join current cast members Jacob Clemente, Alex Ko, Peter Mazurowski and Dayton Tavares. His first performance date will be announced shortly.

Harrington is no stranger to Broadway, having made his debut at age eight in How the Grinch Stole Christmas. He has also performed the role of Young Boy in the Nashville production of Radio City Christmas Spectacular, and appeared in The Nutcracker and Peter Pan with Cincinnati Ballet . The Cincinnati native moved to New York to attend “Billy” camp and continue his training at Manhattan Youth Ballet.

In addition to Clemente, Ko, Mazurowski and Tavares, Harrington will be joining a cast that includes Emily Skinner as Mrs. Wilkinson, Gregory Jbara as Dad, Carole Shelley as Grandma and Will Chase as Tony.

Billy Elliot is the funny, heartwarming tale of a young boy with a dream, and a celebration of his triumph against the odds. Set against the historic British miners’ strike of the 1980s, the story follows Billy’s journey as a boy in a small mining town who, after stumbling across a ballet class while on his way to a boxing lesson, realizes that his future lay not in the boxing ring but on stage as a dancer. Featuring music by Elton John, book and lyrics by Lee Hall, choreography by Peter Darling and direction by Stephen Daldry, Billy Elliot opened at Broadway’s Imperial Theatre on November 13, 2009.