'Billy Elliot' to close next month, seven weeks early

“Billy Elliot won't be spending the holidays in Chicago.

In July, Broadway in Chicago indicated the Tony Award winning musical by Elton John and Lee Hall would depart Chicago in January for Toronto, the second stop on the its first national tour.

On Friday, Broadway in Chicago announced that the production would close Nov. 28, seven weeks earlier than expected, after playing to more than 365,000 people and grossing $27 million.

In a March interview with the Daily Herald, Broadway in Chicago President Lou Raizin estimated the Chicago production would run a year or less. It ran a little more than nine months.

Inspired by Stephen Daldry's 2000 film about a working-class boy from a Northern England mining town who dreams of becoming a ballet dancer, the show fell short of the record-setting “Wicked, whose ticket sales totaled more than $200 million by the time its 3½-year Chicago run ended in January 2009.

Both “Wicked and “Jersey Boys another Broadway in Chicago blockbuster, which closed earlier this year after a 27-month run opened before the economic downtown. While that may suggest the souring economy could have played a part in “Billy's truncated run, Raizin stated in March that he did not believe the downturn boded ill for big budget, high-ticket shows like “Billy Elliot.

The economy “has not had a substantial impact on Broadway in Chicago shows, he said at the time.

“Billy Elliot runs through Nov. 28 at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts Oriental Theatre, 24 W. Randolph St., Chicago. Tickets ranging from $30 to $100 are available by phone, (800) 775-2000 or at broadwayinchicago.com.