Elton John celebrates premiere of ‘Billy Elliot’

Rocker wrote tunes for the show, which opened in London

	David Furnish and Elton John arrive at the Opening Night and World Premiere of "Billy Elliot: The Musical" at the Victoria Palace Theatre on May 12 London.
David Westing / Getty Images

updated 6:13 p.m. ET May 12, 2005

LONDON - An “ecstatic” Elton John joined a host of British celebrities Thursday for the opening night of fleet-footed musical “Billy Elliot.”

The rock legend wrote the music for the show, based on the hit British film about a miner’s son with a passion for dance.

“I feel ecstatic, I feel relieved, I feel a sense of pride,” said John, who attended the premiere at London’s Victoria Palace Theatre with his partner, David Furnish. “I’m so proud to have been a part of it.”

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Also in the audience were actor Hugh Grant and his woman friend Jemima Khan; Grant’s ex, Elizabeth Hurley and her boyfriend, Arun Nayer; Live Aid founder Bob Geldof; and actor Jamie Bell, who starred in the original film.

Bell said the show — directed, like the film, by Stephen Daldry — was “the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen.”

London’s theater critics were equally enthusiastic about the $9.5 million West End musical that sets a young boy’s struggle to dance against the backdrop of Britain’s bitter 1984-1985 miners’ strike.

Critic Michael Billington in The Guardian said the show “succeeds brilliantly. ... Stephen Daldry’s production is a model of fluidity and intelligence.” In The Times, Benedict Nightingale said the show was “tougher, bolder, and as my tear-ducts can attest, more moving than its admittedly admirable celluloid precursor.” And The Daily Telegraph’s Charles Spencer said “Billy Elliot” was “the greatest British musical I have ever seen.”