Drury Lane Theatre Sets 2015-16 Season: BILLY ELLIOT, PETER AND THE STARCATCHER & More!

Following the best-selling year in Drury Lane Theatre history, which resulted in 21 Joseph Jefferson Award nominations for excellence and featured the hit blockbuster LES MISERABLES, Kyle DeSantis, President of Drury Lane Theatre, has announced the 2015-2016 season that will include two Regional Premieres and two classic American musicals. Drury Lane Theatre has garnered the rights to present the Regional Premieres of two of the hottest titles on stage in recent Broadway history including BILLY ELLIOT and PETER AND THE STARCATCHER. With a score by Elton John, BILLY ELLIOT is the winner of 10 Tony Awards and has captivated 9.5 million theatergoers around the world. PETER AND THE STARCATCHER won five 2012 Tony Awards, the most of any play of the 2011-2012 season. It was also named one of The New York Times, New York Magazine and New Yorker's Top 10 Shows of the Year. The season also includes the time-honored family treasures Irving Berlin's WHITE CHRISTMAS and BYE BYE BIRDIE, one of the most iconic musical productions of our time, and the play DEATHTRAP, which holds the record for the longest-running thriller on Broadway.

The season begins with the Regional Premiere of the international smash hit musical BILLY ELLIOT, previewing April 10, opening April 16 at 8 p.m. and running through June 7, 2015. Multi-Jeff Award winner Rachel Rockwell (LES MISERABLES, The Sound of Music, and Oliver! at Drury Lane Theatre) will direct with Musical Direction by Jeff Award winner Roberta Duchak (LES MISERABLES, and Sweeney Todd, at Drury Lane Theatre, vocal coach for Russell Crowe and Hugh Jackman for the Academy Award-winning film LES MISERABLES). One of the most celebrated musicals on stage today, BILLY ELLIOT has been dazzling London's West End since 2005. The production is the winner of 10 Tony Awards and 10 Drama Desk Awards, including Best Musical, and features an explosive score by Elton John (The Lion King, Aida) and Book and Lyrics by Lee Hall, who wrote the screenplay for the Academy Award-nominated film that inspired the musical. BILLY ELLIOT is "Thrilling! Impossible to resist!" (The New York Times); "A triumph! The #1 show of the year!" (Time); and "One of the century's most thrilling pieces of musical theater!" (San Francisco Chronicle).

Following BILLY ELLIOT, Drury Lane Theatre will present DEATHTRAP, a witty, suspenseful play by Ira Levin (Rosemary's Baby and The Stepford Wives), previewing June 24, opening July 2 at 8 p.m., and running through August 16. The story centers on Sidney Bruhl, a playwright who had one Broadway hit followed by a series of flops, as well as Sidney's wife, his talented student, the family lawyer, and the psychic next door. When a former student appears carrying the only copies of a brilliant mystery play called ''Deathtrap,'' a desperate and frustrated Sidney constructs a plan to kill his student and claim the script as his own. As the characters struggle with greed, and commit plagiarism, blackmail and murder, DEATHTRAP, is filled with startling twists and turns. The New York Times exclaimed DEATHTRAP is "An absolute knockout of a suspense melodrama!" and Variety raved "With crosses and double-crosses it would be curmudgeonly to reveal, Levin's consciously twisty plot mixes the thrills of a murder mystery with the satisfaction of being led through a complex maze." A Tony Award-nominee for Best Play, DEATHTRAP ran for four years on Broadway and was later adapted into a film starring Christopher Reeve, Michael Caine, and Dyan Cannon in 1982.

The Regional Premiere of the Tony Award-winning play, PETER AND THE STARCATCHER, will preview August 27, open September 3 at 8 p.m. and run through October 18. Drury Lane Theatre Artistic Director and Jeff Award Winner William Osetek (Next to Normal and Spamalot at Drury Lane Theatre) will direct. Adapted by Rick Elice and based on the best-selling novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, PETER AND THE STARCATCHER is an enchanting, swashbuckling prequel to Peter Pan and the Neverland you never knew. A company of twelve actors plays more than a hundred unforgettable characters on a journey to solve the mystery of how Peter Pan became "The Boy Who Never Grew Up." The winner of five Tony Awards first opened on Broadway in 2012 and became a massive hit. The New York Times called it "The most exhilarating Broadway storytelling in decades!" and Entertainment Weekly raved "An absurdly funny, fantastical journey!"

Previewing October 30, opening November 5 at 8 p.m. and running through January 3, 2016, WHITE CHRISTMAS is joyful entertainment just in time for the holiday season. Directed by Drury Lane Theatre Artistic Director William Osetek with choreography by Matthew Crowle (Singin' in the Rain at Drury Lane Theatre), the story follows two former Army buddies - turned Broadway performers - as they attempt to save a charming Vermont Inn from bankruptcy. With a book by David Ives and Paul Blake and music and lyrics by Irving Berlin, WHITE CHRISTMAS has been called "A holiday card come to life!" by The New York Daily News. The New York Times exclaimed "This cozy trip down memory lane should be put on your wish list!" Irving Berlin's classic production, nominated for two Tony Awards, features festive favorites like Blue Skies, Count Your Blessings, I Love a Piano, and, of course, White Christmas.

To conclude its 2015-2016 season, Drury Lane Theatre will feature the classic All-American musical BYE BYE BIRDIE previewing on January 14, opening January 21 at 8 p.m. and running through March 20. Directed and Choreographed by Jeff Award winner Tammy Mader (Hairspray and Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story at Drury Lane Theatre), BYE BYE BIRDIE is an exhilarating dance spectacular and winner of four Tony Awards. The New Yorker exclaimed, "Fifty years on, BYE BYE BIRDIE is still light, frothy, and irresistible!" With a book by Michael Stewart and music and lyrics by Lee Adams, the production follows handsome, popular rock star, Conrad Birdie, during the late 1950s as he is drafted to the military. Before leaving for the army, Conrad's agent, Albert, stages a publicity stunt for Conrad to kiss one lucky fan on The Ed Sullivan Show and fifteen-year-old Kim MacAfee, from Sweet Apple, Ohio, is selected. Conrad Birdie gets more than he bargained for when he arrives in the Midwestern town, which is reeling with excitement for his visit. The upbeat score includes favorites such as Put on a Happy Face, Bye Bye Birdie, and A Lot of Livin' to Do.

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The performance schedule is as follows: Wednesdays at 1:30 p.m., Thursdays at 1:30 p.m. and 8 p.m., Fridays at 8:00 p.m., Saturdays at 5 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2:00 p.m. and 6 p.m. For reservations, call the Drury Lane Theatre box office at 630.530.0111, call TicketMaster at 800.745.3000, or visit www.drurylane.com.