Will Chase Joins Cast of Broadway's Billy Elliot July 7

By Andrew Gans
and Adam Hetrick
July 7, 2009

Will Chase, recently seen in the short-lived Broadway musical The Story of My Life, returns to The Great White Way July 7 in Elton John's Tony Award-winning Billy Elliot the Musical.

Chase succeeds Santino Fontana in the the role of Tony, Billy's older brother, a hot-tempered miner. Fontana (Sunday in the Park with George), who played his final performance July 4, will next be seen as big brother Stanley in the new Broadway revivals of Neil Simon's Broadway Bound and Brighton Beach Memoirs.

In addition to The Story of My Life, Chase has appeared on Broadway in High Fidelity, Lennon, The Full Monty, Aida, Rent and Miss Saigon. His regional credits include roles in Kiss of the Spider Woman, Assassins, Mame, Electra, Son of Fire, You're Gonna Love Tomorrow and Trask & Fenn. He most recently appeared in the Vineyard staging of the new musical The Burnt Part Boys.

The cast of Billy Elliot features Tony winners David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik and Kiril Kulish, as well as Tommy Batchelor, as Billy and Tony winner Gregory Jbara as Dad. Haydn Gwynne, of the original London production, appears as Mrs. Wilkinson with Carole Shelley as Grandma.

The musical earned ten 2009 Tony Awards, including one for Best Musical. Billy Elliot has music by Elton John, book and lyrics by Lee Hall, choreography by Peter Darling and direction by Stephen Daldry. The production opened on Nov. 13, 2008, at the Imperial Theatre.

For tickets visit BillyElliotBroadway.