A musical would be guaranteed to make a star of whichever talented teenager is picked for the role, just as the film did for Jamie Bell.

Stephen Daldry would be the ideal candidate as director; not just because of his role in the film, but because despite a burgeoning career in films - "The Hours" with Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman premieres later this year — he is still primarily thought of as a man of the theatre.

This would be the second Billy musical the West End has seen. Drury Lane had a huge hit in the mid 1970's with Billy, the stage version of Keith Waterhouse's novel and film. It was a great personal success for a young Michael Crawford and for a young singer called Elaine Paige.

With Stephen Daldry, Elton John and Lee Hall working together, a Billy Elliot musical would be bound to be every bit as big as Billy was: Expect to see a very long line of hopeful teenagers and their grimly determined mothers outside the stage door of wherever the auditions for Billy Elliot are held.

—By Paul Webb Theatrenow