Billy Elliott Cast changes

Joanna Riding is leaving Billy Elliott at the end of May and award-winning Australian actress Genevieve Lemon is to make her West End debut on 31 May, playing the dance teacher Mrs Wilkinson (which Julie Walters played in the film of the same name).

Lemon has already played the role at both Sydney’s Capitol Theatre and Melbourne’s Her Majesty’s Theatre, collecting awards for her performance.

Her credits include Australian dramas The Flying Doctors and Neighbours with a number of productions for the Sydney Theatre Company including The Seagull, Once In A Lifetime, The Madras House and Merrily We Roll Along. She has also appeared in the Australian production of Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical.

Aaron Watson also joins the Billy Elliot cast in May at the Victoria Palace Theatre, joining Dean-Charles Chapman, Oliver Gardner and Rhys Yeomans alternating in the show’s title role.

Since opening in London’s West End in 2005, Billy Elliott has been staged in Australia, Chicago and on Broadway, with more productions scheduled for Korea, Toronto, Japan, Germany and Holland.