Birmingham Stage Company today announces its new production of Billionaire Boy will run at Bloomsbury Theatre as part of the previously announced UK tour. The production sees the company renew its collaboration with bestselling children’s author David Walliams, following the stage adaptations of Awful Auntie and the Olivier Award nominated Gangsta Granny. Billionaire Boy opens at Bloomsbury Theatre on 13 December and runs until 5 January as part of a UK tour.
Billionaire Boy tells the story of Joe Spud, who is twelve years old and the richest boy in the country. He has his own sports car, two crocodiles as pets and £100,000 a week pocket money. But what Joe doesn't have is a friend. So he decides to leave his posh school and start at the local comp. But things don't go as planned for Joe and life becomes a rollercoaster as he tries find what money can't buy!
David Walliams, said today, "I absolutely loved the BSC's terrific productions of Gangsta Granny and Awful Auntie so I can't wait to see their brand-new production of Billionaire Boy! It promises to be a brilliant show!"
Neal Foster added, “We are delighted to be working with David Walliams on his amazing story about a boy searching for friendship in a world where true relationships can be elusive and it’s fantastic to be bringing our third BSC/Walliams production to London for Christmas.”
David Walliams has become one of today’s most influential writers. Since the publication of his first novel, The Boy in the Dress (2008), illustrated by the iconic Sir Quentin Blake, David Walliams has celebrated more than ten years of writing success with global sales exceeding thirty-two million copies, and his books have been translated into fifty-three languages. His titles have spent 138 weeks (non-consecutive) at the top of the children’s charts – more than any other children’s author ever. He closed 2018 as the UK’s biggest-selling author for the second year running. In addition to his fiction, he has worked with Tony Ross on six picture books as well as three bestselling short-story collections, The World’s Worst Children.
Neal Foster is the adapter and director of Billionaire Boy. He is the Actor/Manager of Birmingham Stage Company which since its foundation in 1992 has staged over eighty productions. The company has become one of the world’s leading producers of theatre for children and their families, including Horrible Histories Live on Stage for fourteen years in the UK, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Bahrain, Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand and Australia. Foster has written and directed all of the most recent Horrible Histories shows including the Barmy Britain series seen in the West End, across the UK, and abroad – the latest instalment, Barmy Britain 4 returns to the West End this August. In addition, the world première of Tom Gates which he adapted with the author Liz Pichon is currently touring the country through to 2020. Billionaire Boy will be his third David Walliams stage show after Gangsta Granny and Awful Auntie.
Billionaire Boy is suitable for ages 5 +
Birmingham Stage Company presents
David Walliams’
BILLIONAIRE BOY
Adapted and Directed by Neal Foster
Designer: Jackie Trousdale; Lighting Designer: Jason Taylor; Sound Designer: Nick Sagar
Music: Jak Poore
Bloomsbury Theatre
13 December 2019 – 5 January 2020
Press performance: Thursday 19 December at 7pm
UK Tour: September 2019 – November 2020
Press performance: Wednesday 30 October 2019, 7pm at Richmond Theatre
