Billy Elliot

Based on the beloved 2000 movie, this musical-theater sensation, which swept the 2009 Tony Awards, boasts the same scriptwriter (Lee Hall) and director (Stephen Daldry) as the flick. Elton John contributed to the anthem- and ballad-heavy score. The underdog tale follows the title character (played on alternate nights by three wildly talented teens), a boy in a hard-bitten family of miners in Northern England who dreams of becoming a ballet dancer.