Preview - Billionaire Boy

The bestselling children’s author David Walliams and the award-winning Birmingham Stage Company have teamed up for a brand-new tour of their hit West End production of Billionaire Boy.

Billionaire Boy tells the story of Len Spud who made a billion dollars from inventing a new toilet roll (Bumfresh – wet on one side, dry on the other), and his 12-year-old son Joe, who appears to have everything he could want; 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 comprehensive. Things don't go quite as planned for Joe and life becomes a roller coaster as he tries find what money can't buy, teaching his dad a few lessons about values along the way too.

This is David's third partnership with the Birmingham Stage Company, who also produce all the Horrible Histories shows live on stage. It was their West End production of Barmy Britain where David first saw their work. “The Birmingham Stage Company have already done two incredible adaptations of my books, Gangsta Granny and Awful Auntie, both of which went round the country a few times, came into the West End and got great reviews. Audiences loved the shows and came back and back and back, so I was really excited that a third book of mine was in their hands!” And he has hugely enjoyed seeing the production. “It’s a really fun show because in a way this is the most comic book. It’s a story with an emphasis on jokes and silly situations and obviously the whole thing is quite surreal with someone having so much money. So it’s turned into a really fun theatre show and I loved seeing it on stage… in fact if this production was on Britain’s Got Talent, I’d be giving it the Golden Buzzer! It couldn’t be better!"

Billionaire Boy is the latest child and family friendly show at Sunderland Empire, perfect for kids 5+ and adults up to 105 (or older).

Billionaire Boy will hit Sunderland Empire’s stage from Thurs 19 May - Sun 22 May 2022. Tickets priced from just £13* are available from the Ticket Centre on 0844 871 7615* or online at www.ATGtickets.com/sunderland*