Talents battle it out for a spot in the Billy Elliot production

New Zealand's brightest acting and dancing talents have been pirouetting and singing their way around the stage in Auckland today, auditioning for Auckland Theatre Company's Billy Elliot production.

The Billy Elliot auditions, held at The Auckland Performing Arts Centre in Western Springs, will continue tomorrow.

There are about 28 boys auditioning for the roles of Billy and Michael, with two or three boys eventually cast for Billy and two for Michael.

The auditionees are from all around the country, with one boy even coming from Sydney to try out.

The auditionees are from all around the country, with one boy even coming from Sydney to try out. Photo / Doug Sherring

Billy Elliot was a 2000 film starring a young Jamie Bell in the role of Billy.

The BAFTA Award winning film was also nominated for three Academy Awards - Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Best Director, and Best Writing: Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen.

It is set in north-eastern England during the 1984-85 coal mining strike and follows a young boy who has taken up ballet, but hides it from of his family and community because of the negative stereotype of male ballet dancers.

The film screenplay was turned into a novelisation in 2001 and then was adapted into a West End musical in 2005, which opened in Australia in 2007 and Broadway in the US in 2008.