Billy Elliot The Musical — Page 121

According to the Evening Standard:

'Four Leaping into the Limelight':

Matthew Koon
Age: 12
Lives: Salford, Lancashire, Parents Hilda, a teacher, and Arthur, an employment officer, are from Hong Kong.
Background: Royal Ballet School, Leeds.
Starts: Wednesday.
Going into the show because: "Dancing is my passion. I auditioned for the role in February last year and wasn't sure if I'd get the part but it feels great to have got it."

Colin Bates
Age: 15
Lives: Baltimore, Pennsylvania, with mother Donna.
Background: Played the Artful Dodger in Sir Cameron Mackintosh's Oliver. He has just finished filming a part in Robert De Niro's film The Good Shepherd.
Starts: March.
Got into the show because: "I saw the movie and really liked it. When I heard there private auditions in New York for the show, me and my mum sneaked our way in."

Layton Williams
Age: 11.
Lives: Bury, Manchester with mother Michelle, a housewife, and stepfather Curtis, a painter and decorator.
Background: No previous ballet experience. Attended Billy Elliot "academy" in Leeds.
Starts: September.
Got into the show because: "I love singing and dancing in front of an audience so when I found out I had been given the part I was ecstatic."

Dean McCarthy
Ages: 14.
Lives: Clondalkin, Dublin with his mother Lynne.
Background: Won a string of disco, hip-hop and breakdance competitions.
Starts: September.
Got into the show because: "My dance teacher found out about Billy Elliot. Before I started I felt like I could not sing and now I've been selected to perform a leading role."

There is more to the article. Here are two interesting extracts:

'This year will see Billy played by boys of black and Asian backgrounds, and as far afield as America and Ireland'.

Daldry says that 'A lot of the boys in the show don't come from very wealthy backgrounds. Almost all have been through a certain amount of bullying or abuse and have been the only boy in their dance class".

Don't take me the wrong way here, it is excellent that they are including people from different backgrounds and ethnicities - the problem is that a boy growing up in the place and time where Billy Elliot is set, would have been of English origin etc. Plus, the America kid is too old for the role.

Theatre is all about the suspension of disbelief, so having a Chinese or black Billy will just add to this suspension. Colin doesn't look 15, he seems much smaller that James Lomas was towards the end of his time in the show, but I can't imaging he'll be around for as long as Liam and Leon have been and Travis and Matthew will be.

Congratulations goes out to Liam Mower, James Lomas and George Maguire for WINNING 'best actor in a musical' at this years Olivier Awards.

Well done boys, you deserve it

What's next....!?!?!

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Updated On: 2/26/06 at 03:44 PM

you never know who might be on... After all, someone might be sick that week and the performers have to cover more performances than usual.

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seeing the show today and Liam is on!!! Also seeing it tomorrow night and Matthew is on!!!

Just been chatting to someone about how the Billy Boys will cope post BETM. I wondered whether others might be interested in these thoughts:

I saw Stephen Daldry telling an interviewer at the Olivier awards that the most important thing from the boys' point of view was to regard the hype surrounding BETM as a special experience, something to be remembered and cherished, but probably never to be repeated. He is obviously mindful of the dangers and he and others have taken a lot of trouble over the boys' welfare. So far they seem amazingly grounded. Time will tell though whether Daldry has unleashed forces that neither he nor anyone else can control.

I suspect that we shall discover, as things unfold, that some of the boys will cope better than others, and that the main determining factor will be the quality of all the things in their lives that are not to do with Billy Elliot.

Those that can develop quality relationships and success in other ventures irrespective of fame and fortune, and who come to regard BE as a special time in their lives, but not something on which their present happiness depends, will thrive.

Updated On: 3/5/06 at 03:06 PM

I understand and agree with much of the above evaluation - but there are other reasons I think. Billy Elliot the film and the musical reach us on another level as well. It is a bold and beautiful statement of individuality over conformism - dreams over expectation and peer pressure - the truth of the self over tradition. For someone like me who is involved in a form of the arts, and never having been introduced to theater and dance until I was well into my twenties (having grown up mostly in rural Idaho) there is also the emotional thread of joy that I feel when I think of these amazing youths' good fortune in the opportunity to persue and express their abilities and passions in this production. I also think of how it has effected so many other boys, especially in Britain at this point, how it has creaked open the door a little more for it to be more "okay" for them to be good at dance, to like dancing, and to persue it. I have to believe that there must be others who feel the same pull as I do - that if I had known about dancing and theater when I was young, I hope I would have chosen to persue it. I know that if I had my life to live over again, knowing what I do now, dance would be something I would choose - which I suppose makes sense of the fact that Grandma's song is my favorite in the show. Dance inspires me beyond belief, not only in BETM, but everywhere I encounter it in excellent form.

Being gay, I also think that the character of Michael is a big draw to a fair number of gay men - his courage in expressing himself, his joy at being himself, and not at all to be overlooked, is Billy's reaction, acceptance of Michael - and even his participation in the joy of Michael being who he is. I can tell you that if I had seen Billy Elliot as a youth, when I was confronting my own homosexuality, I would be a much different man today. I suspect that might be true for quite a number of "older" (I'm 40) gay men, especially Americans, who grew up in a culture thirty years ago that was noticably less accepting of homosexuals than it is now. If just one person, one movie, one public forum had said to me at the age of twelve or thirteen, that it was OK to be gay, my life would have gone much differently than it has. For me, of course there's some regret, even some envy, but far more there is joy that a whole generation of boys have this opportunity to learn, both the Michaels and the Billy's of the world, everything that Billy Elliot the Musical (and the film) have to offer about individuality.

There's more - of course - the teacher in Mrs. Wilkinson, the harsh but loving father, the loss of a parent, all elements that draw individuals to their own particular childhood experiences, tragedies, triumphs. But I fear this message has grown too long, already, and I will end here and let others have their say.

I think Karlo has it right. There's a nice tension between community and individuality with a recognition that both are important. But ultimately the triumph of the individual over prejudice and conformity carries us away. Anyone can empathise with this, though perhaps Karlo and I can agree that being gay is just one way of instantly being closer to the character's dilemma.

It's interesting that so many people want to see this event over and over again. I guess this is because we get almost as interested in the performers as in the character they are playing. Each of the young stars brings a new set of attributes. You see the personality of the performer shaping the portrayal of the character and the interaction between actor and character; and you see the way the varieties of portrayal spark different performances from the other actors. It's an incredible, unfolding drama.

And on Monday I hope to see the next Billy, the 'American Billy', Colin Bates, on his opening night. I'm looking forward to telling you about it.

Updated On: 3/10/06 at 03:34 PM

i've read the last few posts and also wonder y billy elliot the musical has been such a big hit. it has had a big influence on my two friends who went to see it on september 15th. it has inspired them to dance, they have a page on they;re website all about billy elliot and also has inspired them to write they're own musical which i am helping with at the moment, they have even started writing a series of the musical we are writing and the main musical is not even finished. lol. i was reading somewhere as well that also it is such a big hit in some departments because of female fans and fancying the lad whom plays billy in the show. it is interesting how so many things have come out of the show. i cannot wait to experience the show myself and see what i to make of it and see if it lives up to the reputation that i have heard is astounding. i'm sure it will as it's everything that my friends talk about.

And myself to some extent of the situation hehe. :)

Updated On: 3/14/06 at 10:48 AM

This may have been discussed before, but is there a schedule of which Billy is on when? I am seeing the show in May and would like to know which Billy I am seeing.

Thanks!

Updated On: 3/15/06 at 02:28 PM

When did Liam stop doing Thursdays? I saw him on a Thursday evening last July and it was a scheduled performance. Is he doing fewer performances since his break last year?

Yes, I believe it was when he returned from illness around Novemberish. If it still applies, it does mean that if you know a week or so ahead that Liam is going to be one of the two 'in residence' on any given Thursday or Saturday, then you know he will (more or less) definitely be on in the afternoon.

At the time I purchased tickets, you could not get them for that performance (from the US anyway). When I look now, it says to call the venue. I would like to see that performance, but as a first time viewer, I want to see the "real" show more....without all the hoopla. :)