#101
Posted: 7/22/05 at 8:20pm
James Lomas is one the boys who has played the part of Billy during the last few months. He is 15 and is the son of Cathy and Pete. Mum is a hairdresser and dad is a steelworker. He has one brother, Adam, who is 18. James gets in the car after each show at about 10:30-11:00, and it's lights out at about 11:30. But before that, it's a long day for James.
Very early in his life, he wanted to become a West End star. His interest for the stage was sparked when he was 11. He's a keyboard player, and so music comes natural to him. The first musical he was in, was Lionel Bart's Oliver! which strangely enough is where he met his mate Oliver, who also attended his premiere night. He did many more plays and musicals with the Sheffield Youth Theatre, and that is when he told a friend he wanted to become a West End star.
His friends thought he was weird. "You need to learn to dance properly." So, he told his mum he wanted to dance. Which isn't something you usually hear from a son who's doing karate (brown belt at 10) and is a gymnastics champion (South Yorkshire), and a football player. All said and done, they contacted Sharon Berry's dance studio, and he got to hear he would be the only boy. No problem! In fact, he liked th attention he got from being the only boy, and he was treated well by the girls.
There he did jazz and tap. He also did a commercial for Argos. His dance teacher recommended he should audition for Billy. He had never auditioned for anything before. He had only danced for 9 months
Travelling to London is a big deal when you are a struggling family with children, so James paid the fare himself out of his Christmas money, and they stayed at a rather crummy bed and breakfast. The line for the audition was probably more of an intimidation to his mother. She felt that all the boys had been to some kind of drama school or whatnot, and that she and her son didn't belong there. After standing in line for quite some time waiting for his turn, and after having done some street dance, James was told: "Right, put on your ballet shoes!" "What? Omigod..." James had never done ballet before. How to solve this? Fortunately the boy in front of him was very good and did his positions perfectly. James just copied him. At the end of the audition, he was asked how long he had been doing ballet. "Never!"
This ability to learn quickly was something the casting directors were looking for, and he was selected to be one of the 14 boys to be trained at the Billy Elliot Academy. That included intensive private training, taylor-made extra curriclum activities, and weekends learning dance, drama, and song. After a few months, the list of boys was narrowed to three Billies and three Michaels.
When he finally got the part, his dad started crying - James had never seen a steelworker cry before!
One of the greatest changes for James was the fact that, when he moved to the Billy House in London, he suddenly had to wake up to an alarm clock instead of his mother giving him a kiss. (But, as the good son he is, he calls her several times a day.)
He tells me that during rehearsals, he had this ritual together with the other Billies, Michaels and Debbies, who are very close friends. They used to sing during breakfast and also during tea at night. Both pop and songs from the show.
James say's that to him, the show is very tiring, sometimes it has been to the point of feeling like fainting. It has become better, though. But he still, usually, goes up to the dressing room just to lie down during the intermission and drink water like a camel.
Very early in his life, he wanted to become a West End star. His interest for the stage was sparked when he was 11. He's a keyboard player, and so music comes natural to him. The first musical he was in, was Lionel Bart's Oliver! which strangely enough is where he met his mate Oliver, who also attended his premiere night. He did many more plays and musicals with the Sheffield Youth Theatre, and that is when he told a friend he wanted to become a West End star.
His friends thought he was weird. "You need to learn to dance properly." So, he told his mum he wanted to dance. Which isn't something you usually hear from a son who's doing karate (brown belt at 10) and is a gymnastics champion (South Yorkshire), and a football player. All said and done, they contacted Sharon Berry's dance studio, and he got to hear he would be the only boy. No problem! In fact, he liked th attention he got from being the only boy, and he was treated well by the girls.
There he did jazz and tap. He also did a commercial for Argos. His dance teacher recommended he should audition for Billy. He had never auditioned for anything before. He had only danced for 9 months
Travelling to London is a big deal when you are a struggling family with children, so James paid the fare himself out of his Christmas money, and they stayed at a rather crummy bed and breakfast. The line for the audition was probably more of an intimidation to his mother. She felt that all the boys had been to some kind of drama school or whatnot, and that she and her son didn't belong there. After standing in line for quite some time waiting for his turn, and after having done some street dance, James was told: "Right, put on your ballet shoes!" "What? Omigod..." James had never done ballet before. How to solve this? Fortunately the boy in front of him was very good and did his positions perfectly. James just copied him. At the end of the audition, he was asked how long he had been doing ballet. "Never!"
This ability to learn quickly was something the casting directors were looking for, and he was selected to be one of the 14 boys to be trained at the Billy Elliot Academy. That included intensive private training, taylor-made extra curriclum activities, and weekends learning dance, drama, and song. After a few months, the list of boys was narrowed to three Billies and three Michaels.
When he finally got the part, his dad started crying - James had never seen a steelworker cry before!
One of the greatest changes for James was the fact that, when he moved to the Billy House in London, he suddenly had to wake up to an alarm clock instead of his mother giving him a kiss. (But, as the good son he is, he calls her several times a day.)
He tells me that during rehearsals, he had this ritual together with the other Billies, Michaels and Debbies, who are very close friends. They used to sing during breakfast and also during tea at night. Both pop and songs from the show.
James say's that to him, the show is very tiring, sometimes it has been to the point of feeling like fainting. It has become better, though. But he still, usually, goes up to the dressing room just to lie down during the intermission and drink water like a camel.
Updated On: 8/2/05 at 08:20 PM
Just kidding. A piano score with lyrics is apparently not a priority. It's coming, but certainly not before the cast album.
