On 12 May, the London production of Billy Elliot will celebrate several landmarks as the date marks the show’s fourth birthday and 1700th performance at the Victoria Palace. New cast
To celebrate, Billy Elliot will welcome its 32nd Billy, twelve year old Oliver Gardner. For the first time since Billy Elliot began in 2005, there will be five young performers alternating the title role, as Oliver joins Tom Holland, Tanner Pflueger, Fox Jackson-Keen and Bradley Wilson. The role was originated in London by James Lomas, George Maguire and Liam Mower, who were awarded the title of Best Actor in a Musical at the 2006 Olivier Awards. Not only was this the first time the title was awarded in a shared capacity, but Liam Mower was its youngest ever recipient, aged twelve. The longest serving Billy was Layton Williams, also the first black performer in the role, who danced from February 2007 to November 2008.
Oliver is not the only newcomer to be joining the cast in London this month. Connor Doyle and Jake Pratt will be joining as Billy’s hilarious best friend Michael, and Francesca Mango and Fleur Houdijk will be playing Mrs Wilkinson’s daughter Debbie. 
International phenomenon
Not only will May see Billy Elliot celebrating its past achievements, but a cast change is always a good sign of a show’s optimistic future, and Billy Elliot’s success is now reaching far beyond London as it fast becomes an international phenomenon. 2008’s Sydney production one a handful of Helpmann awards before transferring to Melbourne in November. Interestingly, a Seoul production is planned for early in 2010, although its producers have made no secret about the difficulties they are having casting the show. It transpires that not only is it very uncommon for children to learn ballet in Korea, but it is also very unpopular with boys. However, the 2001 film was hugely popular in Asia, and producers have no doubt that the musical would go down a storm in Korea, when it finally gets off the ground. French and German productions have also been rumoured.
The sensational New York production of Billy Elliot received unanimously gushing reviews from Broadway’s notoriously harsh critics and has defied the recession to already become New York’s third biggest selling show, behind Wicked and West Side Story. Its Broadway triumph has been rewarded with an astonishing fifteen nominations at this year’s Tony Awards, a fantastic record only matched by The Producers in 2001. Mirroring the show’s Olivier success in 2006, the three Broadway Billys, Trent Kowalik, David Alvarez and Kiril Kulish, are up to jointly receive Best Performance by a Lead Actor in a Musical. |
