What is the casting director looking for in the Billys?

[ERinVA]

A person can use perfectly correct vocal technique and still not have a great voice. And on the other hand, I am sure there are people out there with great natural voices whose vocal technique is all wrong. The Billys do have a vocal coach, so I am guessing they are all trained in technique, but some of them do not have the kind of voice that even the best technique can turn into a great voice. Does that bother me? Not in the least! I agree with you, Justin, that an excellent voice is not as important for a Billy as is the ability to convey Billy's character through his singing, and I think every Billy I have seen has been able to do that quite well. It is a pleasant surprise to hear a Billy sing for the first time and say, "Whoa! Where did that voice come from?!" But it's not really the voice that counts, in my opinion.

[Justin]

an excellent voice is not as important for a Billy as is the ability to convey Billy's character through his singing

Ahhh... That's how to say what I wanted to say succinctly! Thanks.

I really do think the casting people have it right with the singing bit for the Billys. Now if only Billy London would take a leaf out of Broadway and start scouring Elmhurst and the RBS for boys with the kind of turn-out that Alex Ko showed in a picture of him with his Iowa ballet master!

We've only had 4 English ballet Billys so far - Liam, Leon, Olly, Brad - which is a bit of a shame I think. All London's other ballet Billys have been imported from Stateside.

[ERinVA]

True, but Matthew could certainly have been a ballet Billy. I don't really understand why he wasn't.

[Justin]

True, but Matthew could certainly have been a ballet Billy. I don't really understand why he wasn't.

Really OT so feel free to delete/move to appropriate section but I'm confident we'll see Matt demonstrate his full ballet skills on a stage as big as Billy in the not too distant future. I've already made it clear to him that I'm not leaving until I see him as first soloist with the RB, lol. He's got 5 years!

[ERinVA]

I don't see that it's really off topic. This is about the skills that Billys must have, and dancing--whether street or ballet--is one of them. Matthew is an exquisite dancer.

[Justin]

I do think that even with street Billys, the ability to perform ballet to a high standard is absolutely essential. Electricity may be a street/gymnastics routine for them, but Billy does barre work in Born to Boogie which can expose the less technically proficient dancer quite severely, and obviously the Dream Ballet sequence is common to all. Some of the street Billys have managed this very admirably - George Maguire, Matthew obviously (although like Ellen says its arguable whether he's actually street or just a ballet Billy who danced street!), and I think Josh did this quite well as well.

[jillmichael]

I think that as long as a kid has a semi-passable voice and can carry a tune melodiously, provided the necessary dance, motivation and other qualities, the fact that he doesn't sing as another poster put it (and I'm paraphrasing here) - with a voice that one would want to listen to on the ipod - should not be a barrier to him being cast in the role.

I'm the one that said that! But, I also said that in the end it didn't matter that they couldn't sing, and I am glad each and every one of them was chosen. And I guess what ErinVa said applies to what I meant to say...I think it wasn't that the two out of three New York Billies couldn't sing, I think it was that they didn't have the greatest voices (at least to my ear) if that makes any sense. Also, keep in mind, I was talking about the one of the first weekends of previews. They of course improved their singing as time went on.

But I definitely agree, Justin. There's a difference in the New York/Chicago casting vs. the London casting vs. The Australian Casting.

New York/Chicago casting- the absolute best ballet dancers they can find. Number one, far and above all else, are they top-notch ballet dancers? And of course they must also have "billy" qualities (ie stamina, determination, focus, etc.) While the kids all have sweet and adorable personalities and you love them, they're not bursting with personality. Also, I feel like they've got some kind of predilection for choosing Billies that have some type of ethnic heritage- no idea why. A little bit ironic to me, because the American "Billies" they've sent to London genereally have not had a particular ethnic background, and now when the show actually comes to America, you see what I mean. Cuba, Canada, Switzerland, Chinese, California by way of the Ukraine, etc...Although I guess America is the "melting pot" meaning that everyone comes from somewhere else. I honestly don't notice ethnic background on stage, like it doesn't even come up in my mind. Just when you think about it from the outside, there's a bit of a trend going. It's not a bad thing, of course! It's cool!

London casting- you're right, they don't seem to put enough emphasis on the ballet, and I definitely think they should. No offense to non-ballet Billies, but I think the story works best when you've got a kid that's a ballet dancer, I mean I think he really should have to do a ballet dance to be able to get into the royal ballet school. Fox is a great kid, but his electricity has way too much "running" and not enough dancing, for my tastes at least. But others defintely disagree, it's just a matter of opinion is all. But I did see Travis, who was not "ballet" per se, but he moved so well I was still gobsmacked, and I truly think he could have done the ballet version of Electricity- but I'm no expert. And his dance wasn't street either, it was just a bit of a micture. With original casting, I feel like they put a huge emphasis on personality w/ James and George. Those kids were bursting with personality, while Liam was the one that was a bit more reserved during interviews, but I'm convinced it was his ballet that probably got the show off the ground and gave "Billy Elliot" its great reputation. And no, Liam was not a great singer back then!! But am I glad he was chosen?? Of course! I think in New York, they pretty much picked out 3 Liams!! (Or at least 2 and a half ) I don't think they would have picked James and George in New York, to be quite honest.

Australia- they just seemed to find a cool mix of everything in those boys- they could SING, they had bubbly personalities, and I'm assuming they could dance their pants off. Besides Rhys, I never really got a great of idea of how good they were at dancing, but I'm assuming they were as wonderful as Trent & Tommy, and others. But they all could sing really, really well. And I think if most Billys dance impeccably, and are mediocre singers, you really notice when someone sings well, it's the sing that sets them apart. And those boys sang really really well. It makes me wonder if they turned down better ballet dancers to get better singers?? I don't know.


All this to say, I think each and every one of the Billies are awesome and wonderful in their own ways. And I am sincerely happy that each has been chosen. I wish I could be able to see them all, but I guess it just can't happen.

[chocchipcookie26]

It's a strange paradox with me, as someone who has been singing in choirs since childhood, I've always found that nothing other than a truly professional choir and soloists will allow me to just lose myself in the music. I've learned not to rely on musical theatre for proper singing so for me, whether the Billys sing with correct vocal technique or not is very much by the by.

I agree with this - i sing all the time and wanted to be in Musical theatre.. but singing in works like Elijah and other things, makes me realise that i actually want to do classical music, the singers can move me far more, and the music is more beautiful, and now i'm getting lessons from a professional opera singer, and my voice seems to be heading more classical, i'm definitely not a belter, and i'm glad

Oops.. that wasn't really on topic.. but yes.. when i first saw Billy Elliot.. i was desperate to see Fox, and his singing was not great then, let's be honest, i thought i'd mind a lot, but nope, i don't really think it matters all that much, and Fox's singing has improved so much, he has a really nice voice now. Also Brad, love him too, and he didn't start as a great singer, but he improved lots too, although i haven't heard him since May (Fox too), so i don't know what their voices will be like now. The Billy whose singing impresses me most is definitely Olly - he could have been a chorister - as well as a dancer.

x

[Billy Whiz]

What a great thread this is. Really interesting reading.

[ERinVA]

The difference in Liam's voice from when he started out in the Royal Variety Performance to what it became was remarkable. And of course the recording on the OCR is nothing short of amazing (but as Justin rightly pointed out, recordings are made over many takes, and with many, many adjustments). When I heard his voice on the OCR, my first reaction was OMG! Send him over to St. Paul's immediately!!! Speaking of lovely voices, Brad Kavanagh has one. Did and does.