Billy Elliot the Forum

Elton John’s Smash-Hit Billy Elliot the Musical Overflows with Young Talent in First Locally-Produced Production

Issaquah Tickets on Sale Now.
Everett Tickets on Sale May 4, 2016.

Issaquah Run: May 12 – July 3, 2016
Everett Run: July 8 – 31, 2016

Soaring onto Village Theatre’s stage next month is the first locally-produced Pacific Northwest production of Billy Elliot the Musical, directed by Artistic Director Steve Tomkins. The smash-hit musical, based on the celebrated Universal Pictures/Studio Canal film, won 10 Tony Awards and was named Time Magazine’s “Best Musical of the Decade.” Set amidst the chaos of the 1984 miners’ strike in northern England, the story revolves around the motherless Billy Elliot, who stumbles out of the boxing ring and into a ballet class, where he discovers a passion for dance that inspires his family and community—while changing his life forever. Village Theatre’s production features a 30-person cast overflowing with young talent and revered local actors.

Billy Elliot the Musical is set to a score by music legend Elton John, with book and lyrics by Lee Hall, who also wrote the original film’s screenplay. In an interview with The Guardian earlier this year, Hall spoke to the process of adapting the film to a musical: “One of the reasons it all took so long is that we couldn’t work out who was going to play Billy. Whoever played Billy would not only have to act and sing, but also dance live. We spent years trawling the country, doing auditions, trying to find kids who could cope with what we were asking.” Casting a young actor for the title character is incredibly difficult, as the role requires a great deal of skill and stamina, as well as the maturity to work in a high-intensity professional production for an extended period of time. In anticipation of these rigorous demands, Village Theatre cast not one, but four local boys to play Billy Elliot, and has spent the past six months training them for the role.

Village Theatre is thrilled to introduce Nikita Baryshnikov, Vincent Bennett, Bito Gottesman, and Philipp Mergener, the talented group of 13-year-old boys who will take on the character of Billy Elliot. The young performers – who hail from Redmond, Issaquah, Mercer Island, and Seattle, respectively – will rotate between portraying Billy Elliot, stepping into supporting roles, and taking nights off. Since October of 2015, the actors have been in training with Choreographer Katy Tabb, learning the show’s dance numbers and furthering their skills in tap, ballet, modern, and hip hop.

In addition to dance, the four performers have also spent the past months attending acting rehearsals with Tomkins and Associate Director Jessica Low, building skills at Emerald City Gymnastics in Redmond, and learning to “fly” at The School of Acrobatics and New Circus Arts (SANCA) in Seattle. Village Theatre will again employ the expertise of ZFX Flying Effects, the team that made Mary Poppins fly last season, to bring to life a dream sequence in which Billy soars over the stage, unhindered by gravity. All of the Billy Elliot actors' training has become increasingly intensive leading up to official rehearsals with the full cast, which began this week in Issaquah.

Supporting these performers on stage is a cast full of young, local talent. The role of Michael Caffrey, Billy’s close friend, will be shared by Bryan Kinder and Quinn Libeling, who have also spent time training in advance of official rehearsals. Debbie Wilkinson will be played by Jasmine Harrick, and the Girls Ensemble will be made up of young dancers Eliana Coe, Charlie Ganz, Lydia Hayes, Cordelia Janow, Lacey Krueger, Priya Niehaus, and Eden Vold. The role of Small Boy will be shared by Tristan Calkins and Brandon Oke.

Other members of the star-studded cast include Greg McCormick Allen, Scott Brateng, Doug Fahl, Duncan Frost, Erik Gratton, Jenny Vaughn Hall, Eric Polani Jensen, Matthew Kacergis, Danny Kam, Mallory King, Mari Nelson, Taylor Niemeyer, Matthew Posner, Adam Somers, Dane Stokinger, Greg Stone, and Faye B Summers.

Joining Steve Tomkins, Katy Tabb, and Jessica Low on the creative team are Tim Symons as Music Director, Bill Forrester as Set Designer, Cynthia Savage as Costume Designer, Alex Berry as Lighting Designer, and Brent Warwick as Sound Designer. Billy Elliot the Musical is on stage in Issaquah May 12–July 3, 2016 before moving to Village Theatre’s Everett location from July 8–31, 2016.

About Village Theatre

Based in Issaquah, WA, with operations in Everett, Village Theatre is a leading producer of musical theatre in the Pacific Northwest. Producing entertaining, quality productions for the entire family since 1979, Village Theatre has grown into one of the region's best-attended Equity theatres, with over 19,000 Subscribers and 200,000 projected total attendance each season. Through its Village Originals program, Village Theatre is nationally recognized for its contribution to the development of new musicals, having launched over 145 new works to date. Village Theatre also takes pride in nurturing tomorrow’s audiences through its youth education programs, Pied Piper and KIDSTAGE, serving over 55,000 young people, families, and schools annually.

kport wrote:Here is a really nice interview (and video) with Vincent Bennett, one of the four Billys in this production.

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