Kylend Hetherington--Billy: US Tour

[StevenKing]

Not counting Dean(and a couple Ballet Girls) arguably a record.

[ERinVA]

Regarding Kylend "growing up": I think his responses whenever he has been interviewed have always come across as mature and thoughtful. They certainly were at the very early advance publicity event in Charlotte, when Lee Hall, Kylend, and Daniel Russell came down from Durham to speak to a group in the Knight Theatre.

[angelenroute]

Regarding Kylend "growing up": I think his responses whenever he has been interviewed have always come across as mature and thoughtful. They certainly were at the very early advance publicity event in Charlotte, when Lee Hall, Kylend, and Daniel Russell came down from Durham to speak to a group in the Knight Theatre.

I agree. I didn't mean to infer he was immature or not grown up at the start. I'm just so happy to see how he continues to impress more and more all the time with a maturity beyond his age. It certainly shows through in his acting as Billy lately too. That's part of why I could see Jamie Bell's Billy in Kylend's portrayal.

[kport]

Kylend gave an amazing performance tonight. Born to Boogie was particularly excellent, as it matched up Janet Dickinson, Patrick Wetzel (back!) and Kylend - and the audience loved it!

He has a new haircut - a pudding bowl one typical of northern England in the 1980s - and it struck me how much he now resembles Jamie Bell in the film. His performance is that of a young adolescent (like Jamie was), and Janet Dickinson brilliantly treats him as such - gently mocking his gruff teenager replies while supporting his fragile steps toward become his own person. Watching the show day over several days makes me understand how different each adult interprets their role viz a viz the Billy playing that night. With Kylend, I get the sense that they feel that they are playing with an equal.

[CJ-Rochester]

Watching the show day over several days makes me understand how different each adult interprets their role viz a viz the Billy playing that night. With Kylend, I get the sense that they feel that they are playing with an equal.

I got the same impression with Kylend when I was there two weeks ago. The other time I had that sense was with Dayton in the fall of 2010. Both were cases where the boy playing Billy showed a confidence you normally only see from adult actors, not kids. At that time Dayton, like Kylend today, had been with the show quite a long time.

I especially notice this in the interactions with Mrs. Wilkinson. In both cases Dayton and Kylend tend to look her in the eye. The younger Billys appear more intimidated and don't often look directly at her.

[porschesrule]

The examiner.com has an interview featuring Michigan home town lad Kylend Hetherington, entitled 'Billy Elliot' comes home to Detroit:

http://www.examiner.com/article/billy-e ... to-detroit

[ERinVA]

That link doesn't work.

[porschesrule]

That link doesn't work.

Fixed. Try it now.

[ERinVA]

Thanks.

[porschesrule]

Here's a publicity piece for the upcoming tour stop in Detroit, featuring native son Kylend Hetherington and Ben Cook:

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2012 ... inment%7Cp