Billy Elliot The Musical- Page 5

[WestEndPro]

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.





Updated On: 8/2/05 at 08:20 PM

[ruthiefan_felix]

Posted: 7/22/05 at 11:08pm

James is 15?! He's not much younger than I am! I always thought he was like 13 yr old! hehe

[teth]

Posted: 7/23/05 at 3:36am

WestEndPro - Thanks again for all these great info! If you have the time, you should consider putting all these on a website. I'm sure tons of people will find it valuable.

[_clairey_]

Posted: 7/23/05 at 6:29am

All I have heard is that there should be a cast recording by the end of the summer? Is that correct?
But what about a piano score? Will that be released?

[WestEndPro]

Posted: 7/23/05 at 6:18pm

The girl who, in the picture above, is dancing with James, is Emma Hudson (11). She comes from Prudhoe in Northumberland. Her parents are Sally and Rob, and her step parents are David and Wendy. She has two brothers, Gareth and Tom.

She is a successful rugby player, believe it or not. At the tender age of eight she began studying singing, dancing, and drama at the Sage Academy of Performing Arts in Byker, Newcastle (entrance by audition only). This is also where the local audition was held. The requirement was that she'd be no taller than 5 foot 2 inches (same as for the boys). She would have to be there at nine prepared to act and sing. And she brought down the house. Emma is happy to be a part of the show, and she is very much appreciated. Her Geordie accent is great, and her comic timing excellent.

[WestEndPro]

Posted: 7/23/05 at 6:18pm

Sometime this fall, that is correct. A piano score? That is something you will have to bring up with Elton John's people. Just kidding. A piano score with lyrics is apparently not a priority. It's coming, but certainly not before the cast album.

[J L Fan]

Posted: 7/24/05 at 12:02pm

As a newcomer to this site I would like to say how enjoyable it is to read and see pictures of Billy Elliot. I am a big Fan. I have seen it 9 times. liam 3 George 1 and James 5 looking through the photos I notice that one of them is incorrect. James isnt standing with his Mum. This photo is of his dance teacher from Sheffield Sharon Berry. I have lots of great photos i would love to share,but dont know how to down load them onto this site? any offers to explain how?

[gavrochegirl]

Posted: 7/24/05 at 1:36pm

Thanks for all the info on the Debbies! You did a really great job!

[WestEndPro]

Posted: 7/24/05 at 2:38pm

Updated On: 7/29/05 at 02:38 PM

[WestEndPro]

Posted: 7/24/05 at 3:43pm

Leaving the show after a preview, he could not believe how many people wanted his autograph. But he's not always been popular.

Liam Mower (13), has always been a dancer boy. His class mates used to tease him saying he was a dancer because he was gay. In such situations it's good to have two older brothers who are willing to stand up for you. And a younger one who is equally supportive.

Liam's family up in Hull consists of his dad Paul (Pipe fitting engineer), his mother Joanna (sandwich shop worker), his older brothers Luke and Lewis, and his younger brother Leighton.

When he was younger he used to play in the same rugby team as his brothers (he tried for two weeks, actually, and say's although he likes to watch it he hates to play it), but he is a true music lover, and music always made young Liam want to dance, especially the music videos on TV. Whenever they came on, he used to copy the moves of the dancers. So when he was 8 he joined a dance school, learning disco, rock and roll, and ballroom, and he just loved it. He became a champion at disco and rock and roll.

At the age of 10, he wanted more, so he tried gymnastics for 3 months, and he is a natural acrobat with rythm in his blood. But that wasn't enough for him. Since he was too shy to sing, he wanted to dance, so he was encouraged to join the Northern Theatre Company (NAPA - Northern Academy of Performing Arts), where he learned to love modern dance and tap. His shyness for singing almost stopped him from auditioning for Billy.

Age 11, he was encouraged by his dance teacher, Julie Lovewell (who had seen some talent in young Liam during a talent show when he was only eight), to try ballet. He resisted for some time, saying that ballet wasn't for boys. But he fell for the argument that ballet would make him stronger. He found himself being one of two boys in a class of twenty girls. He, then, successfully auditioned for the Urdang Academy and later became a student at the Royal Ballet School as a mid associate. When he danced with the mid associates, ballet became a favourite, and while auditioning for Billy Elliot, he was completely focused on ballet, so he auditioned for, and gained, on a full scholarship, a full time place at the prestigious Royal Ballet School "White Lodge" in Richmond Park.

It was never easy to dance, when all your brothers were rugby players, and your father a rather prominent figure in the local rugby team. At first, his brother couldn't understand that he wanted to dance, but now they're all proud of him and think he is fantastic. His father used to talk about him as if he was still playing rugby. When his father's mates at the pub found out, they used to sneer at him and say, "Well, I would certainly not let my lad do ballet." Paul obviously wanted his son to play rugby, but the desire to dance was so strong he just couldn't stop young Liam. One thing, though, was a requirement. He could do ballet, but not wear tights. He had to wear shorts or training pants. But now, when Paul sees him on stage, he knows that this is where is happy, this is where he ought to be.

Before he goes on stage, he gets nervous, butterflies all over, and he starts to yawn. For all purposes, Liam has moved away from home, as he is now boarding at the RBS since summer 2005. He used to board with his fellow Billies, Michaels, Debbies and some other performing children and only go back to Hull for some weekends each month. He shared a room with two other boys, something that was ok to Liam, since he used to share room at home with his younger brother Leighton. He loves what he's doing, but misses his mums cooking...

Now, when talking about his bullies, he say's they can say whatever they want to, they can call him a poof, if they wish. "Watch me, and I'll show you what I'm made of."

(The image above is a capture from the documentary The Real Billy Elliot Diaries.)

Some links

The Northern Theatre Company
http://www.northerntheatre.co.uk

Northern Academy of Performing Arts (NAPA)
http://www.napanet.co.uk
http://www.northernapa.org

The Urdang Academy
http://www.theurdangacademy.com

The Royal Ballet Academy Lower School "White Lodge"
http://www.royal-ballet-school.org.uk/Courses/lower_School.htm
The Northern Theatre's Dance School Updated On: 8/18/05 at 03:43 PM

[WestEndPro]

Posted: 7/24/05 at 4:38pm

Four is the legal limit, so it's not very strange. In fact, 2 Billies would have been enough, sharing the eight performances each week, four on the stage and four backstage standing by, but they would have been exhausted and in the end lose the feeling of fun and games that must be like an aura surrounding the children on a large scale production like this. Also, they would have been under the strict requirement never to get sick, something that does happen to children.

Also, I'm sure everyone involved with the young performers appreciate that not everything becomes public knowledge.

As it is, they don't have to do four shows per week (even though it does happen sometimes).

Updated On: 7/29/05 at 04:38 PM

[J L Fan]

Posted: 7/24/05 at 6:12pm

James lomas was on the night before. 19th July, Then on 23rd. Nothing wrong just the board not changed from night before. They all do 2 or 3 shows per week.

[J L Fan]

Posted: 7/24/05 at 6:58pm

Wow that took some doing! This is a picture of James with his parents in the Stage door pub on Sat 14th May

[WestEndPro]

Posted: 7/24/05 at 7:17pm

Hold on, the picture is coming... I think...

[J L Fan]

Posted: 7/24/05 at 7:48pm

whoops it didnt work! sorry. Iv sent it to westendpro

[_clairey_]

Posted: 7/25/05 at 9:52am

Westendpro, do you work at the stagedoor or as part of the team behind he musical? or something else?
What exactly is your job?

[BillyFan2]

Posted: 7/25/05 at 2:16pm

Wow, a big thanks for this thread WestEndPro. I've been searching for something like it for ages. The show is absolutely awesome. Still waiting to see James play Billy though, hopefully in August when I'm back in London. So far I've been lucky enough to see Liam and George, both of which were superb in different ways.

Does anyone know if it's possible to download the performance of "Electricity" from the Royal Variety Performance? I've seen the clip on the "Real Billy Diaries" and would really like to see the whole performance.

Once again, thanks for all the pics and links.

[_clairey_]

Posted: 7/25/05 at 2:42pm

i asked exactly the same question previously!!!
i loved the performance and prefer it to the slower tempo version!
i have looked evvveeerrrrrrywhere so if u find it, please can you let me know!!!!!!!!!
Cheers!
Updated On: 7/25/05 at 02:42 PM

[WestEndPro]

Posted: 7/25/05 at 6:14pm

Pete Lomas, James Lomas (Billy), and Cathy Lomas


Click here for bigger picture Updated On: 7/26/05 at 06:14 PM

[J L Fan]

Posted: 7/25/05 at 7:47pm

Thankyou to westendpro for helping me post the photo of James Lomas and his parents. This was taken on the opening night of Billy Elliot. Lots of Actors including Jamie Bell were there. All the kids from the show were dressed up. They all looked excited. I will send some more of that night.

[WestEndPro]

Posted: 7/25/05 at 8:15pm

Ashley Luke Lloyd (Michael), Jamie Bell, James Lomas (Billy), and Lee Hall (book and lyrics)
Click here for bigger picture Updated On: 7/26/05 at 08:15 PM

[teth]

Posted: 7/25/05 at 9:51pm

That's a cool pic above!

Billy Elliots.

[_clairey_]

Posted: 7/26/05 at 5:41am

I might be missing something....
But who is the boy to the left of that recent picture? :S

[J L Fan]

Posted: 7/26/05 at 5:59am

Thanks to westendpro for putting up the picture. The picture is of Jamie Bell Standing with James lomas and Ashley Lloyed who plays Michael.In the top right you can just see Lee Hall who wrote the book and the Musical. He is a really nice guy.

[J L Fan]

Posted: 7/26/05 at 3:42pm

Yes Ashley Lloyed is taller, James is stood on the step!