SEATTLE -- It's an hour and a half before curtain time, and Billy Elliot is being run through the wringer with a fierce warm-up of ballet kicks and turns.
"No pancake hands," yells resident choreographer Kurt Froman, instructing Billy on how to properly gesture his hands. "I don't want to see that!"
The action then moves from the seating area of the Paramount Theatre onto the stage, where busy stagehands are making last-minute adjustments to sets and lighting. While organized chaos rages around him, Billy must keep his focus as he tackles a series of difficult jumps and spins.
This Billy isn't some brought-to-life version of the character from the popular indie drama "Billy Elliot." This Billy is actually Lex Ishimoto, one of four teenagers who portray the English lad who dreams of being a ballet dancer in the touring musical adaptation of the story. Ishimoto is performing the lead this night, and Froman is making sure he's limbered up and ready to tackle the demanding role.
Just how demanding is the role for the title character of
?
During the show, which opens a
, Billy is in almost every scene of the three-hour performance. He has to sing Elton John's songs with enough force to fill a 3,000-seat auditorium (a bit of amplification helps). He has to act out a tough part, requiring a mix of humor and teen angst. And he has to dance a blend of tap and ballet, and at one point has to execute an aerial routine that has him spinning 20 feet above the stage.
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Because Billy is so physically and vocally intense, Ishimoto, 13, shares the role with Giuseppe Bausilio and Kylend Hetherington, both 13, and Daniel Russell, 14 -- with each boy transforming into Billy twice a week. And each interprets the role his own way, says co-star Faith Prince, who plays Billy's ballet teacher, Mrs. Wilkinson.
"Lex has a comic mischievousness about him," she says. "Kylend is cleverly comic and deep. Daniel is extremely deep and boyishly just kind of wildly present. And Giuseppe is like having a Greek god do Billy. His body and his physicality and his voice? Amazing! And they're all completely different."
Each of the Billys comes from a distinct dance background: Ishimoto was a hip-hop dancer, Russell and Hetherington were schooled in jazz and tap, and Bausilio comes from a ballet family (last month he placed third in the junior division of the prestigious Youth America Grand Prix ballet competition).
You'd think that having a different leading man every night might vex a veteran actress like Prince, who has a Tony Award on her mantel as well as two decades of nominations on her résumé.
"It's absolutely, gobsmackingly wonderful," she says. "I don't say the same line twice the same way. To have a different actor every night helps keep it fresh, and those kids are amazing."
Being Billy Elliot doesn't end when the performance is over. First, they meet fans who line up by the stage door.
"It's awesome to come off stage and see all the people who were watching the show and cheering for you," Hetherington says. "Maybe they always thought dancing wasn't for guys, and maybe they've been inspired to dance now. It really means a lot to me knowing that I've done that."
Billy Elliot The Musical
When:
Opens 7:30 p.m. Tuesday; continues 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Saturdays and 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sundays, through April 17
Where:
Keller Auditorium, 222 S.W. Clay St.
Tickets:
$26-$73, 503-241-1802, 1-800-982-2787 or
Note:
The Thursday, April 7, performance will be signed for the hearing impaired.
There's also the sheer rush of meeting fans.
"I give autographs! I never thought I would do that," Bausilio says.
Every day except Mondays, the four Billys take classes in ballet, tap, acrobatics and singing. And they have to keep their minds as fit as their bodies. Along with the 15 other kids in the show, they have schooling, either through the Internet or with tutors who tour with the company and set up makeshift classrooms at each performance venue.
The Billys also have to help sell the show, making a long series of media appearances and photo ops -- such as doing the signature Billy Elliot jump in front of local landmarks -- in every city they visit.
On their day off, they like to sleep late -- they are teenage boys, after all. Then they go on outings with other children in the company to learn more about the city they're in.
"When we were in Tampa, we went to NASA," Hetherington says. "And when we were in Minneapolis, we went to Mall of America."
In the show, Billy Elliot decides to quit boxing and learn how to dance ballet, a choice that doesn't fly too well in his town of blue-collar coal miners. Billy, at times, is taunted and called names, something that Ishimoto relates to: "Before doing the show, I used to get insulted in school for being a dancer."
But today, he's getting the chance to show how cool dance can be, as he wraps up his preperformance warm-up by running through some difficult sections of "Angry Dance" and "Electricity," two of his showstopping dance numbers.
"That's it! That's it!" cheers Froman, a former ballet dancer who also co-choreographed the movie "Black Swan." "Lex, you are on fire!"
Ishimoto stops and smiles. Then, with just one minute to go before ushers open the theater to ticket holders, he darts backstage to get into costume and makeup. Right now, there's no time to rest. Billy Elliot awaits.
Meet the four actors playing Billy
View full sizeGiuseppe BausilioGiuseppe Bausilio
Age:
13
From:
Bern, Switzerland
Background:
His parents own a ballet school and began teaching him dance at an early age. He speaks five languages: English, Italian, French, Portuguese and German.
Biggest challenge of portraying Billy:
Getting over the initial nervousness. "The first show, I cried. But now I'm pretty good at saying, 'Phew! I can do this.'"
Skills he had to work on:
He'd never done tap or acrobatics, and he didn't know how to sing. "My voice was really screechy and scary."
When he's not on stage:
Unlike the other actors who receive tutoring with the company, he takes virtual classes on the Internet. He also likes to go to parks and run around -- "basically just being a kid."
What's next?
"I will definitely keep my ballet up. That's what I know and what I've been doing my whole life."
How dancing makes him feel:
"It makes me feel free. I really love doing ballet. I feel completely open and comfortable in that world."
View full sizeKylend HetheringtonKylend Hetherington
Age:
13
From:
Auburn, Mich.
Background:
Started dancing when he was 4 and began competing when he was 6. Auditioned for Broadway production of "Billy Elliot" before landing the roles of Tall Boy and Michael, which led to being cast in the lead role for the national tour.
Biggest challenge of portraying Billy:
"The end of 'Angry Dance,' because it takes so much adrenaline and stamina. It's so hard because you don't get any time to rest. You keep going and going and going and never stop."
Skills he had to work on:
"I never really did ballet until I started auditioning for 'Billy,' and I'd never done any singing or acting. You need to be able to sing and act!"
When he's not on stage:
Rest and sleep top the agenda. "We have to be up every morning for tutoring at 10, and we're on the go until the show is over, every day except Mondays."
What's next?
The sky's the limit. "Now that I've seen new types of theater and showbiz that I can do -- there's singing, there's acting, there's TV, there's Broadway -- it's opened my eyes to all the things I can do."
How dancing makes him feel:
"It's the greatest feeling in the whole wide world. It's like you can let your body do what it knows how to do. It's like getting paid to do your favorite thing in the world."
View full sizeLex IshimotoLex Ishimoto
Age:
13
From:
Irvine, Calif.
Background:
He used to be a street-style hip-hop dancer and competed in many national dance competitions as part of the group Kreative Movement. He also studied at the West Coast School of the Arts in Costa Mesa, Calif.
Biggest challenge of portraying Billy:
"The hardest thing is stamina. Being on stage three hours and doing nonstop singing and acting is very hard."
Skill he had to work on:
"The thing I needed to work on the most was the technique of ballet."
When he's not on stage:
Hanging out with friends and listening to music. "I like electric and bounce hip-hop."
What's next?
"Right now I'm focusing on 'Billy Elliot' because I know this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. After this, I just wish to continue to grow."
How dancing makes him feel:
"Dancing makes me feel great. It's something no one can take away from you."
View full sizeDaniel RussellDaniel Russell
Age:
14
From:
A tiny town in Australia a couple hours north of Sydney
Background:
Learned jazz and tap dance from his dad, who is a musical-theater performer. Auditioned for the show for 2 1/2 years, but kept getting turned down because he wasn't tall enough. "It was always the tape measure that kept me from getting the role." He eventually portrayed Billy for five months during the show's 2009 run in Melbourne.
Biggest challenge of portraying Billy:
"It takes time to get into that mental state so that when I walk on stage, it's as though I've always been that character."
Skill he had to work on:
He needed more stage experience, so between auditions for "Billy Elliot," he performed in community theater productions of musicals, including "Oliver."
When he's not on stage:
He's an avid amateur filmmaker. "I like horror and war films. I've shot a few films with the other kids on our days off. I've always been into it."
What's next?
"I'm going to finish out school first, but then I want to dance and do musicals again. I've been a dancer my whole life, but doing something like this has opened up acting to me, so I want to do more musicals. And make movies. That's my backup for when I'm older."
How dancing makes him feel:
"I dance because I like to perform and show the audience what I can do. But it's a more internal thing. It's my place when I'm in the zone. It's calming."
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