Author’s Note: This article has been archived and is no longer current.  The most current profile for Tommy Batchelor can be found in the article “Meet the Billys -- 1st North American Tour: Billy Elliot the Musical” and the most current profile for Tom Holland, who has retired from the show, can be found in the article “Meet the Billys -- Profile Archives: Billy Elliot the Musical“.

In this Meet the Billys edition, we meet the two Toms --Tommy Batchelor of the Broadway show and Tom Holland who plays Billy on the West End.  To read about the other Billys profiled in this series, click on “more articles” in “Billy Elliot the Musical” section in the sidebar to the right of this page.

Tommy Batchelor

Tommy Batchelor is 14 years old and is from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. He is the 4th boy to play Billy Elliot on Broadway.

When he was three years old, Tommy saw a television biography about the legendary tap dancer, Bill Bojangles, and promptly informed his family that he wanted to do that. So he began dance training at the age of four - at a studio called The Dance Factory - when his family lived in Minnesota. He has moved a couple of times since then, but Tommy kept acquiring dance skills wherever he lived.

Once in Florida, he really began to apply himself. For three years, he took dance classes at Palm Beach Ballet Center in Lake Park four days a week. One of his dance teachers, Stacey Downs, said that Tommy was so eager to dance that she had to order him to stop some days. “He’s like a racehorse, he just goes,” said Downs. “He has a great heart, he’s very emotional, very expressive. And I’ve never met such a quick study.”

All the hard work began to pay off when he earned a starring role in the 2006 Miami City Ballet production of The Nutcracker.  Then, at age 12, Tommy danced in the final rounds of the international ballet competition YAGP (Youth America Grand Prix) in New York City. A video of his performance in that 2008 competition can be found here:  2008 Junior Men’s YAGP

It was while at that competition that Tommy learned that he had won a role in Billy Elliot the Musical on Broadway, for which he had auditioned after being spotted by a talent scout in 2007 at a ballet competition in Orlando.

Like many of the other Billys, Tommy’s family has made numerous sacrifices to support his love of dance and theater. When he got the role, Tommy and his mom, Rebecca, moved from Florida into a fourth-floor walk-up in upper Manhattan. They ride subways downtown to the Imperial Theater. Tommy’s dad, Ed, who is a high school teacher in FL, and his older brother, Eddie, visit NYC when they can.

An original cast member when the show opened last November, Tommy was at first the understudy for Billy and for the role of Tall Boy/Posh Boy. Then, in March of 2009, Tommy joined the rotation as the 4th full-fledged Billy. A new video on the Billy Elliot the Musical Broadway official website, introduces Tommy as Billy:

Though he has been a full-fledged Billy for over six months, because of the notoriety of the three original Broadway Billys (David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik and Kiril Kulish), who were involved in all the pre-Opening Night publicity for the show and then won the Tony for Best Actor in a Musical, Tommy has sometimes been the “forgotten Billy” — often not included in photo opportunities and interviews with the others.  A rare exception was at the Broadway Bears charity event at which Tommy did appear with his fellow Billys.

But that’s about to change. Tommy’s about to get his moment in the spotlight.

On September 10, 2009 the three boys who will play Billy Elliot for an extended stay in Chicago were announced. Tommy will anchor the group as the oldest and only one with experience in the role. The other two boys, who will play the role in rotation with Tommy, are Giuseppe Bausilio and Cesar Corrales. Here’s a video about this latest version of Billy Elliot the Musical, featuring an interview of director Stephen Daldry and a performance of Tommy Batchelor dancing to Elton John’s “Electricity” from the show:

It’s been announced that Tommy’s last performance as Billy, on Broadway, will be December 11, 2009. Then he will enter into rehearsals full-time with the rest of the Billy Elliot the Musical Chicago cast. The show opens in the Windy City in March, 2010.

Long before the Broadway show opened, in an interview with his hometown paper in Florida, The Palm Beach Post,Tommy related that a dance teacher once predicted he would one day be on Broadway. “But she thought I would be at least 20,” said Tommy, laughing.  So far in his young life, the resourceful teen has consistently beaten goals set by others for him — by plenty. With his talent, expect that trend to continue.

For more information about Tommy Batchelor visit these websites:

Billy Elliot the Musical -- Broadway,  Billy Elliot the Forum and  Friends of Billy Elliot Forum

Tom Holland
From Kingston, England, Tom Holland - who is 13 and currently stars as Billy in the West End - started dancing at a hip hop class on Saturday afternoons at a studio called Nifty Feet in Wimbledon, England.  He was spotted at age 10, at a dance show in Richmond, by Billy Elliot talent scouts who constantly scour the countryside looking for potential Billys. They invited him to audition for the musical.

Up to that point, Tom’s emphasis had been on street dance and acrobatics.  While those conducting the auditions loved how accomplished he was in those skills and for his outgoing personality and stage presence, they suggested that he take ballet lessons in order to be a viable candidate for the role of Billy.

Eight auditions and two years later he was finally offered a role in the show. But he took an unusual path to finally attain his goal of being Billy Elliot. On June 28, 2008, Tom made his West End debut – not as Billy, but as Billy’s best friend Michael.  It wasn’t until September 8, 2008 that Tom finally debuted as Billy Eliott.

In a series of videos on the official Billy Elliot the Musical London website, various cast and crew members are introduced to the public.  In one, Tom talks about what’s it’s like to play Billy:

With four shows as Billy under his belt, Tom was interviewed on a local British TV news program, along with another soon to be Billy, Tanner Pflueger ( profiled in Part 1 of this series).  A highlight of the interview is when Tom and Tanner, asked by the reporter what their Geordi accents sound like, demonstrated by singing in turn, acapella, the opening words of the musical’s signature song “Electricity”:

On an appearance on Britain’s popular TV show, The Feel Good Factor, Tom, along with fellow West End Billys Layton Williams and Tanner Pflueger, showcased their considerable skills dancing to a variation of the musical’s stirring culmination of its first act — “Angry Dance”.  Here’s their performance on that show:

Tom then did a follow-up to that show, working with five British schoolboys who then appeared with him on The Feel Good Factor. The result of weeks of work with the schoolboys was shown on a subsequent airing of the show:

To know Tom is to know his bubbly personality and his great sense of humor.  One newspaper reporter found that out first hand when, during an interview, she asked Tom where his talent comes from.  His reply: “My mum and dad joke about who I take after. I’ve seen them both dance and I have to say, there must have been a mix up at the hospital.”

All agree there was no mix up when the creative team of Billy Elliot the Musical decided that Tom Holland should be one of their Billys.

For more information on Tom Holland visit these websites:

Billy Elliot the Musical -- London ,  Billy Elliot the Forum and  Friends of Billy Elliot Forum

Get your tickets for Billy Elliot the Musical at :

Billy Elliot tickets