On May 12, 2005, the official Opening Night of the very first production of Billy Elliot the Musical took place in London’s West End.  That night, Billy was portrayed by George Maguire.  For the curtain calls, he was joined onstage by the other two originating Billys —  James Lomas and Liam Mower. 

In May of 2010, Billy Elliot the Musical will mark it’s 5th Anniversary in the West End (though it’s recently been announced that the celebration will actually take place on March 31, 2010 -- five years from the date of the first preview performance).  Since those days in 2005, 21 boys — all with extraordinary talent — have brought the title role to life at the Victoria Palace Theatre (VPT).  In this article, we’ll introduce you to the young men who currently portray Billy in Billy Elliot the Musical in the West End of London.  These profiles will be kept current — they’ll change as new information and/or graphics become available.  Those currently playing Billy at the VPT are Dean-Charles Chapman, Ollie Gardner, Tom Holland and Fox Jackson-Keen.

Please note: Two Billys, Tanner Pflueger and Brad Wilson, recently left the London show.  Their profiles can be found in the Meet the Billys: Profile Archives section of this blog.

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Dean-Charles Chapman

The newest Billy in the West End is 12 year old Dean-Charles Chapman.  He has taken an unusual path to the title role in that he  has played three different roles in the London production — the first actor to do so in any location anywhere Billy Elliot the Musical has played. His love of theater and dance, and his determination to someday play Billy, have finally been rewarded.  But it started almost five years ago.

Dean’s trek to the top of the cast board in the lobby of London’s Victoria Palace Theatre began in late 2004. At seven years old, he entered into rehearsals with the original cast of the show, and then played the role of Small Boy from March, 2005 to June, 2006.  His idols back then were named James Lomas, George Maguire and Liam Mower — who were originating the role of Billy for the first time anywhere.  Those first Billys obviously made quite an impression on the young Dean.  At the Stage Door, the night of his last performance as Small Boy, he promised fans that he’d be back.  And back he would be.

After leaving the show in the summer of 2006, Dean studied both Drama and Dance at Colin’s Performing Arts School in his hometown of Essex, England.  Then, after a two and half year absence, Dean returned to the cast of BETM -- West End as Billy’s best friend, Michael, on December 3, 2008. The creative team liked what they saw in Dean’s acting and dance ability as Michael.  So, after five months playing Michael, Dean left the show again in May of 2009 to devote himself to the training and rehearsals it would take to become Billy.

The culmination of all his hard work came when he debuted in the lead role on November 30, 2009. In a statement given in the days before his debut, Dean said “I am really excited about my first performance! I am going to dedicate my first performance as Billy to all those who have helped me along the way and Colin’s Performing Arts School where I studied…”  In the less than a month since his debut, Dean has been drawing raves from theater goers for his self confident demeanor and his stage presence.  Many especially like the fact that he is a “ballet Billy”, something they haven’t seen a lot of lately at the Victoria Palace Theatre.  The phrase, “ballet Billy”, means ballet is the primary dance genre he displays in such big show numbers as “Electricity”.

It’s been a long trek, for sure, since those days almost five years ago, when a small boy of seven sat on the shoulders of the cast member who played his dad in that original cast of Billy Elliot the Musical.

For more information on Dean-Charles Chapman visit these websites:

Dean-Charles Chapman -- Billy Elliot Appreciation Society, Billy Elliot the Musical -- West End , Billy Elliot the Forum, and the Friends of Billy Elliot Forum

Note: The source of some photos in the above profile is the Dean-Charles Chapman -- Billy Elliot Appreciation Society (see their link above)

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Oliver Gardner

Born on April 6, 1997, 12 year old Oliver Gardner is affectionately known to family, friends and fans as Ollie.

Like nearly all the boys who have played the role, the Saltford (near Bath, England) lad started dance at an early age. From the age of five, Ollie began accompanying his sister to her dance classes at the Dorothy Coleborn School of Dancing, in Bath, because his mother was a piano accompanist there.

His first dance teacher, Annette Hind, who is the owner of the school, recalls: “Ollie would come and watch his sister’s dance classes because his mum was playing the piano and he would hide behind the piano because he was shy. I thought that because his sister was so good and because he came from such a musical family, that he must be good too. Eventually we persuaded him to join and it became clear very, very quickly, that he was going to be a star.”  Ollie learned ballet, tap and modern dance at the school and in five years, at the age of nine, he became a Junior Associate at the Royal Ballet School and then, later, a Mid Associate there.

He auditioned for Billy Elliot in April of 2008, was offered the role, and completed the rigorous “Billy School” in record time for someone of his young age.  The average training time for the role is 18 months.

Ollie’s debut as Billy, on May 12, 2009, was anything but ordinary. On his opening night, the show celebrated its fourth birthday and 1,700th show at the Victoria Palace Theatre in London. His family, friends and teachers were all in the sold out house to see him finally dance the part that he had been dreaming about for years.

When interviewed after the performance he said: “When I came off the stage I felt relieved. I was glad that finally all the training had paid off and that I had finally done it. I’m just really happy. I have always wanted to be Billy. Before I went on I was a bit nervous, but more excited.”

In this video from the show’s “We Are Billy Elliot” series, Ollie talks about what it’s like to play Billy:

Ollie, Jake Pratt (who plays Michael, Billy’s best friend in the show) and Joe Caffrey (Billy’s dad in the musical) were interviewed by WhatsOnStage (WOS) TV in June of 2009:

In July, on a short break from the show, Ollie was able to pay a visit to his school – Kingswood School in Bath. One person who was particularly pleased to see him was his best friend Toby Douglas-Bate, who said: “It was amazing to see Ollie again. It was the strangest thing in the world because he is my best friend and he is still the same even though he is a star!”

This personable young man, this dynamo on stage, from all accounts has gotten over his shyness. As he is at a relatively young age in the role, his many fans hope that Ollie will be showcasing his considerable talents as Billy for many performances to come.

Says Ollie’s first dance teacher, Annette Hind, “He was destined to play that part. That was what he said he always wanted to do. When he was having his ballet lessons it was always his goal to dance professionally. I can’t tell you how proud I am. It almost brings tears to my eyes because I know he is going to have such a fantastic career.”

For more information about Ollie Gardner visit the following websites:

Billy Elliot the Musical -- West End ,  Billy Elliot the Forum and  Friends of  Billy Elliot

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Tom Holland

From Kingston, England, 13 year old Tom Holland, who was born on June 1, 1996, 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.  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 -- West End,  Billy Elliot the Forum and Friends of Billy Elliot

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Fox Jackson-Keen

At 14 years old, Fox Jackson-Keen is now the senior Billy on the London stage. He’s been in the role for 19 months and has performed as Billy more than 180 times, since making his debut on June 23, 2008.  He’s the 16th actor to play the role at the Victoria Palace Theatre but the first actually from London (his West End predecessors all coming from other parts of the British Isles or the United States). Fox is from Hornsey, in the north of London.

His unusal first name stems from the fact that his parents were huge X-Files fans when he was born on May 14, 1995. Gymastics was an early love and he has competed at the national level in several championship competitions in that sport. Fox has also appeared as an actor on TV and in both TV and print advertisements.   Fox’s acting credits include a role in the 2006 British TV adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s novel “Hogfather”.  Here’s a short video clip of his performance in that show:

But like all the boys who play Billy, it’s his love of dancing that is closest to his heart. At the age of nine, he started break-dancing and soon after expanded to tap and ballet. When he first tried out for Billy Elliot the Musical, while his dance and gymnastic skills were appreciated by the casting people, they told him he was too small and to reapply in a few years. Two years later, he did just that. And this time, he was accepted into the “Billy school” where he spent a year in training and rehearsals before making his debut. In an interview from the “We Are Billy Elliot” series of videos on the London show’s official website, Fox gives some insights into how he got the role and what it’s like for him to play Billy:

What is probably unknown to the average theater-goer is that, when you see a performance of Billy Elliot the Musical, it can be a very different experience  from what the group of people sitting in those same seats saw in the performance offered the day before. That’s because while the core of show is the same for every performance, the show is somewhat customized for each boy who plays Billy, based on his vocal range and strengths as a dancer.

That Fox’s strengths are street dancing and gymnastics is apparent in his version of the musical’s signature song, “Electricity”, shown in this video:

It has been announced that Fox’s last performance as Billy will be on March 27, 2010.  At that time he’ll have been portraying Billy for a month short of two years and should be second only to Trent Kowalik in the number of times he’s performed as Billy.  It’s a pretty safe bet that when he leaves the Victoria Palace Theatre stage for the last time on that night, it surely won’t be the last we hear of this talented young performer.

For more information on Fox Jackson-Keen visit these websites:

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

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The Victoria Palace Theatre:  Home of Billy Elliot the Musical - London

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In other articles in the Billy Elliot the Musical section of this blog, see profiles of all the other Billys currently performing the role world-wide.   The boys playing Billy in New York are profiled in Billy Elliot the Musical: Meet the Billys — Broadway.  Profiles of those who will be playing the role in Chicago beginning in March, 2010, can be found in Billy Elliot the Musical: Meet the Billys — Chicago. There are also profiles of Billys of the recent past, who have left the show since September, 2009, in Billy Elliot the Musical: Meet the Billys — Profiles Archive.

Note:  If you have found these profiles enjoyable to read and/or useful, your comments (below) would be very appreciated.

Get your tickets for Billy Elliot the Musical at :

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