And sound. And act. Which is not all that easy to define, admittedly.Todd wrote:I think the key is how old they look.accessmenj wrote:I believe Billy should be played by someone no older than 14.
A Billy that is long in the tooth requires more suspension of disbelief from the audience and that can detract from the charm of BETM. Similar to ethnicity, but that's a whole other topic. The disbelief threshold will vary with each individual. My preference is similarly toward a Billy that looks and sounds and acts around 12 or 13 but with dance skills beyond that.
But it doesn't lend itself to a hard and fast age rule. Noah was still totally believable as Billy at 15 in Ogunquit. If the noobs in the audience were told Noah is 13, I don't think anyone would raise an eyebrow.
And now comes the challenge of short regional runs. How many shows can a Billy do in one week. Including rehearsal. Tade and Noah probably didn't have to rehearse much what with their experience. Sam was new to the role and did 5 shows within 3 days. But he was 16. Can a 14-year-old do that? Another solution is having a 3rd Billy, but now that's more expense.
What to do.