Who was the first (pre-show) musical Billy Elliot?

[mikey2573]

Back in Sept. or Oct. of 2004, long before the London production of BILLY ELLIOT THE MUSICAL opened, there was a small little BILLY ELLIOT web page. It had the picture of the jumping billy in black and white

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_B34tZwMMh7E/S ... usical.jpg

and it had info about this upcoming show. When you opened up the site on your computer, there was recording of THE LETTER playing. I remember being quite taken with that song and I found it quite moving. But again, this was long before the show opened and long before the cast recording was make --and I can tell you, the song was a little different from what is on the recording. So, does anyone know who was singing THE LETTER on that first, old BILLY ELLIOT web page? It was definitely a kid singing. Were any of the original Billys cast in Sept./Oct. of 04? THis is one of those things I've always wondered about.

[StevenKing]

i believe they were cast around that date...might be a bit early. They first performed on tv that dec and Liam obviously still needed singing work(but not dancing!!!) so obviously not him.

[ERinVA]

I always heard that the kid in that picture was the son of one of the early production staff, or a chaperone, can't remember which now. It is not one of the three Billys who were eventually cast.

I remember seeing a video of a promotional gig with Elton John playing and singing numbers from the show with this image on a banner at the back of the stage. I don't remember the page you're talking about, though, so I have no idea who the singing child might be.

Of course, once the show was cast, the first official "Leaping Billy" image in color was of George Maguire. The one that is used now is also a much older looking George, but it's actually his head photoshopped on someone else's body. The photo from which the head is taken is of George in a skirt reacting to Michael's polaroid shot in the "Expressing Yourself" scene. The picture can be found in the Through the Lens book.

[Borrobil]

I have no idea who the kid in the picture is, but to answer the question of the thread, Christopher Parkinson (@CJParky) was the first UK stage Billy . http://chrisparkinson.webs.com/biography.htm. Although he has been given scant regard since.
http://www.burnleyexpress.net/news/loca ... -1-1692322

The History of the workshop which had public performances in 2003 is recounted by Lee Hall here:
http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2005/m ... ce.westend

I think it's possible that this old forum is referring to the same website rendition of The Letter as you are:
http://www.broadwayworld.com/board/read ... 212&page=2 is-the-new-billy-elliot-1-1692322
and the start of that thread for us anoraks:
http://www.broadwayworld.com/board/read ... 212&page=1

[ERinVA]

Thanks for the information about Christopher Parkinson. I would be willing to be that the original leaping Billy image is of him.

Here's the video with Elton John, Liam Mower and Isaac James referred to on Broadway World:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfWFZ3iL7NA&feature=kp

What a fond memory!

But that still hasn't answered the question about the kid singing "The Letter," has it?

[Eltonjohn]

The History of the workshop which had public performances in 2003 is recounted by Lee Hall here:
http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2005/m ... ce.westend

Thanks for posting this link!

[Eltonjohn]

What is 'workshopping' about?

... in the theatre biz, I wonder...

[ERinVA]

In the link above, Lee Hall describes what a workshop production is:

2003 We decide to do a "workshop" production of the script on the stage of the Old Vic, the co-producers of the musical. This is a sort of dry run without a set or the usual elaborations associated with musical theatre.

If you watched any of the episodes of NBC's series "Smash," you got a good idea of how a Broadway musical goes through the development process, which includes "workshopping" it to an audience of theatre folk and potential investors/producers for the project.

It's a kind of "Run it up the flagpole and see if it will fly" experience, I gather.

[LiamM]

Workshopping also involves trying stuff to see what works without an audience, often including revising a script by improvising dialog.

[Eltonjohn]

The use of the word workshop does imply tinkering, doesn't it.