Billy Elliot the Forum

Debbie will be played by Ashley Lanzoni:

http://www.nsmt.org/index.php?option=co ... ew&id=1177

A nice article about the young actress who will play Debbie in the North Shore production:

http://patch.com/massachusetts/sudbury/ ... ot-musical

Ashley is a student of Thommie Retter, who posted some nice thoughts about her on his Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/mrthommie/post ... 7670766791

After having seen her perform Debbie over a number of shows, I must applaud her remarkable diction and timing - she is one of the best at eliciting a lot of laughter from the audience. Too often those lines are missed, spoken too quickly, or just not given time to sink in. Ashley gets it just right, and the audience always responds. Her Geordie accent is spot on, as well.

Ashley Lanzoni --remember that name. What a superb job she does in the role of Debbie. She has an innate acting ability and is such a natural. She nails the Gordie accent and her diction is so perfect one never misses or fails to understand a line. She is also an accomplished dancer managing to pull off the illusion of a bumbling beginner at first and then dazzling us with spectacular tap and ballet skills as the show progresses. I sense she truly loves performing on stage and seeing her eminence talent I am sure she has a bright future.

jdmag44 wrote:Ashley Lanzoni --remember that name. What a superb job she does in the role of Debbie. She has an innate acting ability and is such a natural. She nails the Gordie accent and her diction is so perfect one never misses or fails to understand a line. She is also an accomplished dancer managing to pull off the illusion of a bumbling beginner at first and then dazzling us with spectacular tap and ballet skills as the show progresses. I sense she truly loves performing on stage and seeing her eminence talent I am sure she has a bright future.

I agree with every word.....she is remarkable, and so much 'in character' as Debbie.

Here is her official website. I wish that the London production would consider her, for the VPT production, or the upcoming UK Tour, of BETM, as the first 'overseas Debbie'.

http://www.ashleylanzoni.com/

Ashley has quite a resume.

I see that she has been part of This Way to Broadway, and that she lists Thommie Retter as her tap teacher.

ERinVA wrote:Ashley has quite a resume.

I see that she has been part of This Way to Broadway, and that she lists Thommie Retter as her tap teacher.

Thommie seems to have the touch of gold lately, with students in the Long Island, North Shore, and upcoming Jupiter Theatre productions, as well as several shows on Broadway.

This is a bit of 'coincidental' fun: BETM features Barbie (Sindy in the UK); and Ashley took part in a commercial for Barbie:

http://www.ispot.tv/ad/7zAH/barbie-fashion-design-maker

Stage Door Designs has posted these nice photos of Ashley, along with Nic, Janet, and Brooks:

https://www.facebook.com/stagedoordesig ... 2307512075