Viv Hardwick looks at the race to put youngsters from the region into a gala celebration of Billy Elliot’s fifth anniversary in the West End.

YOUNGSTERS from Darlington, Yarm and York are eagerly brushing up on their Billy Elliot in the hope of being chosen to perform in a celebration concert at the famous musical’s West End venue in July… but there’s unlikely to be a Geordie in the cast.

While the Stagecoach Schools in County Durham and Teesside and York Stage Youth have taken up the challenge of putting on a shortened version of the show – specially adapted by Newcastle creator Lee Hall with musical supervisor Martin Koch – the March-June deadline has proved difficult for schools in Newcastle and Durham.

This is unfortunate for a region on which Billy Elliot was based and where it was first filmed. Apart from the film Billy, played by Billingham’s Jamie Bell, no North-East youngster has ever been cast as the all-singing, all-dancing, allacting stage version.

Trudy Hindmarsh, principal of Stagecoach Darlington and Yarm which is based at Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College, says that her school came closest with one candidate and has another strong contender in training.

“When Billy was first written for the stage there was a trial version and one of our boys, Matthew Corner, had to cancel because his parents had booked a holiday. So he was nearly the first Billy. I’ve got a little lad now that I’ve got high hopes of,”

she says. Another pupil, Annabelle Crosby, has just completed a year’s contract in the role of Debbie and was asked to stop on longer.

“It’s interesting that the show has now modelled the Debbie character on Annabelle,” says Mrs Hindmarsh.

She adds: “We are at least hoping to get to a showcase which would be a fantastic opportunity. We have the book and the score and will be downloading backing tracks this week and the further information about where these regional shows will be.

“We are submitting a filmed clip in March and hope we get invited to do it.

“The one thing the organisers have said is that we don’t have to have one person playing Billy or Mrs Wilkinson (the role made famous by Julie Walters). We can choose a dancer and an actor because the role is humongous.

“The kids who go into the West End have the whole show revolving around them. We’re not under any illusion that it’s going to be easy. It’s the first time we’ve ever done something like this.

“At Stagecoach we seldom do an accepted show. Kids say to me ‘why can’t we do Oliver?’ and I say ‘who wants to be Oliver or Dodger?’ and everybody’s hands go up. Then I say ‘who wants to be in the chorus?’ and nobody puts their hand up. So I tell them ‘that’s why we don’t do it’. At Stagecoach we try to give everyone an equal crack of the whip.” North-East youngsters are going to be including rehearsals in their three hours a week sessions, with a show likely to be staged for parents in May or June. Down the road, the York Stage Youth company has already booked the city’s Grand Opera House for June 7- 12 and invited youngsters to audition between March 10-19 by emailing billy@yorkstagemusicals.co.uk The shows here will all be based on the 64 pages of script provided, which is likely to allow a musical of around 90 minutes to be performed.

Angela Salkeld, principal of Newcastle Stagecoach, says that she had been keen to sign up to stage Billy but “we couldn’t fit the show in with everything we wanted to do.

Especially as we’d already agreed to take part in Whistle Down The Wind (May 31-June 12 at Newcastle Theatre Royal).

We hoping to take up an offer like this in future.”

The project, called Billy Youth Theatre, was suggested by Lee Hall who created the musical version with Sir Elton John.

A total of 115 productions will be going ahead for youngsters across the country with schools opting for full productions or a ten-minute section which will then be judged at regional heats. The best performers will then be invited along to London’s Victoria Palace Theatre for a Sunday gala which will celebrate five years of this internationally awardwinning show.

According to publicist Esther Beaumont, London-based judges will select gala candidates from footage shot at the regional heats.