BILLY YOUTH THEATRE

Heathfield & Tunbridge Wells Drama Club are one of only two venues in the area (and the only one open to non-members) licensed to perform the specially adapted amateur youth version of the West End & Broadway hit musical Billy Elliot.

The first two of these workshops were held at Heathfield Community Centre on Sunday 28th February and Sunday 21st March, and were resounding successes. The students range in age from 10 to 18 and come from as far afield as Tunbridge Wells, Hurstpierpoint and Eastbourne.

The students are now gearing up for the third workshop, which will be held on Sunday 18th April. The final workshop and performance will be held on Sunday 16th May, when students who have taken part in any of the previous three workshops will perform their pieces in front of a live audience.

For details, please contact mary@heathfielddramaclub.co.uk.

To celebrate five fantastic years of Billy Elliot the Musical in the West End, the producers of the show are, for the first time, offering schools and youth groups the opportunity to stage their own local production of Billy Elliot. Additionally, as part of BILLY YOUTH THEATRE you could follow in Billy’s footsteps and perform in London’s West End. Billy Elliot writer Lee Hall, together with Martin Koch (Musical Supervision and Orchestrations), have adapted their original script and orchestrations to produce a shortened version of the show exclusively for Billy Youth Theatre. As part of the programme, selected groups from around the country will be invited to perform excerpts from their productions at showcases held at major regional theatres between April and June 2010. This will culminate with some groups being offered the opportunity to follow in the steps of Billy and perform at the Billy Youth Theatre West End Gala at the Victoria Palace Theatre, Billy’s London home, in July 2010.

WORKSHOPS

Each workshop takes a different part of the Billy Elliot Youth script, which has been specially adapted by the Billy Youth Theatre team from the London musical Billy Elliot the Musical.

At each workshop, students will work on part of the script which will include one of the songs made famous in the production, a specially choreographed dance number and an acting scene. At each of the first three workshops, students will work on a different routine, with specific sessions each for the Acting, Singing and Dancing in the routine.

At the end of some of the workshops, the showcase scenes are recorded on DVD to be sent to the Billy Elliot team for possible inclusion in the showcase to be held in London in July 2010, where a selection of students from around the country will be asked to perform at the Palace Theatre, London.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q) Is BILLY ELLIOT just for boys?
A) No, there are lots of parts for girls – dancing, singing and acting.

Q) Do I have to dance / sing / act?
A) We are aware that very few students are comfortable with all three disciplines. Each of the sessions in acting, singing and dancing will be divided into groups so, to cater for all standards, we will encourage all students to take an active part in each group to a standard they are happy with.

TIMES DATES & LOCATION

Each workshop will run from 10.30am – 5.30pm with a break between sessions of 15 minutes as well as a half-hour break for lunch. Workshops will take place at Heathfield Community Centre.

For further dates and cost click here to register your interest