Note: Brooks’s final show as Billy was at the Fulton Theatre in Lancaster, PA, on October 16, 2016.
Debut: 4-Aug-2015 (Civic Center Music Hall, Oklahoma City) 30-Sep-2015 (North Shore Music Theatre, Beverly, MA) 24-Sep-2016 (Fulton Theatre, Lancaster, PA)
Total Performances as Billy to Date: 24 (Oklahoma City = 6) (Beverly, MA = 7) (Lancaster, PA = 11) No partial shows
Brooks Landegger was 12-years-old (D.O.B. = 22-Aug-2002) when he debuted as Billy in Oklahoma City and he is from New York City. For his performing arts preparations, Brooks attends the Shuffles Broadway Tap and Musical Theatre School in New York City. Shows at Shuffles he’s appeared in include:
- Le Grand Cirque
- Stage Door
- Keep Calm and Tap On
- Alice: Lost in New York!
- Fastest Feet in the West
Brooks has received additional dance training at The School of American Ballet resulting in the following performances in front of a live audience with the New York City Ballet:
- George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker (Nutcracker Prince, Fritz Stahlbaum, Party Boy)
- Harlequinade (Scaramouche)
- Carnival of the Animals (Oliver Pendleton Percy)
- Swan Lake (Jester, Villager)
- Romeo & Juliet (Mandolin Boy)
- The Magic Flute (Village Boy)
- Sleeping Beauty (Cape-Bearer)
He’s also been a member of the Children’s Artistic Chorus at the Metropolitan Opera where he’s appeared in:
- MacBeth
- L’Elisir D’Amore
- Otello
In December of 2014, to celebrate the holiday season, choreographer, director and dancer Christopher Rice (The Book of Mormon) filmed a tap video titled Tappy Holidays. Says Christopher, “To me, nothing says Christmas like kids! Here in New York City, there are so many amazingly talented children and I wanted to share some of their talent with people who may not be able to fly to NYC for a Broadway show”. Brooks was one of the children featured in the video. Note: Brooks is the blond boy in the red striped onesie on the right side of the screen.
youtube.com/watch?v=HMig3lDzZUk
Credit: Video by Christopher Rice
Brooks saw BETM on Broadway 13 times and then the national tour of the show twice. He says, “I feel like I know it. I’ve played the Prince in productions of The Nutcracker, but that’s a lot of walking around elegantly. This is hard-core dancing. Since this is my first musical, I didn’t know exactly what to expect. But the second I put myself in Billy’s shoes, it’s like I’ve become a new person. I turn Brooks off and Billy on. It’s like a light switch.”
Brooks turned on that light switch for the first time in front of a live audience on 4-Aug-2015 when he debuted as the 106th boy in the world to professionally play the role of Billy Elliot.
The following video shows an interview with Brooks where he talks about playing Billy in the Oklahoma production. It also includes some clips of Brooks performing in the show itself:
Credit: Video by NewsOK
In early September 2015, it was announced that Brooks had been cast as one of two Billys in the North Shore Music Theatre production of BETM in Beverly, Massachusetts. The show ran from September 29 to October 11, 2015, and Brooks shared the role of Billy with Nicholas Dantes.
Brooks was then cast as Billy in his third BETM production. Now 14-years-old, he alternated the role with Jamie Mann, another BETM veteran, at the Fulton Theatre in Lancaster, PA, from September 20 to October 16, 2016.
Credit: Photo by Kinectiv
*Oklahoma City Production Photos Used in this Profile are by KO Rinearson
For more information about Brooks, visit:
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