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    Meet Billy Elliot: Ethan Fuller

    Note: Ethan’s final North American Tour performance as Billy was in San Francisco on August 21, 2011

    Debut: June 10, 2011 (Dallas, TX)

    Total Performances as Billy: 18 (No partial shows)

    Ethan Fuller (D.O.B.= 18-Apr-1998) hails from Indialantic (near Melbourne) Florida. When he debuted on June 10, 2011, he became the sixth boy to play the role of Billy Elliot in the North American Tour production of the show and the 58th actor to portray the title character in the musical since the first production in London began in 2005.

    Ethan began his dance training at the Brevard Dance Academy before moving to the New Dimensions Dance Company in Orlando in order to study with Peter Stark. He eventually went on to Tampa when Stark became the chairman of the dance program at the Patel Conservatory at the David A. Straz Jr. Center for the Performing Arts there.

    During his dance training, Ethan has won numerous regional and national competitions and titles from Showbiz Talent to Youth American Grand Prix (YAGP).

    In an interview with hometown newspaper, The Tampa Tribune, Stark said of Ethan’s selection for the role of Billy, “This fantastic for Ethan; I couldn’t be happier for him.” He went on to say, “Ethan is completely dedicated and he is so mature. When I teach these kids I treat them like I treat my professional colleagues and then I see them outside waiting for their parents and I realize that they are 11 and 12 year old kids. But Ethan is like a professional and is open to criticism and works hard.”

    Ethan is home schooled by his mom, Camille, who is also his transportation all over the state whenever he competes in various dance events. She said that the audition process took months with numerous call backs. That is typical of most of the boys who play Billy. Stark adds that the audition process is not just about knowing how to do the dance steps. “You have to have that intangible spark that casting directors are looking for,” he says.

    During February, 2011, while the National Tour cast played the Straz Performing Arts Center in Tampa, the show took the opportunity to make the announcement about Ethan’s selection as a future Billy with the traveling production. He got to meet the cast then and began living and travelling with them as he prepared for his debut. That day finally came on June 10, 2011 in Dallas, Texas. He has completed 18 performances as Billy when the Tour went on hiatus in August in after closing in San Francisco.

    After seeing the show in Tampa and meeting the Tour cast, it was off to NYC for several weeks of intensive training and rehearsals for Ethan. There he worked with the BETM creative team on Broadway. But one bit of training he’d already gotten down even before he left for the Big Apple. He learned the all important “Billy Jump” while there:

    After his training with the creative team on Broadway, Ethan left New York to join the tour and has been traveling with that production for the last several stops. He’s worked with the full-time Billys there and with the production creative team to ready himself for his debut, which took place in Dallas.

    His final performance as Billy came sooner than even he thought. At the next to the last show in San Francisco, Ethan performed the role for the 18th and final time just before the Tour went on hiatus.

    To learn more about Ethan Fuller, visit:

    Billy Elliot the Forum

     

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