The first Mexican production of Billy Elliot the Musical (BETM), presented by Gou Producionnes, opened at Centro Cultural Teatro II in Mexico City on February 10, 2017. After many extensions, the production ended its run in Mexico City on December 30, 2017.
The production then embarked on a seven-month-long tour of Mexico, starting in Zapopan (Guadalajara) on January 20, 2018 and ending in Morelia on August 11, 2018. A full itinerary of the tour dates can be seen here.
The search for Mexico’s Billys began in February 2016, when auditions were hosted around the country in Mexico City, Córdoba, Guadalajara and Monterrey. The show’s producer, Alejandro Gou, was so keen to put on his production of BETM that he said that, if they couldn’t find their Billys in Mexico, he would be willing to hold auditions in Spain, Argentina or Cuba. However, it quickly became clear that there were plenty of talented young boys in Mexico.
After a series of callbacks in March 2016, about 20 boys were invited to attend a Billy Elliot School, which was set up to train and audition the potential Billys and Michaels. In September 2016 this talented group were given a unique opportunity when David Alvarez, an original Broadway Billy and Tony award winner, was brought to Mexico to train and mentor the Billy finalists. Eventually, after many months of training, five Billys and three Michaels were cast.
The five boys who won the coveted role of Billy are – Mauricio Arriaga, Demián Ferráez, Ian González, Aarón Márquez and Jesús Trosino.
When the rest of the Mexican cast was announced, it was revealed that David Alvarez’s involvement with the show would continue, as he would play Older Billy. Significantly, this was the first time that an ex-Billy had gone on to play the role of Older Billy full time in a production.
In December 2016, the Mexican company released this rather creative promotional video:
Video by Gou Producciones
On 17-Jan-2017 a press event was held at the production’s venue, Centro Cultural Teatro 2, to introduce the Mexican Billys to the world. The five original Mexican Billys came together to perform an impressive rendition of Electricity:
Video by Gou Producciones
In October 2017 Billy Elliot Mexico was nominated for the ‘Best Musical’ Award at the Lunas del Auditorio. The whole cast were also invited to perform a medley of songs from the show during the award ceremony. This performance can be viewed below:
Video by Prensaescenario
To learn more about the Mexican Billys, click on the Billy Profiles button (below) to be taken to their detailed profiles.
To see a complete listing of the rest of the Mexican cast, just click on the Cast Information button.
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