Note: Brandon’s last show as Billy in the LaCrosse Community Theatre production of Billy Elliot The Musical (BETM) at the Weber Center for the Performing Arts was on May 28, 2016.
Debut: May 13, 2016 (Weber Center for the Performing Arts – LaCrosse, WI)
Total Performances as Billy: 6.5 (Includes one partial show credited @.5)
Brandon Haring was 12-years-old upon his debut as Billy. A 6th Grade student at Blessed Sacrament School in La Crosse, Wisconsin where he lives with his parents (Shelley and Dean) and older sister Stephanie.
Brandon’s previous dance training (mostly hip hop) has been at Misty’s Dance Unlimited in Onalaska, WI. He has no known previous theatrical experience.
However, in the Billy role, Brandon said he doesn’t expect to have trouble with either the dancing or singing, but “I am mostly interested in the dancing.” As far as the singing goes, his mom, Shelley, has been quoted as saying “Even when he was younger, we would be traveling and he would be singing in the lobby. Sometimes, we would have to say, ‘Shhh, Brandon,’ but people would come up and say he had a good voice.”
When asked what he has taken away from his time studying the role of Billy and of the musical itself Brandon says “Just being yourself and don’t let others judge who you are.”
Brandon’s debut on 13-May-2016 made him the 135th Billy in the world.
Note: Rehearsal photos in this article by Peter Thomson (LaCrosse Tribune photographer)
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