Note: Hugo González’s final show as Billy in the Spanish production of Billy Elliot the Musical (BETM) at the Nuevo Teatro Alcalá in Madrid was on March 10, 2020.
Debut: June 13, 2018 (Madrid, Spain)
Total Performances as Billy: 85 (No partial shows)
Hugo González was 13 years old (D.O.B. = 8-Dec-2004) when he made his debut as Billy Elliot at the Nuevo Teatro Alcalá in Madrid. He is from Alcorcón, which is a city in the south-west of the Madrid metropolitan area.
Hugo first auditioned to be a part of Billy Elliot the Musical back in early 2016 after a recommendation by his teacher at the ballet school in Alcorcón where he had been training since he was little. Talking about the audition process, Hugo said that he waited three months after the audition before hearing anything. He thought that he hadn’t been successful but then the casting team called his mother to give her the good news that Hugo had been chosen as one of 30 boys to begin training at the newly founded Billy Elliot School in Madrid. This consisted of intense classes in ballet, tap, jazz, acrobatics, acting and singing. A few months later a cut was made and Hugo was one of just 17 boys asked to continue training at the school.
Hugo says that the training process was very demanding. It involved three to four hours of training a day, from Tuesday to Sunday, and after that he had to go home to eat, do his homework and get to bed.
An experience that Hugo shares with Billy is that he has also attended the Royal Ballet School in London. In between training at the Billy Elliot School and starting performances in the musical Hugo took part in the International Summer School at the Royal Ballet School. He says that it was an incredible experience and he would like to go back when he can.
When the original cast for the Madrid production of BETM was announced Hugo was not among the six boys chosen to play Billy. Although this didn’t mean it was the end of Hugo’s Billy journey, as he was cast as Tall Boy. Alongside performing in the show Hugo continued to train at the Billy Elliot School in the hope that he might still be able to play Billy.
In November 2017, just a couple of months after the show opened, Hugo was promoted to the role of Michael. And then finally, over two years since his first audition, Hugo was cast in the lead role of Billy. His debut performance on 13-Jun-2018 makes him the 247th actor worldwide to play the role of Billy in a professional, regional or community theatre production of the musical.
Hugo says that he was very nervous on his first night performing as Billy, but once the show was over he felt liberated of the nerves. In the future Hugo would like to continue doing both musical theatre and classical ballet.
For more information about Hugo visit:
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