Note: Juho Mönkkönen’s final show as Billy in Billy Elliot the Musical (BETM) in Tampere, Finland was on November 22, 2019.
Debut: February 14, 2019 (Tampere, Finland)
Total Performances as Billy: 13 (No partial shows)
Juho Mönkkönen was 13 years old (D.O.B. = 9-Jan-2006) when he debuted as Billy in Tampere, Finland. He is from Kangasala, which is a city to the east of Tampere. His hobbies include karate and football.
Juho was first made aware of the auditions for BETM in Tampere when his grandma saw an announcement in a magazine looking for boys. So he went along to the audition and from there was invited, alongside 15 other boys, to join the Billy School where the Billys and Michaels would be trained for the production. Juho had hardly any previous dancing or acting experience before auditioning, though he did take part in his school’s drama club.
Training at the Billy School began in February 2017 and consisted of classes three times per week. There Juho was taught ballet, tap, singing and acting. Over time the number of boys at the school was gradually reduced until just six were left in spring 2018. These boys would be in the original Tampere cast — three as Billy and three as Michael. Juho was one of the boys cast as Michael.
Juho made his debut as Michael on 13-Oct-2018 and went on to play this role 12 times over the next four months. While playing Michael, Juho received the news that he had been chosen to take on the lead role of Billy.
With his debut performance as Billy Elliot on 14-Feb-2019 Juho becomes the 259th actor worldwide to play the role in a professional, regional or community theatre production of the musical.
For more information about Juho visit:
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