Note: Lennox Blue Powell’s final show as Billy in Billy Elliot the Musical (BETM) in Halifax, Nova Scotia, presented by the Neptune Theatre, was on June 18, 2023.
Debut: April 26, 2023 (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
Total Performances as Billy: 33 (No partial shows)
Lennox Blue Powell was 11 years old (D.O.B. = 27-Oct-2011) when he debuted as Billy in the Neptune Theatre production of BETM. When not at school, Lennox resides with his family in Oakville, Ontario.
Performing is somewhat in their genes for Lennox and his older sister, Bryony Fowler. They are from a family of performers. Calvin Powell, their father, is an opera singer and music teacher, and Krista Fowler, their mother, is a dance teacher and gymnastics coach. Krista now manages her children’s’ careers full time.
Lennox’s initial dance training was at the Canadian Dance Company in Oakville, ON and at the Momentum Dance Project, where he took lessons in hip hop, jazz and contemporary dance. He also has studied voice and piano with his father, Men’s Artistic Gymnastics (MAG) at Cygnus Gymnastics in St. John’s, Tumbling at Manjaks in Mississauga, ON, and Wall Climbing & Parkour at Wallnuts Climbing Centre in St. John’s, NL.
Lennox’s first real exposure to ballet began when he was accepted, along with his older sister, to attend the National Ballet of Canada’s summer program in 2021. Lennox said at the time, “I was really excited because I wanted to do ballet in Toronto with my sister,” adding that he was excited because he’d never been to Toronto.
Thus began a relationship with that dance school that has lasted until this day. Lennox now studies at Canada’s National Ballet School in the city and is in Grade 6 in that prestigious institution’s full time professional training/academic program.
To illustrate Lennox’s dance skills, this is a video from his Instagram account in which Lennox does a mini contemporary solo at an Elite Dance Productions competition in the Fall of 2021.
Lennox’s Dance Awards include: Top Solo/Duo Dancer (5678 World Cup), Wanna Dance (Elite), he holds an RCM Gold Medal in voice for Atlantic Canada, as well as multiple All-Around Champion titles for Men’s Gymnastics.
As noted, his older sister, Bryony, is also a performer and will join Lennox on stage at Neptune as a fellow cast member in BETM. This will be Lennox’s second time cast in the musical adaptation of Billy Elliot; his first time was with Atlantic Light Theatre in St. John’s where he played “Small Boy”.
And it was during his time with the Atlantic Light Theatre production when he first thought about playing the lead in a future production of the show. He said “It’s just been my dream role since I was like five”.
Lennox’s other previous performance experience includes I Forgive You beginning in the summer of 2022, presented by Artistic Fraud of New Foundland at St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre. It was presented again in March of 2023 in Ottawa at the National Arts Centre. Lennox plays one of the chorister’s in the show and is a principal dancer. His picture is prominently featured in the advertising for the production.
That his involvement with that show was a very moving experience is personified in this post on Lennox’s Instagram:
“It’s hard to describe how much #iforgiveyou has meant to our whole family and how sad we are to lay it down to rest for a while. We’re on so grateful for this whole experience from start up to now.
Thank you @scjns @artisticfraud @patridesabike @robertchafe @jillkeiley @christophehouse from the bottom of our hearts.”
Other stage productions that Lennox has participated in include:
- Nutcracker (The National Ballet of Canada)
- MADDADDAM (The National Ballet of Canada)
- Once (Theatre St. John’s)
- “Small Boy” in Billy Elliot The Musical (Atlantic Light Theatre)
He also has film/TV credits on his resume. He provides the voice of the character “Bob Beigerton” in the animated Pinkalicious & Peterrific: A Pinkerton Family Vacation on PBS. Lennox has also done a variety of TV and Radio commercials.
Billy Elliot The Musical
Auditions for Neptune’s production of BETM were held in October, 2022. Lennox’s agent submitted him for a “live” audition and also submitted a video audition containing dance and tumbling as well as Lennox singing “Electricity” from BETM and doing lines from the show. After initial auditions, there were also call backs to which Lennox was invited.
The cast was announced on February 1, 2023 by the Neptune Theatre on their Facebook page. Rehearsals began for the Billys in late March, 2023. They were joined by the rest of the cast the week of April 3, 2023 and continued right through tech week and previews.
About being cast as Billy in this production, Lennox has said, “It’s always been my dream to be a lead in a musical and I’ve wanted to be Billy since I was really young and in the show before. It means a lot to do this role because it has singing, dancing, acting and tumbling—all things I love. It’s a very demanding role and I feel really lucky to be able to do it at my age!”
He went on to say “It’s really an emotional show, Lennox said, and it teaches a lot of important lessons like discovering how to express yourself.
With his debut as Billy, Lennox becomes the 335th boy in the world, in a professional, regional or community theatre production of the musical to bring the character to life on stage.
For more information about Lennox, visit:
Billy Elliot the Forum, Lennox’s Instagram
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