Note: Shane’s final show as Billy in Billy Elliot the Musical (BETM) in Boston, MA, presented by The Wheelock Family Theatre, was on February 18, 2017.
Debut: February 18, 2017 (Wheelock Family Theatre, Boston, MA)
Total Performances as Billy: 1 (No partial shows)
Credit: Article Title Photo by Glenn Cook Photography
Shane Boucher was 15 years old (D.O.B. = 21-Oct-2001) when he debuted as Billy in Boston. He’s from the small town (population: 4,397 in 2010) of New London, New Hampshire, which is about 100 miles north of Boston.
Shane’s performance training has been primarily at the Kearsarge Conservatory of the Performing Arts in Warner, NH, where he’s studied Ballet, Modern, and Jazz over the past six years. He has also been a regular at Thommie Retter’s Friday Tap Class in NYC. Other performance training has included acting and voice (with Michele Gosnell & at Cedarhouse Soundworks in Sutton, NH, with Frances Putnam).
Besides performing on stage, Shane greatly enjoys singing and has been a choir member and soloist (since 2008) at St. Andrew’s Church in New London.
His prior stage experience has included playing the title role in Oliver! in the spring of 2016 at the Newport Opera House (Newport, NH), where he had previously appeared in that theatre’s production of The Wizard of Oz in 2015.
In addition to his work at Wheelock Family Theatre, the majority of his appearances have been at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, NH, the Newport Opera House, the New London Barn Playhouse (NLBP), the Kearsage Conservatory of the Performing Arts (KCPA) and in school productions at his middle school and high school in Kearsage.
Shane’s lengthy resume includes more productions than this limited space allows, but his most recent roles have included:
- 2016 – Michael in Billy Elliot The Musical at the Palace Theatre
- 2016 – Oliver in Oliver! at the Newport Opera House (Newport, NH)
- 2015 – Peter Cratchit in A Christmas Carol at the Palace Theatre
- 2015 – Lollipop Guild Munchkin and a Flying Monkey in The Wizard of Oz at the Newport Opera House
Shane also has experience in front of a movie camera, having appeared as a featured extra in the short film The Beginning, filmed in 2016 and released in January of 2017.
His prior BETM experience began when he played the role of Michael in the Palace Theatre (Manchester, NH) regional production in June of 2016. Describing that experience, Shane says, “I played Michael [in that production] at the Palace Theatre alongside Jamie Mann, a renowned Billy who I became best friends with. Jill Johnson Mann, Jamie’s mother, helped put us in touch with Wheelock Family Theatre. I then auditioned for both Billy and Michael at Wheelock and was offered to reprise my role of Michael and understudy Billy.”
So Shane will be playing Michael for most of the shows at Wheelock, but has also been scheduled to play Billy for several shows during the Boston production’s run.
This video demonstrates Shane’s dancing skills, playing the role of Michael in Expressing Yourself with Jamie Mann. Shane will now also have the fairly rare distinction of dancing in this number as Billy, thus playing both lead roles in the same Boston production of BETM.
Credit: Video by Jill Johnson Mann
Rehearsals for Billy Elliot at the Wheelock Family Theatre started on 3-Jan-2017, with just three weeks of rehearsing before Opening Night on 26-Jan-2017. Relates Shane, “Playing Michael and understudying Billy has been a lot of work. Working with such a talented cast has made the experience worthwhile and working with Seth Judice as Billy has been an amazing time, both on and off stage. Billy Elliot The Musical has become such a big part of my life. The message of individuality resonates with me every single day. Thank you Billy Elliot!”
With his Wheelock Family Theatre debut as Billy, Shane becomes the 188th boy in the world to portray the title role on stage in a professional, regional or community theater production of BETM.
For more information about Shane visit:
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