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    Meet Billy Elliot: Summit Geiselman

    Note:  Summit Geiselman’s last show as Billy in Billy Elliot the Musical (BETM) in Portland, Oregon presented by Pixie Dust Productions, was on October 1, 2017.

    Debut: September 16, 2017 (Portland, Oregon)

    Total Performances to Date:  12  (No partial shows) 

    Summit Geiselman was 14 years old (21-Apr-2003) when he debuted as Billy Elliot in the Pixie Dust Productions presentation of BETM.  Summit is from Gig Harbor, Washington.

    Besides performing, among Summit’s hobbies is photography.

    He studies dance at the Just For Kicks School of Dance in Port Orchard, WA, which is owned by his mother, Tanya Bleil-Johnson.  Here’s a photo of Summit from a couple of years ago showing off his ballet form, taken while training at Just For Kicks.

    Summit is an accomplished dancer, having regularly competed nationally in some of the top dance competitions.  In 2014, he won the Silver Medal in the Pre-Competitive Men Winners division at the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP).

    In this video clip, Summit can be seen competing for Junior Male Best Dancer at The Dance Awards in Las Vegas in 2015:

    Interestingly, Summit’s first exposure to BETM was when he was urged by several people to audition for the Village Theatre production which was held in Issaquah and Everett, Washington last summer.  Though interested, he just couldn’t fit the audition/show schedule into his busy dance life.  It came at a time when he was very busy with a national dance competition.

    Summit and his mom did go to see the Issaquah production, however.  During the show, they both looked at each other and his mom told him, “You could’ve done this”.  After talking to the people at Village Theatre, they found out about the upcoming Pixie Dust production of BETM and decided to audition for it.

    Though he hadn’t done much musical theatre before, in preparation for his audition, Summit began working on his singing with Jan Ewen, the artistic director of Port Washington’s Western Washington Center for the Arts, and on his acting with Stephanie Brush, who teaches musical theater at Just for Kicks.

    Immediately after the audition, Summit was contacted about taking the role by Greg Tamblyn, the director of the Pixie Dust Productions show, who obviously was impressed with what he had seen of Summit during the audition.

    Rehearsals began at the end of July.

    With his debut, Summit becomes the 218th young actor to bring the role of Billy Elliot to life in a professional, regional or community theatre production of the musical.

    For more information about Summit, visit:

    Billy Elliot the Forum

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