Note: Travis’s Final known Performance as Billy in London was September 1, 2007
Debut: December 19, 2005 (London)
Total Performances as Billy: Unknown (Unreported data from the period he was Billy ) (Recorded data: 143.5 — includes 5 partial shows credited @ .5)
Travis Hamilton Yates was born in Manchester, UK on 2-Mar-1993. He was just 12-years-old when he debuted on the Victoria Palace Theatre in the West End of London on 19-Dec-2005. The 5th boy to ever play the role, Travis replaced the original Billy, Olivier Award winner George Maguire.
Travis started training in the dramatic arts almost as soon as he could walk, taking various classes in acting and dancing at a very early age. He began taking ballet, tap and jazz lessons at the Anita Tymcyshyn School of Dancing and took piano lessons on the side. At age six, he was enrolled in drama classes at the Oldham Coliseum. His mum, Dee, said “I thought, he can have as many hobbies as he likes, but I never wanted him to walk the streets. He loved music at home and used to dance around the house, so I wondered if he’d enjoy taking up dancing.” So he began taking classes at the Royal Ballet School and at Centrepoint Dance School, both in Manchester.
In those pre-BETM days, after having been noticed by a talent scout while he was playing a lead role in one of his school shows, he began doing a series of television ads and appeared in programs such as A&E, Heartbeat, Dalziel and Pascoe and Doctors. He also appeared several times doing comedy sketches on the CBBC program Stupid.
Before he moved to London to live in the Billy House with the other young actors who played Billy, Michael and Debbie, parents Bill and Dee stressed his need for a good academic education and Travis attended Middleton’s St Thomas More School and the Cardinal Langley High School.
His music teacher at Cardinal Langley suggested he try out for Billy Elliot the Musical, so audition he did. After the normal series of call backs and training, Travis found out that he had gotten the part in October of 2005. He then moved from Manchester to London to begin intensive training for the role.
Travis has had the unique distinction of replacing two of the original three Billys in the show. When he initially debuted on 19-Dec-2005, he replaced George Maguire, who had left the show a couple of days before that. Six months after this debut, he came out of the show to do more training in June, 2006. When he returned to the show on 2-Oct-2006, it was as the replacement for Liam Mower, the last of the original Billys to leave the show.
During his time as Billy, Travis helped publicize the show by appearing on various British media outlets. One of those appearances was on the popular Paul O’Grady Show with Elton John and fellow Billys Liam Mower and Leon Cooke.
Here’s a video clip from that appearance:
http://https://youtu.be/v3Hni88KlZk
Credit: Video by noisyheart
Travis’s final show as Billy was on 1-Sep-2007.
Post Billy Activities
Here are some of the highlights of “life after Billy” for Travis:
- Upon graduation from Cardinal Langley HS, Travis attended Holy Cross College in Bury, Manchester.
- From 2009 to the present, he’s appeared in four episodes of the British TV series Doctors.
- In 2009, Travis guest starred in an episode of the British TV series The Royal.
- In 2010, he appeared in seven episodes of the British TV series Hollyoaks.
- Travis has also recorded several music videos which can be found on his Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/TravisHYates
For more information about Travis, visit:
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