Note: Wade Neilson’s final show as Billy in the Australian Tour of Billy Elliot the Musical (BETM) was in Melbourne on March 15, 2020.
Debut: October 10, 2019 (Sydney, Australia)
Total Performances as Billy: 37 (No partial shows)
Wade Neilson was 12 years old when he made his debut as Billy in the Australian Tour production of BETM. He is from Newcastle.
Wade has always had a passion for dancing and performing. At the age of five, Wade began his dance training at Susan Shiner Dance Academy in West Wallsend. “We were driving one day and… Mum asked ‘Would you like to have a try?'” Wade said. “I said ‘Yeah sure’.” So his mum put him into tap classes and a his love for dance was born. Wade quickly added ballet, hip hop, modern to his repertoire, and would spend about five hours a week in the studio. For the last three years he has also trained in acro.
Wade’s previous performing experience has been in local productions in his hometown as part of the mass ensembles in Hairspray – The Big Fat Arena Spectacular and Grease – The Arena Experience.
Outside of dancing or performing, Wade enjoys playing soccer, fishing, listening to music and hanging out with his friends.
When Wade decided to audition for BETM he thought it would be just be good practice. “It was just to have a bit of an experience for if I wanted to do shows in the future,” he said. “I’d seen the movie before and loved how it looked, how he danced, the style of it.” Therefore he was shocked when he found out that he had actually been chosen to play the role of Billy.
Wade said that he was really excited about starting rehearsals but a bit nervous when it comes to starting performing in the shows.
At the Sydney media call, Wade performed “Expressing Yourself” alongside Hamish Monger as Michael:
Credit: Video by Let Me Entertain You – LMEYpodcast
With his debut performance as Billy on 10-Oct-2019, Wade becomes the 285th actor worldwide to play the role in a professional, regional or community theatre production of the musical.
For more information about Wade visit:
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