THEATRE

BILLY Elliot has been a smash hit show in the West End for 11 years - that’s the lifetime of one of its current stars, Matthew Lyons.

Matthew, of Yeadon, is wowing audiences as Billy on the show’s UK tour, which is half-way through a five-week run at the Alhambra.

The talented youngster, who goes to the West Yorkshire School for Performing Arts (WYSPA) in Guiseley, shares the role with three other boys, and each of them trained at “Billy School” in London.

“We were there for four months, it was to get us used to being away from home and to learn choreography for the show,” says Matthew. “We trained in the different styles of dance that we do in the show, and we had tech rehearsals for three weeks on the stage.”

Inspired by the hit film, Billy Elliot was brought to the stage by director Stephen Daldry and writer Lee Hall, with a score by Sir Elton John.

It’s the story of a spirited boy from a north east mining town who stumbles across a ballet class and discovers a talent for dance. With the help of dance teacher Mrs Wilkinson, Billy prepares to audition for the Royal Ballet School, but with the miners’ strike gripping his community, and bitter divisions spilling over from the picket line to his family, it’s not an easy path.

The boy’s anger and frustration are captured beautifully in a solo dance sequence sending him crashing into a row of police officers armed with riot shields.

“That’s my favourite dance, the angry dance,” says Matthew. “And I like the dream ballet too, when the young and older Billy. dance together”

Billy Elliot has been credited with inspiring boys to take up dance. Matthew has been learning ballet and tap since he was seven, but didn’t have an acting class before he landed the role - which makes it even more remarkable that he carries the show - singing and dancing in high energy routines, as well as acting with a north east accent.

“We had a dialect coach, it was hard at first,” says Matthew, a pupil at Benton Park School, Rawdon. He appears in three performances a week and the tour continues until spring, 2017. “We have a tutor with us,” says Matthew. “It’s amazing being part of such a big show.”

He first performed on the Alhambra stage last year, in Lord of the Flies by Matthew Bourne’s company New Adventures. The production featured a cast of young dancers chosen from around the UK. “It was great experience,” says the youngster, now setting his sights on a theatre career. “There are lots of shows I’d like to do, especially Cats,” he says.

* Billy Elliot runs until June 11. Call (01274) 432000.