Billy Elliot role a boon for young stars

Dayton Tavares was 12 and had been dancing for barely a year when he was chosen to star as the eponymous young ballet dancer in the Sydney run of hit musical Billy Elliot — it was a move that kickstarted his career in stage and dance.

Dayton Tavares was 12 and had been dancing for barely a year when he was chosen to star as the eponymous young ballet dancer in the Sydney run of hit musical Billy Elliot.

The youngster from Penrith was one of several boys who successfully auditioned for the role, with each taking the stage at different times — at such a young age, performing up to eight shows a week is too gruelling. But such an experience was life-changing for Tavares and two of his former stagemates, Rarmian Newton and Michael Dameski.

Actor and dancer Dayton Tavares kickstarted his career playing Billy Elliot in Sydney, Melbourne and on Broadway. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“It was incredible — it was probably the most extreme thing you could do as a 12-year-old,” Tavares tells Insider. His run as Billy saw him go on to perform the role in Melbourne before being tapped to hit the Mecca of the musical theatre world — New York.

“To be taken to Broadway, which is where you want to end up, was just crazy,” Tavares says.

“Our singing teacher was the coach for Hugh Jackman and Bjork and Gloria Gaynor.”

Career decisions aren’t usually something pre-teens often need to think about, but spending three years as Billy Elliot convinced Tavares that entertaining others was his calling.

“To perform is what I want to do for the rest of my life and Billy helped me see that from the start of my career,” he says.

Tavares on stage as Billy as a 12-year-old.

And that’s exactly what he’s been doing ever since. In between teaching dance, Tavares kept busy as a dancer on two of Australia’s talent shows and worked with artists from Ricky Martin and Rita Ora to Samantha Jade and Johnny Ruffo.

Playing the character made famous by Jamie Bell in the 2000 film of the same name was also life-changing for Newton.

“If it wasn’t for Billy, I wouldn’t be an actor because before that show I didn’t have a real appreciation for acting,” he says.

Like what many young Aussie hopefuls do, Newton took a punt and headed to Los Angeles to try his luck a few years after the show.

Michael Dameski also played Billy.

“I kind of took a leap of faith at 21 and moved to LA during pilot season,” he says. “That is how I got my first job on a show called The Family. It was an incredible first TV experience and I loved it. After that I got job after job.”

He’s currently working on the crime drama series Mr Mercedes.

And while TV is a lot of fun and helps pay the bills, the stage is his first love.

“Theatre will always be my home — TV doesn’t have the same magic that theatre does,” he says. ”There’s even a line that Billy says in the music about the magic of being on stage.”

And while Newton is currently focused on acting, Dameski has excelled in dance since his time as Billy.

Dameski, seen here as Billy Elliot went on to win So You Think You Can Dance in Australia and was joined the first US tour of Disney’s Newsies.

Having won So You Think You Can Dance in 2014, he headed to the US where he landed a part in the first national tour of Disney’s Newsies.

“Billy Elliot definitely had a very positive effect on my career, especially getting that kind of experience and being under that pressure to perform at such a young age really set me up for the future,” he says.

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