How Melbourne boy River Mardesic won lead role in Billy Elliot musical
Hundreds of kids vied for the lead role in Billy Elliot the musical. It’s a demanding part that requires world-class singing, acting and dancing. So what set Melbourne’s River Mardesic apart?
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The business of being Billy Elliot is long and comprehensive, so when their moment finally arrived in Sydney last week, it could have been overwhelming.
But performing before a packed audience at Sydney’s Eternity Theatre to reveal the four boys, aged 10-12, who will play the lead role in the hit musical was only thrilling, never daunting.
Melbourne boy River Mardesic, 10, described the media event alone as the highlight of his Billy Elliotexperience so far.
“It was a great opportunity for people to find out who we are and just spending time together,” River says.
“Learning all the stuff we have to do and training has been great but I really like spending time with these three boys that are like brothers to me.”
But there is much more excitement to come for River, who has been singing and dancing since he was four.
He’s even a national champion — and he needs to be of that calibre to get into this show that demands so many different skills of a young boy.
Associate choreographer Tom Hodgson says the audition process began eight months ago with hundreds of children from around Australia applying for the role.
It didn’t take long to reduce that number to 25 boys, who went into the next round of auditions after undergoing more training before the number was finally reduced to the final four.
While ballet is the basic technique all the boys must have, the role requires so much more than that — singing, tap dancing, acting and, of course, that magic that will make audiences reach out to this young boy from a small mining town in the UK who dreams of being a dancer rather than a boxer.
“Ballet is the focus because there are classical elements in the show, but they don’t all need that technique when they audition,” Hodgson says.
“They have to harmonise and develop quickly enough. The thing with kids is that their potential is infinite and they change so quickly.
“You can’t just do one audition to look for the best boys because you will just get the best boys on that particular day.
“But until they go through the whole process, you learn how quickly different boys respond so, three months later they’re either so much better or some other boys take over.
“It’s very exciting. It’s that reminder of how quickly kids can learn.”
One of those kids was River, who is the youngest of the four Billy stars. The others are Omar Abiad, 12, of Brisbane, Wade Neilsen, 12, of Newcastle, and Jamie Rogers, 12, of Canberra.
“River is so vibrant, energetic and soaks up information,” Hodgson says.
“He’s a classic sponge and he’s hungry for it. His personality is ready for this.”
Hodgson has been with Billy Elliot since the original musical — with music by Elton John — opened in London in 2005 and has since worked on tours to Australia, New York, Japan and Korea.
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He knew at once that it was a special show, accepting there is still a lot of stigma attached to a boy who wants to be a dancer.
“I’m surprised by the new generations of fans who are coming through when there is so much available to them today but this show still appeals,” he says.
“This young boy who defies the odds to succeed is something so many of us can relate to, or have seen.”
Billy Elliot the Musical opens at the Regent Theatre in February.
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