LIFE IMITATING ART? A young boy from a tough, working-class town in northern England falls in love with dancing, auditions for the lead role in a big-budget London musical ... and wins the part.
The boy is 12-year-old Matthew Koon, who grew up outside Manchester, after his parents emigrated to Britain from Hong Kong more than 20 years ago. And the role he's won is the lead in Billy Elliot the Musical. Since his debut on March 1 in the musical, Matthew has earned rave reviews for the physically demanding role. He's one of five boys chosen by director Stephen Daldry to play Billy Elliot.
It's one of the most high-profile parts ever taken by a Chinese performer in London's West End theatre district. And Matthew was as surprised as anyone that he was chosen.
'It was shocking,' he says. 'I wasn't sure I'd get the part or they were considering me, because of me being Chinese and Billy is a white boy, an English boy. When I was told I'd got the part it took a few days to sink in.'
Daldry, who also directed the 2000 movie Billy Elliot, used so-called colour-blind casting to select the leads. 'There's been no negative reaction from the audience. In a play, you're already in an imaginary world and I don't think there should be any reason that you can't make the leap. We don't justify it. We don't try to make Billy's family Chinese.'
Daldry has also cast an Irish, an American and a black Billy.