Pages: 1 2

Dance across the Floor

In conversation with Marcus Pei, 13-year old ballet dancer

Dance Across the Floor 1

◄ Back

Next ►

Picture 1 of 3

The Cast of Billy Elliot © Joan Marcus

Tom Ue: It is a pleasure to talk to Marcus Pei, one of four actors playing Billy in the multiple award-winning musical, Billy Elliot, which stops in Toronto on its North American tour. Marcus, please tell us about your dance training before Billy Elliot: The Musical.

Marcus Pei: I started ballet when I was six, and took classes until I was eleven at the University of Iowa and Nolte Dance Academy. Then I moved to Toronto for a year to train at Canada’s National Ballet School.

T.U.: Do the demands of your training have a negative impact on your teenage experience?

M.P.: The training takes up a lot of time, but I still find time to hang out with friends and play video games.

T.U.: Have you seen the movie version, Billy Elliot, released in 2000?

M.P.: Yes, and I love the movie. But I still like the musical better!

T.U.: What do you see as the appeal of the story?

M.P.: That Billy finds a way to do what he loves, even though his community and family are against it.

T.U.: On the road to Billy, you beat some 1,500 candidates during casting.  What did your audition entail?

M.P.: I had to get through an open audition, another hour private audition, and then went to New York for five days for the final audition.

T.U.: Tell us about your training for this part.

M.P.: 3 months of learning tap, and learning the singing, acting and dancing for the show. I trained and started shows in Chicago. Also, I had to do lots of cardio and core training to stay fit for the show.

T.U.: Describe a typical day in the life of Billy, (the character).

M.P.: Billy wakes up usually to find that his grandma is messing around, then he usually has to go to boxing. His dad is abusive, and Billy just misses his mom.

T.U.: What was more difficult: the dancing or the singing?

M.P.: The singing was difficult because I had never sung professionally before, and it took voice lessons and lots of practising.

T.U.: Tell us about working with Stephen Daldry.

M.P.: I didn’t get to work with him, but I have great resident choreographers.