7 boys compete in audition to become Billy for musical Billy Elliot

The final audition for musical Billy Elliot was held Friday at the Musical House in central Seoul. Seven candidate boys who applied for Billy role performed ballet guided by British choreographer Damien Jackson. The final candidates for Michael, Billy's friend, performed a tap dance after joyfully shouting "five, six, seven and eight." The audition for Show and Tell, the last episode in the process of finding Billy and Michael, has a tradition of candidates' parents participating in the audition. British producer Simon Pollard asked the boys to enjoy and parents congratulate their children for their efforts.

Having had its premiere in London in 2005, musical Billy the Elliot comes from the movie of the same title, which had received 10 Tony awards and five Olivier awards thanks to tightly knitted story and attractive music. In the 1980s when miners were going through a massive strike, Billy who was living in a mining area coincidently accesses ballet and makes a journey as a ballerino. Billy the Elliot will be put on stage in December this year at the DCube Art Center in Seoul. Its first stage in Korea was in 2010.

Successful candidates for Billy should be aged between 8 and 12 and smaller than 150 centimeters in height. Voice should not be changed yet and they have to have talent in many genres of dance including tap dance, ballet and acrobatic, and needless to say singing capability.

In order to meet such tough conditions to become Billy, boys have passed two auditions and were trained for six days a week for eight months. "We seek enthusiasm and uniqueness as well as a hard-core spirit, rather than boys who are already talented in techniques," Pollard said.

Boys sang a song with lyrics that go "My heart is heated, and I can't hide it any longer. My heart, a thrilling feeling as of birds are flying high." Some parents' face worked with emotion as they saw their child having grown up.

Hyo-Lim Son aryssong@donga.com