Message from 'Billy Elliot' Cast Member Rebecca Marlowe

ASU Gammage -

Let me just start out by saying hi! My name is Rebecca Marlowe and I am 12 years old. I am from New York and I am so happy to be a part of Billy Elliot the Musical.

It is amazing to be a part of Billy Elliot. The whole cast is so supportive and really helps if we have any questions (which is a lot of the time.) The cast has become like a family. We have brothers, sisters and even dogs. But just like brothers and sisters, we sometimes fight. They say that we have Mondays off to hang out and be normal kids but most of the time the kids need a break from the rest of the kids. But somehow we still end up putting on the show at the end of the night.

In this cast of Billy Elliot, I play the medium swing. I cover three of the nine ballet girls but I have to be ready to go on for any of them. Basically, I am here in case someone falls, or gets sick, or wants to go to Disney World with their family. Let’s just say, the swings are never bored. There have been times when I have had to go on in the middle of a show on such short notice that the audience knew before I did. But being a swing we have a very “special” relationship with the company managers. I have fed them jelly beans, made jokes with them, and even just ran up and down the hallways with them. Even with all of the joking, we always need to be professional and ready.

My favorite part of being on tour is traveling around the United States with my Billy Elliot family. We have really become so close and to be able to travel with them has made the trip that much better. Meeting Mickey Mouse in Disney with my Billy family was an experience that I will remember forever.

Next we are going to Tempe, Arizona. I like to call this city the Roadrunner city. I hear that Tempe is cactus, then rock, cactus, then rock and that’s basically it. But when I go to Tempe I would like to visit the Grand Canyon.

My favorite part of Billy Elliot the Musical is “Expressing Yourself”. This is my favorite part of Billy Elliot because of how much fun the number is and I love how the dancing dresses tap in the number. I also love “Born to Boogie” because I love watching how Billy goes through the transformation; you can really start to see how much he loves to dance.

When I started dance class at age two I never could have imagined that those classes would lead me to being in Billy Elliot. Who knows what my future holds? Maybe next I will be playing the lead in Dora the Explorer.

- Rebecca Marlowe, Swing in 'Billy Elliot the Musical'