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Liam Mower

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Liam Mower
Liam Mower performing in the 5th Anniversary Show of Billy Elliot the Musical in March 2010
Born
Liam Mower

(1992-05-30) 30 May 1992 (age 32)
Kingston upon Hull, England
Years active2005–present
AwardsTheatre Goers‘ Choice Award
2005 Billy Elliot The Musical
Laurence Olivier Award
2006 Billy Elliot The Musical

Liam Mower (born 30 May 1992 in Kingston upon Hull, England) is an English actor and dancer. Best known for his talent for ballet, he was one of the three boys who shared the lead role in the original London cast of Billy Elliot the Musical which earned a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical, making him the youngest nominee and the youngest solo winner in the category aged 13. He is currently employed by Matthew Bourne and has appeared in his production of Swan Lake, The Nutcracker and The Car Men.[1]

Early life and education

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Mower is from Kingston upon Hull. His father is an engineer, and his mother works in a sandwich shop. Born into a family of four boys, Mower has three brothers, (Luke, Lewis and Leighton). He became a boarding pupil at the Royal Ballet School (RBS) whilst still auditioning for Billy Elliot, but later scaled down his connection to it, in order to be able to meet his professional commitments without losing out on quality of life.[2][3] Mower also attended the Northern Academy of Performing Arts (NAPA) in Kingston upon Hull,[4] but now studies at the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance in Twickenham. Before taking up his place at Rambert, he was also offered a place at the London Studio Centre.[5]

Acting and dancing career

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Mower's first performance as Billy, before the Press night (11 May 2005) was on 31 March 2005 and he continued performing until the end of September 2006.[6] He also appeared in the Elton John video of Electricity and was featured in the BBC's Children in Need on 18 November 2005, performing Electricity. He also made several television appearances, such as his famed appearances on Blue Peter. Mower made his final scheduled appearance in Billy Elliot on 30 September 2006. His departure was covered by the local and international press, as it spelt the end of the original child cast of 'Billys'. A dedication was made by the cast on his final performance, and he was presented with a dog, named "Billy".[7][8][9] Upon his departure, Stephen Daldry stated that "Liam is a unique talent and we have all been blessed with the opportunity to see him flourish in Billy Elliot over the past eighteen months. Rarely does one ever come across a performer with so many skills and talents, particularly when matched by Liam's determination and good humour. He has been at the centre of Billy Elliot's extended family for three and a half years now and his last performance will be an overwhelmingly emotional evening. As Liam hurtles towards adulthood we will be saying goodbye to one of the most celebrated child performers ever in the West End. An end of an era for us and the beginning of another huge adventure for Liam."[10] He returned home to Archbishop Thurstan School (now Archbishop Sentamu Academy), Hull, to study for GCSEs, but made a brief return to Billy Elliot on 22 November 2006, performing in a charity gala for the children's charity Place2Be. During the show he was joined by both Elton John and the X Factor judging panel who made cameo appearances as the RBS panel.[8]

Mower's career after Billy Elliot was somewhat calmer, but he still kept up theatrical activities. He appeared as a minor part in October 2006 in Thoroughly Modern Millie at Hull New Theatre,[11] and subsequently made an appearance in the popular ITV Crime Series, Wire in the Blood playing the part of Mikey. His most recent work has been his appearance as the title character in Pinocchio during Christmas 2007 at The Priestley Theatre in Bradford.[12] He also appeared on the soundtrack to Pinocchio which is available on iTunes.

Mower recently stated that he would like to return to the West End stage, saying he was taking singing lessons.[5] He did very well at his GCSEs with 14 grades from A* to C.[13] Mower also previously stated that he would like to be a dancer before being an actor: "After I have got my degree at the school I would like to join a dance company and then go into acting a bit later. It makes sense to do it that way round."[14]

In November 2011, it was announced that Mower would be returning to the stage in Matthew Bourne's Nutcracker. In the production of the ballet, Mower was to be portraying one of the two Cupids.

In 2012, Mower spoke about his time working as Billy on a documentary called The Story of Musicals. In the interview, Billy Elliot lyricist Lee Hall said that on the first run through of the show, Mower was so physically strained that he vomited at the side of the stage after performing Angry Dance. Of the incident, Mower said: "I was just in mid-pirouette [when I] just threw up everywhere. [I] literally projectile vomited."

From January 2014, Mower has starred in Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake as the Prince.[15]

On 28 September 2014, Mower returned for Billy Elliot the Musical Live!, a one-off live screening to many countries, where he played the role of Older Billy in the duet.[16]

From December 2014 - January 2015, Mower starred in Matthew Bourne's New Adventures production of Edward Scissorhands at Sadler's Wells in London. He shares the leading role with Dominic North.

Accolades

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He won, jointly with James Lomas and George Maguire, the 2005 Theatre Goers' Choice Award for The Most Promising Newcomer. And on 26 February 2006 Mower, James Lomas and George Maguire received a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical for their performances in the musical, making them the first to win one in a shared capacity. This makes Mower the youngest ever winner of this award. Mower also obtained a Critics' Circle Award the same month for Best Newcomer.[17][18]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Cast and Creative". New Adventures. Archived from the original on 25 July 2015. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  2. ^ Briggs, Caroline (5 October 2004). "Dancing in Billy Elliot's footsteps". BBC News. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  3. ^ Reynolds, Nigel (30 September 2006). "How real-life Billy Elliot's dream ended in tears". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 26 January 2009. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  4. ^ "Patrons". The Northern Academy of Performing Arts. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  5. ^ a b Simpson, Robert L. (19 May 2008). "Dancer offered top school places". Hull Daily Mail. Archived from the original on 18 October 2014. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  6. ^ "Child star gets praise for show". BBC News. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  7. ^ "SkyNews: Liam's Farewell". YouTube. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  8. ^ a b [1][dead link‍]
  9. ^ [2][dead link‍]
  10. ^ [3][dead link‍]
  11. ^ Hull in print
  12. ^ Cast Information Archived 30 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ "Liammower.net". Liammower.net. Archived from the original on 26 July 2012. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  14. ^ "Hull and East Riding news, views & business listings from Hull and East Riding's Community". This is Hull and East Riding. 27 August 2012. Archived from the original on 2 November 2009. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  15. ^ "Meet Our Dancers". New Adventures. Archived from the original on 16 May 2017. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  16. ^ Shenton, Mark (25 July 2015). "London's Original Billy Elliot Sets One-Night-Only "Dream" Return to Elton John Musical". Playbill. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  17. ^ "Elliot musical leads stage awards". BBC News. Retrieved 28 February 2006.
  18. ^ "Elliot boys win top theatre gong". CBBC Newsround. Retrieved 28 February 2006.
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