Liam Mower's new adventures
- Steve Pratt
- 3 hours ago
- 4 min read
Steve Pratt talks to Liam Mower on his career in dance - and his up-coming appearances with Matthew Bourne's New Adventures company in York and other major northern theatres
Liam Mower was back at home in Hull recently, looking through old documents, when he came across a school report. “What do you want to do when you are older?” was one of the questions asked.
His schoolboy reply was straight to the point: “I want to be a dancer.” You could say: ambition achieved.
“I've already done that - and want to continue as long as my body will allow,” said Liam, sometimes known as the "the real life Billy Elliot", a title he picked up 20 years ago when cast in the original stage production of the famous dance musical.
The original film became a musical, with music by Elton John; Liam was one of the three youngsters cast as Billy, and the trio - Liam, George Maguire and James Lomas - won an Olivier award for best actor in a musical in 2006.
Liam began dance classes when he was eight, becoming a disco and rock’n’ roll champion. He trained in modern dance and tap before his dance teacher introduced him to ballet. The stage show's casting director saw Liam while searching schools in the north for youngsters to play Billy.
Some performers might complain about a tag like “real life Billy Elliot’, feeling they’ve moved on from that, but Liam is happy to be reminded and talk about it – not least because the tag is accurate in comparing him to the fictional Billy.
“Our lives are so similar. I can’t run away from that and I don’t want to,” he says ahead of touring to York Theatre Royal in Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell in June.
“I'm proud of my achievements. I feel proud of myself and proud of Billy Elliot. At this time in my life everything is a bonus, because I have achieved such wonderful things. I’m always happy to talk about it. Billy was such an amazing experience and changed everything for me.”
Coincidentally, Liam’s connection with Matthew Bourne's famous version of Swan Lake goes back to Billy Elliot, in which the final scene sees the adult Billy with the young Billy in a scene from Bourne’s all-male work.
Liam returned to the show to play the adult Billy in a stage performance broadcast live in cinemas. “It was amazing, but one of the most nerve-wracking experiences, because it was live in cinemas,” he recalls. “So much could have gone wrong.”.
Liam is now a member of Bourne’s New Adventures company, with not only Swan Lake but the title role in Edward Scissorhands and The Car Man also among his roles. “It was always an ambition to work with Matthew Bourne, though I didn’t know about him when I saw the Swan Lake scene in the film of Billy Elliot, which of course was one of my favourite films as a kid.
“I learned about him through the stage version of Billy. Seeing the male swan dancer I thought ‘I’d like to do that one day’. That was always at the back of my mind, though I didn’t know it would ever happen.
“When I was training at Rambert I saw more contemporary work. I saw Matthew’s work was really relevant and thought it was the kind of dance I want to be doing.
"Matthew’s work is dance, but so much more. It’s always about storytelling and adding another level is what makes it really interesting work.”
Liam has been out of the country for five months, touring China in the musical Cats. He stayed on to do some travelling after the tour, which took in eight different cities including Shanghai and Beijing.
Liam enjoyed performing in Cats, a musical that gave him the opportunity to use his voice as well as his body. More musical theatre in the future is a possibility if the right project or show comes along.
Now he is back with New Adventures to tour in The Midnjght Bell, having created his role in the original production.
Bourne's work revolves around patrons of The Midnjght Bell tavern in Soho in the 1930s.Six relationships are woven through the piece, including the story of chorus boy Albert and his policeman lover, at a time when gay relationships were illegal. The production is best described as a play without words, the stories told through dance.
The basis for The Midnight Bell is Patrick Hamilton’s novel 20,000 Streets Under the Sky, but some characters have been introduced from other sources.
“It was always Matthew’s vision, created just after lockdown, and it felt really special to create something new,” said Liam. “A gay storyline has been added with my character Albert, a West End chorus boy, and a policeman. People like Albert did exist in the 20s and 30s; we touch on the idea that they lived in fear of being judged and wanted to exist freely.
“"We were given a lot of material, read a few books and got ourselves into that world. It required deep research into the characters and those times. We were able to write our own stories for them. They are quite dark characters."
The Midnjght Bell is at York Theatre Royal (June 4-7); Salford Lowry (July 1-5); Newcastle Theatre Royal (July 8-12); Liverpool Playhouse (September 16-20); Sheffield Lyceum (September 23-27); Bradford Alhambra (September 30-October 4).