Gerry McKeague has only been acting for six years, but in January he will perform in his favourite musical when he takes the stage as part of Footlight Productions’ Billy Elliot.
The Irish-born actor, who now lives in Geelong with his family, will play the part of George Watson in Elton John and Lee Hall’s musical theatre version of the 2000 film of the same name.
“I’ve seen (Billy Elliot) twice in the West End before we emigrated, and then I saw the professional production in Melbourne just before lockdown in 2020; I loved it,” McKeague said.
“It just stands out, for me it’s an amazing story, so I was delighted to get into it.
“It’s going to be an absolutely wonderful show. It’s got such a great collection of performers, such a wide range of talents and ages, and our production team brings the best out in everybody.
“It’s really a very moving tale and hopefully we’ll do it justice.”
The story revolves around the titular character, a young boy in an English mining town during the 1984-85 coal miners’ strike who wants to pursue ballet despite the disapproval of his working class father.
McKeague’s George is Billy’s boxing coach, and the actor described the characters’ relationship as “fractious”.
“He’s a mate of Billy’s dad and he’s also the union rep,” McKeague said.
“He’s not necessarily a likeable character. He’s quite conservative, in terms of his language he’s a bigoted guy; he’s quite rough and aggressive, certainly not the nurturing type.
“He gives Billy a hard time, he wants him to fall into line and do the boxing exercises and training… it’s not that pleasant to watch.
“But he’s an interesting character to play because he’s in charge of the boxing club, trying to get these boys trained up. So he is contributing to the community in that way as well as being the union rep and negotiating on the town’s behalf.
“But I find the challenge with him is to try to bring a more multi-dimensional view to the character. I don’t see him as a sympathetic character, necessarily, but I’m hoping that by the end perhaps people might have some understanding for why he does what he does.”
McKeague said brothers Luka and Sebastian Sero, who will share the role of Billy, were “absolutely incredible”.
“The talent is just oozing out of them; they’re amazing dancers, actors and singers, so they really have it all,” he said.
“They’re lovely kids, very open and friendly, happy to get involved. In terms of acting, they just help life the scenes.
“Yesterday we had a rehearsal and one of the songs that the boys sing, many of us were in tears by the end, it was very moving.
“And seeing how moved they are, playing that role… for kids that age to have that kind of intelligence about the parts they’re playing is really amazing.”
Billy Elliot is at Geelong Arts Centre from January 17 to February 2.
