Director predicts 13-year-old Modestan will be a star; where to see him at his start

Paul Tischer believes the latest production from his Modesto Performing Arts will be the best in the company’s 50-year history.

And while it’s not as well-known as past productions and a little different from what MPA audiences might expect, the show does have an award-winning pedigree.

“Billy Elliot The Musical,” the story of a boy who yearns to dance, but whose Scottish coal mining family is vehemently against it, marks the second production of the current anniversary season of MPA. The production will be staged Aug. 5-13 at the Gallo Center for the Arts.

The stage production debuted in 2005 at London’s West End Theatre, opening on Broadway in 2008. “Billy Elliot” garnered 15 Tony Award nominations and won 10 from those in 2009, playing four years on Broadway and touring nationally since. The musical is based on the 2005 film of the same name, which itself was nominated for three Academy Awards.

Something new is something good, according to Paul Tischer, founder and general director of MPA, a company whose bread and butter has been tried-and-true musicals such as “Oklahoma!” “The Sound of Music” and “The Music Man” over the years.

“Frankly, over 50 years, I’ve done all the big name musicals, some many times,” Tischer said in an email interview. “It’s great to be working on a show that we’ve never done before and audiences have never seen before. I think part of the fun of seeing an unfamiliar show is not knowing how the story is going to play out and end.”

Tischer said he saw the show in New York a couple of years ago and was “immediately struck with its story, the music (by Elton John) and the dancing. It was the best musical I had seen in 10 years on Broadway. I knew I wanted to do the show as soon as it was released to community theaters.”

When it was released sooner than he’d expected, Tischer wrote for the rights and said he was surprised when MPA received them.

“Then panic set in when I realized I needed someone in the role of Billy who is 11 years old and could dance both ballet and tap and be absolutely jaw-dropping sensational,” Tischer said. “Billy has six dances, many solo, that would challenge even the most experienced dancer. There are plenty of boys who are terrific dancers in Modesto, but not one who is 11 years old.”

In addition to dancing and acting, the title role calls for singing. After auditions were held in December, Tischer said they brought in a young actor who had been recommended to him. That boy, 13-year-old Mitchell Welsh, showed great potential.

So Tischer and Rene Daveluy – the Central West Ballet artistic director who has choreographed “Billy Elliot” for MPA – cast Welsh with the understanding that he would start dance rehearsals immediately. Since January, Welsh has been rehearsing six times a week, working with CWB and Daveluy.

“His dancing in the show is nothing short of sensational. And now he is one of the best male dancers I have ever seen,” Tischer said. “His dancing is breathtaking.”

Daveluy said it’s a perfect merging for Welsh – about to start his freshman year at Downey High School – and the role of Billy. “It’s his first experience being thrown into the swimming pool, being told to jump into the swimming pool and swim. It’s kind of a metaphor for the role of Billy Elliot, because he’s learning in (his) life at the same time he’s learning in the play, learning to dance.”

As man who began dancing around the same age, Daveluy knows firsthand the difficulties faced by teenage boys with that calling. “It’s really close to a lot of boys who started this way – it was certainly for me. I started late, 14, to learn ballet. It was in a small town in a civic center and sometimes it’s a challenge for boys to get into ballet, there’s always that stigma attached to ballet that it’s only for girls.”

Tischer also sees a little something of his younger self in the musical’s title character.

“It’s interesting because when I was Billy’s age I wanted nothing more than to be a dancer just like him. But family and life circumstances never made that happen. But my passion for dance has never wavered, which is another reason I am really happy to be doing this musical,” he said. “And I am happy that we’re giving Mitchell a big start in his dance career, which he will continue to pursue after the show is over. As he gets older and with additional training, Mitchell is going to be at the top of a dancing career. Which is another reason to see the show. Modesto audiences can say they saw him here first.

This marks the first collaboration between Daveluy and MPA, although Tischer has been part of Central West Ballet, playing the role of Herr Drosselmeyer in the troupe’s annual “Nutcracker” production.

“I wasn’t sure musicals were his thing,” he said of Daveluy. “But when I asked him, he eagerly accepted. And the collaboration has been terrific. Rene is one of the most imaginative, talented choreographers I have ever worked with. His dance numbers for ‘Billy Elliot’ would rival that of any professional production of the show. I can’t even think of enough superlatives to describe his choreography. Audiences are going to be blown away.”

Daveluy also will act in the MPA show, playing the dance assistant, a role that includes one of the musical’s big dance numbers; he’ll dance that number with Alison Collins, who plays the ballet mistress. He’d known of the musical version of the film, but hadn’t seen it before getting involved in the MPA show.

“To really dig into it and to hear Elton John’s score, it’s pretty amazing,” Daveluy said. “The singing parts are beautifully written. It’s really inspiring. It really plays from the guts and heart, it’s the sound of passion, whether for dance, music or (any) job, everything really stems from that. ... It’s really kind of a timeless tale of the human condition.”

Tischer believes the cast makes up some of the best singers he’s ever had in an MPA production. “And Elton John’s music is not that easy to sing, but they come through as professionally as any director could hope for,” he said.

Other actors in the production include Brian Harris as Billy’s friend Michael, Larry Zabel as his father, Daniel Chavez as his brother, Patricia Jannay as his grandmother and Falina Van Lewen as Billy’s mother. William Gay serves as music director for the show.

Although audiences might not be familiar with “Billy Elliot,” Tischer is sure they won’t be disappointed – he’s also sure that they will be moved by the story. “Audiences are going to see the best show MPA has ever done. I guarantee it,” he said. “They are going to leave the theater absolutely exhilarated.

“By the way, we will offering Kleenex in the lobby at the end of the performances.”

This story was originally published August 3, 2017 at 7:26 AM with the headline "Director predicts 13-year-old Modestan will be a star; where to see him at his start."