James Jacob Lomas (born 1 March 1990) is a British actor best known for his role as Billy Elliot in ''

Billy Elliot the Musical ''Billy Elliot: The Musical'' is a Coming-of-age story, coming-of-age stage musical based on the Billy Elliot, 2000 film of the same name. The music is by Elton John, and the book and lyrics are by Lee Hall (playwright), Lee Hall, who wrote th ...

'', which earned a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical, making him one of the youngest winners of the awards. Lomas was one of the three original

Billy Elliot ''Billy Elliot'' is a 2000 British coming-of-age Comedy film, comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Daldry and written by Lee Hall (playwright), Lee Hall. Set in County Durham in North East England during the 1984–1985 miners' strike, the fi ...

s of the original

West End theatre West End theatre is mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres in and near the West End of London.Christopher Innes"West End"in ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 1194–1195, ...

production of ''

''. He continued performing until 7 January 2006. Together with his two original colleagues Liam Mower and George Maguire, alternating in the role of "Billy", he performed again in a first anniversary Gala show on 12 May 2006.

Early life and education

Lomas started dancing with the Sharon Berry School of Theatre Dance in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

at around the age of 12, after his Drama teacher taught him and suggested he pursue dancing in order to be able to perform on a West End stage. He attended Ecclesfield School, in Chapeltown.

Acting career

Lomas was featured in ''

Strictly Dance Fever ''Strictly Dance Fever'' is a British television programme, broadcast on BBC One on Saturday evenings. It was an amateur dance talent competition, hosted by Graham Norton, which ran during Spring 2005 and Spring 2006. It had 2 extra shows, The S ...

'' performing part of the final scene of ''Billy Elliot the Musical'', and in several TV interviews and short clips related to the musical. In July 2006 he played the title role of young blind Nicholas Saunderson in the new musical ''No Horizon'' in

Penistone Penistone ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England, which had a population of 13,270 at the 2021 census. Historic counties of England, Historically in ...

, northern England and was well received for his performances. He won the

Variety Club Variety, the Children's Charity is a charitable organization founded in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1927. History On October 10, 1927, a group of eleven men involved in show business set up a social club which they named the "Variety Club". On ...

's 2005 Outstanding New Talent award, and, jointly with Liam Mower and George Maguire, the Theatre Goers' Choice Award 2005 for The Most Outstanding Newcomer, as well as - uniquely in British theatre history - jointly with his two cast mates, the

Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical The Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical is an annual award presented by the Society of London Theatre in recognition of achievements in commercial London theatre. The awards were established as the Society of West End Theatre Award ...

(2006). ''

'' has won several awards: The

Evening Standard Theatre Award The ''Evening Standard'' Theatre Awards, established in 1955, are the oldest theatrical awards ceremony in the United Kingdom. They are presented annually for outstanding achievements in London Theatre, and are organised by the ''Evening Standa ...

(2005), the

Critics' Circle Theatre Award The Critics' Circle Theatre Awards, known as the Drama Theatre Awards until 1990, are British theatrical awards presented annually for the closing year's theatrical achievements. The winners, from theatre throughout the United Kingdom, are selec ...

(2005), the Theatre Goers' Choice Award (2005), and the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Musical (2006), all for best British Musical. Lomas gained a place at the Millennium dance and drama school in London, where he began his studies from September 2006 onwards. He also starred in the short film ''King Ponce'', which debuted at the

2007 Cannes Film Festival The 60th Cannes Film Festival was held from 16 to 27 May 2007. British filmmaker Stephen Frears served as jury president for the main competition. Romanian filmmaker Cristian Mungiu won the Palme d'Or for the drama film ''4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 ...

, and featured in an episode of ''Super Sweet 16 UK'' as a dance partner for the party. After leaving drama school Lomas appeared in ''Dirty Dancing'', as a swing and understudy for Jordan, toured with ''

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' is a sung-through musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice, based on the character of Joseph from the Bible's Book of Genesis. This was the first Lloyd Webber and Rice ...

'' understudying Joseph and played ''

Espresso Espresso (, ) is a concentrated form of coffee produced by forcing hot water under high pressure through finely ground coffee beans. Originating in Italy, espresso has become one of the most popular coffee-brewing methods worldwide. It is cha ...

'' in ''

Starlight Express '' Starlight Express'' is a 1984 musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. It tells the story of a young but obsolete steam engine, Rusty, who races in a championship against modern locomotives of diesel and el ...

'' in

Bochum Bochum (, ; ; ; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. With a population of 372,348 (April 2023), it is the sixth-largest city (after Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg) in North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous German federa ...

, Germany.

Current work

Lomas is one of the "100" on the

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

Saturday night television show ''All Together Now''. He is currently touring in the uk with The Ballroom Boys

References

External links

Life after Billy
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lomas, James 1990 births English male stage actors English male ballet dancers Living people Laurence Olivier Award winners Male actors from Sheffield

Early life and education

Acting career

Current work

See also

References

External links