Exhausted Billys delay Elliot shows

The pressure on the child actors starring in Billy Elliott the Musical has left the youngsters exhausted, according to the show's director.

So worried is Stephen Daldry he has postponed the previews of the West End show fearing the boys could be exposed to 'physical danger' by the punishing schedule.

Mr Daldry said: "My main concern is for the kids. They are getting very tired during the technical rehearsal period, so I'm rescheduling the previews to give them a bit more time to get used to the show.

"If they get too exhausted it could be physically dangerous."

Billy Elliot, the eagerly anticipated £5m musical, with songs written by Sir Elton John, should have begun previewing from 24 March.

Instead the previews have been put back to an unknown date because of the pressures faced by the three boys who rotate the lead role.

The musical, which will be showing at the Victoria Palace Theatre from 11 May, is about a boy who discovers a talent for dance while his community collapses during the miners' strike.

Each performance with each lead actor has a different set of child support actors, making for a cast of 60 children in total. But it has been the intense process of training up three Billy Elliots that has caused concern for the musical's producers.

After an audition process that took the best part of a year George Maguire, Liam Mower and James Lomas were finally selected for the part. The role requires them to become competent in ballet, tap and modern dance. Routines include the terrifying stunt of running up a wall and doing a somersault before landing safely.

As child performers, the boys are governed by strict rules. They work from 9.30am to 6pm and have to have breaks every 90 minutes with an hour at lunchtime. But they must also do 15 hours of schooling a week. One of the boys sits GCSEs next May, another has Sats exams.

There has also been the added pressure for the three children cast - of following in the well-trodden footsteps of Jamie Bell whose star turn in the film version set the benchmark.

Daldry admitted the three children were taking on a challenge similar to an adult actor playing Hamlet.