Samantha

Slaire Cutler

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Suzanne Chessler
Contributing Writer

S

amantha Blaire Cutler has
learned that understudies can
get a good break every once
in a while.
Samantha, 11, touring with Billy
Elliot the Musical, was the understudy
for the role of Debbie — and two
other roles — before she was chosen
to appear as the dance student who
has a crush on the title character.
"I love this show because it's about
dancing, and I love to dance says
Samantha during a phone interview
from the road.
"I also like the musical because it
has an inspiring story."
Billy Elliot, set in a northern English
mining town during the violent 1984
strike against the Margaret Thatcher
closure of British coal mines, runs
Sept. 4-16 at the Fisher Theatre. It
celebrates one boy's experien)ces as he
moves from forced interest in boxing
to a passion for dance.
The play, winning 10 Tony Awards
including Best Musical and based on
the 2000 British film, features music
by Elton John with book and lyrics
by Lee Hall, who also wrote the film's
screenplay. Direction is by Stephen
Daldry, and choreography is by Peter
Darling.
"I appear throughout the play," says
Samantha, who soon will be a sixth-
grader doing academic studies at the
direction of two company tutors. "I'm
in three big dance numbers, and I also
do singing."
Samantha first asked for dance les-
sons when she was 2 years old and
living in Louisville, Ky., where she
watched dance exercises done by her
mom, oral surgeon Dr. Kim Goldman,
and her grandmother, a community
theater performer.
After starting classes at 3, Samantha

soon sought singing and acting les-
sons. She gained experience through
recitals and regional productions,
portraying Molly in Annie, JoJo in
Seussical, Susan Waverly in White
Christmas and Chip in Beauty and the

Beast.
When Billy Elliot auditions were
being held in New York, she felt ready.
"I kept getting called back," says
Samantha, whose mother, now
divorced, closed her surgery practice
to travel with her daughter and can
recall going to New York for a year to
try to build her own stage career.
"The interest in performing always
has come from Samantha, and I think
it's wonderful," says Goldman.
"I raised Samantha so she would
know Jewish culture, but we were not
very observant. I worked on the reli-
gious holidays and so does she"
As the two travel from city to city,
they like to take in the sights and do
some shopping.
Samantha, who plans on studying
musical theater in college with a goal
of working on Broadway, describes
her character as sometimes being
"snooty"; Debbie, the dance teacher's
daughter, only is in dance class
because of her crush.
While Samantha says she can be a
bit snooty herself, her mom takes issue
with that.
"Samantha is really a good kid,"
Goldman says. "I think she only gets a
bit snooty with me, but daughters can
be that way" El

Billy Elliot the Musical runs
Sept. 4-16 at the Fisher Theatre
in Detroit. Performances are
at 8 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays,
2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays
and 7:30 p.m. Sundays. $39-
$89. (313) 872-1000; www.
BroadwayinDetroit.com .

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