'Billy Elliot' star recalls Broadway experience

Being a teenager is difficult for anyone, so being the 14-year-old star of a three-hour, Tony Award-winning Broadway musical is a daunting task, to say the least.

Wantagh's Trent Kowalik, an alumnus of Dorothy's School of Dance in Bellmore, is reaching the end of a two-year ride in the London and Broadway productions of "Billy Elliot the Musical," and has grown up a great deal while perfecting the title role.

"Everything's changed immensely since the show started," Kowalik said before a recent performance. "I mean, I'm not going to school anymore in Wantagh. Obviously, my whole life is doing 'Billy.'"

According to Kowalik, a life doing 'Billy' consists of waking up early, being tutored and taking a class to hone his talents in drama or ballet. Kowalik lives in an apartment in the city during his work week and returns to his home in Wantagh each Monday –– his only day off. On a typical show day, he heads to the Imperial Theatre after being tutored ("Math is my favorite subject," he said), and pumps himself up by listening to "pop, punk, rap or basically anything."

"Strangely enough, most of the kids in the show don't actually put much makeup on at all," he said with a laugh. "They can make up for it with the lighting now because the lighting is so good, so we don't really need to wear any makeup." He remembered hearing from kids in "Shrek the Musical" that it would take them more than an hour to do makeup and hair. "For us, it only takes five minutes," he said.

When prompted to reveal some of the show's backstage secrets, Kowalik was stumped for a few moments. "The amount of people backstage is actually more than the amount of people onstage," he said. "There's tons of things going on back there." And those enormous dancing dresses that steal the show during the song "Expressing Yourself"? "A lot of people don't know that they actually go over the actors' and actresses' heads," he explained, "so the costumes come down from the top of the ceiling and go right over the dancers."

Most people might think that Kowalik would be ready to spend time with friends or simply play video games when the curtain drops. But the work doesn't stop there. When he's not giving a stage tour, he can be found signing autographs at the stage door. "I actually find a lot of times I'm more energized after a show," he said. "The show gives you a lot of adrenaline and it pumps you up. Physically, I'll be more tired, but mentally I'll be more pumped up." Eventually, after he eats a big meal and chats with his mom and three older sisters, he heads to bed.

Kowalik was surprisingly unruffled when asked what it's like to be a Tony Award winner. Although he said the honor hasn't changed the experience of being on Broadway, it was clear that he takes pride in the work that he puts into his performance. "It's amazing to know that I've accomplished that much, but I think the experience hasn't changed completely because of the award," he said, his voice cracking slightly. "I think it probably has determined me to work even harder." Kowalik said he has no regrets about his work on "Billy Elliot," but he admitted that he has had challenges to overcome. "I've had to give up a lot," he said. "It's hard because we're constantly working, and there's not much time to be a kid. You can't always have time off to see your friends."

Despite the Tony statuette sitting on his bedroom dresser in Wantagh, Kowalik is quite the normal kid. "I love playing video games, reading, playing basketball a lot, running –– I like lots of athletic stuff like that," he said. "My favorite books are probably the Harry Potter books."

The near future will bring a greater degree of normalcy, as he plans to finish the academic year at a regular school while auditioning for new roles. Kowalik was quick to say that he knows what he wants to be when he grows up. "I definitely want to be an actor," he said. "Television, movies, theater, it doesn't matter."

Comments about this story? SBrinton@ liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 203.