Leon Cooke
Encyclopedia
Leon Dominic Cooke is an English stage actor, singer, dancer and all round musical performer.
, born in Stoke-on-Trent
, Staffordshire and has 7 siblings (Tara, Zena, Cassandra, Damian, Anastasia, Valentina and Dmitri) all of whom have danced or still do including his mother Joy and father Michael. Leon started training at The Marilyn Jones Dance Centre at the age of 2, encouraged by his father who is a dance teacher, where he learnt ballet, tap, gymnastics, theatrecraft, song and dance and streetdance.
He has now graduated from Millennium Performing Arts, where his sister, Anastasia, is studying in her 3rd year.
/ Rebel Leader cover, WE WILL ROCK YOU
- 2nd UK National/ European Tour
2009, Mr Mistoffelees, CATS
- Channel Islands,
2009, Tadzio, DEATH IN VENICE
, English National Opera - Belgium & Luxembourg,
2005-2007, Billy Elliot, BILLY ELLIOT THE MUSICAL
- West End,
2003-2004, John Darling, PETER PAN
.
2003, KING & I
– UK National Tour
2002-2003, ALADDIN
.
2002, TOSCA
- UK National Tour
2001, THE NUTCRACKER
, Birmingham Royal Ballet - Birmingham Hippodrome.
1999, THE NUTCRACKER
, Birmingham Royal Ballet - Birmingham Hippodrome.
alongside original Billys James Lomas
, George Maguire
and Liam Mower
. He joined the musical on 19 September 2005 replacing James Lomas after he emerged from the Billy Elliot Academy where he started rehearsals in February. He was originally paired with Joey Phillips, who played the role of Michael Caffrey, Billy's best friend.
During his time as Billy Elliot, BBC
's Blue Peter
followed and filmed him for a whole day on 18 November 2005, and aired on 9 December 2005. He performed in front of many celebrities including Michael Jackson
in November 2005.
Cooke left the cast of Billy Elliot on 7 July 2007. He was joined on stage on his official final night (2 June) by other past, present and future Billy Elliots: James Lomas, Corey Snide, Liam Mower, Travis Yates, Layton Williams and Oliver Taylor who all danced to a scene from Expressing Yourself (a number from the show) after the curtain call.
Upon leaving Billy Elliot the Musical, Cooke has become the UK's longest running Billy Elliot to date, after completing 21 months - 200 shows as Billy. He has also stood in for the roles of Small Boy, Tall Boy/Thomas and Michael during his time in the musical.
In March 2010, Leon along with another 19 of the 22 boys to take on the role of 'Billy' in the UK production of the show, returned to the stage of the Victoria Palace Theatre, to take part in a specially choreographed finale to celebrate the 5th Anniversary of the show opening in the West End.
He was a Junior and Mid-Associate with the Royal Ballet where he trained regularly in Birmingham and appeared twice in the Birmingham Royal Ballet
's production of The Nutcracker
, and was nominated for the IDTA, Ken Dodd
Tap Award. His ambition is to be as good as Mikhail Baryshnikov
and Angel Corella
from The American Ballet Theatre. Other credits include appearing with the National Tour of Tosca
, the National Tour of the The King and I
and taking lead roles in local pantomimes.
Cooke has appeared on Blue Peter
, Ready Steady Cook
(against friend George Maguire who also played Billy Elliot) and has presented awards at the British Book Awards, hosted by Richard and Judy
and the National Dance Awards alongside Angela Rippon
and Carlos Acosta
.
He has also appeared on the Paul O'Grady Show (with Sir Elton John
and fellow Billy Elliot, Liam Mower and Travis Yates) Musicools, Any Dream Will Do
where he performed in front of presenter Graham Norton
, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber
, Bill Kenwright
, John Barrowman
, Denise Van Outen
and Zoe Tyler
and Happy Birthday BAFTA introduced by Halle Berry
.
He also took part in an indent commercial for Disney
He appeared as Tadzio with the English National Opera
's production of Death in Venice
at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels
and two gala shows at the Grande Théâtre de la Ville, in Luxembourg
Between December 2008 and February 2009.
Cooke has just graduated from Millennium Performing Arts where he studied on a 3 year musical theatre course and picked up awards for his 1st, 2nd and 3rd year. He and his sister Anastasia, who is now currently in her 3rd year, both won full scholarships to attend the school.
Leon appeared in Andrew Lloyd Webber
's musical Cats
as Quaxo / Mr. Mistoffelees
in Jersey (Fort Regent) and Guernsey (Beau Sejour) in 2009.
He choreographed for the Songtime Theatre Arts
'Billy Youth Theatre' production at the Richmond Theatre
this year and is now in the U.K's second tour of We Will Rock You
directed by Ben Elton
, with Queen's
Brian May
and Roger Taylor
as music supervisors and Arlene Phillips
overseeing the musical staging and choreography.
Leon is also very proud to be half-Irish after discovering many 'new' relatives who live over in Ireland, due to his dad finding out that he has 7 sisters and 1 brother he never knew about until 2007.
Early life
Leon Cooke hails from Newcastle-under-LymeNewcastle-under-Lyme
Newcastle-under-Lyme is a market town in Staffordshire, England, and is the principal town of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme. It is part of The Potteries Urban Area and North Staffordshire. In the 2001 census the town had a population of 73,944...
, born in Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent , also called The Potteries is a city in Staffordshire, England, which forms a linear conurbation almost 12 miles long, with an area of . Together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke forms The Potteries Urban Area...
, Staffordshire and has 7 siblings (Tara, Zena, Cassandra, Damian, Anastasia, Valentina and Dmitri) all of whom have danced or still do including his mother Joy and father Michael. Leon started training at The Marilyn Jones Dance Centre at the age of 2, encouraged by his father who is a dance teacher, where he learnt ballet, tap, gymnastics, theatrecraft, song and dance and streetdance.
He has now graduated from Millennium Performing Arts, where his sister, Anastasia, is studying in her 3rd year.
Theatre credits
2010–2012, Cliff RichardCliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....
/ Rebel Leader cover, WE WILL ROCK YOU
We Will Rock You (musical)
We Will Rock You is a jukebox musical, based on the songs of Queen and named after their hit single of the same name. The musical was written by British comedian and author Ben Elton in collaboration with Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor...
- 2nd UK National/ European Tour
2009, Mr Mistoffelees, CATS
Cats (musical)
Cats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot...
- Channel Islands,
2009, Tadzio, DEATH IN VENICE
Death in Venice
The novella Death in Venice was written by the German author Thomas Mann, and was first published in 1913 as Der Tod in Venedig. The plot of the work presents a great writer suffering writer's block who visits Venice and is liberated and uplifted, then increasingly obsessed, by the sight of a...
, English National Opera - Belgium & Luxembourg,
2005-2007, Billy Elliot, BILLY ELLIOT THE MUSICAL
Billy Elliot the Musical
Billy Elliot the Musical is a musical based on the 2000 film Billy Elliot. The music is by Sir Elton John, and book and lyrics are by Lee Hall, who wrote the film's screenplay. The plot revolves around motherless Billy, who trades boxing gloves for ballet shoes...
- West End,
2003-2004, John Darling, PETER PAN
Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie . A mischievous boy who can fly and magically refuses to grow up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood adventuring on the small island of Neverland as the leader of his gang the Lost Boys, interacting with...
.
2003, KING & I
The King and I
The King and I is a stage musical, the fifth by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The work is based on the 1944 novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon and derives from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, who became governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in...
– UK National Tour
2002-2003, ALADDIN
Aladdin
Aladdin is a Middle Eastern folk tale. It is one of the tales in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights , and one of the most famous, although it was actually added to the collection by Antoine Galland ....
.
2002, TOSCA
Tosca
Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900...
- UK National Tour
2001, THE NUTCRACKER
The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". It was given its première at the Mariinsky Theatre in St...
, Birmingham Royal Ballet - Birmingham Hippodrome.
1999, THE NUTCRACKER
The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". It was given its première at the Mariinsky Theatre in St...
, Birmingham Royal Ballet - Birmingham Hippodrome.
Billy Elliot the Musical
Cooke was cast as Billy Elliot in Billy Elliot the MusicalBilly Elliot the Musical
Billy Elliot the Musical is a musical based on the 2000 film Billy Elliot. The music is by Sir Elton John, and book and lyrics are by Lee Hall, who wrote the film's screenplay. The plot revolves around motherless Billy, who trades boxing gloves for ballet shoes...
alongside original Billys James Lomas
James Lomas
James Jacob-Lomas is a British Olivier Award-winning actor best known for his role as Billy Elliot in Billy Elliot the Musical....
, George Maguire
George Maguire
George Maguire may refer to:*George Maguire , British*George Maguire , Irish-American...
and Liam Mower
Liam Mower
Liam Mower is an English actor and dancer. Best known for his talent for ballet, he was one of the three boys who shared the lead role in the original London cast of Billy Elliot the Musical. He is also the youngest person ever to win a Laurence Olivier Award.-Early years:Liam is from Kingston...
. He joined the musical on 19 September 2005 replacing James Lomas after he emerged from the Billy Elliot Academy where he started rehearsals in February. He was originally paired with Joey Phillips, who played the role of Michael Caffrey, Billy's best friend.
During his time as Billy Elliot, BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's Blue Peter
Blue Peter
Blue Peter is the world's longest-running children's television show, having first aired in 1958. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC channel. During its history there have been many presenters, often consisting of two women and two men at a time...
followed and filmed him for a whole day on 18 November 2005, and aired on 9 December 2005. He performed in front of many celebrities including Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
in November 2005.
Cooke left the cast of Billy Elliot on 7 July 2007. He was joined on stage on his official final night (2 June) by other past, present and future Billy Elliots: James Lomas, Corey Snide, Liam Mower, Travis Yates, Layton Williams and Oliver Taylor who all danced to a scene from Expressing Yourself (a number from the show) after the curtain call.
Upon leaving Billy Elliot the Musical, Cooke has become the UK's longest running Billy Elliot to date, after completing 21 months - 200 shows as Billy. He has also stood in for the roles of Small Boy, Tall Boy/Thomas and Michael during his time in the musical.
In March 2010, Leon along with another 19 of the 22 boys to take on the role of 'Billy' in the UK production of the show, returned to the stage of the Victoria Palace Theatre, to take part in a specially choreographed finale to celebrate the 5th Anniversary of the show opening in the West End.
Career and television appearance
Cooke started dancing at the age of two at The Marilyn Jones Dance Centre.He was a Junior and Mid-Associate with the Royal Ballet where he trained regularly in Birmingham and appeared twice in the Birmingham Royal Ballet
Birmingham Royal Ballet
Birmingham Royal Ballet is one of the three major ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside the Royal Ballet and the English National Ballet....
's production of The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". It was given its première at the Mariinsky Theatre in St...
, and was nominated for the IDTA, Ken Dodd
Ken Dodd
Kenneth Arthur Dodd OBE is a British comedian and singer songwriter, famous for his frizzy hair or “fluff dom” and buck teeth or “denchers”, his favourite cleaner, the feather duster and his greeting "How tickled I am!", as well as his send-off “Lots and Lots of Happiness!”...
Tap Award. His ambition is to be as good as Mikhail Baryshnikov
Mikhail Baryshnikov
Mikhail Nikolaevich Baryshnikov is a Soviet and American dancer, choreographer, and actor, often cited alongside Vaslav Nijinsky and Rudolf Nureyev as one of the greatest ballet dancers of the 20th century. After a promising start in the Kirov Ballet in Leningrad, he defected to Canada in 1974...
and Angel Corella
Angel Corella
Ángel Corella is a Spanish dancer, currently the Artistic Director and principal dancer of Corella Ballet Castilla Y León as well as principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre...
from The American Ballet Theatre. Other credits include appearing with the National Tour of Tosca
Tosca
Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900...
, the National Tour of the The King and I
The King and I
The King and I is a stage musical, the fifth by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The work is based on the 1944 novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon and derives from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, who became governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in...
and taking lead roles in local pantomimes.
Cooke has appeared on Blue Peter
Blue Peter
Blue Peter is the world's longest-running children's television show, having first aired in 1958. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC channel. During its history there have been many presenters, often consisting of two women and two men at a time...
, Ready Steady Cook
Ready Steady Cook
Ready Steady Cook was a BBC daytime TV cooking programme it first debuted on 24 October 1994 and the last edition was broadcast on the 2 February 2010. The programme was hosted by Fern Britton from 1994 until 2000 when celebrity chef Ainsley Harriott became the new host...
(against friend George Maguire who also played Billy Elliot) and has presented awards at the British Book Awards, hosted by Richard and Judy
Richard and Judy
Richard and Judy is the name informally given to Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan, a married couple who are both British television presenters and columnists. Since their marriage, their television appearances have been largely made as a couple. They are best known for presenting This Morning and...
and the National Dance Awards alongside Angela Rippon
Angela Rippon
Angela M. Rippon, OBE, born 12 October 1944, Plymouth, Devon, England, is an English television journalist, newsreader, writer and presenter. Rippon presented radio and television news programmes in South West England before moving to BBC One's Nine O'Clock News, becoming a regular presenter in 1975...
and Carlos Acosta
Carlos Acosta
Carlos Acosta is a Cuban ballet dancer. He has danced with many companies including the English National Ballet, National Ballet of Cuba, Houston Ballet and American Ballet Theatre...
.
He has also appeared on the Paul O'Grady Show (with Sir Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
and fellow Billy Elliot, Liam Mower and Travis Yates) Musicools, Any Dream Will Do
Any Dream Will Do (TV series)
Any Dream Will Do, often known as 'Joseph', was a 2007 talent show-themed television series produced by the BBC in the United Kingdom. It searched for a new, unknown lead to play Joseph in a West End revival of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.The show...
where he performed in front of presenter Graham Norton
Graham Norton
Graham William Walker, known by his stage name Graham Norton , is an Irish actor, comedian, television presenter and columnist...
, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
, Bill Kenwright
Bill Kenwright
Bill Kenwright CBE is a leading West End theatre producer and film producer.He is also the Chairman of Everton Football Club, an English professional football club from the city of Liverpool....
, John Barrowman
John Barrowman
John Scot Barrowman is a Scottish-American singer, actor, dancer, musical theatre performer and media personality. Born in Glasgow yet growing up in Illinois after his family emigrated to the United States when he was eight years old, Barrowman was encouraged to further his love for music and...
, Denise Van Outen
Denise van Outen
Denise van Outen is an English actress, singer and television presenter. Her most notable roles to date are as a presenter on The Big Breakfast, and as Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago on both the West End and on Broadway.- Early life :Born Denise Kathleen Outen in Basildon, Essex, she is the...
and Zoe Tyler
Zoe Tyler
Zoë Tyler, is an English voice coach, cruise ship singer, performer and reality television show judge. She is also a soloist with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.-Early career:...
and Happy Birthday BAFTA introduced by Halle Berry
Halle Berry
Halle Berry is an American actress and a former fashion model. Berry received an Emmy, Golden Globe, SAG, and an NAACP Image Award for Introducing Dorothy Dandridge and won an Academy Award for Best Actress and was nominated for a BAFTA Award in 2001 for her performance in Monster's Ball, becoming...
.
He also took part in an indent commercial for Disney
He appeared as Tadzio with the English National Opera
English National Opera
English National Opera is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St. Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden...
's production of Death in Venice
Death in Venice
The novella Death in Venice was written by the German author Thomas Mann, and was first published in 1913 as Der Tod in Venedig. The plot of the work presents a great writer suffering writer's block who visits Venice and is liberated and uplifted, then increasingly obsessed, by the sight of a...
at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
and two gala shows at the Grande Théâtre de la Ville, in Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
Between December 2008 and February 2009.
Cooke has just graduated from Millennium Performing Arts where he studied on a 3 year musical theatre course and picked up awards for his 1st, 2nd and 3rd year. He and his sister Anastasia, who is now currently in her 3rd year, both won full scholarships to attend the school.
Leon appeared in Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
's musical Cats
Cats (musical)
Cats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot...
as Quaxo / Mr. Mistoffelees
Mr. Mistoffelees
Mr. Mistoffelees is a character in T. S. Eliot's poetry book Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats and its stage adaptation, Andrew Lloyd Webber's popular musical Cats. He is an important primary character, and one of the most popular of the show...
in Jersey (Fort Regent) and Guernsey (Beau Sejour) in 2009.
He choreographed for the Songtime Theatre Arts
Songtime Theatre Arts
Songtime Theatre Arts is a professional part time theatre arts school, operating primarily in the United Kingdom, with branches in the USA. Training is offered in singing, dancing and acting.-vanessa awards:...
'Billy Youth Theatre' production at the Richmond Theatre
Richmond Theatre
The present Richmond Theatre, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is a British Victorian theatre located on Little Green, adjacent to Richmond Green. It opened on 18 September 1899 with a performance of As You Like It, and is one of the finest surviving examples of the work of theatre...
this year and is now in the U.K's second tour of We Will Rock You
We Will Rock You (musical)
We Will Rock You is a jukebox musical, based on the songs of Queen and named after their hit single of the same name. The musical was written by British comedian and author Ben Elton in collaboration with Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor...
directed by Ben Elton
Ben Elton
Benjamin Charles "Ben" Elton is an English comedian, author, playwright and director. He was a leading figure in the British alternative comedy movement of the 1980s, as a writer on such cult series as The Young Ones and Blackadder, as well as also a successful stand-up comedian on stage and TV....
, with Queen's
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
Brian May
Brian May
Brian Harold May, CBE is an English musician and astrophysicist most widely known as the guitarist and a songwriter of the rock band Queen...
and Roger Taylor
Roger Meddows-Taylor
Roger Meddows Taylor , known as Roger Taylor, is a British musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the drummer, backing vocalist and occasional lead vocalist of British rock band Queen. As a drummer he is known for his "big" unique sound and is considered one of...
as music supervisors and Arlene Phillips
Arlene Phillips
Arlene Phillips OBE is an English choreographer, theatre director, talent scout, TV presenter, TV judge and former dancer, who has worked in many fields of entertainment...
overseeing the musical staging and choreography.
Trivia
Leon is also very proud to be half-Irish after discovering many 'new' relatives who live over in Ireland, due to his dad finding out that he has 7 sisters and 1 brother he never knew about until 2007.