Biography
Alex Ko is an American actor, director, and screenwriter. In 2009, he landed the title role in the Broadway production of Billy Elliot the Musical.
Age
He is 28 years old as of 3 February 202. He was born in 1996 in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. His real name is Nicholas Alexander Ko.
Family – Education
Ko is the middle of three children. He was born and reared in Iowa City, IA. Cheukman Sam Ko, Ko’s father, was born in Hong Kong and worked professionally on projects such as Shanghai Surprise and The Protector (1985 film). Ko’s father became an entrepreneur after moving to the United States in 1992, and he died of cancer when Alex was 11 years old.
Tammie Cumming, his mother, was reared in DeLand, Florida, after being born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Ko moved to New York City with his family when he was 13 years old to play the titular role of Billy in “Billy Elliot the Musical” on Broadway. Ko stated that his household is greatly impacted by Chinese culture.
He was the youngest student admitted to The University of Iowa’s Department of Dance, where he received college credit and maintained a 4.0 grade point average. Ko was accepted to The University of Iowa in Iowa City under Iowa’s Talented and Gifted statute after completing primary school at the age of 12. He also participated in the Iowa City Home School Assistance Program.
Ko continued his dance education at the American Ballet Theatre’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School (ballet) Pre-Professional Division. Ko went to the Professional Children’s School in New York City for high school before attending the American University of Paris and graduating with honors.
Net Worth
He has an estimated net worth of $2 million.
Height
He stand at a height of 5 feet 10½ inches (1.79 m).
Billy Elliot the Musical
In 2009, he was chosen for the Broadway production of Billy Elliot as the title character. A stage musical about coming of age, Billy Elliot: The Musical is based on the 2000 movie of the same name. Screenwriter Lee Hall authored the book and lyrics, while Elton John composed the music. Billy, a British youngster without a mother, is the main character of the story.
He starts attending ballet classes. His personal journey of hardship and triumph is juxtaposed with a counternarrative of familial and communal turmoil stemming from the 1984–1985 UK miners’ strike in County Durham, North East England. The Stars Look Down, a 1935 novel by A. J. Cronin about a miners’ strike, served as inspiration for much of Hall’s screenplay and is honored in the musical’s opening number.
Five years after its 2005 West End debut at the Victoria Palace Theatre in London, the musical received four Laurence Olivier Award nominations, including Best New Musical. The show was in progress till April of 2016. Because of its popularity, it was produced in Australia, on Broadway, and in many other nations. It took home ten Tony Awards and ten Drama Desk Awards in New York, including Best Musical in each case. In Australia, it has also received multiple honors, including a record-tying seven Helpmann Awards.On November 24, 2014, in the UK, a live recording of the musical was made available on DVD and Blu-ray.
Career
As Kiril Kulish’s first substitute as Billy in the Broadway musical Billy Elliot the Musical, Ko portrayed the title role. It was during a week-long course at Steps on Broadway in the summer of 2008 when Ko was found. In 2009, he and his family moved from Iowa to New York City. On October 6, 2009, Alex made his Broadway debut. On May 15, 2011, he gave his last performance as Billy.
Ko appeared in a cameo during Sugarland’s October 2010 Unstaged concert in NYC, which was broadcasted. In November 2010 on NBC and February 2011 on Hallmark Channel, he made his debut on national television. He did so as a guest artist on NBC’s production of Shall We Dance On Ice? accompanied by a duet with Broadway artist Cody Green and a solo performance.
In June 2012, Ko made another cameo appearance on ABC Family’s Bunheads, which was directed by Kenny Ortega.Ko moved to Paris when he was eighteen years old, and since then, he has written, produced, and directed short films, such as Ça va (2016) and The Duck (2018). The Duck made its festival debut in 2019 at the Arizona International Film Festival and was screened in July at the Motovun Film Festival.
Ko, along with the four other boys—Jacob Clemente, Michael Dameski, Liam Redhead, and Dayton Tavares—were given a Broadway Beacon award on June 17, 2010, for their performances in the titular role of “Billy” in Billy Elliot the Musical.
Ko was a distinguished guest at a White House reception hosted by President Barack Obama on May 28, 2013, to celebrate the achievements of Asian Americans in the arts. The Yellow Dress, a short film by Ko, took up the Narrative Short Audience Award at the 2020 Austin Film Festival (AFF).