Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre's Kara Oates Cast In Broadway's BILLY ELLIOT

Kara Oates' dream is coming true.

The 10-year-old fifth grade student at Center Grove Elementary, who performed the title role in Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre's production of Annie this summer, will soon be performing on Broadway.

Kara will be one of the 12 ballerina girls in Billy Elliot, the musical about a the son of a coal miner. The boy dreams of becoming a ballet dancer, even though his father wants him to become a boxer.

The role is appropriate. Kara started her performing career as a dancer, having competed for eight years of her young life. She was a PowerPak dancer at Disney World in 2005, 2006 ,2007 and 2008, and was Regional Mascot Dancer of the Year in 2006. She received a Fusion dance scholarship in 2007 and a NUVO dance scholarship in 2008.

Her career in theatre, however, began just two years ago. She performed in several regional shows before gaining her first professional role: Marta Von Trapp in Beef & Boards' 2008 season production of The Sound of Music. Then, earlier this year, she performed the title role in Beef & Boards' production of Annie.

"I want to perform on Broadway someday," she said at the time.

Little did she know that, by the end of the year, her dream would come true.

Through a connection made at Beef & Boards, Kara secured an agent and traveled with her mother to New York City in July to audition for the 2009 Tony Award winning Best Musical, Billy Elliot. She estimates there were a few hundred girls at the initial audition.

First narrowing the field by dancing skills, Kara made it through several callbacks before being asked to sing as one of the final four last week. Appropriately, she'd auditioned with the song "You're Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile" from Annie.

This week they got the call - and soon Kara will be smiling all the way to Broadway.

"(That night) I had a dream about being on Broadway and learning the show - so I was excited," she said.

Billy Elliot, with music written by Sir Elton John, won 10 Tony Awards earlier this year, including Best Musical.

Details are still being worked out for her Broadway debut, but Kara's fans who want to see her before she leaves for the Big Apple may have the opportunity to do so this coming holiday season. If she is not yet required to be in New York, Kara is scheduled to return to the Beef & Boards stage for A Beef & Boards Christmas 2009. The show opens the day after Thanksgiving, Nov. 27, and continues through New Year's Eve.