By SARI ZEIDLER
Trent shares the role of Billy -- and the award -- with two other young talents, David Alvarez and Kiril Kulish.
"He started at my school at age 3," Dorothy Medico, owner of Dorothy's School of Dance, said of Trent, who is now 14. Even at a young age, she said, she could see "a special quality in his flexibility and fierceness," and described the ascent of her star pupil as a journey that brought together her family and his.
"We're one big family now," Medico said as she rode the Long Island Rail Road eastbound from Manhattan to her Long Island home the day after the Tonys. After spending the weekend at the apartment that the family keeps so the young dancer has a place to stay near the theater where he performs, Medico was headed back to talk to members of the media about Trent's big night, but planned on returning to the city to celebrate with the Kowaliks.
"He's just a focused young man, and he's still such a normal kid," she said. "None of this has gone to his head."
Trent first played the talented son of a coal miner in a London production of the play, which is based on the popular movie released in 2000 and features music written by Elton John. He was eventually tapped to share the lead on Broadway.
"Billy Elliot" took home 10 Tonys, including the award for Best Musical.
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