The 20th Anniversary production of Jonathan Larson’s award-winning musical Rent comes to Tunbridge Wells from Tuesday 23rd May to Saturday 27th May and it brings with it a host of West End stars who have performed in Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, The Book of Mormon, Matilda, Ghost, The Bodyguard and Legally Blonde.
If those credits aren’t enough, the production also features the 2017 UK entry to the Eurovision Song Contest, Lucie Jones, and the man that I am lucky enough to get to talk to today. The original Young Michael Jackson in Thriller Live, and the very first black actor to play Billy Elliott on the West End stage, Layton Williams.
Layton, who has recently returned to the show following a break to undertake some surgery, will play Angel Schunard, a “Drag Queen” who holds a pivotal position within a group of bohemian artists who struggle to maintain their friendships and their non-conformist ideals in New York’s East Village. Facing their problems head on, they make personal self-discoveries and find what really matters most in life.
Today Layton tells me of his injury scare, his role in the show, his previous work and exactly how he manages to get himself into the positions you see in these photographs!
So Layton, you’ve recently been injured.
Oh yes, and it’s been so frustrating but, luckily, my recovery has been so much quicker than I thought it would
be and, although I completely missed our run in Eastbourne, I’m back and ready to hit Tunbridge Wells. It’s
not been ideal but these things happen and now I’m back – which is the really positive thing.
It must be every dancer’s nightmare to get injured.
Oh my gosh yes, it completely is. Especially when you are playing your dream role. To have it torn away from
you is horrible and, at the time, I didn’t know how serious it was, so I guess that I am very lucky that I can come
back because I really thought that I might never be able to do this show again.
Please tell me about your role in this, the 20th Anniversary, production of Rent.
Well the part I play is Angel and… what can I call her? Angel is a Drag Queen Extraordinaire. You get to
see Angel first as a boy, in the first scene, and then, after a while, he “swings” onto the stage in the full get-up
and it’s really funny because I’ve heard loads of stories of people in the interval asking, “Is that a boy or a girl?”
It is a totally fabulous role and I’m really enjoying it. I’m really lucky with my character as, amongst all the drama that happens in the show, Angel is always looking for the positive things and tries to bring some light to any situation and always has something to smile about. She’s a character that can make the audience laugh, even when they want to cry.
Angel is like the “heart” of the story and so, if the audience don’t get behind Angel, then there is something going wrong. At the end of act two, when all the friendships are falling apart and everyone is fighting with each other they realise that what they really need is for Angel to bring everyone together so, even at the end of the finale I try to make everyone laugh.
What other shows have you done before Rent?
Just before Rent I was in the UK national tour of Hairspray, but my career started way back when I was 12. I was cast to play Billy in Billy Elliott at the Victoria Palace and, after that, I went on to work with Sir Matthew Bourne. I’ve been really lucky to have done all different types of work and I’m hoping to keep that variety going. People often ask me what sort of roles I prefer and, to be honest, I like to have my fingers in all the pies.
Now that I’m 22 I have finally got to the stage when I look in the mirror and, actually, I don’t look like a kid any more. That’s a positive thing I guess, because I’m slowly making the transition into adulthood, on stage. Angel is the first time I’ve played a proper adult. I’ve played kids, and teenagers, but this is my first time as an actual adult.
As the national tour of Rent finishes with your run in the Assembly Hall Theatre in Tunbridge Wells, what’s next for you?
You know I don’t really like to think about what’s next until this tour is over. I’d quite like to have the summer to myself, to relax and see some friends because, when you are on the road every week, you don’t get to do too much of that, unless they are touring with you.
I don’t say things out loud or discuss “things in the pipeline”. I’ll just wait and see and, hopefully, whatever it is will be something really fab because, after playing Angel, I don’t know how I can beat this. That’s the only scary thing. May is here and Tunbridge Wells is getting closer and it’s going to be really sad because this is probably one of the most incredible roles that I have played in my life and it might take a while before I make my next choices – but I do know that it should be different, because that’s what I like.
I need to ask one more question, as I have seen the production shots of you in action in Rent. How on earth do you get your legs so high when you dance?
You know what, I was really not flexible as a child. I used to try to stretch and stretch and stretch and it got to the point when I thought, “If I don’t do this for myself, and actually commit to this and make it happen, it never will” and so I just started working through the pain. Slowly but surely, I was able to kick higher and higher but now, two knee operations later, it’s not as easy as it might look!
And will Lucie Jones still be with you in Tunbridge Wells, as that’s after Eurovision?
Oh yes, of course she will be. She will do Eurovision and, right after, she’ll be back. She’s very lucky in that she’s been able to work on that alongside this. She’s a real trooper. She will go, she will represent us and give it her all and then she’ll be back to finish off the tour of Rent.
Jonathan Larson’s musical, inspired by Puccini’s opera La Bohème, appears at the Assembly Hall Theatre from Tuesday 23rd May until Saturday 27th May with evening performances on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 7.30pm, an 8.30pm performance on Friday and matinees on Wednesday and Saturday at 2.30pm and Friday at 5.30pm. Tickets are available online at www.assemblyhalltheatre.co.uk or in person at The Gateway, (open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm or alternatively at the Assembly Hall Theatre counter on Saturdays from 12pm to 5pm.
