Bronté is currently playing the role of Katherine Plumber in the London premiere production of Newsies at the Troubadour Theatre in Wembley.
Bronté’s work in theatre includes 'Kathy' in Kathy & Stella Solve a Murder (Edinburgh Festival), 'Mary' in What's New Pussycat' (Birmingham Rep), ‘Ado Annie’ in Oklahoma at Chichester, starring as ‘Carole King’ in the first UK tour of the musical Beautiful, ’Jane’ in the concert version of Girlfriends at the Bishopsgate Institute, ‘Nadine' in Drew McOnie’s production of The Wild Party at The Other Palace, ‘Little Match Girl’ in Striking 12 at the Union Theatre, ‘Helen/Vinnie’ in The Donkey Show (Proud London) and ‘Princess Fiona’ in the UK tour of Shrek, and ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ before this. She started performing at a very young age in her hometown of Macclesfield. In 2010 she was selected as one of the final 10 in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s search for Dorothy - Over the Rainbow’. Following this, Bronté attended Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts where she gained the Gyearbuor Asante prize for Acting and graduated with first-class honours.
After finishing Mountview she made her professional debut as ‘Odette’ in Carnival of the Animals (Riverside Studios).
We caught up with Brontè about her time in Newsies!
You are currently playing Katherine in the long-awaited and now Olivier award-winning production of Newsies. Thinking back to when you got the audition, how did you feel about potentially playing this part when you were going through that process?
I saw Newsies on Broadway around 2014 / 15 and it was my first trip to New York - and I think it was the first musical that I watched there. I just remember being blown away and thinking ‘If that ever comes over, that is the Disney part that I want to do, she’s so strong and so interesting and I love to tap and it’s a period piece with such an important message’ so it was my dream show.
I remember I flew back to London from a different holiday and the audition came through. I was chuffed because I’d worked with Max and Jane before in Oklahoma and I’d heard they were going to be doing it but I’d been waiting for ages. I’d been asking my agent ‘please get me seen for it when it comes here!’ I’d heard people had gone in for the Newsies and I hadn’t gotten an audition through, so I was worried I wasn’t going to be seen!
It was amazing - they were so kind to me when I went in. I’d worked with Nigel Lilley before and they were super lovely. I actually took my dog to one of the auditions, which maybe was good luck? It was a lovely process and I got paired up with someone in the finals and then didn’t hear anything for 3 weeks, so I thought I hadn’t got it. Then I got called in for a chemistry read and it turned out to be with Michael! We met just before we went in and I instantly felt so comfortable with him and knew he was going to be fantastic. We had the best chemistry read I’ve ever had and I remember Matt the director saying that he didn’t have any notes for us because he enjoyed watching it so much. Me and Michael then went and got pudding together in Covent Garden and both really wanted to get it. Then we found out just a few hours later, so we were chuffed!
And please tell us about what happened when you got the part!
I got a phone call from my agent, and he tends to sing a song from the show when I get it. I couldn’t believe it, I remember crying a lot. I didn’t realise quite how much I wanted the role until that point but it was such a relief because there had been such a long time between the audition and the chemistry read. When I got the phone call, I was actually on the phone with my best friend and my agent called me so I put her on hold, thinking it would just be a quick call, so I was able to go straight back on the phone with her and she was over the moon for me. It was amazing to share that in real-time. Then I texted Michael saying ‘ Hi, today is a really good day, isn’t it?’ and he replied ‘yes, today is a really good day’, obviously trying to suss if each other had got it!
Tell us a little bit about your character, Katherine Plumber. I think she’s wonderful. She’s such an interesting character because it's 1899 and the turn of the century and women didn’t have a lot of power in many places, especially in the work environment, which is an interesting dynamic to play when we are so unaccustomed to that. We obviously still have the gender pay gap and everything going on in terms of women’s treatment in the workplace, but we’re very far removed from how it was then. So, I did a lot of research into what women were able to do then and I found it fascinating because obviously, Pulitzer is real. His daughter actually died in infancy, and that’s who the character is named after, so I found a few female writers who were pushing back against the male-led businesses at the time.
Our Katherine is very determined and very positive, which I think is an important thing. She’s serious about her work but she can be afforded happiness and joy, which is my favourite thing about her. I think what attracts Jack to her is her energy, so I love that about her. She doesn’t give up, she’s out to further her career but she has a good heart. She’s her father’s daughter in that she’s determined and can recognise a good story when she sees one but for so long she’s been trying to make her way in the world and she’s finally done it – and for a good cause. She’s got a strong moral compass, and I also think she’s dead fun.
Newsies was a huge hit on Broadway and the UK has been waiting for what seems a lifetime for it to arrive over! What has it been like to recreate the show in this new version for London audiences?
The show has been anticipated for so long and is so special to so many people so that felt like a huge responsibility - but I don’t think we could have anticipated the transformative nature of it for us. We knew it was going to be immersive but we could never anticipate how immersive and how phenomenal it is to play that space. It’s really special to do a new version of it – I think our version is quite gritty and raw and immediate because you’re right there with the audience, so it’s been super special because the creative team gave us so much creative license, even down to the costume, as I got to choose colour scheme wise. It’s been an amazing experience to build our version.
You’re performing the show at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre, a gorgeous innovative space. The show is performed in thrust, you must be in the swing of things now but how was it navigating the set-up with this huge show? It’s interesting to play here because it’s massive! I remember when we first walked in, we were blown away by the sheer scale of the set. In the rehearsal room, we couldn’t tell how it was going to be because we had 2 steps where there was going to be 20 steps up into the auditorium, for example. It’s been amazing and a hell of an adjustment. It’s so cool – I think Morgan’s set is absolutely phenomenal and it’s so filmic. Everybody tells me that. It’s so gorgeous to watch so I do feel very lucky. It’s quite amazing that wherever you stand in the space, you feel so in it, despite it being so big.
Originating a role is always on an actor's bucket list, how has it been having the chance to originate the role of Katherine for this new London production?
Originating a role (especially one in a Disney show, which usually has been done many times) has been quite ridiculous. It’s so nice to do interviews like this where you get reminded of how special an experience it is. Because we’re here doing it every day and sometimes it’s a challenge with multiple shows or when they’re back to back, you kind of lose sight of it being fresh and wonderful and new. It’s so incredibly special to be the first person to play her over here professionally. I feel incredibly lucky and I can’t believe that this is the first huge production I’ve done in London and I get to do it on a dream show!
What can people expect from this production of Newsies?
The sheer energy and complete commitment. The boys are phenomenal, the dancing is fantastic and I think you leave feeling so invigorated. It’s a very motivational show and every aspect is top-notch. Having so many people on stage after Covid, especially, blows people away. The resolution at the end is super feel-good, so come see us, it’s really good!
Since you shot into people’s living rooms in Over the Rainbow, the search for Dorothy for the London Palladium production of The Wizard of Oz, you’ve built up a really impressive CV. Thinking back to the girl who was fighting for the role of Dorothy, how do you think she would feel about how far you’ve come today? I haven’t actually spoken about Dorothy in ages so what a blast from the past. It’s amazing – this show feels like a very full circle moment because we filmed Over the Rainbow in this theatre when it was called Fountain Studios. Especially when I stand high up on the set, I think a lot, it’s been 13 years since we finished this month and I flew off on a moon up into the rafters. I was really young and I didn’t know what my life would hold and it felt a bit like my career was over before it had begun. But it was such an amazing experience and the people I met on the show have really shaped my career, especially casting directors, my agent etc that I got soon after that. I feel very proud and lucky to still be doing what I love. I think the main thing for me is that I’m now 10 years out of graduating from Mountview (as I went after Dorothy) and I haven’t done a long-running show in London until this one, so I feel proud of myself that I’m still going and that I still love it back as much as I did when I was that girl at 18, flying into the rafters not knowing what would come next, so I hope that will carry on!
Looking at your CV, you’ve had the chance to perform in such a vast variety of venues, from theatres up and down the country to fringe venues and places like The Other Palace and Proud London. What would you say has been your favourite place you’ve done a show in?
I have done quite a variety of different spaces, some not theatre venues, like bars, and last year I was in Paines Plough in a tent at the fringe (a very posh, high-tech tent theatre) but I don’t know if I really have a favourite venue. Last year, performing at the Royal Albert Hall was pretty ridiculous but I think for me, it’s always the piece and the people but I do feel really lucky with Newsies because the humans are phenomenal, absolutely amazing. I do love being at the fringe, I’d never done it before last year but the general energy there is like nothing else and it feels very much like everyone mucks in. It’s very much theatre for the art, which is lovely. Newsies and the other show that I’m working on, Cathy & Stella, couldn’t be more opposite, but I think what I find so special about this piece is the sheer scale of it. It draws you in and you feel so immersed in the world, so I’d definitely say it’s up there as one of my favourites!
Before Newsies you were up at the Edinburgh Fringe and also originated the role of Mary in What’s New Pussycat? at the Birmingham Rep, now back in London how does it feel to be settled down for a while in this production? Yeah, I was darting all over the place - Birmingham and then Edinburgh in the last few years and I’d never done a long-running show in London. I think the longest I did was probably the Donkey Show or something about 8 years ago now, or Wild Party at the Palace for a month. It’s lovely to be able to go home, especially to my dog and to be based here where I live at the theatre and to also have so many London friends be able to see the show is really special. I’m just hoping one day I’ll get to do a show in the West End, which would be lovely, but this feels so special because it’s tailor-made for us. It is really lovely to be in one place – I’ve toured for a very long time!
We can’t interview you and not talk about Carole King! You played the role on the UK tour of Beautiful. This is a huge role, with her being a real person how did you approach it?
Beautiful was absolutely phenomenal for me. I never thought I would get a role that size and actually, I really fought to be seen for Carole, because I was asked to audition for Cynthia and I’d not long finished doing Shrek and I thought ‘it’s a tour and I would love to do the show but I really want to be Carole’. I’d seen it in town and thought ‘oh god that part is phenomenal!’.
At the time, I think I’d just turned 23 and was quite young for the role but I thought well, she starts at 16 and I think only ended at 30. I went for the audition and they made me take the Cynthia stuff as well, so when I got it, I actually couldn’t believe it and it was so special for my family to be able to see me up and down the country. I did so much research and watched so many clips of Carole King and read a load of books. I would always say it’s an interpretation, not an impression, which is my headline for that show because I wanted to do her music justice and I knew that people had played her before, so it could never be a full impression for me. We had Carole-isms that I would do within the singing that were taken from her recordings, so it was a real hint towards that. Her voice was really important to me because she’s so ridiculously iconic and it’s so recognizable, so I tried to get as close to it as I could, honouring it without it being an impersonation. It’s a massive honour.
Touring those theatres, we had an amazing cast, a phenomenal band working with our MD Patrick Hurley, he was my hands and I had to clock eyes with him so we could play the piano together completely in sync. It was amazing and such a special experience. That job was really life-changing for me, all my family got to see it. I lost my Dad 3 weeks into that job, which was hugely life-changing so I’ll remember that job forever and ever. I would absolutely love to do it again at a different point in my life because I think it’s a very special show. Her music means so much to so many people that audiences around the country relate the songs to the first time they danced with somebody or walking down the aisle to a Carole King song, so it was a really big honour.
Looking back at your glorious career, has there been a particular experience that pops out to be extra special? It would have to be the day of the Oliviers. I don’t think it’s actually sunk in that that day happened! I got to wear a newspaper dress that my Mum had made me and I felt amazing and we got to be there with so many other amazing shows and so many friends in the shows. It really dawned on me that I’m 10 years into my career now, longer if you count Dorothy, and so many of my friends were performing. I thought ‘how lucky am I to be up there on that stage with a show I’m so proud of alongside such an insane calibre of performers and watch my friends shine?’ Getting to perform on that stage in front of all those people and then getting to experience winning an award with everybody was such an amazing moment because we really didn’t expect it, so I’m not going to forget that for a very long time, if ever. It was my first Olivier’s so it felt extremely special to be there and in a nominated show.
And finally, in one sentence, why should people come and see Newsies?
Because it’s a theatre experience like no other. I’ve never experienced audience reactions like this before. It’s super high energy, it’s a wonderful night out and is escapism at its finest. It’s also got an incredible moral at its heart. I’ve had multiple tell me it’s the best show they’ve ever seen which is a ridiculous, amazing thing for people to tell us and once it’s gone, it’s gone, so I think come and see us because something like this is not done regularly this size and the talent on stage is second to none.
