Michael is currently originating the role of Jack Kelly in the London production of Disney's Newsies. After training at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Michael has since appeared as Emmett Forrest in Legally Blonde (Regents Park Open Air Theatre); Benjamin “Benny” Coffin III RENT (Hope Mill Theatre); Paul Stephenson in To the Streets (China Plate & Birmingham Hippodrome) Maugrim in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (UK/Ireland Tour).
The show is running until the 30th of July and whilst in the middle of a cast change, we caught up with Michael.
You are currently playing Jack in the long-awaited and now Olivier 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?
You’ll hear/see a lot of actors say they know when a part “works” or “feels right”. Right through auditions I felt like I could connect to the character and his beliefs and perspectives. Every time I read/sang for it, Jack grew a bit more in my mind. So honestly it was a fun experience to keep on going in and building on the previous round. I still remember Bronté and I’s chemistry read - we went for a coffee afterwards just to talk/debrief about it as we’d had such a good time!
And please tell us about what happened when you got the part!
I was walking to work to an evening show for Legally Blonde. So there I was, walking through serene Regents Park, yelling down the phone. It’s so lovely to think about those special moments you have with your agents when they bring in the good news. Then I had to just sit on the secret for months before they made the announcement.
