Michael Ahomka-Lindsay, who recently starred as Emmett in Legally Blonde at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, leads the cast of the European premiere of Disney’s Newsies, at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre.
Michael spent three years studying medicine at Leeds, before making the switch to musical theatre, “my heart was always in musical theatre,” says Michael, “so it was a change of mind rather than a change of heart that took me to study at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.”
Michael is very excited that Newsies is coming to the UK, “we’ve got this amazing opportunity, because it’s never been in Europe before,” explains Michael, “it’s exciting because it’s Disney and people have heard of it, but they might not know it in exactly the same way that people in the US might.”
While Newsies is set in 1899, the true story that it’s based on feels very relevant today, “it’s about the famous newsboys strike,” says Michael, “essentially, these children, they were very, very young, were striking against Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst, who were the big sort of media conglomerate owners.”
“They were raising the price of the papers, because they were trying to find a way to make more money, but instead of raising the price for the people buying the papers, they made it more expensive for the newsboys to buy them wholesale.”
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The newsboys were already young people living on the streets, so this put them in a tough position, “but they just decided that they weren’t going to have it,” says Michael, “these young people decided to go up against these media giants, just because it was for survival, but they had a sense of community, and they were able to galvanise each other to stick it to these people, which is incredible.”
Michael agrees that it’s a compelling story, and all the more so because it’s based on true events, but the Tony Award winning musical is particularly known for it staging, “it’s like this incredible performance extravaganza,” says Michael, “the dancing is balletic and acrobatic, it’s just stunning.”
But that also means it’s very physical for the performers, and Michael has been working hard to prepare for the role, including listening to the score, “Alan Menken’s music is just beautiful, on one hand it’s exactly what you would expect from a sweeping Disney stage production, but it’s also really punchy.”
Newsies has already been a huge success in America, but it will be a different kind of production that premieres in London, “we have the benefit of taking the template of the US version, and going further with it, it’s no shade on what they’ve done, it’s more about making it our own and making it the best we can.”
One of the biggest changes to the show will be more immersive staging, “the interior of the Troubadour Wembley Park has been purpose built for the show” says Michael, “and especially because it’s not end on, we’ve got 3 perspectives, so in that sense, it’s already different, there are a lot of elements of the show that will never have been seen before.”
The production is going all out to immerse audiences in the environment of 1890’s New York, “I don’t want to give too much away,” laughs Michael, “but I’ve never seen a lighting rig so big in my life. I don’t know how we’re going to use all those lights, but we will.”
And, because it’s such an immersive space, Michael says, “it’s like a playground for us. So, we’re running around it all the time, we get really close to the audience, and that’s so much fun to do.”
As we sit down to chat it’s the final week of rehearsals, and Michael is amazed by how it’s all come together, “we’ve got a huge cast, and a big rehearsal space with lots of different rooms, so we’ve all been split up running different scenes in different rooms, when we come back together, it’s incredible to see what other people have been doing, and how it all comes together.”
But nothing will compare to having an audience in the room too, “I can’t wait,” says Michael, “It changes the feeling completely, because this is what it’s for, the audience to feel and engage with us. I’m just excited for people to see the amazing talent that we have in this cast as well. I’m blown away by everyone constantly. I’m just so excited for everyone to just be seen and their hard work recognised.”
For Michael, taking on the role of Jack Kelly is a big deal, “on a personal level, it’s definitely a big moment for my growth, and I’ve never done anything so challenging in the performance world in my life, so I will learn from it too. I feel really, really honoured to be given that opportunity to do that, because I know Newsies means a lot to a lot of people.”
Audiences might think they know Newsies, but Michael says they are in for a surprising treat, “It’s never been staged over here before, and we’re really going for it, so this will be a whole different experience for audiences, even if you are an avid theatre goer, we’ve got stuff that you’ll never have seen before.”
Newsies, starring Michael Ahomka-Lindsay as Jack Kelly, is at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre
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