The producers of multi-award-winning musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie have found their new Jamie New following a nationwide talent search for an undiscovered talent to take on the central role in the West End production.
Mountview Drama School student Noah Thomas will make his professional debut when he steps into the role of Jamie New from 6 January 2020 as current star Layton Williams leaves the West End to headline the show’s first national tour.
Unveiling details of the young actor who will take on one of the West End’s most coveted leading roles, producer Nica Burns said: “Noah was the 211th and final performer we auditioned for Jamie. After he’d sung the opening number and read the first scene, I was tingling with excitement. We had found our Jamie.
“Noah is making his professional debut in one of the biggest and most demanding roles in musical theatre: it needs a really good actor who can also sing and dance to the highest level. We never imagined we would be casting a 20-year-old drama school student at the start of his career. Noah is going to be a fantastic Jamie and the possibilities for his future are boundless.”
Revealing his reaction to winning the career-launching role, South Londoner Thomas said: “What a whirlwind! Only two weeks ago I was studying at Mountview and had very little time to prepare for the audition, which I saw as a chance to gain some experience in the industry.
“I was asked back the next day, not expecting anything, and they asked me if I would like to play Jamie. I couldn’t believe it. Nica told me to go outside the theatre and look up. It was then I realised that my face would be in lights on Shaftesbury Avenue. This is so surreal and I am so ready for whatever this experience holds.”
Thomas, whose first experience of performing on the West End stage came when he was 11 years old when he appeared in the cast of Oliver! at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, also revealed he almost missed his chance to audition for the role of Jamie. The former Brit School student admitted he put family first when the first open auditions at the Apollo Theatre coincided with his civil servant mother’s trip to Buckingham Palace to receive and MBE.
Thomas reveals he told his mother, ‘There will be many auditions in the future but you will only go to the Palace once. I need to be with you, Dad and (sister) Grace’.”
Welcoming his student’s once-in-a-lifetime achievement, Mountview’s principal and artistic director Stephen Jameson said: “Noah was performing in our production of Guys and Dolls when he auditioned for the Jamie creative team and we are delighted they recognised Noah’s incredible talent. Their decision to cast him in this amazing West End role before he had even finished his training at Mountview is testament to his dedication and flair. Staff and students wish him well in this exciting start to his professional career.”
Originally planned as limited season in the West End when the production transferred to the Apollo Theatre, the critic and crowd-pleasing show has just celebrated its second birthday in London and is currently booking until 29 August 2020.
Thomas will be the third actor to take on the career-launching role after Williams and John McCrea, who originated the role at Sheffield Crucible and in the West End. The first touring production with Williams starring alongside Shane Richie will launch in Sheffield on 8 February 2020.
Written by Dan Gillespie Sells and Tom MacRae, the show is directed by Jonathan Butterell, who also came up with the original idea for the show. The crowd-pleasing show has collected eight major theatre awards to date.
The upcoming movie version of the musical stars recent Oscar nominee Richard E. Grant as Loco Chanelle, award-winning former Coronation Street star Sarah Lancashire as Margaret New, award-winning actress and writer Sharon Horgan as Miss Hedge and ex-Coronation Street star Shobna Gulati who reprises her West End performance as Ray. Set for an autumn 2020 release, the film also features another newcomer, Max Harwood, who won the role of Jamie New after answering an open casting call.
The production’s creative team includes designer Anna Fleischle, choreographer Kate Prince, musical director Theo Jamieson, lighting designer Lucy Carter, sound designer Paul Groothuis and casting director Will Burton.
The Sheffield Theatres Production of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie is produced in the West End by Nica Burns, Ian Osborne, Paula Marie Black, Teresa and Craig Beech.
Angela Thomas
Tickets for Everybody’s Talking About Jamie are available HERE.
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