Layton
Williams has had a ball since taking over the title role in Everybody’s Talking
About Jamie, the hit West End musical that arrives in Edinburgh next week as
part of its first UK tour. Three years after the show based on a true story of
a sixteen-year-old boy who finds salvation through becoming a drag queen first
appeared, Williams has made the part his own.
Williams
took over the role from his friend John McCrea in Dan Gillespie Sells and Tom
MacRae’s musical at the start of 2019, and played it on the West End for a year
prior to its current six-month tour. Having been doing lead stage roles since
he was twelve, however, Williams is aware he can’t play teenagers forever.
“I’m
nearly twenty-six,” he says, sounding much younger. “I think it might be time
to stop playing a sixteen-year-old after this.”
His mind
does a quick back-flip as he reconsiders.
“Do you
know what?” he says. “People say if you can do it, then why not? I’ll milk it
for all its worth.”
Williams’
attitude is a perfect display of the mix of boyishness, can-do enthusiasm and
unbridled ambition that fires him. It’s been this way since he went to open
auditions for Billy Elliot the Musical almost fifteen years ago. It may have
been there already when he started doing drama at Carol Godby’s Theatre
Workshop in his home town of Bury, Greater Manchester. It was Billy Elliot,
however, that changed everything.
“There
was an open call in the paper, and my mum said to me why not give it a shot, so
I did, and we had this day out in Manchester. When I got it, doing it taught me
how to be Layton, how to walk and talk. My whole working world came from that
show, and to lead a show at that age was amazing. Whenever I get nervous about
things now I look back and I think, I’ve done this before, it’s all going to be
fine.”
Williams
sometimes sound as gushy as a Hollywood veteran, with every phrase loaded with
a sparkle and an exclamation mark shaped cherry on top. For someone who has been
immersed in high level theatre of one form or another since he was twelve, such
enthusiasm undoubtedly carried him during what ended up being one of the
longest running stints by any one performer on Billy Elliot to date.
“Billy
Elliot was one of those shows that everyone knew about, even if they didn’t see
it. It came out before Netflix or anything like that, but absolutely everyone
had heard of it, and it was such fun to do.”
Once Billy
Elliot was done, Williams took a lead role in TV comedy drama, Beautiful
People, before playing dance-loving schoolboy Stephen in Jack Whitehall’s
classroom comedy, Bad Education.
He then
appeared on stage in Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man, before touring in Hairspray.
Williams followed this by taking on the role of doomed drag queen Angel in the
twentieth anniversary tour of New York based musical, Rent.
“Playing
Angel was a real confidence booster for me,” he says. “Leading a show as an
adult was really important.”
And so
to Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, which deals with all too current themes of
difference, teenage bullying and Jamie’s attempts to express himself through
drag.
“I think
it’s an important show, because it’s about people accepting you for who you
are, and how it can change things. That’s especially the case with everything
that’s going on in the country just now. It’s the perfect show to put out to
spread a bit of love and to find a bit of happiness.”
In the
show, Williams never lets up for a second.
“I just
bring my whole self to it,” he says. “I live the life of Jamie on stage every
night. It’s laughter, tears, everything, and I give my whole life to it eight
times a week, and bring my Laytonness to it.”
In both
its subject and the stamina required to do it, Williams’ commitment is unwavering,
and he talks about the experience like the seasoned professional he is.
“It’s
challenging to do in every way. It’s been nice to think I can lead a show and
do it skilfully. I always saw it in my future, but never thought it would be on
this show, so now I get to show people what I’m made of. I’ve not had that sort of responsibility
since I did Billy Elliot, so that’s nice.”
One of
the things Williams is also responsible for is Pros from the Shows, the
umbrella title of a series of dance workshops he runs in each city of the tour
outwith his star turn in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. Run with fellow cast
member George Sampson, the aim of the workshops is to open the door to the next
generation of performers who, like Williams, might not necessarily have been
able to pursue a career as an actor without grassroots training. Since setting
up the initiative three years ago, Williams has taught “thousands of people,
all over the country. It’s something I love to do, and the response has been
amazing.”
The
initiative is also a handy safety net to have beyond acting. This may be just
as well, as beyond Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Williams has no clear plans,
or not ones he can talk about, at least.
“Life!”
is all he’s prepared to say, lost in the current moment. “Who knows? It’s very
hard to project and think what might be ahead. I just want to carry on doing
what I’m doing, and take it to the next level. I see Broadway. I see Hollywood.
I see the universe. As long as I reach for the stars, the possibilities are
actually endless.”
Everybody’s
Talking About Jamie, Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, March 3-7; His Majesty’s
Theatre, Aberdeen, April 28-May 2; King’s Theatre, Glasgow, June 8-13.
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