Hi Henry, how are you doing today? Thanks so much for chatting to Stage to Page! Would you mind introducing yourself to our readers and telling us how you first got into the industry?

I’m doing great thank you! Yes, of course. I’ve always had a passion for theatre. When I was 5, my mum was called into school after teachers raised concerns about me quoting lyrics to the Cell Block Tango from Chicago in class. Apparently “number seventeen, the spread eagle” was inappropriate.

I didn’t take a conventional route into the industry. I chose not to go to drama school and instead take a job performing in a hotel resort for three years. It was the best choice I could have made, as I found myself learning on the job amongst some incredibly talented people. Whilst I was working there, I was given a weekly solo show. Developing that was a huge learning curve. In my first set, I filled it with Sondheim and Rodgers and Hammerstein songs. I hadn’t taken into account that a lot of the audience I was performing to were unfamiliar with the material. After the show, a nineteen year old footballer came up to me and said he’d never heard any of that music before but he loved it. He shared how he felt musical theatre wasn’t really his thing, but presented like this he really enjoyed it. That sparked the idea of reimagining some of these classic pieces and developing them for a new audience.

Since then, I’ve taken my concerts to London and New York and love every second!

You've just launched your new musical theatre talk show, House Seats, at the iconic Crazy Coqs. How was the first live talk show?

It was so fun. I was joined by the sensation that is Ian McIntosh, who can currently be found as Jean Valjean in the West End. Ian is an immense talent and getting to sit across from him as he spoke and sung through his career was a real privilege. I’m thrilled to announce that we’ve just booked some more House Seats dates for September and November too so I’ll get to do it all over again with different performers!

As well as this, your debut album Broadway Maybe is released on 15th May. Can you tell us about the album and how you went about choosing the songs?

Firstly, it’s still crazy to me that the album is even happening! It’s been something I’ve wanted to do for a long time so I’m thrilled it’s come to be. The album is kind of like the internal monologue that runs through every performer’s head at the start of their career. It’s set in an audition room and covers every emotion from hope, anxiety, self-doubt, imposter syndrome, but most importantly a deep love (that whole sentence made the album sound very deep!)

I wanted to visit some of musical theatre’s most familiar songs without treating them like museum pieces. Instead, my musical director Leigh Stanford Thompson and I have reclaimed and reimagined some of these iconic songs in an entirely new way. Imagine I Know Him So Well in the style of Maybe This Time, or the songs of Stephen Sondheim with a Whitney Houston key change in them. That’s pretty much what we’re working with!

You recorded the album at the incredible Abbey Road Studios. How was that experience?

It was wild. When you walk into a building like Carnegie Hall or the London Palladium, you can feel the history and lingering great performances oozing out of the walls. It’s as if the building collects them. The same applies to Abbey Road. I think being inside Studio 3 made us all play better. The team at Abbey Road are also second to none, and we really couldn’t have done it without them, especially our sound engineer John Barrett who had to hear me sing Another Hundred People non-stop for about an hour.

My blog is called Stage to Page. But if you could turn any book, from page to stage, what would it be and why?

Okay, so I love the novel and the series adaptation of The Queen’s Gambit. I feel like it would have to be called Chess 2 if it were to be done, but I’m pretty sure it would work.

And finally, why should people pre-order/pre-save Broadway Maybe?

People will relate to this album whether or not they work in theatre. The emotions that it covers are things people can apply to anything they’ve been in love with in life (yes, including people). On a less sentimental note, the album also looks really cool, so if you feel like being old school and getting a vinyl or CD, you won’t be disappointed. If you don’t have a CD player, they make great coasters.

You can pre-order/pre-save Broadway Maybe, here.