West End Star Stuart Neal on His Dancing Feet in 42nd Street & More

Stuart Neal has appeared on the West End in La Cage aux Folles, the Michael Grandage-directed Evita and alongside Dame Judi Dench in The Winter’s Tale, co-starring Kenneth Branagh, among many other shows. But the triple threat talent can be found currently raising the roof in 42nd Street at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, playing the young hoofer and amorous hopeful, Billy Lawlor. Broadway.com caught the gifted performer one recent afternoon to discuss beards, divas, and the importance of muscle memory.

What is it like to play someone described in the character breakdown as “the young, handsome, romantic lead”?
Billy’s a fun character to play, I have to say. There’s an element of him that’s slightly too big for his boots, but that’s quite good to play around with, as well—though I’d like to think that’s where I’m different from Billy!

How do you manage to dance up such a storm eight times a week? Both times I have seen the production, your intensity never wavered.
To be honest with you, it took a bit of time to acclimatize—to figure out the right kind of things to eat and when to eat and what to eat. I hadn’t danced properly for five or six years, so rehearsals were about trying to get in shape before we started. It had a bit of a boot camp feel to it, which was good.

What was the major challenge, physically?
My thing was all about trying to remember. It’s been so long since I had done a proper dance show, and it’s not that dancing leaves you, but it’s about the muscle memory. I was the one in the corner practicing [steps] while everyone else was having a drink.

Does any hesitancy vanish once you get onstage?
Once you get going, it’s good fun. We do a big ballet near the end that lasts nine or 10 minutes that can be a killer coming right at the finish of the show, but what you find is you feed off the audience; that’s probably the only way to get through it.

Is it difficult to keep smiling, which the part requires you to do?
Well, I can be in a lousy mood sometimes, but as soon as you put on the costume, something happens; you click into gear. And Billy Lawlor would smile all the time, so that’s kind of what you have to do.

Do you have to mark out your days very carefully, so as to conserve energy?
I’ve got a little baby who’s 18 months old, but my wife is very good at letting me have a lie-in. I’ve lost a stone [14 pounds] since starting rehearsals, which is quite a lot. I’m on protein shakes now to make sure I don’t lose too much more.

Did you know much about the show before auditioning for it?
I think I’d seen an amateur production when I was much younger, but didn’t know much beyond the fact that it was this big tap dancing thing. I watched the original black-and-white film and tried to get hold of a copy of the novel [by Bradford Ropes], but the only copy I could get was $5000 so I had to let that go.

Does the 42nd Street narrative still happen—i.e. the youngster who goes out there and unknown and comes back a star?
Definitely—only these days it mostly happens via big reality TV shows. The musical calls itself “a fable of Broadway,” but these things happen and definitely have their place, and it’s amazing when they do.

Have you dealt with many real-life equivalents of Dorothy Brock, the diva played here by Sheena Easton?
You know, I can’t think of one, which must mean I’ve been pretty lucky. In my experience of the theater it seems to me that it’s a pretty even kind of thing; when you’re doing eight shows a week, you’re part of a team, even if that team includes Judi Dench or whoever.

And how was it working alongside arguably Britain’s greatest living actress last season in the Kenneth Branagh Company production of The Winter’s Tale?
It was amazing. They say never meet your heroes but [Judi] is just so lovely. One example is that a school from Scotland had come down for the day and the company asked whether [the cast] would mind coming to say hello to them between shows so as to make their trip worthwhile.

And Judi did?
She normally had a bit of a sleep between shows, but she woke up especially for these students, which I just thought was so lovely.

Didn’t your connection to Kenneth Branagh take you to New York?
Yes, I was at the Park Avenue Armory in his Macbeth [in 2014], and [wife] Kate [Tydman] was in the show as well, so we got to go together, which was amazing since neither of us had ever been to New York before. In fact, while I was there, I was doing Macbeth and also rehearsing for Finding Neverland in Boston, so I ended up out in the States for about four or five months.

Am I right that the Branagh Macbeth had more men with beards than possibly any production in history?
It’s funny you say that because it all became with that cast about who could grow the best beard; I think I did OK!  

Is it hard for an actor steeped in musicals to transition to straight plays, not least Shakespeare?
I’ve been lucky, if I’m honest. A lot of it is down to Rob Ashford who I worked with in musicals and who was a choreographer and then became this fantastic director and kind of took a few of us along with him. I feel lucky that Rob is one of those who doesn’t pigeonhole you in the way, maybe, that some people do.

What do you have planned once this ends?
I’m planning on being a dad for a little bit. That’s always nice, as well.