ENOUNTERING the tornado power and might of his voice in the role of The Beast in Beauty And The Beast at the Grand Opera House, York, Samuel Wyn-Morris had a surprising admission to make.
“I never sang until I was 17,” says the Welshman from Llanelli. “There was a lad who was a tenor at my school and one day I heard him singing. I was more a rugby boy at the time. Until then I thought, ‘I’m not into music’, but when he didn’t hit his big note, I sang it and hit it!”
In that transformative moment, a career was born, but not without bumps in the road. “I horrified by mum and dad by applying to only one drama school, Guildford [School of Music and Drama], but I got in.
“Then after I graduated, I suffered an incredible loss of confidence. Two years of not working in theatre. Instead I was selling wine and I worked as a butcher too, but kept cutting myself. I gave myself an ultimatum: if I don’t get into Les Miserables, that’s it, it’s all over.”
Glory be, he did, landing three separate contracts with Cameron Mackintosh’s company over the next, Covid-interrupted five years, starting as the 2nd Cover for the role of Enjolras.
When the actor playing Enjolras caught Covid and the 1st Cover suffered a sinus infection, Samuel’s big moment came. “The cover hadn’t missed a show for something like seven years. As chance would have it, Cameron Mackintosh, Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil [the writers] were all in the audience that night! “ Samuel would soon go on to play the role in his own right.
Now that wonderful voice can be heard in York in a five-star performance in Beauty And The Beast. “It’s been a fantastic show to do,” he says. “My only previous experience of York was an unsuccessful date. She was from Scotland, I was from Wales, so we thought, ‘let’s meet in the middle’: York!
“We stayed at Grays Court. Lovely hotel. Very good bar, which is important to a Welshman! But it just didn’t work out.”
This time, romance in York is confined to the Grand Opera House stage as The Beast falls for pantomime debutante Jennifer Caldwell’s Belle. “I played The Beast last year at the Sunderland Empire in my first ever pantomime. Same show, different songs, different director too, Paul Boyd, and the theatre was huge: 2.000 seats!
“I got the call for York in July and I thought ‘why not’?! Theatre work had been quite dry for me this year, with producers being tentative about putting on shows.”
Samuel works as a supply teacher in London, teaching History and Religious Education to Key Stage 3 pupils in Years 7 to 9 when not performing in musical theatre.
Now it has been his turn to learn once more: lines for his role as The Prince/The Beast. “It’s different from Les Miserables, where you have four weeks in the rehearsal room and then go on stage,” he says. “For this pantomime, to get to grips with it was a challenge. It’s so, so quick in the rehearsals and so easy to get lost!”
Director George Ure had his cast running the full show by the end of the first week in the rehearsal room. “Know your lines on day one,” advises Samuel. “And you have to put so much energy into it from the word go.
“That’s not to say that’s not the case with Les Miserables or Titanic [the musical that Samuel toured to China], but from the start in panto it’s go-go-go. Twelve shows in a week is the maximum. You have to deal with the tiredness and exhaustion from all the energy you spend.”
Not that he is complaining. He loves pantomime. “There are elements of stand-up comedy, romance, drag with the dame, big songs and wonderful choreography. I’ve got a more classical voice, Jennifer has more of a pop voice, so it’s a pick’n’mix that works really well.”
Before taking on the role of The Beast for the first time, Samuel had a conversation with his director for Titanic. “I said, ‘what do I do in the show? I’m not funny’. He said, ‘you’re not meant to be’! All UK Productions pantomimes are story driven, and this show [written by Jon Monie] is a good example of that.
“I like the freedom that panto brings, as opposed to the demands of Les Miserables, which hammers your voice. Playing Enjolras is one of the hardest roles you can do. With pantomime, you can bring more physicality to it, you can play around with the pace – and working with Jennifer has been a joy.”
UK Productions present Beauty And The Beast, Grand Opera House, York, until January 5 2025. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.