Voice winner Keith swaps panto for villain in Les Mis
Charm is his middle name, but perhaps it should be double-barreled with Versatile as the young singer who won The Voice in 2013 has taken on a very different role this week in Cork.
Keith combines a singing career with his work for children with special needs. Born in Limerick, he lives with his mother and sister in Charleville, Co Cork.
He plays the hideous villain Javert in a production of Les Miserables in the Firkin Crane, a theatre-in-the-round within the shadow of the famous Shandon steeple.
“I love working with the children in Charleville, but I’m also tipping away at my music career,” he says. “Playing the bad guy is different from doing panto, but I am loving it and it is giving me incredible experience.”
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His is quite an energetic performance, as it is for most of the cast. “It’s amazing to go from playing the happy prince to such an intense character and, then, at the end of it, I have to drown myself, four nights in a row.
“There are also barricades which are quite high that I have to negotiate. You wouldn’t want to be afraid of heights!”
Under the direction of Catherine Mahon-Buckley, the staging of Les Miserables is a truly epic event, in every sense. “It’s a bit like being in a West End production,” says Keith. “There are more than 80 cast members on stage and we are on top of each other half the time, but it is great fun as well.”
The story of Les Miserables focuses on Jean Valjean, played by Thomas Grogan, a convict released from prison and rendered an outcast. It has become one of the most successful, and longest running, musical productions in the world.
It has clocked up more than 10,000 performances, surpassing shows such as Cats, which had previously held the record.
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