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As performers across the world see gigs cancelled, the former Billy Elliot star will be facing the unknown with a shake and a shimmy
He was cast as Billy Elliot at 12, toured the UK in hit musicals Rent and Hairspray, and proved a sensational lead in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. Now, Layton Williams is preparing for his debut solo concert and the conditions aren’t exactly what he might have expected. “I’d always been nervous abut doing my first concert,” he admits. But there’s something “weirdly comfortable” about the unusual setup of this one. He won’t be able to see the audience. “If anyone’s having a really terrible time then I won’t know,” he says with a laugh, before swiftly resuming his default upbeat setting. “But guess what? They ain’t going to be having a terrible time. They’re going to be bopping on their couches. I’ll be giving a shake and a shimmy. It’s going to be uplifting.”
Williams is one of the many performers exploring the possibilities of livestreaming while venues close their doors because of the coronavirus crisis. On Monday he will kick off the Leave a Light On series of intimate concerts organised by Lambert Jackson Productions and the Theatre Cafe in the West End of London. Williams will be “bringing love to people in their front rooms” by singing numbers from the shows in which he has starred plus delivering some “bonus tracks” too. He has already put out a call for requests to his huge fanbase on Twitter. “Some of the songs are duets so maybe I’ll just ask everybody to sing away at home. Get involved – and send me a video!” Continue reading...