Former Empire youth actor’s dream Liverpool return in the spectacular Miss Saigon

A Liverpool actor who began his career with Liverpool Empire Youth Theatre will achieve his dream to return when the spectacular Miss Saigon opens this month.

Jamil Abbasi joined the youth theatre when he was just 12 years old, and first stepped out on the famous stage in a ballet production of Peter Pan.

He said:

“My mum put me forward and I ended up playing Michael, one of the Darling kids. literally knew nothing about ballet, I was running around stage with a teddy bear, but that was my first taste of being in an Empire show.”

That introduction was enough to ignite a passion for acting in Jamil and he stayed with the youth company all through his teens, going on to win a place to study musical theatre at the prestigious Guildford School of Acting.

Since then, the former Bluecoat student has appeared in a succession of theatre productions including 101 Dalmatians at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, Spend Spend Spend at Manchester Royal Exchange and The Great British Bake Off Musical in the West End.

For the past six months he’s been on tour with an acclaimed new production of the legendary musical Miss Saigon which has been getting standing ovations across the country.

Jamil, who’s now 25, says it’s been incredible to be part of such an iconic show and to see the audience reactions night after night.

“Miss Saigon carries that absolute prestige, it’s a very special show, and as a performer I feel really fortunate to get to experience it with so many people and every night the house really feels alive. 

“It’s a massively emotional production, even in rehearsals it was a very emotional space, and the response we get is a beautiful thing. You always see people in floods of tears.

“It’s such an ambitious production full of fresh young talent as well, including Julianne who’s making her professional debut as Kim. She’s 18 years old and just a star, I can’t wait for Liverpool to see her.”

Jamil says as soon as he knew he was joining the cast for a major UK and Ireland tour, he was looking forward to the day when it arrived in Liverpool.

“Coming back to Liverpool for a couple of weeks is really where my heart’s been. We were only told a few of the venues when we were auditioning but as soon as I got the full tour list my eyes just went straight there. I thought, when am I home?

“We’re so fortunate in Liverpool to have a theatre like the Empire because it’s such an amazing auditorium and a massive stage.

“That stage is so special to me and I’ve performed on there so many times as a youth performer. 

“I did an interview when I was about 17 or 18 and the headline on the article read, ‘I dream to return here as a professional one day’.

“That hasn’t changed in the last six years so it’s going to be an emotional full circle moment I think and I really can’t wait.”

Miss Saigon is at Liverpool Empire from Tuesday April 21 to Saturday May 2.

Book your tickets for Miss Saigon on the Liverpool Empire website.

Find more theatre shows across Liverpool on our calendar.

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