Christchurch Actor Returns Home After Four Years in London

The Game of Thrones cast, Benedict Cumberbatch and Pet Shop Boys.

They all feature in the last four years Christchurch actor and singer Nic Kyle has spent in London, after leaving town in 2015 for the bright lights of the West End.

His new cabaret show Deported, chronicles his life in London and opens as part of a double bill, this weekend at the Old Boys Theatre at Christ’s College. Incidentally, he was part of the opening show after reconstruction of that same theatre in 2000.

The second show is the New Zealand premiere of Coffin, with his mate and well- known local performer Matt Hudson.

After several years working at The Court Theatre which followed schooling at Christ’s College and graduating from the National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Arts (NASDA), Nic was keen to take a look at London, as so many of his colleagues have done.

“Soon after I arrived, the only job I could get quickly, was giving away papers outside tube stations in the rain being paid £6 an hour”, he says. “I knew what I needed to do and set about putting on a one-man-show and inviting a number of people who I thought would be good to get in front of; potential agents, producers, directors, that kind of thing.”

After a stint in 2014 with world famous diva Elaine Paige as the sole supporting act on her New Zealand and Australian Tour, Nic had made some useful contacts in the business and he put those to work. Luckily the one-man-show Nic put on landed him an agent and led to his first acting job a few months later, “after many, many failed auditions”, he is quick to add.

In November 2015 after a successful audition he was offered a role in the stage hit “Closer to Heaven”, written by Jonathan Harvey (most famous for his classic 90s play Beautiful Thing), featuring an original score by Pet Shop Boys. The first London revival, at the Union Theatre earlier in 2015, sold out almost instantly.  

The reviews were exceptionally good, both for the show and for Kyle. Reviewer Stephen Emms, noted one of the highlights being “Kyle’s (character) Bob belting out Call Me Old Fashioned.”

However, that was not the highlight of Nic’s acting experiences in London.

“Being asked to play the lead in the UK premiere of "The Grand Tour" by Jerry Herman was incredible, that’s my highlight I think. We were well reviewed in the NY times and had amazing reviews in London. It led to a lot more auditions and some great shows”.

He’s also dressed up as a Jedi with Chris Martin from Coldplay while working for Secret Cinema; he can’t say anything more as it’s a secret (www.secretcinema.org) but did think he was a “lovely bloke”. Actor Benedict Cumberbatch, TV talk host Jonathan Ross and the Game of Thrones cast also went to "28 Days Later" in the Secret Cinema when Nic was playing a Kiwi doctor trying to cure the RAGE virus. He describes that as “a mildly nerve-racking group to act in front of!”

Now he’s back. Why leave? You’ll get a hint from the name of the cabaret show this weekend, “Deported”. Really? Was he “deported”?  Why? You’ll have to come along to find out.

ENDS

Show details - a double bill, direct from London:

Dates: Sat 29th and Sunday 30th July 2017

Time: 7.30pm

At: The Christ's College Old Boys' Theatre, off Rolleston Ave, Christchurch.

Tickets cost: Online $25.60   Booking fees may apply.

"Nic Kyle is Deported" 
A cabaret about... being deported.
With Musical Direction by Richard Marrett

Followed by ………

"Coffin" by Elliott Langsdon 
After a sell-out season in London this hilarious black comedy is described as "an argument in one act".   Featuring Matt Hudson and Jack Marshall

Tickets can be bought here https://nz.patronbase.com/_CourtTheatre/Productions/6993/Performances

Additional snippets

How’s ChCh after 4 years?

It's changed so so much in the last year since I was back briefly in 2016. So many cool new spots for coffee and drinks, much more of a buzz around the place even in the winter! That's really heartening to see.


Nic has worked with Richard Marrett a lot!

This will be the 17th show that I've done with Richard Marrett which is amazing! From CSO to Starry Nights, Court Theatre to Showbiz and two solo shows. We've done it all!!