Nick Afoa ‘honoured’ at second chance Simba
When Covid-19 hit, Ma¯ ngereborn Nick Afoa believed he would never take the stage as Simba again, and moved back to New Zealand to drive trucks.
Now it has been announced Afoa, 35, will reprise the lead role in The Lion King stage show which is premiering in Auckland on June 24.
The show holds the record as the fastest-selling musical theatre show in New Zealand, with more than 84,000 tickets sold in the first five weeks.
Only a couple of weeks ago, while visiting his partner in South Africa, Afoa got the call to head home and he’s now in managed isolation in Christchurch.
‘‘It all happened so fast,’’ said Afoa. ‘‘It’s kind of surreal still, but it’s all worked out really well.’’
Afoa first landed the role in 2013 and spent years performing in London’s West End. But late last year, he revealed on social media that he had been fired from the show after throwing off part of his costume during a performance. Although he told his fans at the time that ‘‘it was that slow motion moment where as it was in the air, I realised I shouldn’t have done it and that I was probably throwing away my job too’’,
he wasn’t happy to retell the story ahead of his New Zealand shows.
‘‘I feel really honoured to be able to come back to this role. Sometimes things come around again for a reason.’’
Afoa said he ‘‘vividly’’ remembered watching The Lion King film as a 10-year-old with his
Auntie. ‘‘In the opening scenes I was hit with a wave of emotion – it’s a beautiful story.’’
The role of Simba was very physical, Afoa said, so while he was in managed isolation he was training by doing cartwheels in the carpark, push-ups in his room and singing daily. ‘‘Hopefully I’m not singing too loudly, because I think there’s a baby in the room next door.’’
Afoa had been a star rugby in his teens – even playing alongside Kieran Read at the U19 World Cup – but his All Blacks ambitions were halted by a knee injury and he turned to the arts and singing.
‘‘When I was 18 I first auditioned for the role of Simba, for the 2003 version of the show, but I didn’t make it through. After my knee injury I really wished and hoped the show would come back to New Zealand, and I’d get another chance.’’
At 26, Afoa said he stumbled across a news article saying auditions for The Lion King were coming, and he decided to give it another shot. ‘‘I spent six months preparing, and from there I got the role and I just hit the ground running.’’
Now he’s happy to be able to perform live in front of some of his wha¯ nau for the first time.
Although his family no longer lived in South Auckland, Afoa said he considered it home and was looking forward to showing his partner the O¯ tara markets.
‘‘I’m looking forward to performing for all my Kiwis, and it is such an uplifting and beautiful show. I’m excited to finish in a way that I wish I could have finished in London.’’
‘‘After my knee injury I really wished and hoped the show would come back to New Zealand, and I’d get another chance.’’ Nick Afoa