My Top 5 Showtunes: Layton Williams

Layton Williams has had a whirlwind time since beginning his career in 2007 in Billy Elliot at the Victoria Palace Theatre. His performance as Angel in the RENT national tour last year was also met with rave reviews. When not onstage, the actor has also had roles in TV shows such as Bad Education and Beautiful People.

Now starring as Seaweed J Stubbs in the national tour of Hairspray,
we caught up with Layton and asked him: "If you were stranded on a desert island which five showtunes could you not live without?"

5. "One Night Only" – Dreamgirls

I genuinely felt a little guilty when watching the show because CC goes cray about this whole disco mash up and honestly, I'm into it. The beats are fire and it's just a good song to hit some choreo too.

4."Land of Lola" – Kinky Boots

I went through a stage of this being my 'walking to the station' track! Billy Porter is a vocal slay and the timing is perfect to get a good strut on. Probs should do a warm up before though… Bless the people of Peckham for my ratchet morning vocals.

3."Satisfied" – Hamilton

What a tune. I saw Hamilton on Broadway this year. It was my first time in New York and I had high expectations. The hype is real and the staging in this number is out of this world. Rewiiiiiiiiiind – I was shook. Lin-Manuel is a genius.

2. "Seasons of Love" – RENT

One of the most iconic musical theatre songs of all time surely? When people say they don't know what RENT is, you sing them this and they've probably heard it. It was an honour to sing this beautiful song every night.

1. "You Can't Stop The Beat" – Hairspray

I mean… Come on! It's still ringing in my head right now from eight shows a week so truly – you really can't stop the beat.

What a number to end the show on. I don't think we've done a single performance when the audience aren't up on their feet. It can be quite emotional sometimes seeing how much a show can fill people with such joy.

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