It may sound like hokum to many, but the art of manifesting has worked wonders for Lee Mead’s career. “I believe in positivity and visualising things you want in life, and being grateful for everything,” he says. “I think it’s a real thing, and I’ve always said it: if you’re on that frequency, it’s the law of attraction.”
It worked when Mead was in his early 20s, singing on a car ferry for “drunk passengers” – not a cruise ship, as has been previously reported – and dreaming of something bigger and better. “I was hoping it’d be a cruise ship, but no,” he says, chuckling at the memory. “It was a car ferry. It was fascinating. Some of the punters I got to meet …”
He shakes his head, grimacing. “I had a tiny little cabin with a single bed, a toilet and a shower. I had to wash my own costumes. I was getting paid peanuts – about £260 a week or something. It was a six-month contract across the Bay of Biscay, which I think is the second- or third-rockiest [area of] sea in the world. Madness, really.” He grins. “But I was having the time of my life.”
Manifesting also worked for Mead when it came to landing the lead role in Barnum, which is the reason we’re speaking today. He famously played the biblical Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat after winning the BBC talent show Any Dream Will Do, as well as Fiyero in Wicked, Emmett in Legally Blonde and any number of other high-profile West End roles. But Barnum had been a passion since he played the Ringmaster in a school production.
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“It’s one of those rare roles in your career that comes along once in a lifetime, but I almost didn’t take it because of the wire,” he says. The show, which premiered in 1980 with Michael Crawford playing the titular circus showman, PT Barnum, requires the lead actor to walk a 1cm-wide, 6m-long metal wire 2m off the ground.
“It’s normally two and a half years of training, but I did it in six months, which is a massive achievement,” he says proudly. “It’s absolutely exhausting, and so scary every time I step on it. I thought, ‘Do I need that stress? Do I want to do that eight times a week?’ But I’m so pleased I did, because it’s just been incredible. The audience is giving standing ovations, and the payoff you get for this role is just the best feeling.”
Mead laughs at the idea of being an extroverted child, dancing on the kitchen table for his family. He was a “shy kid” who is “still quite an introverted, private person”. There is no way he could ever have imagined walking a tightrope in front of a large audience every night. “Yet if you put me in front of 5,000 people,” he says, grinning, “I come alive.”
[ A beautiful friendship – General Tom Thumb and PT BarnumOpens in new window ]
Any Dream Will Do saw him being chosen from 10,000 actors vying for the title role in the 2007 revival of the musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, and it arguably remains his most enduring role so far. Still, he doesn’t shy away from mention of it, despite the multitude of roles he has played on stage and TV (including long stints on the BBC soaps Casualty and Holby City), and says he is proud of the role. “It changed my life and gave me a whole career.”
He is ambivalent, however, about the glut of reality shows that peaked around the same time, from The X Factor to America’s Next Top Model, many of which have been reappraised in recent times for their portrayal and perceived exploitation of contestants.
“I can’t give too much of an opinion, because I don’t watch them,” he says, laughing. “They’re not really my cup of tea. I think my daughter [Betsy, whom he shares with his ex-wife, Denise van Outen] and my fiancee watch Love Island and the odd thing, and my mum loves Big Brother; I watch that on occasion.
“I think they’re great TV – but, obviously, depending on what it is and in what capacity, you’ve got to be careful as well, because I think it’s unfair and wrong to expose people in the wrong light sometimes. I think a lot of people now perhaps do those shows because they want to be a heightened version of themselves, or they want to be famous. But it’s a massive part of our culture now, isn’t it?”
I’ve got this incredible, diverse career that I always wanted when I started off, and hopefully it will continue. But, more importantly, I’ve always wanted a happy life
— Lee Mead
Nor has Mead been put off by the prospect of reality-TV competitions – although Strictly Come Dancing, presumably a no-brainer for someone like Mead, has been snatched from his grasp in the past.
“I’ve never said it publicly, but Strictly actually approached me twice and then changed their mind.” He shrugs. “It was quite disappointing. And I do understand. I mean, each year they need a mix of politicians and different people. [But] I met the execs, and they said, ‘We’d love you to be a part of the thing,’ and then they changed their mind, two years running.
“But maybe that’s for the right reasons, because I can dance and do a few steps, but ballroom is a whole other thing. And to do that in front of millions of people …”
He shakes his head, smiling.
“I think it’s one of the few [shows] that I would consider doing, because it’s great for all the family and it would be a real challenge. But, sadly, it wasn’t meant to be.”
There is a link between that show and Barnum, too, as the former Strictly Come Dancing judge Oti Mabuse – now head judge on Dancing with the Stars, on RTÉ – has choreographed the revival.
Another personal connection has a deeper meaning for Mead, however. He chokes up when he speaks about his late grandparents, Bert and Lil, who saved up for more than a year to see Michael Crawford in the original West End run.
“My nan was almost 90 when she passed, and she had a bit of dementia before,” he says. “They didn’t have much money growing up; after the war, grandad was a window cleaner, and nan was a housewife and brought the kids up. And, like most families, they had to save up for quite a few months to see the show.
“I was 13 when grandma passed away, but I remember nan and grandad talking about Michael Crawford at the Palladium and…"
He shakes his head, pausing as he gulps back a sob. “They would have been so proud to see me in this role. They would have absolutely loved it. And the fact that my nan was still talking about the show, and Michael Crawford walking the wire, and the songs and circus acts [despite her] dementia before she passed – it shows you the impact that this show has on people.
“So I genuinely feel them with me for every single show. And I also deeply believe that they brought this role to me.”
[ The Greatest Showman: misguided biopic of PT BarnumOpens in new window ]
Unlike the romanticised version of Barnum portrayed by Hugh Jackman in The Greatest Showman, the stage version of Barnum (the book for which is by Mark Bramble) does not shy away from the entrepreneur’s darker side. In many respects, PT Barnum was not a nice person – he committed adultery, and did not attend the funeral of his devoted wife of more than 40 years, Charity.
“Absolutely – and it’s quite rare you get that within a musical,” Mead says. “Most musicals are quite fluffy and fun, and I’ve done those shows as well – but they don’t go too dark with the book.
“It’d be interesting to see Barnum as a play, actually. He put himself first, in many ways; he had these big ambitions to create the circus and put it on wheels and take it around the country and the world, and he had such a supportive, loving wife in Charity – but then he had an affair with Jenny Lind, the opera singer.
“I think he was probably a very selfish guy, but I think any businessperson who has that level of success generally has an ego that drives them. So it’s been interesting to play a character like that. But he also needs to be charismatic, and the audience needs to warm to him and like him as well. It’s a tricky balance.”
At 44, Mead still has plenty of his own ambitions. He would like to go back to television, he says, and would especially love a role in a sitcom. Next year is the 20th anniversary of Any Dream Will Do, and a tour and possibly a live album are in the works.
He is also writing his own mockumentary-style comedy that he is hoping will get picked up when it’s ready. He is manifesting everything; after all, it has worked well for him in the past.
“I’ve got this incredible, diverse career that I always wanted when I started off, and hopefully it will continue. But, more importantly, I’ve always wanted a happy life. I think it’s fair to say that a lot of performers put their career first; PT Barnum was that kind of guy.
“But having a partner and a family has been the most important thing for me, always. I love my job so much, but I’ve got an amazing fiancee, Issy, and we’ll be together 10 years next year. I think when you’re happy and your personal life is strong, that’s when everything else falls into place.”
Barnum is at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin, from Tuesday, April 14th, until Saturday, April 18th
