HELENSBURGH'S very own West End star has announced the date of his final performance in a show that's become a global music theatre phenomenon.

Former Hermitage Academy pupil Reuben Joseph has played the lead role of Alexander Hamilton in Lin Manuel Miranda's musical Hamilton for nearly a year - gaining plenty of plaudits and persuading many local residents to travel south to see him perform in person.

But as he approaches the end of his year, he announced on Instagram on Tuesday night that he has a date for his final show.

"My final show as Alexander Hamilton will be June 17," he said.

"This role and this company have been everything I could've hoped for and so much more than I ever could've anticipated.

"As my first West End gig, I was daunted at the prospect playing the same part for a year.

"With eight weeks left, I'm so happy that I still adore this job. Which is why it's the perfect time to hit the road.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Reuben (@reubenljoseph)

 

"Thank you to everyone who's joined us so far. Let's go out on a high."

Reuben's first West End performance in Hamilton was last June - five years after he first auditioned, while still a student at Langside College in Glasgow in 2017.

He played his first stage role while a P3 pupil at Hermitage Primary School - and has been going on to ever bigger stages ever since.

He discovered Hamilton when he was aged 19, but it was another six years before he took on the title role in the hit show, which tells the story of one of the 'founding fathers' of the United States of America through a combination of hip-hop, R&B, pop, soul and traditional-style show tunes.

“There is that adrenaline rush that comes with performing,” he told the Advertiser last year.

“It’s also fun. Even when it’s not fun, it’s fun.

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“I mean, it’s in the word, isn’t it? I do equate my job to playing houses - like you’re outside like you’re a wee kid playing houses.”

“I find something new in the role every time I do it,” he explained.

“It’ll be the longest I’ve ever done a run of anything. But this part is a gold mine in terms of what element do I want to focus on today.

“Am today I going to try to focus on energy? Do I get to play the chip on my shoulder?

"Or do I really want to focus on making Hamilton a good listener tonight and see what that does?

“In a sense, it’s going back to drama school or college - it’s a similar set up in that you see the same faces every day and you have a home base, as it were, to practice in and grow in.

“I’ve got a year worth of shows so I can choose. So many elements to play in terms of character.

“Do I want to try to knuckle down on the singing tonight? Am I going to try and emulate Kendrick Lamar? There’s so many different avenues to explore.

“This will give you back as much imagination as you put into it.”

Reuben has also made a name for himself on the small screen - most notably as DS Porter in the first series of the BBC drama Vigil, which was set on board a (fictionalised) nuclear submarine based on the Clyde.

A UK and Ireland touring production of Hamilton was announced earlier this year, though the touring cast has yet to be revealed.

The tour begins in Manchester this November before going on to visit Edinburgh, Bristol, Birmingham, Dublin, Cardiff, Bradford, Southampton, Liverpool, Sunderland, Plymouth and Norwich.

The tour runs until October 2025.

Tickets have been released - and many already snapped up - for the Manchester and Edinburgh legs of the tour, while the West End production is still taking bookings until March 2024.