Hard work and talent have earned 9-year-old Reuben K a lead role in Mary Poppins.
Reuben’s mum, Devorah, was sitting at her computer one afternoon when the email that the family had been anxiously waiting for arrived in her inbox. Reuben had auditioned for his first professional acting role in Mary Poppins the Musical, and the email detailed whether he’d been successful or not.
“We’d been waiting for what felt like ages and then the email just arrived and the kids were out with my mum. So, I called her to bring them home and read Reuben the news. As I read him the email, we videoed his response,” says Devorah.
“I was very, very excited and I was completely speechless for about one minute!” recalls Reuben.
Reuben plays the leading role of Michael Banks, one of the children cared for by Mary Poppins. This is his first professional role and it is the result of years of hard work and commitment – from Reuben and his family.
“I’ve logged a lot of hours in the car going to and from the theatre in the city! The theatre schedule doesn’t correspond well with the school schedule, so we operated on two different schedules for six or seven weeks,” says Devorah.
Reuben has been performing for most of his life. He loved creating costumes, props and music and in 2020, at Prep, he started doing online dancing, singing and acting classes. As soon as COVID restrictions were lifted, Reuben attended classes at Stage Left Performing Arts School.
This year he was one of 20-plus children chosen to audition for the role of Michael Banks and he began rehearsals.
“We had to sing a verse from a song and at the end of that, some children were sent home and other kids kept in touch with the company and, one day, we found out that I’d got the part,” says Reuben.
Rehearsal time and show times have meant Reuben has had to quickly learn how to manage his budding acting career and school work.
“We had a lot of conversations about priorities and only being able to be in one place at a time. He’s had to forego a lot of fun things and he’s had to stay home and do schoolwork on some beautiful days while on tour,” says Devorah.
“But seeing him on stage for the first time was magical. It was at Her Majesty’s Theatre in Melbourne and as soon as the curtain goes up, you see Reuben on stage. I was bursting with pride.”
“The best parts of the show have been meeting new people and getting to work with people like Jack Chambers, Stefanie Jones and Patti Newton,” says Reuben.
“I love musical theatre – one day I’d love to play Lord Farquaad in Shrek the Musical.”
