Following open auditions, 37 of Ireland’s finest young musical theatre stars will join National Symphony Orchestra Ireland to perform leading and ensemble roles in West Side Story in Concert at the National Concert Hall on Thursday 23 and Friday 24 July.
Leading them is a multi-award-winning creative team including Irish West End director, Séimí Campbell; conductor Anthony Gabriele, renowned for his work as a Musical Director in the West End and a leading proponent of Film with Orchestra in concert; James Cousins, the Olivier Award-winning choreographer, director and artistic director of the James Cousins Company; and Jack Knowles, the Olivier and Tony Awards-winning lighting designer who earlier this month received a second Tony Award, on this occasion for Best Lighting Design of a Play for Death of a Salesman on Broadway.
The young actors selected are all Irish or Irish-based actors who are currently in training, recently graduated or have aspirations to pursue a career in theatre. The cast ranges from those in Second Level education (Fourth Year upwards) to those undertaking Third Level and Post-graduate studies, and at early stages of their careers.
For many, it is their first time to perform in a professional environment. For some, it is a step on from their participation in previous National Symphony Orchestra Ireland, Irish Youth Musical Theatre, and Royal Irish Academy of Music collaborations: Evita in Concert (2022) and Sweeney Todd in Concert (2025). They include Nathan Canning (Tony), from Portumna, Co Galway, a Second Year B.Ed. student at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, winner of the 2026 AIMS Best Male Singer Award for his performance as Roger in RENT with Muse Productions, who steps into this leading role further to being a part of the Featured Ensemble in the NSOI/IMYT Sweeney Todd in Concert; Amelia Downes (Maria) from Dublin, a First Year BA (Hons) Professional Dance and Musical Theatre student at the Urdang Academy, London, whose biggest role to date was Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar with Belvoir Players, Belfast; Leaving Certificate student Elliot Kelly (Riff) from Dublin, who, aged 11, spent a year in London playing Bruce Bogtrotter in Matilda The Musical (Cambridge Theatre), and whose commitment is such that he attended rehearsals the weekend before starting his Leaving Certificate; and Lauren Carroll (Anita) from Carnaross in Meath, a First Year B.Ed student at DCU, highlights of whose career to date include appearances on Britain’s Got Talent and singing the title role in Mary Poppins with Kells Musical Society.
The full cast of leading role actors are:
- Nathan Canning, from Portumna, Co Galway, plays Tony. Nathan is a Second Year B.Ed. student at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick. He was recently announced as the 2026 winner of the AIMS Best Male Singer Award for his performance of Roger in RENT with Muse Productions.
- Amelia Downes, from Dublin, plays Maria. Amelia is a First Year BA (Hons) in Professional Dance and Musical Theatre at the Urdang Academy, London. Amelia’s biggest role to date was Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar with Belvoir Players, Belfast);
- Lauren Carroll, from Carnaross, Co Meath, sings Anita. Lauren is a First Year B.Ed. student at Dublin City University. Highlights of her work to date include appearances on Britain’s Got Talent and singing the title role in Mary Poppins with Kells Musical Society;
- Elliot Kelly, from Dublin, plays Riff. Elliot has just completed his Leaving Certificate in Pobalscoil Iosolde, Palmerstown. Aged 11, Elliot spent a year in London playing Bruce Bogtrotter in Matilda The Musical at the Cambridge Theatre;
- Jordan Youssef, from Canada and now based in Sligo, plays Bernardo. Jordan is a Fourth Year BA (Hons) Performing Arts student at Atlantic Technological University, Sligo. Previous roles include Mungojerrie and Macavity in Cats at the Chrysler Theatre, Windsor;
- Seán Hughes, from Dublin, plays Chino. He is a First Year B.Mus Student at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. His biggest role to date has been Melchior in Spring Awakening with Trinity Musical Theatre.
Young actors will also fill the roles of Action, Anybodys, A-Rab, Snowboy, Diesel, Baby John, Graziella, Velma, Rosalia, Estella, Francisca, Consuela, as well as Ensemble roles. The roles of Doc, Shrank and Krupke will be filled by established professional actors, details to be announced.
West Side Story in Concert follows on from the hugely successful concert performances of Evita (2022) and Sweeney Todd (2025) presented by National Symphony Orchestra Ireland in collaboration with Irish Youth Musical Theatre and the Royal Irish Academy of Music.
These collaborations are designed to provide young actors aged 16 to 25, from both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, with performance opportunities, mentorship and training in a professional environment.
Director Séimí Campbell says: ‘This is a piece written for and about young people, and the influence of their voices on the world. It shines light on their responsibility in choosing between right and wrong, between unity and division, between hate and love.
‘And so, it feels like an important moment to bring young actors – from both sides of the Irish border – together with the full forces of our National Symphony Orchestra Ireland in our National Concert Hall, to release and amplify an urgent yet tender call for love. And within that, our shared responsibility – across generations – to always protect that.’
See NOTES TO EDITORS for concert listings and full biographies for: Irish Youth Musical Theatre, Séimí Campbell, Anthony Gabriele, James Cousins and Jack Knowles.
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Assumpta Lawless, Marketing & Communications Manager, National Symphony Orchestra Ireland | 087 290 4168 | [email protected]
NOTES TO EDITORS
West Side Story in Concert
Presented by National Symphony Orchestra Ireland in partnership with Irish Youth Musical Theatre and the Royal Irish Academy of Music.
National Symphony Orchestra Ireland Summer 2026
Thursday 23 and Friday 24 July, 7.30pm
National Concert Hall
Based on a conception by Jerome Robbins
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by Arthur Laurents
Anthony Gabriele, conductor
Séimí Campbell, director
Nathan Canning, Tony
Amelia Downes, Maria
Lauren Carroll, Anita
Elliot Kelly, Riff
Jordan Youssef, Bernardo
Seán Hughes, Chino
James Cousins, movement director
Jack Knowles, lighting designer
Jody Trehy, sound design
Annalisa Monticelli, vocal coach
Tickets: €15, €26.50, €33, €39, €45
Booking: www.nch.ie
Irish Youth Musical Theatre
Irish Youth Musical Theatre is Ireland’s National Musical Theatre Training Company for actors aged 16 to 25 years across both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Established in 2020 under the patronage of Colm Wilkinson and the Artistic Direction of Séimí Campbell, and run in partnership with the Royal Irish Academy of Music, it strives to find, nourish, train and showcase the next generation of Irish musical theatre actors, and to launch their careers in the musical theatre industry at home and abroad.
Séimí Campbell
Séimí Campbell, a graduate of Bachelor in Music Education with RIAM & TCD, is an Irish theatre director based in London. He was an Associate Director at the National Theatre from 2021 to 2024, where his work included The Witches, Dancing at Lughnasa, and Hex. His passion lies in new writing. He is currently directing the stage adaptation of Cartoon Saloon’s Oscar-nominated Song of the Sea for New York Theatre Workshop, and A Mountain For Elodie by Benjamin Scheuer at Signature Theater, Washington DC.
In London’s West End, Séimí has directed Songs for a New World (Other Palace and London Palladium) starring Rachel Tucker, Ramin Karimloo, Rachel John and Cedric Neal; co-directed Gary Barlow’s A Different Stage (Duke of York’s Theatre); and was Associate Director on Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Palace Theatre).
Other directing credits include Evita and Sweeney Todd (National Symphony Orchestra Ireland); Evening Train (Collider New Work Festival; Citadel Theatre, Canada); Adelphi 63 (Scene and Heard Festival, Smock Alley Theatre), Toy Show the Musical (RTÉ); My Son Pinocchio (Southwark Playhouse); Mozart and Dumbshow (Mountview Theatre School); and An Triail (Abbey Arts Centre).
Most recently, he directed Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in the Netherlands for Stage Entertainment.
Séimí is a guest lecturer at Trinity College Dublin from where he holds a Gold Medal of Excellence.
Anthony Gabriele
Limitless in terms of genre, for over 30 years Anthony has travelled the world to conduct over 60 orchestras and appears regularly with the musicians of the Royal Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Korean National Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra Ireland, and the Luxembourg Philharmonic. He has collaborated with artists including percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie; tenor Fabio Armiliato; violinist Daniel Hope; and singer/songwriters Anastacia and Ronan Keating.
Anthony’s fascination with story-telling in music has guided his choices in London’s West End and internationally. As Musical Director, his credits include Sweeney Todd, The Lion King, CATS, and The Phantom of the Opera. A prize winner in the international opera conducting competition Blue Danube Musik Impresario (Vienna), his opera credits include Don Carlo, La traviata, La bohème, Don Giovanni and Madama Butterfly.
Embracing his life-long love for the 20th century’s greatest film music composers, and without peer as a conductor of ‘Film with Orchestra’ concerts, Anthony was entrusted with the world premieres of Superman, Fiddler on the Roof, Les Choristes, Moby Dick, Life on Our Planet, and Spectre, and has currently performed over 40 titles.
Anthony’s exciting 2025/2026 season includes performances at London’s Royal Albert Hall, Amsterdam’s Het Concertgebouw, and the Seoul Arts Centre, and a return to the stage with multi-platinum award-winning singer-songwriter, Anastacia, for new performances of Anastacia – Live at the Symphony, at Lucerne’s KKL.
Anthony considers his collaboration with National Symphony Orchestra Ireland and director Séimí Campbell for last year’s production of Sweeney Todd to be a personal and career highlight, and is thrilled to be returning for this year’s production of West Side Story in Concert.
James Cousins
James Cousins is an Olivier Award-winning choreographer, movement director and director whose work spans live performance, film, fashion and large-scale events. Since founding James Cousins Company in 2013, he has built an internationally recognised body of work defined by bold physicality, immersive worlds and extraordinary audience experiences.
Theatre credits include: Equus (Menier Chocolate Factor); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare’s Globe); Guys and Dolls (Olivier Award Best Choreography), A Christmas Carol, Richard II, Bach and Sons, The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage (Bridge Theatre); Roam Musical Concert (Shaftesbury Theatre); Measure for Measure (Royal Shakespeare Company); Entertaining Mr Sloane (Young Vic); Abigail’s Party (Theatre Royal Stratford East); Spring Awakening 15th Anniversary Concert (West End); Toy Show The Musical (Convention Centre, Dublin); House of Flamenka (West End); Sweeney Todd in Concert (National Concert Hall, Dublin); Vogue World London (West End); Cold War (Almeida Theatre); and The Cher Show (UK tour).
Dance credits include: We are as Gods (James Cousins Company/ Battersea Arts Centre/ National Theatre); Elysium (British Council Colombia); Jealousy (Scottish Ballet); Photographs and Souvenirs (Graz Opera); With Nothing More than Hope (Royal Ballet of Flanders); Everything and Nothing (Sadler’s Wells); With Every Goodbye (Chilean National Ballet); and Epilogues; Rosalind; Without Stars; Within Her Eyes (James Cousins Company).
Film credits include: Everything and Nothing (Sadler’s Wells); With Every Goodbye (Chilean National Ballet); and Epilogues; Rosalind; Without Stars; Within Her Eyes (James Cousins Company).
Jack Knowles
Jack Knowles is a two-time Tony, two-time Drama Desk and Olivier Award-winning lighting designer. He won the 2026 Tony and Drama Desk Awards for Death of a Salesman at New York’s Winter Garden Theatre, and the 2025 Tony, Drama Desk, Olivier and WhatsOnStage awards for Sunset Boulevard at the Savoy Theatre, London and its Broadway transfer to the St James Theater.
Recent credits include Death of a Salesman (Broadway), Every Brilliant Thing (Broadway/Sohoplace), Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) (Broadway/A.R.T/Criterion Theatre/Kiln Theatre), Sunset Boulevard (Broadway/Savoy Theatre), London Tide, Romeo and Juliet, Top Girls, Barber Shop Chronicles and Cleansed (National Theatre), Long Day’s Journey Into Night (Wyndham’s Theatre); Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet and Venice Preserved (Royal Shakespeare Company), and A Moon for the Misbegotten, 1536, Spring Awakening and Carmen Disruption (Almeida Theatre).
In 2026 he was included in The Stage 100 list of the most influential people in British theatre.
About the National Concert Hall
The National Concert Hall is Ireland’s national cultural institution for music, proudly serving audiences since opening in 1981 through an extensive programme of live performances, education and cultural initiatives. Located in the heart of Dublin city centre beside the Iveagh Gardens, the NCH is home to National Symphony Orchestra Ireland, National Symphony Chorus Ireland, the NCH Cór Linn youth choir (for ages 14-19), and Ireland’s leading children’s choir, Cór na nÓg. The NCH also provides a home for a range of resident music organisations, including Chamber Choir Ireland, Irish Baroque Orchestra, Music Network, Crash Ensemble, and Music Generation.
The National Concert Hall is currently planning a major redevelopment of its facilities as part of Project Ireland 2040 and the National Development Plan. The NCH Discover Centre marks the first phase of this once-in-a-generation transformation, reimagining the National Concert Hall as a vibrant, accessible cultural campus and a true home for music in Ireland. The expanded campus will feature new and enhanced performance spaces, learning and participation facilities, and welcoming civic spaces, engaging more than 500,000 visitors annually. At its heart, this redevelopment will deepen the NCH’s national impact ensuring music is experienced, explored and shared by generations to come.
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