'Choir Boy is about finding your voice in a world that wants to silence you'

Every time the world shows signs of evolving and letting people be who they are, it seems we get a reminder of why we can’t take such signs for granted.

Which is where art and storytelling play a vital role, and musicals such as Choir Boy – making a brief cameo in Wollongong in March – find an engaged and encouraging audience.

Not too long ago, a coming-of-age show about a queer teenager might have been imagined, but not written and certainly never staged. Choir Boy shouts – or rather, sings sweetly and powerfully – from rooftops, validating and saving lives and entertaining all at once. It tells of the path of bright-eyed central character Pharus in a group of black students dealing with identity and sexuality at school.

Theo Williams, who plays the bookish David, son of a pastor, says the show’s theme of inclusiveness runs deep behind the scenes.

“Everyone is incredibly respectful of each other’s processes and boundaries,” he said. “It’s always okay to voice what you need. The uplifting vibes in the promotional videos are real.

“Choir Boy is about finding your voice in a world that wants to silence you. It’s about how blackness, queerness, masculinity and religion do and don’t mix, and the power of gospel music and spirituals to heal and connect where words won’t suffice.

“David is trying hard to find middle ground between family pressures and navigating his own identity.”

Williams grew up in Newcastle with music enfolding him from all angles.

“My father’s side is full of jazz and church singers and my mother’s side was very involved in Newcastle’s theatre industry and had a few opera singers. Singing was in my blood – and I couldn’t be luckier.”

Williams’s burgeoning talent has turned heads in recent years with appearances in productions of Jersey Boys and Little Shop of Horrors, but he doesn’t want to jinx future success by talking about it.

“I intend to just keep riding the roller-coaster,” he said. “It would be cool to be a role model for men of mixed races and bigger builds, and people with big dreams from small towns!”

Choir Boy began this run at Parramatta’s Riverside Theatre during WorldPride celebrations last month, giving the cast the chance to finely tune everything required for a satisfying if short Wollongong run.

Last word belongs to musical director Allen Rene Louis, who, with opening night adrenaline coursing through the Riverside foyer, said: “It’s a beautiful story that is so needed today … everybody can learn how to make our world a better place, a more inclusive place that is safe for all people.”

Choir Boy will be at Wollongong Town Hall, March 22-25. Tickets: merringong.com.au