From rural New Zealand theatre to the big stage of Broadway

A Kiwi on Broadway is realising his teenage dream as he takes on a role in the musical reimagining of Shakespeare classic Romeo and Juliet.

Roaring with iconic songs that will make anyone nostalgic of the 2000s and 2010s era, the musical, written by David West Read (Schitt's Creek), follows what might have happened to Juliet if she didn't kill herself after Romeo did.

Actor Hayden Tee, originally from Maungaturoto in Te Tai Tokerau, describes the show as a pop concert with "Shakespeare of pop music" producer Max Martin, whose credits include Backstreet Boy's I Want It That Way, Taylor Swift's Shake It Off, and Britney Spear's ...Baby One More Time, in charge of music.

"It's a wonderful feminist take on Romeo and Juliet. Kind of written as a little bit of a parallel between Shakespeare and his real-life wife, whose name is or was Anne Hathaway. That sounds like a gag but it's actually true.

"Anne decides to take the quill of Shakespeare and basically start rewriting the story herself. She writes herself into the story.

"Juliet has a non-binary best friend named May. They head off from Verona to Paris, which is where they meet my character Lance, who's essentially the king of France and where Juliet meets her next love interest, which is Francois, who is my son."

Tee tells Saturday Morning he felt it was particularly important the musical had gender representation, considering the climate in America at the moment.

"I'm a non-binary person myself. I use he/they pronouns, although my Instagram at the moment is changed to say Takatāpui because I'm Māori because I feel the need to maybe protect myself a little bit here, I want to keep my green card. I want to keep this job.

"But it's an interesting time and, I think, being able to walk on stage and be a part of this important story at this important time, in this country, is a nice way to passively support progress."

Tee also played Lance Du Bois in the original Australian production. He previously trod the boards in London's West End too, with Les Misérables and Matilda. He says he's lucky to have realised his teenage dream of acting in theatre.

His humble beginnings go back to Otamatea Repertory Theatre, where he first acted at the age of 14 in a local play, written by Maureen Davies, called Crumbling Towers – a spin on Fawlty Towers.

"I didn't really know that this was possible to be honest, I didn't know that people could even get paid to do this, but I knew that I wanted to do it in some form because it's the only thing that really made my heart sing and still does."

His whānau have been incredibly supportive, although his mum reckons they didn't have a choice, he jokes.

"I was pretty stubborn as a child and friends of mine might right now might say I'm quite stubborn as an adult, but I think you need to be to achieve your goals and your dreams."

Tee now lives in Waipū, Northland, where he finds balance between work overseas on the big stage and maintaining a connection to his roots.

"To be able to live in rural New Zealand and then to drop in and do these contracts on the bigger stages in the world, in the birth place of my art form, which is musical theatre, and then to be able to return to have that balance in Waipū is - I mean, it's a gift…

"I think returning to Aotearoa is the part that feeds my soul and keeps me grounded and keeps the balance intact."