Olivier Award winner and Tony nominee Layton Williams will lead a public musical theatre workshop in Malta for the first time on Saturday 31 October, open to anyone aged 16 and over, at every level of performance experience.
The West End and Broadway star is being brought to the island by Finesse Events, the Malta-based events company led by producer Jo Caruana. The workshop is the latest event in the company's drive to bring international talent to Malta for the benefit of local audiences and performers, through live productions and learning opportunities such as these.
Williams arrives in Malta following his run as King Herod in Jesus Christ Superstar at the London Palladium and his Tony-nominated turn as the Iceberg in Titanique on Broadway, the Titanic parody musical built around the songs of Céline Dion. The same role won him the 2025 Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical when the show played at London's Criterion Theatre.
He made his West End debut at the age of 12 in the title role of Billy Elliot The Musical and went on to play Jamie in Everybody's Talking About Jamie in the West End and on tour, as well as the Emcee in Cabaret. Television audiences know him from the BBC comedy Bad Education and from Strictly Come Dancing, where he reached the 2023 final.
The workshop builds on the momentum of Finesse Events' most recent project, the musical comedy String V SPITTA. Fresh from sell-out runs at London's Soho Theatre and the Edinburgh Fringe, the show transferred to Malta in May and sold out all four performances at Theatre Next Door in Magħtab.
"String V SPITTA was a success, but I was most proud of the workshop that followed it - 25 local performers in a room with the people who made the show, learning by doing," says Jo Caruana. "Layton coming here is the next step. He is one of the most accomplished musical theatre performers of his generation, and he is known to be very generous with his talents. For anyone in Malta who performs, or wants to, this is a rare chance to learn from the very best."
Caruana, whose other businesses within the Finesse Group operate largely in the digital and communications space, sees the arts as a critical counterweight to a life lived on screens. "Theatre puts young people in a room together. It asks them to take a risk in front of each other and rewards them with something no screen can replicate - the joy of making something together," she says.
As this will be the only public workshop Williams will lead during his visit to the island - and has extremely limited places available - early booking is strongly advised.
"This will be my first time working in Malta and I can't wait," says Williams. "I'm really looking forward to spending time with local performers of every level, sharing what I've learnt and learning from them, too. I started out in rooms like this one and would encourage anyone with a passion for musical theatre to come along."
Presented by Finesse Events and supported by The Phoenicia Malta, the workshop with Layton Williams will take place from 2pm-4pm on Saturday 31 October, at ZfinMalta Studios, Mediterranean Conference Centre, Valletta. Tickets are priced at €95 and available now at www.finesse-events.com.