Life's a stage for Queenstown teacher
Ben Wombwell, who plays 'Cinderella's Prince' in Showbiz Queenstown's season of Into The Woods. PHOTO: TRACEY ROXBURGH
Till last week, Ben Wombwell may have flown under Queenstown's radar, but the Queenstown Primary teacher's been making headlines for years.
On debut for Showbiz Queenstown as 'Cinderella's Prince' — "raised to be charming, not sincere" — in Into The Woods, the 36-year-old performer's got about 20 years' experience under his belt, though it could be argued his most famous appearance was almost accidental.
In 2014 Ben was living in London when one of his mates got tickets to The Graham Norton Show, and had one spare.
"I said, 'if you take me, I will do a red chair story', and he went, 'fine, great, you can come along'."
He sent his yarn — about being accidentally groped during a "midnight spooky walk" through a museum with his year 4 class — to the show's producers, but had no idea whether it had cut the mustard till he was pulled from the crowd by the producer.
Norton's guests that night included Taylor Swift, who appeared overcome by the Kiwi, asking "Where is he? Where can we find him?"
After being told to "settle down" by Norton, Swift replied: "It's OK, it's fine. I've got it in check."
Successfully walking away from the red chair after telling his story, Ben wasn't prepared for what came next.
As soon as word hit our shores, the headlines followed.
"It was, at the time, the number one news story," he laughs.
"In New Zealand, my phone was blowing up ... And then in the UK I was heading in to teach 5-year-olds that day, and we were doing painting with our fingers.
"So, you know, it was some beautiful grounding."
Originally from Dunedin, Ben got his first taste of musical theatre at Bayfield High School, where they were "really big on school productions".
In need of guys for one particular show, Ben was hand-picked by the director and he's never looked back, initially performing with Taieri Musical Society and Musical Theatre Dunedin before, while studying to become a teacher, he linked up with DKCM Ltd founder and director Doug Kamo, who became a "mentor and a friend".
It was through that friendship Ben had his first taste of Showbiz Queenstown 16 years ago, when Kamo directed Les Miserables in Queenstown and Ben came to see it.
"I was blown away then with what Queenstown could produce."
After a teaching stint in Dunedin, he headed to Wellington for a time, then on to London where he continued teaching and spent four months studying part-time at The Associated Studios, one of Britain's top drama schools, working with a variety of West End actors, choreographers and musical directors.
Due to a subsequent visa change, though, he couldn't keep working in entertainment there, so jumped at a later chance to audition for the National Theatre, looking for volunteers for a top-secret project.
He became one of 1600 actors enlisted to be part of Jeremy Deller's art event "WeAreHere", performed across the UK on July 1, 2016, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme — each actor represented a World War 1 soldier, dressed in replica costumes, who died on the first day of the battle.
Ben, who describes it as "an incredible experience", was there for Rifleman Reginald Stephen Hazzard, 1st/9th Batallion, London Regiment (Queen Victoria's Rifles), age unknown.
The men took to the streets from dawn till dusk, with strict instructions not to speak.
If they were approached, they simply handed over a card which bore the details of the person they represented.
"People's responses were just incredible, in terms of bursting into tears and just the silence and respect," he says.
After his OE, Ben returned to NZ where he worked with the Life Education Trust in South Auckland, and subsequently met his now-wife, Nikki, who's also a teacher, about six years ago.
He got back on stage, where he "finally got to do the dream musical", Les Miserables, at Pacific Theatre, and then Chess The Musical at the Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre with the Auckland Philharmonia.
Ready for a change, and always intending to return to the South, Ben and Nikki moved to Queenstown just over two years ago — he's teaching year 6 at Queenstown Primary, and is also one of the Kahui Ako within school leads and a mentor teacher, while she's teaching at Te Kura Whakatipu o Kawarau.
Ben says he was "waiting for the right moment" to audition for a show here, and he's grateful to Showbiz's musical director Natasha Wilson, also a teacher at QPS, who suggested that time might be now.
"The main reason that I always do shows is for the people and to get to know the community and the amazing people who do these shows, who have been a privilege to work with," he says.
"I think the calibre of what Showbiz Queenstown brings is incredible, and it punches well above its population weight ... the talent and the crew and the creative team [behind] what is produced in Queenstown is right up there with Dunedin, Wellington and Auckland."
Given "Queenstown is now definitely home", it's a fair bet while this is his first time on a Queenstown stage, it won't be his last.
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