Sameer Dhanjee (RepresentAsian: An Evening of Asian Talent)

For Sameer Dhanjee, joining RepresentAsian: An Evening of Asian Talent is more than simply another exciting opportunity at the start of his professional career. Having recently graduated from the Guildford School of Acting and recently appearing at the Watermill Theatre's production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, this marks his West End Debut and gives him the chance to share the stage with some of the West End's finest talents, whilst celebrating Asian talent across musical theatre.

Having grown up passionate about the theatre but rarely seeing Asian heritage represented on stage, Dhanjee discusses the importance of authentic representation and why he hopes this concert will inspire young Asian performers to believe that there is a place for them in the industry, ahead of the one night only concert at the Lyric Theatre in November.

Q) Congratulations on joining RepresentAsian: An Evening of Asian Talent! What was your reaction when you found out you had been cast in the concert?

Thank you so so much! I was genuinely ecstatic! My agent rang me and told me the news and I could not stop smiling and saying how excited I was. I had seen the cast performing at West End Live 2026 and so was fully aware of the production and everything it stood for, and was over the moon that I would get to be a part of it this time.

Q) The concert will mark your first opportunity to perform on a West End stage. What does that milestone mean to you at this stage of your career?

I mean, it’s the stuff of dreams for me. Since graduating, I’ve been really lucky to perform at some super cool places such as the Watermill Theatre and the Lyric Hammersmith, and so to add performing on the West End to that list means so much to me. Especially as it’s the current home of Hadestown – and we get to share that space? It’s just amazing!

Q) What made you want to be involved?

I think my desire to be involved stemmed from being such a huge fan of musical theatre before I even chose it as a career. Long before I even made the decision to go to drama school, I used to only want to watch musicals, theatre and musical films. I was always the first one to sign up for school productions simply because that is how I enjoyed spending my time, but whenever I did watch anything, I never saw anyone who looked like me. And as I grew up more, I noticed diversity being encouraged more with casts starting to reflect the population that we have, but still I couldn’t see anyone who looked like me. In addition to this, I started to notice shows that provided opportunities for POC performers to tell the stories from their diverse backgrounds, but couldn’t find anything that reflected my ethnicity apart from Aladdin. And then I realised something as I discovered more shows for South Asian performers such as Bombay Dreams and Bhangra Nation. We shouldn’t need these productions to have a place on stage in commercial theatre. The number of Asian performers in this career is disproportionate to the amount that are actually seen on stage. People of colour make up 38% of casts in London’s West End productions, but East and South Asian performers account for only 3.7% of that figure. That statistic genuinely baffled me and so as part of that 3.7%, I thought a concert such as RepresentAsian was long overdue and absolutely something I needed to be part of; championing and highlighting Asian excellence in the West End.

Q) The concert brings together established West End performers with emerging talent. Having recently graduated from your training, what are you hoping to take away from working alongside some of these West End performers?

I’m so excited to witness their approaches to material and their exceptional standards of talent that they have worked so hard to achieve. I can’t wait to have conversations with other Asian performers who have managed to break through certain barriers and hear their experiences first hand. Each of them has had different paths leading them to RepresentAsian, and I’ll definitely be trying to get all of the tips they’ve picked up and lessons they’ve learnt through various jobs to help me throughout the rest of my career.

Q) What does a concert like RepresentAsian mean to you personally, particularly at the beginning of your professional career?

Being a part of something that is so celebratory of POC performers, but specifically Asian ones, means so much to me. My parents and I would always make trips to London when I was younger to see all the shows and I think if I’d seen a concert like this being advertised and had the opportunity to watch, I think I would’ve had a bit more hope in there being a place for me in the industry. Even just knowing that there was a network that was working so hard to champion people who looked like me would’ve meant more than I can articulate. That is why I’m so grateful to Ben Armstrong for creating this whole thing and being so hands-on with us to create such a genuinely special production. And the opportunity for me to meet all of these other Asian performers and have them be my colleagues means that from this day forth, I actually will have that network and maybe some Asian kid will watch in the audience and realise that we are here and we’re not going anywhere, and that they too could work in theatre.

Q) How important do you think it is for audiences to see that diversity is represented on the West End stage?

As I’ve said previously, I genuinely can’t emphasise how important it is. We learn so much visually so early on in life, from cartoons and educational videos at school and picture books etc. If you see someone who looks like you, it immediately makes what you’re watching feel more relatable and you imagine yourself in those situations. It is the same with theatre; it doesn’t matter what type of theatre, whether it’s pantomime, theatre in education, regional theatre or West End theatre. If you see someone who looks like you on that stage, you’re drawn to them and that feeling of being drawn to them translates into an awareness that you too can do that. That could be you. This goes for people of different abilities, sexualities, genders and ethnicities. To add to this, people want to see theatre that reflects the world we live in. And London is such a culturally diverse place, and so the things we watch should reflect this and be representative of this.

Q) Do you feel that representation within musical theatre has changed during your time training, and what changes would you still like to see within the industry?

I think representation definitely has changed during my training, as I see schools really paying attention to diversity when they are selecting a cohort, making sure that equal opportunities are being given to people of diverse backgrounds. But that shouldn’t be a trend, in the sense it needs to continue so that every year group of every school is producing performers of multiple different backgrounds and ethnicities that are going to go into the industry and contribute to diversity. A change I’d like to see is Asian performers not needing to rely on roles specifically about their ethnicity. So many new productions rely on replicating a casting choice that was made for a previous version of a show and I think it’s a very powerful thing to put people of colour in roles you wouldn’t normally see them in, as it adds a whole new layer of representation, but also completely reimagines what a character can look like and have experienced.

Q) Has there been a particular performer, production or creative experience of Asian Heritage that has inspired the kind of performer you want to become?

Whilst I was in my 2nd year at GSA, I had an experience in a project where we were performing Beetlejuice the Musical. I’d kind of set my hopes on playing Adam Maitland but when listening to the song ‘Ready Set, Not Yet’ I realised I couldn’t play that role as the character is referred to as being white male which I obviously am not, so I kind of moved on and accepted that wouldn’t be an option for me. But then the day came when we found out our casting for the project and I was told I would be playing Adam Maitland and I genuinely couldn’t believe it. To make the moment even sweeter, my gorgeous and incredibly talented best friend Amy Turner was cast as Barbara Maitland (my onstage wife). We giggled and screamed the whole way home as we were over the moon with our casting. I said to Amy, I just couldn’t believe it because it made no sense, but somehow, it still happened to which Amy responded, ‘why doesn’t it make sense?’. I told Amy about the line referring to Adam being white and Amy responded explaining to me 'there is nothing about the character that demands him to be a white male and so whether or not I got to play the part shouldn’t have depended on something like that but more whether I suit the character and his vocal style. He is a middle-aged man who lives with his wife who he adores, and both of them are terrified of taking the next step in their relationship which is having a child together. Where does that become restricted to a white person?’ This moment really resonated with me. It was the first moment in a professional training environment I’d realised I could play roles that weren’t just about being Asian and that being Asian could just be an element that I bring to a character, and so from that day, I knew that I wanted to play the roles that I’ve always wanted to play, but even more so I wanted to be the first Asian person to play those roles and it not be the entire identity of the character.

Q) The concert is also helping to create scholarships for young Asian performers through The Boury Academy. Why is providing access to professional arts training so important? How does it feel to know that the event you are performing in is helping to create opportunities for the next generation?

I’m just so glad that there is also a practical element of change that will come from this concert. It’s all very well to say that young Asian performers will see us and witness people who look like them, but the sad reality is that not everyone financially has access to the training which can be so transformative in helping someone have a career in the arts. The Boury Academy scholarships are going to help create actual physical change and provide opportunities to those who want them who otherwise might not have been able to access them, and that is genuinely a life changing thing. We only get to live this life once and to know that from this concert, someone may get the chance to actually attain their dreams- I mean that is just the most incredibly empowering and motivating thing to know.

Q) Performing in a concert setting can be quite different from being part of a full musical. What are you enjoying about that format?

Performing in a concert setting is entirely new to me. I am really excited to perform songs as myself and to have the connections that I have with the other performers on stage be completely on display and genuine, authentic ones. Everything you see is real. And the songs we sing will be our versions of them with me performing as Sameer Dhanjee, instead of Sameer Dhanjee as someone else.

Q) Without giving too much away - can you give us a little glimpse into what audiences can expect from the evening?

Audiences can expect an immense variety of repertoire from the musical theatre and pop catalogue. Songs you know and love, to songs that you might not know, but will definitely love and be adding to your playlist on your way home! But on top of this, audiences can expect a night of celebration, empowerment, and optimism about the future of the musical theatre industry.

Q) Why should audiences come along to RepresentAsian at the Lyric Theatre?

Audiences should come to RepresentAsian at the Lyric theatre as it gives them an opportunity to be a part of a positive change in our industry. By purchasing a ticket and attending, you are actively contributing to a young Asian persons training and making a real difference to the next generation of performers and what they may look like. And of course, you will get to witness some of the incredible talent that Asian performers contribute to our beautiful industry!

RepresentAsian: An Evening of Asian Talent plays at the Lyric Theatre for one night only on 09th November - tickets and more information can be found here.

Photography by Yellowbelly