Luke Newton is set to play fashion designer Lee Alexander McQueen in a new play.
Newton’s career is going from strength to strength. Alongside his starring role as Colin Bridgerton in three series of the Netflix juggernaut Bridgerton he’s also making his mark on the big screen in Jurassic World Rebirth.
Next up he’ll be appearing in an off-Broadway production of a new play that explores the life on the famous British fashion designer.
House of McQueen will begin previews next month at The Manson at Hudson Yards, before having it’s official opening in November.
Newton has previously performed in the West End in productions of The Book of Mormon and Neil LaBute’s play The Shape of Things.
Deadline has shared the official synopsis of the play.
“The play will take guests through Lee’s layered individual experience, from his early days as an emerging designer, to later building one of the most important fashion houses in the world, and ultimately his tragic passing in 2010.
“Within the performance, intimate relationships with key figures in his life ranging from mentor Isabella Blow to blood relatives will be explored surrounded by a highly produced landscape complete with floor-to-ceiling LED panels designed to shift environments on stage.”
Lee McQueen founded his own fashion label in 1992 using his middle name Alexander. He was just 23 years old when he set up the label. From 1996 until 2001 he also served as the chief designer at Givenchy.
McQueen created bold and dramatic clothes, and was known for his tailoring skills. His shows often involved performance art and he developed a reputation as an enfant terrible in British fashion.
The designer was gay, describing himself as going from the womb to a gay parade, and was also HIV positive. He died by suicide in 2010 when he was 40 years old. His death came just a week after his mother had passed away and at a time when the designer was using a significant amount of drugs and battling mental health challenges.
The play about McQueen is not the only project on Luke Newton’s slate. He’s also filmed the upcoming sci-fi film White Mars which he stars in alongside Lucy Hale and Sabrina Dhowre Elba. Plus we can expect to see more of him as Colin Bridgerton as three more series of the show have already been greenlit.
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