Disney stars Etian Almeida and Serina Mathew on why the West End is a haven for LGBTQ+ performers (EXCLUSIVE)

Growing up in Cuba, Etian Almeida found sanctuary among the theatre kids at his school, a small circle where he first felt he could breathe freely. “You don’t feel like there’s anything wrong with you,” Almeida tells me in a virtual interview.

At a time when the Cuban government discriminated against LGBTQ+ people and banned “public displays” of homosexuality, he struggled to be his true self within his wider family and community. Despite a supportive inner circle – including his mother and father – the now 43-year-old still faced bullying. Yet within his colourful friendship group, he found his armour: “You land in this place where you feel like you don’t need to hide,” he explains.

A shared mission for the stage

That fundamental need for a supportive community is a sentiment shared across the Disney On Stage family by performer Serina Mathew, currently appearing in the ensemble of Hercules on the West End. For Mathew, the stage was a calling from a very young age.

“I started dancing when I was three, and then started doing singing and acting on top of that,” Mathew recalls. “And then I actually think Chicago was the first show I saw, and I was like, ‘I need to do this. I need to do this as a career. I need to get paid to be on that stage’ so then that was my mission.”

Much like Almeida, Mathew views the theatre industry as a vital haven for young queer artists who might be searching for their own network of support.

“Just always be yourself. I’d say that’s the most important one,” Mathew offers as advice to young LGBTQ+ people dreaming of a career on stage. “If you don’t have the support directly around you that’s why, again, being in the theatre industry or having like-minded people around you is so important. You feel so comfortable and so accepted. So I think it’s just important to find those spaces.”

Chosen family and a move to the UK

That sense of chosen family ultimately led Almeida to the UK, where he now performs as a swing in Disney’s West End production of The Lion King. He first arrived in 2007, joining fellow performers in bringing stage spectacular Havana Rakatan to London’s Peacock Theatre for a five-year residency. The then-sold out production was a colourful celebration of Cuban culture, exploring the island’s traditions through salsa, mambo, rumba, cha-cha-cha and bolero. The same infectious energy still dancing through him as he shares fond memories. 

Officially relocating in 2009, Almeida says he soon hit a wall. After years of performing with a “successful” company, the exhausted performer stepped away from the stage, hanging up his dance shoes and taking up an apron instead, working as a chef in a Brighton fish and chip shop. “I didn’t perform at all. I was completely away from the stage. I was completely away from body maintenance and performing. And that’s when I met my husband.”

The “dream” of joining Disney

While Almeida took a detour before returning to his roots, Mathew’s path led her through major West End productions performing in Pretty Woman and The Time Traveller’s Wife before landing a  spot in a Disney production – a moment she will never forget.

“Oh my God, Yeah, I think I screamed,” Mathew laughs. “I was just so excited. It’s like anyone’s dream. I know little me would have been absolutely screaming, kicking her feet, so yeah, I was thrilled to find out.”

“It was a 360 turn around” – Etian Antuche Almeida returning to performing

Almeida’s love of performing eventually returned when he was invited to stage a dance festival, where his now husband was introduced to the artist behind the fryer. “I was like, ‘Back in the day, many years ago, I used to be a performer’ And he couldn’t put the two things together.” Now happily married, Almeida says his relationship and career began to snowball from that moment. “Working for the BBC, festivals, dance festivals, and we’re going to China on tour and coming back. London contracts… and then suddenly, you don’t see your husband in the fish and chip shop anymore, but you get to see Montpellier, you get to see him on stage, and you go to the theatre, and it was a 360 turn around.”

Life on the West End

Almeida signed with The Lion King in 2016 and is now in his 11th season on the West End. He celebrates the cultural spectrum of The Lion King, bringing together international talent from countries including Brazil, South Africa, Cuba, Mexico and Hong Kong. “We’re coming from these very difficult social settings,” Almeida tells me, “where you’re not allowed to be yourself, or to actually have your own voice. You can find that in this space here… two years forward, they leave the company completely different and changed, but also stepping into their truth.”

Cultivating an inclusive culture

Mathew experiences that exact same standard of acceptance backstage at Hercules, noting how the company naturally champions an atmosphere of belonging, particularly during Pride.

“It’s such an inclusive workplace,” Mathew says. “Obviously, again with the pride, like that’s always something that comes into it, but I just think it’s inclusive, it’s a lovely atmosphere… We get to dress up and dance around the stage, what more could you actually want? And then obviously the Disney magic sprinkled on top of that. It’s a great place to be.”

For Mathew, this unyielding support is what sets the West End apart as a sanctuary for queer audiences and performers alike.

“I feel like as an industry, we are just so accepting of anyone, everyone, who you wanna date, who you wanna be, that is obviously so important,” she explains. “From my own experiences, we’re such an inclusive community, everyone supports each other. If you’re not queer, most people are allies and that’s so important to me. And it’s so nice to go into work and feel that support from everyone, or just feel like you can walk in and just be whoever you want to be without being judged.”

A home away from home

In a moment of reflection, Almeida shares that he has found a home away from home. The once young Cuban boy who discovered his chosen family among like-minded theatre kids has now found it once again on a much larger scale. “It is a very strong sense of belonging, and it’s a very strong sense of we’re here, and we’re part of the family, and we’re here together.”

As Pride celebrations kick off across London, that sense of community will undoubtedly spill out into the streets. When asked about her own plans for Pride, Mathew smiles, hinting at a tradition shared by many in the community: “I’m not sure yet. I’m sure we’ll all be out in, I’m sure we’ll all be out in Soho after the show.”

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Buy tickets for Disney’s Hercules and The Lion King on the West End.