Rashed Al Nuaimi. Photo: Instagram/@r__a__n
Emirati performer Rashed Al Nuaimi has been nominated for a prestigious award in musical theatre.
The annual Elliot Norton Awards out of the US are widely recognized around the world and were set up in 1983 to honor the best and biggest achievements in the thriving Boston theatre scene. Al Nuaimi is up in the Outstanding Musical Performance by an Actor category for his debut role as the notorious Bill Sykes in the popular production Oliver, which ran at Boston’s New Repertory Theatre. The ceremony was supposed to take place on Monday, May 11, but will now be held virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic.
As we eagerly await the announcement, here are five things that you need to know about the actor:
1. He is a graduate of the University of Sharjah and worked in the media industry in the UAE for three years before pursuing his true passion for singing and acting
2. He once played himself in a YouTube skit. You have to watch it to get it…
3. He has been hailed by HE Noura Al Kaabi, the UAE’s Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development who tweeted her pride upon hearing the news of his nomination.
Congratulations to our talented @r_a__n for bagging the nomination for Outstanding Musical Performance in the musical ”Oliver”! at the 2020 Eliot Norton Awards.. SUPER PROUD.https://t.co/DizHQ4oY4l pic.twitter.com/1ker7M6xYt
— نورة الكعبي (@NouraAlKaabi) April 16, 2020
4. He started off as an opera singer but has since admitted that his intention was always to use this as a gateway to pursue his foremost passion — musical theatre. “I’m going further than opera into musical theatre,” he said in a recent interview. “I decided not to limit my future to a certain idea because, just as I didn’t know I’d reach here, I don’t know what I’ll do then but I want my work to involve steering this kind of dialogue in the Arab community. That’s my goal.”
5. He is currently studying an MFA in musical theatre from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee.
