MANSFIELD — Najee Rawls literally grew up singing on stages.
In 2024, that stage will be afloat.
The 23-year-old Mansfield Senior graduate, whose stage experience belies his years, has been cast in one of the lead roles in “Beetlejuice The Musical” aboard the 965-foot Norwegian cruise ship Viva.
Rawls saw the casting call call recently on Playbill.com and decided to send in an audition tape. It included clips from previous shows in which he has appeared, along with a monologue he prepared for the audition tape.
“I said, ‘If you have a role for me, I will take it,'” the Mansfield resident said during a recent interview at Relax It’s Just Coffee. “It could be a lead role. It could be in the ensemble. It didn’t matter to me.
“They ended up emailing me back, saying they were considering me for the role of Adam (Maitland). I thought that was pretty cool to be a young guy from Mansfield just randomly submitting something and actually being called back for a lead role,” Rawls said.
Audition in NYC was ‘a great experience’
Rawls, who has appeared on numerous shows at the Renaissance Theatre and the Mansfield Playhouse, spoke to a director and a fellow actor, both of whom told him a cruise line show could change his life.
He auditioned one day in New York City and was invited for a call-back the next day and the final audition a few days later. After that, the wait was about two weeks back in Mansfield before a contract offer was sent his way.
“It was a great experience,” Rawls said of the auditions in New York City.
“It will be a six-month contract, doing two to three shows per day. But they are also hiring me to host game shows on the ship, classical music nights, sing in the bars, etc.,” he said.
During the audition process, Rawls had to admit to the woman leading the casting that he never saw Tim Burton’s “Beetlejuice” movie, which premiered in 1988 with Michael Keaton in the name character role.
Nor was he familiar with the music from the Broadway musical that opened in 2019, a show that closed in March 2020 due to the COVID pandemic.
“She said ‘I can tell that,’ but she liked me not having any knowledge of the songs were done and how it had been acted before. That helped make the decision on me being cast because I added my own character to the character,” Rawls said.
Adventure begins two days after Christmas
Rawls and his 2-year-old son, Najee, will fly to Tampa, Fla., on Dec. 27 to begin one month of rehearsals. The ship sets sail in February with planned stops in the Caribbean and Mediterranean seas.
“Once I get the script in front of me, that’s when I can really dive in and dissect what I need to do, what I can bring out of the character and what that character needs me to bring out,” said Rawls, who graduated from high school in 2018.
The story concerns a deceased couple (Adam and Barbara Maitland), who try to haunt the new inhabitants of their former home and call for help from a devious ghost named Betelgeuse (after the star).
The name is pronounced and often spelled “Beetlejuice”), who is summoned by saying his name three times. One of the new inhabitants is a young girl, Lydia, who is dealing with her mother’s death and her neglectful father.
Rawls will not be alone in the adventure. He has custody of his son, who will be joining him on the voyage.
He said childcare is available on the cruise ship and that his family will also be joining during different segments of the Viva’s travels.
“I could not be apart from him for six months. It’s just him and me,” Rawls said.
‘Shrek’ remains his favorite role
The cruise ship is just the latest musical work for Rawls, who has also advanced to the next round of “Amateur Night at the Apollo” in New York City, a tradition that began at the theater in 1934.
The finals are Nov. 23 and the winner will receive a $25,000 prize, according to Rawls.
“Pretty much, it’s just branching out there and bringing your talent to a different state and seeing if somebody notices you and sees where you are going,” he said.
Rawls learned his craft on local stages, including the lead role in a Mansfield Playhouse youth production of “Shrek.” That role remains his favorite.
He credits Doug and Tammy Wertz at the Mansfield Playhouse and (now retired teacher) Dirk Eachus at Mansfield Senior High School with helping cultivate his musical talents.
“Shrek was a character I could relate to,” Rawls said. “I feel like ‘Shrek’ was my best friend growing up.
“It was amazing to go out on stage. It was my first time booking a lead role. I was comfortable because I was covered up in green, so no one could see me,” he said with a laugh.
“I was able to get out there and really bring that character to life.”
Rawls continues to see a bit of himself in the cartoon character.
“Shrek is Shrek. He doesn’t care what anybody thinks. He’s just himself. To me, the character was funny and goofy. So I would just go on stage and be myself … as goofy as I am,” he said.
Feeling healthy again
Rawls battled through serious illnesses dating back to 2019, the first of which took him off the stage when he was performing in an off-Broadway show in NYC.
He returned to Mansfield to try to recover and ultimately found he had two tumors in his stomach, which were removed during surgery.
He also had polyps removed from his vocal cords. Along the way, Rawls experienced a homeless period due to personal issues.
Now literally 200-plus pounds lighter, Rawls has a new outlook on life.
“Just to sit back now and reflect on everything I went through to see how optimistic I am today … makes me humble and puts me at ease.
“Every day, I wake up and I feel great. I truly believe that the way we feel is all in our heads.
“When I was younger, everybody would tell me I was a great performer. But I didn’t love anything about me.
“My son has changed that. When he came into this world, he didn’t know me from a can of paint and I watch now how much he loves me. By him loving me, it shows me how to love myself.
“So I feel great. I really do.”
