Nick Afoa

Early life

He grew up in Mangere and Papatoetoe. He was educated at Calvin Christian School, St Peter's College and King's College. He was a prominent junior rugby player in Auckland Rugby. He was selected for the NZ Secondary Schools (2003/2004), NZ Under 17’s (2002) as well as many Regional representative teams. He played club rugby for the Ponsonby Rugby Football Union club in central Auckland. In 2004 he was selected for the NZ U19 World Cup team in South Africa when the NZ U19 side won that tournament. He was also affiliated with the Auckland Rugby Football Union, serving in their High Performance Unit. His rugby career came to a halt due to a torn ACL. Afoa pursued social sciences at Auckland University, earning a Bachelor of Arts. Subsequently, he contributed to a program aimed at assisting South Auckland teenagers impacted by drugs and alcohol, employing music as a form of therapy.

Career

As a singer, Afoa was a soloist for the Rugby World Cup Choir who performed the National Anthems (for their respective countries) at the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia. In Auckland he performed at Sky City Symphony Under the Stars (2004), Christmas in the Park(2003) and has been the National Anthem singer for other international rugby sides. In 2013 he was cast (for a season due to last into 2015) as Simba in a Sydney musical production of Disney's The Lion King, a role he last auditioned in 2004 Currently in the London production of The Lion King as Simba.