College mourns a leading light
It is with great sadness Newington College marks the passing of Ben Lewis (ON 1997), acclaimed musical theatre actor and singer, who died earlier this week aged 46.
Star of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies, the sequel to the Phantom of the Opera, and the Phantom of the Opera in Australia and London’s West End, Ben is mourned by the international theatre community as a ‘towering presence’.
Producer Cameron Mackintosh wrote in a social media post, ‘It is a tremendous shock to hear the tragic news … Ben was a towering presence and a great company leader when he played the title role of the Phantom in his native Australia and then again at His Majesty’s Theatre in London.’ Andrew Lloyd Webber also sent his ‘heartfelt condolences to the Lewis family.’
The son of opera singers Michael Lewis and Patricia Price, Ben began at Newington in 1995 and soon became involved in Drama, Music and Cricket. He was House Captain of Manton in Year 12 and played for Newington lst XI, as well as the 2nd XI team which won the GPS premiership in 1996. Ben was also a member of the Brass Consort, the Symphonic Orchestra, and the Symphonic Winds in which he played the trumpet. In Year 11, Ben won the Performing Arts Awards and later went on to perform in College drama productions, The Club and The Merchant of Venice in which he played Antonio.
After finishing Year 12 at Newington in 1997, Ben completed an arts degree at the University of Sydney and later honed his craft at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA). In 2011 he won the title role of the Phantom in the 2011 Australian production of Love Never Dies, Lloyd Webber’s sequel to The Phantom of the Opera. It was a role he later reprised for London’s West End. Ben’s younger brother Alexander Lewis (ON 2000), a renowned tenor opera singer and stage performer, also attended Newington College.
Ben was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2024 and passed away in Sydney this week. Newington College extends its deepest sympathies to Ben’s wife, actor Melle Stewart, his brother Alexander, and all Ben’s extended family and friends.
