We are sitting in an auditorium; a cello consumes our vision, and on the floor, pages of musical notes fan out. A singer steps up to give us a rendition of ‘Send in the Clowns’. We are here on a media call for the production of Broadway Showstoppers, a collaboration with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.
We could be anywhere in the world, including New York, however, we are in Hobart to interview the stars, two of whom are Tasmanian and one a very well-known Australian actor, all part of Broadway Showstoppers for the Australian Musical Theatre Festival.
In the green room we sit down to chat with Nadine Garner, Rob Mallett, and Lisa Crosato.
So, how did these three talented people find their way to musical theatre? The answer in generally the same for most of them, they metaphorically tumbled into the genre. It’s even literal for Garner, who literally ‘“tumbled”, starting out in calisthenics, competitive tap dance, ballet, singing and cabaret. All of which helped her with scheduling and working toward something. Garner, who is majorly an actor, says she is a “match fit” singer, that is she is not always “spinning those musical plates” but when she does, she brings her match fitness to the task and sings a great version of ‘Send in the Clowns’ as she did today.
Garner says she did consider psychology as a career and went on to complete an arts degree, which gave her a broad set of interests because as she notes actors are often living on the poverty line so need to be ‘clever’ and they need many ‘hats’, such as teaching and an upskilled toolset. Garner is involved in actors’ equity and meeting with politicians on this issue who she says often nod their understanding but have “a huge disconnect with what is the reality in the arts.”
Mallett also fell into entertainment, with Irish dancing, the school choir and drama classes in his background. When Mallett got to year 12, he was thinking of a career path and was tossing up possibly joining the navy or becoming a jackaroo but ended up choosing entertainment and congratulations are in order as Mallet has been cast in the upcoming Neil Diamond musical Beautiful Noise.
Crosato found her way into music partly though genetics, her fraternal grandmother was an opera singer. Living in America, Crosato auditioned for ‘The King and I’ in California, her first experience in the industry she was playing alongside Robert Ito who had notched up many performances with Yul Brynner. In Australia Crosato has performed in Andrew Lloyd Weber musical theatre, and she has played a munchkin in The Wizard of Oz.
Opting for a tree change Crosato moved her family to Tasmania where she has been living for five years.
Performing with the TSO is a pleasure for the performers as nowadays says Mallett, “so much music is stripped back with just keyboard or tracks.”
Crosato adds Launceston “loves musical theatre.” You can also see Crosato in the upcoming Festival of Voices.
Broadway Showstoppers is on at the Albert Hall, Launceston, Saturday 23rd May. The Australian Musical Theatre Festival runs until 24th May. Australian Musical Theatre Festival | Launceston, Tasmania.
