BWW Interviews: Colm Wilkinson Talks Broadway and Beyond & More!

This summer Toronto welcomes back one of our favourite Broadway leading men - Colm Wilkinson - as he returns to grace the city's stage in Broadway and Beyond - The Concert Songs.  It's been nearly five years since Colm last performed a solo show in Toronto, but he's been in and out of the city doing various engagements ever since he first appeared as the original Toronto Phantom of the Opera.

Colm Wilkinson in Concert - Broadway and Beyond focuses mostly on songs off his latest album of the same name, and Dancap Productions is bringing it to the Four Seasons Centre August 12th and 13th only.  BWW is thrilled to brings its readers this exclusive in-depth interview with Colm, in which he talks about not only his upcoming shows, but also his work with Theatre 20, the recent influx of British shows in Toronto and the upcoming 25th Anniversary Celebration for The Phantom of the Opera:

 

 

We are thrilled to have you finally return to Toronto stages with Broadway and Beyond: The Concert this August. Can you give us a brief overview of what we can expect from the show?

These concerts that I do are a mix of musical theatre and some pop and rock and roll. They even include some Irish music! Basically it's a time for people to just come out and enjoy themselves. I strive to do mostly classic songs that people will know and encourage people to get involved and sing along and have a great time.

At this show it will be mostly stuff off the Broadway and Beyond album, including Hallelujah, Music of the Night, Bring Him Home, Some Enchanted Evening, Somewhere and more. I will also be doing a few new songs including The Beatles' She's Leaving Home and Joe Cocker's Up Where We Belong from An Officer and a Gentleman.

I have both Susan Gilmour and Patricia O'Callaghan joining me as guest singers so they will do a few of their own songs as well and are very talented songstresses in their own right. Steve Hunter is the band leader and I have a great group of musicians with me, about nine of us up on stage. The show is just over two hours long and will hopefully include a lot of audience participation, as well as a few jokes and stories from over the years.

It feels like it's been forever since you performed in Toronto, do you know how long it's been?

Probably about five years since I last did a solo show in the city! I'm really looking forward to it. And the Four Seasons is such a great venue, the acoustics are fantastic and it's a truly great place to work.

What are you most looking forward to about bringing the show to Toronto?

Just getting to do it in this city. I don't think a lot of people are familiar with this particular show and I'm really looking forward to getting to share it with a Toronto audience. If we get the reaction we have been getting in other cities then I think it will be fantastic as people have really been enjoying it.

Plus I love doing concerts because there isn't a lot of new material out there, especially for someone like me to do at this stage in my career. When I do a show like this it allows me to explore a wide range of music and also go back to where I started which was mostly blues and rock and roll.

The Broadway and Beyond CD is available on both CDBaby and iTunes, but can people get it in stores at all yet?

I'm working on it, but it has been selling really well online and so many people seem to prefer to buy music that way these days it just makes sense to do that. Eventually I would like to see it in stores though. You can also get it at the Dancap shows in August.

Do people who purchase tickets for the "meet and greet" with you in August receive a copy of the album?

Yes, Dancap has put some special tickets on sale that I think are almost completely sold out! People will get to come backstage and meet me and have a picture taken and get a copy of the album. I'm looking forward to that because it's always great to spend a bit of time with the fans and hear what they thought of the show as well.

Given that you spend a lot of time in the UK and Ireland, do you have an opinion on the recent influx of British musicals and plays to Toronto's theatre scene? Have you seen any of the shows that are coming this season to our city?

Well, I finally got to see Billy Elliot last week and I saw Cesar Corrales in the lead role - he was fantastic! That is a great show and what an amazing kid. I really enjoyed all the British references as well and was surprised by how well they seemed to be appreciated by the audience.

I also had the chance to see War Horse when I was in London and it was incredible, a wonderful piece of theatre that I would recommend for anybody. It's not what you would expect at all, it's puppetry on a whole new level.

And while I love all the British influences in the Toronto theatre scene, I do wish we could see more stuff starting out directly in the city. I know the populations in London and NYC are much larger than Toronto but Canada has such amazing talent and I wish we were producing more original works. That is part of the reason for Theatre 20, which I'm a founding member of. It was designed to help encourage more original Canadian work because we do have the talent here and people deserve the chance to see these people shine.

You recently took a trip to Vegas to see some shows, what did you think of the productions that you got to see down there?

I got to see The Phantom of the Opera while I was down there, as well as The Donny and Marie show and two of the Cirque du Soleil shows. It was a really fun time. Anthony Crivello is currently playing The Phantom and he was Grantaire in the 10th Anniversary Les Miserables Concert with me, so it was wonderful to see him in the role. He's a really great guy who is doing a fantastic job.

The Donny and Marie show is incredible. It's not a musical but for sheer entertainment value and energy it's a real 10 out of 10. They work very hard and give great value to the audience. It is a wonderful show and Marie does a fantastic version of The World Goes Round that I really enjoyed. I think Toronto audiences are really going to enjoy the show when Dancap brings it here in July.

 

With Donny Osmond at the Dancap Summer Show Announcement

What's coming up next for you?

I'm doing a concert in Ireland on August 28th that I'm really excited about. It's at the Kilruddery House which is a beautiful old mansion and is going to have a full orchestra and be absolutely gorgeous. I've also been approached to possibly do some music for a TV series that is in the works in the UK about the Titanic. The ship was built mostly in Belfast, and so I think it would be great to get to be a part of that.

Probably one of the biggest things on the horizon right now for me is the 25th Anniversary Concert of The Phantom of the Opera. I've been asked to participate in October in London and as far as I know will be televised as well - so look for me there! And of course I will continue to be involved with Theatre 20 here in Toronto as well.

When and Where?
Colm Wilkinson in Concert: Broadway and Beyond

Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts

August 12th and 13th, 2011 at 8PM

Tickets can be purchased by phone at 416-644-3665 or online at www.dancaptickets.com/pages/cwilkinson

Photos courtesy of Racheal McCaig Photography