KEY POINTS:
Phantom of the Opera star Anthony Warlow talks to Joanna Hunkin about his starring role in the hit musical, soon to hit New Zealand.
It's your second turn playing the Phantom. Is it easier this time around or is there more pressure?
More pressure. Some parts are easier, simply because I'm older and I've been doing this for nearly 30 years. On the other hand, there are moments that have become harder. I've raised the bar for this role.
You're very well known in Australia but you haven't done much here in New Zealand?
No, and that's why I'm so excited about coming over. I have performed there, I did the Andrew Lloyd Webber tour there with Sarah Brightman. But that was the only time I've performed there and that was at the Aotea Centre in '93 or '94.
Do you see it as a challenge to win over a new Kiwi fanbase?
No, I'm very down to earth. I want to go over there and do the best I can. I will bring this production into New Zealand and give no more, no less than I have given here. I hope that while I do that, along the way, I pick up some people who think, 'Wow, this is a talent we want to watch again.' I'm settled and centred in what I do here. Here, is where my work is. I love Australia, it's been a great country for me. But there is a little piece of New Zealand which is very special to me.
And where is that?
It's a little area, Kumeu. When I was 21, I was given the Joan Sutherland scholarship by the Australian Opera Committee and my brief was to go to New Zealand and work with a wonderful lady by the name of Beatrice Webster, who sadly has passed away. She was my vocal coach and I came and spent several weeks with her on her farm in Kumeu. I basically lived with them and then twice a week I would get on the bus and go into Ponsonby.
Going back to your fanbase, Phantom of the Opera seems to attract some rather enthusiastic fans...
The strange thing for me is when I brought Phantom to Australasia originally, it wasn't known. It was new for everybody and I was new in it. The fanbase started there but it wasn't fanatical. I did it for a year and then left. I haven't had anything to do with the show for 15 years. This time around, it's almost as though I'm the new boy in the party. We've had people with masks on watching the show!
Yeah, there was someone the other night in full Phantom costume.
Well that was me! [Laughs] It is a strangeness. For some people it's almost like a gambling problem, they spend all their money on the show. The problem with that of course is they know every nuance of the show. When I did this originally, we were teaching people how the show went. This time around, people know every part of the songs intimately. So the challenge for me is to instill some difference and some different majesty into the work.
So what is different this time around?
Well, the subtleties that I put into it, which I've worked on and thought about for years and years. When you've done a show and you leave it, as an artist, you think "oh, I could have done that, or I could have done this". We've changed the makeup for instance. The original makeup in London had two perfect ears. It just didn't make sense. If he's wearing this mask and he's got this facial deformity, it should attack the ear as well. So we changed it to be almost like a hole, where the ear had melted into the head.
How long does the makeup take to get off every night?
Not long at all. Originally it used to take two hours to put on and an hour to take off. I used to have to stay in the theatre during two-show days, which was a bit of a pain. This time around, it takes about 40 minutes to put on and 10 minutes to take off. We've come a long way. When we did this originally, we used the same technique that had been done since the 40s. Now it's all medical prosthetics.
And how many of the Phantom masks do you go through?
Not many. I'm actually really good with mine, I have a thing about that. I know some productions use them and throw them out every couple of weeks. I think of it as part of his face. I treat that mask as part of his person, it's not just a prop. It's beautifully made, it's been remodelled for me. It's based on a Grecian mask. I say to any Christine who touches it, "you treat this as if it's part of my face".
LOWDOWN
Who: Anthony Warlow plays the Phantom
What: The Phantom of the Opera
Where: Opens at Auckland's Civic Theatre on Friday, October 17.
