Episode 25. Broadway Auditions, Mega Musicals, and Acting the Song with Phantom of the Opera's Thomas James O'Leary
/Broadway veteran and award-winning director, Thomas James O’Leary, lifts the veil and shares his journey to Broadway where he played title role in Phantom of the Opera for over 1,000 performances.
In this in-depth episode, Tom shares loads of lessons about rising through the ranks of some of the greatest mega musicals in history (Les Miserable, Chess, Miss Saigon) as well as the specific performance techniques that helped him break through to playing the lead role of the Phantom.
If you’re a megamusical history buff, a Phantom fan, or just looking for helpful tips about being a better performer, then this episode is for you!
Listen to the whole episode now, or use the time stamps below to navigate to specific topics.
1:00 Welcome/Intro
5:30 Early Years and Going to New York
9:34 His botched audition for Les Miserable 1st National Tour
15:28 Audition for Chess (Broadway), finding “Pity the Child”
19:27 Owning Your Niche – “intense”
22:24 Being a Swing on Les Mis 1st National Tour
27:02 Chess (1st National Tour)
31:03 Audition for Miss Saigon (Broadway), the Dance Call!
34:54 Rehearsal stories Miss Saigon, not getting understudy role of Chris
43:46 Journey to lead role of Phantom on Broadway and his acting transformation
1:04:25 Acting through song, learning your music, and audition tips
1:19:16 Korrie’s Wrap Up
Xo,
Korrie
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MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
The Actor’s Thesaurus, by Marina Caldarone and Maggie Lloyd-Williams: A list of acting words to use in your songs and the methodology of how to use them.
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