Musical theatre star Michael Falzon to produce big band show Swing On This
Versatile musical theatre star Michael Falzon is broadening his professional options and moving into the big band space with his group Swing On This.
Stage star Michael Falzon believes he would more than likely be passed over if he were trying to break into musical theatre today.
The veteran performer with almost 20 years of experience — including a starring role in Evita alongside Tina Arena — says that producers feel the pressure these days to “cast on celebrity” in order to attract bigger audiences.
“The climate has changed now compared with when I worked my way through,” he tells BW Magazine.
“A lot of people are cast on celebrity these days and I feel some of the opportunities I was lucky to have when I was starting out would not be available today.
“I feel people would find it hard to get a break on stage today unless they had been on TV or have some kind of notoriety.
“Producers want to ensure they get bums on seats and it’s not necessarily a negative, it’s just an adjustment in the industry.”
Falzon could be referring to reality stars who have made their way onto the stage — namely Rob Mills, his pal and co-star in his big band production Swing On This.
MORE FROM MERCEDES MAGUIRE
TEACH YOUR BABY TO SLEEP BETTER
HAS TECHNOLOGY CHANGED HOW WE FIND LOVE?
Millsy came to fame on the first season of Australian Idol and went on to star in Grease — The Arena Spectacular, Legally Blonde and Wicked. Then there’s fellow Idol alumni Paulini Curuenavuli, who nabbed the lead role in The Bodyguard.
It was a different environment to the one that delivered Falzon his debut.
“When I got my big break I was nothing more than a young tenor in musical theatre and I was given the opportunity to audition for Queen,” he says of the 2003 audition in front of writer Ben Elton and members of Queen, when he was chosen for the Freddie Mercury musical We Will Rock You.
“I’d done a few musicals but I was not known from a bar of soap. But everything came together for me at the right time, it was the right time of life for me, I had just turned 30 and it turned out to be my big breakout role.”
Although he started music and singing lessons from the age of 10 — meaning one might expect to find a steady stream of musical stage performances throughout young Falzon’s high school years — there was just one, playing Judas in Godspell which introduced him to the world of musical theatre.
He intended to study psychology when he left school but deferred university for a year — and never went back. A few years later he started singing in a choir and was later invited to audition for Pirates Of Penzance through Queensland Opera, which became his first professional musical.
Falzon’s career since then has been an impressive run. After We Will Rock You, he appeared in Hello Dolly — and had to learn how to dance — The War of the Worlds, Jesus Christ Superstar and Rock Of Ages.
But, as he moves south to Melbourne to continue in the role of Magaldi in Evita’s season there, he admits musical theatre is no longer his sole focus.
At 46, the Brisbane-born, Sydney-based performer says he has been relishing the role producing big band show Swing On This, a project he founded in 2014 with fellow performers Ben Mingay, Luke Kennedy, Matt Lee and Rob Mills.
“We take songs predominantly from the ’80s and we swing them,” he says of the show’s repertoire.
“We’ve done Michael Jackson, John Farnham, The Proclaimers and INXS, to name a few. Pop songs work really well in the big band format.
“People often ask me why I think swing is such an enduring style of music, and I think it’s because every decade or so a performer comes along and rejuvenates the genre, like Michael Buble or Robbie Williams.
“I have always loved that music, and it’s great to have a kind of ‘Aussie brat pack’ to perform with and I love that we can work with an 18-piece orchestra, which you just don’t get in musicals anymore. But I figure, if you’re going to do something, you have to do it well.
“Our next step with Swing On This is to release something original, which we’re working on for the new year.
“The challenge for us is to do something that represents us all as individuals but also as a group. It will be called Going Crazy and was arranged in London through a guy who arranged for Queen, and recorded in Melbourne. We’re all really excited about it.”
His best collaboration though, he says, is that with his wife of two years, Jane Cho, a classically trained violinist he met 10 years ago while he was working in London in event entertainment.
“It’s rare for us to perform together,” he says.
“Sometimes we get the chance to do something together at an event or something, and when we do it’s the best.”
Global superstar spotted in Aussie bar
A global music megastar has stunned fans with a private show in Melbourne.
‘Heart and soul’: Rockers’ move for Aussie pubs
Local live music venues are struggling to stay afloat amid high production costs and expensive booking fees. And it’s prompted a group of iconic Aussie rockers to give them a boost.