Todd McKenney would love to replace David Koch as Sunrise host
Watch your back, Kochie, there’s someone gunning for your job! As Todd McKenney prepares for his new role as a villain in Shrek The Musical, he revealed he wouldn’t mind slipping into the Sunrise host’s shoes.
Confidential
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Watch your back, Kochie, there’s someone gunning for your job! Well, not exactly, but Todd McKenney wouldn’t mind slipping into the Sunrise host’s lounge should he ever decide to head back to a desk in the finance world.
“Make that the headline — McKenney replacing Kochie — will you?” McKenney laughs. “(But) that is the sort of job I’d love to do.”
Not that he’s all that keen on the hours one must keep with such a job.
“I did breakfast radio for two years where I didn’t have to do hair and make-up — I could have turned up with pillow creases in my face — and that was hard enough,” he says.
“I can only imagine how hard it would be to actually turn up and look good at that hour of the day.”
While such a gig isn’t in his immediate plans, it’s definitely something he would love to do, having had a taste in the past.
“I’ve filled in for Larry (Emdur) on The Morning Show quite a bit over the years,” he says. “I love the part of my brain those shows engage and I love doing the interviews, talking to people and listening to people … and I’m not shy about chatting.”
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But for now he’s focusing on being bad — in a good way. McKenney has been cast as Lord Farquaad in Shrek The Musical, which is coming to Sydney’s Lyric Theatre in January.
McKenney, who is well known to Australians as the original Peter Allen inThe Boy From Ozand the “mean” judge on Dancing With The Stars, will join Ben Mingay as Shrek, Lucy Durack as Princess Fiona, Nat Jobe as Donkey and what is being billed as a “special guest appearance” by Marcia Hines as the Dragon.
Based on the hit 2001 Dreamworks movie starring Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and John Lithgow as Lord Farquaad, Shrek The Musicalfirst hit the stage in 2008 with successful runs on Broadway and the West End.
McKenney’s character is the vertically challenged evil ruler of Duloc who plans to take Princess Fiona as his own to gain the title of King. It’s the type of role McKenney relishes.
“The villain is always the most fun to play, especially a villain based on a cartoon show — there’s lots of scope to be deliciously nasty,” he says.
“I hope I get booed. I’ve never said that about a show before but I really hope I get booed — for all the right reasons of course.”
Sometimes when big-screen hits are transformed for the stage there is a risk people won’t accept whoever steps in to play certain lead roles.
McKenney agrees but thinks the fact Shrekwas animated gives it a leg up over others.
“When it is a cartoon character it is much easier to imagine somebody, anybody, playing the role and I think it’s much harder when you have a real life person who’s so closely associated to a role, it’s hard to translate sometimes,” he says.
After almost 40 years in the industry, McKenney still loves what he’s doing and believes he has the perfect mix in his career.
“It’s probably one of the highest and most enjoyable parts of my career,” he says.
“I’m playing in the television world and the theatrical world. I’m 55 and I started when I was 19 — I’m in a great place and loving where my career is sitting, it’s brilliant.”
* Shrek The Musical, Sydney Lyric; from January 1, 2020, shrekthemusical.com.au