For the next week I will be posting a daily interview with a member from the cast and crew of Hot Mikado.
The show is on at the Alban Arena from Tues 10th May until Sat 14th May and is being performed by members of the St Albans Operatic Society.
Today we focus on our director Ian Rowe, who apparently has an interesting collection of leather.
So Ian, how did you first get involved in musicals?
As a child I took on my first solo singing and speaking role at the age of five in The Cwm Clydach Infant School nativity – a highlight of my career to date! I played many musical roles at school including Psalty the Singing Hymn Book and the Rat Leader in Rats before joing a youth group at the age of fourteen to play in the Jet ensmeble in West Side Story. Eveentually I joined various adult societies and played in the more established repetoire of shows. My last musical was a newly commisioned professional musical entitled Here I’ll Stay – Kurt Weill in America, in which I played Samuel Cooper.
I understand you have performed a previous SAOS production?
I played the Pirate King, in the recent Pirates of the Caribbean themed Pirates of Penzance, which I enjoyed enormously!
Give us five words to describe yourself as a director?
Eccentric, focused, non-conformist, slave-driving, fun!
Give us a 15 words synopsis of our production of Hot Mikado
Life triumphs against the odds, and some amusing situations, in a modern London nightclub with Mafia connections. (15-ish!)
What do you enjoy doing when you are not involved in a show.
I love going to the theatre to see as much and as diverse a repertoire of genres as possible, from Shakepseare to frace, ballet and opera to fringe cabaret and new writing. I also enjoy cooking and the odd work out in the gym!
If you could be any character from a musical, who would it be and why?
I’d love to play FranknFurter – an all time favourite of mine. I’d also love to take on Sweeney Todd, Javert and Judas! The list is endless really, although I’d forsake all roles for a really good stab at Hamlet!