Daddy Warbucks (Anthony Warlow) and Annie (Lucille Le Meledo) 2012 production (c) Jeff Busby

ANTHONY WARLOW - My AUSTRALIA

Australian Musical Theatre Icon, Anthony Warlow AM

As Australia’s leading man, what would be the highlights of your four-decade career at home?

It seems obvious to say that The Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera was the role that put me on the theatrical map. I have enjoyed performing the role in two incarnations, once in 1991 and again in 2007-2009. Archie Craven in Lucy Simon’s The Secret Garden was a beautiful role to play and secured a lasting friendship with Lucy, and realising the opportunity to create the role of Yuri Zhivago in the Australian premiere of Dr. Zhivago. Cervantes/Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha was a highlight as well.

When you’re not performing, what do you do to have a little down time?

I love my garden and my kitchen! I am an avid cook and relish the chance to discover new and ‘Old’ recipes whenever I can.

Where in Australia have you not visited as yet, and have always wanted to go?

I would love to visit Uluru, Ayers Rock, the massive sandstone monolith in the heart of the Northern Territory’s “Red Centre”.

Coming up to the fabulous festive season in Australia, what is it that makes the perfect homegrown Christmas?

Well, I have really only had a couple of Green Christmases over the past ten years as I tend to chase the winter and have my Christmas celebrations in New York. There really is nothing like a classic ‘White Christmas’.

Do you have a favourite Christmas memory?

Being at home as a child in Wollongong on the South Coast of New South Wales was always magical to me, particularly sitting in the lounge room before midnight mass gazing at the Christmas tree in the dark!

You’re reprising your role as Oliver “Daddy Warbucks” in Annie, so what are you looking forward to about the character 24 years later?

Yes, this will be my third “Annie” here in Australia but my fourth by calculation, having had a successful 14-month season on Broadway in New York in 2013. I’m looking forward to bringing my American experience home to a new audience in 2025.

When the show opens in Sydney next March, what can Aussies expect?

This show is a celebration of family, heartwarming fun and ‘tenacity’. Our star, orphan Annie, is the epitome of strength and determination. It will be a favourite for those who have witnessed the show in the past and an experience full of surprises for those seeing it for the first time, our canine star will probably steal the show. But that’s Showbiz!