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The Phantom removes his mask
Without it, Colm Wilkinson is a laid-back performer
October 11, 2007
BY MARTIN F. KOHN
Detroit Free Press
You might not recognize him without the mask, but if you saw "The Phantom of the Opera" in Toronto in its first four years or know the original Broadway cast recording of "Les Miserables" you'll recognize the voice of Colm Wilkinson.
Performer of two iconic roles, the Phantom and Jean Valjean, Wilkinson is on a trans-Canadian concert tour that brings him to Windsor's Chrysler Theatre on Tuesday and Wednesday.
"It'll be 70% musical theater," Wilkinson says, along with some rock and folk and "a little bit of the Irish stuff." Born in Dublin, Wilkinson has lived in Canada for 17 years and is now a Canadian citizen.
"I like tunes with sophisticated titles," Wilkinson says with a smile, "and I do a version of 'I Got My Mojo Working,' the Muddy Waters song."
Wait a second. Jean Valjean sings Muddy Waters? Is that some sly reference to "Les Miz" and its hero slogging through the Paris sewers?
No. Wilkinson is a serious aficionado of blues and jazz and he is open to all kinds of music, not only the Broadway fare that made him famous. Look at how his current concert starts.
It opens with an overture (the show has seven musicians) and then Wilkinson sings "Music of the Night" from "The Phantom of the Opera." His next song is "The Tennessee Waltz." That seems incongruous, but Wilkinson begs to differ.
"I love the song and, strangely enough, it works really well. People go, where did that come from? I just seg into it."
On Broadway, performers would be justifiably appalled by audience participation, but Wilkinson's concert isn't a Broadway show. "It's a very informal thing," he says. "I say, if you know the song, please sing along. You want to clap your hands? Clap your hands. It's not one of those serious type of jobs. It's all about people relaxing and having a good time."
Wilkinson even has fun with those who would poke fun at him. A parody of Valjean's song "Bring Him Home" is a mainstay of the satiric revue "Forbidden Broadway." The parody is called "It's Too High," which refers to the key of the song.
Wilkinson has made it part of his concert. "I tell the story. I come out and I have the original jacket that I wore." Not only is the song high, Wilkinson says, he originally wanted to sing it a whole tone higher. "It was written in A and I wanted to do it in B because it floated better. ... We did it in A but still everybody bitched about how high the song was."
He sings the parody, then he sings the real song.
After 20 years, he notes, "I still sing it in the original key."
Contact MARTIN F. KOHN at 313-222-6517 or mkohn@....
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