Rob Mills is a hard-working performer currently wowing Australian audiences as Fiyero in the hit musical Wicked. Wicked Australia and Rob have been kind enough to let BroadwayWorld.com backstage to learn more about Rob’s career, his time with Wicked and how he prepares before a show.
Musical theatre was not always Rob’s main field with Rob first finding fame in Australia as a musician. By the age of 21, Rob had well established himself as the front man of successful pub band, the Mega Men, and in 2003 reached the Top 5 in Australian Idol. His first single, Ms. Vanity debuted at #6 on the Australian charts and reached Gold status.
Rob spoke of his Idol experience:
"It was an adventure. A friend of mine said you definitely should go for the show, so I did. I had two gigs the night before but the audition went well. I got through and just kept getting through. I didn’t know what to expect or what to get out of it. At 21 I didn’t know where I was heading in life... I just wanted to experience as much as I could. Not just on the stage with the performance side but I was interested in what the hosts were doing and behind the cameras what the directors were doing. The whole world of TV fascinated me... I really wanted to get involved somehow afterwards and that’s pretty much what I’ve done since."
Since Idol, Rob has made numerous television appearances including co-hosting the up-late game show The Mint as well as special guest appearances on The Singing Bee, The Today Show and Spicks and Specks. Rob particularly enjoyed his work on the travel program Holidays for Sale and could see himself pursing similar jobs in the future.
After taking a break from performing, Rob got his first taste of musical theatre in the 2005 production of GREASE - The Arena Spectacular. Playing the role of the pop star idol Johnny Casino, Rob soon realised theatre was for him. It was only a small part but Rob enjoyed learning the choreography and the "really good sense of family when you are in a big show like that."
Rob furthered his musical theatre experience in May 2007 playing the lead role of Claude in the sold out and highly acclaimed Perth production of HAIR. Despite the production’s short run, the high energy musical allowed Rob to experience the challenge and exhilaration of singing and dancing in a lead role.
"It was a good starter for your first lead role. I just loved it. It was only 15 shows but it felt like a lot more. You put a lot into it; all the months of rehearsals and then the opening night...it was a great experience."
Rob first heard and fell in love with the music from Wicked in 2005 and vowed to be a part of the show after seeing the London production in 2006 starring Australian performers Helen Dallimore and Adam Garcia, as well as Tony award winner Idina Menzel.
"Adam Garcia was awesome and I just knew I wanted to do that. When I got back from the UK, my manager, Wendy Richards, pushed and pushed to get me auditions and Lisa the director from New York seemed to like me and kept getting me back. It was tough. It was four auditions and I was working with my acting coach and a singing teacher for months before the first audition... It was at least a year and a half before the audition of Wicked being on my brain and 6 months of preparation getting fit."
Once cast in the role, Rob travelled to LA to get a head start on the dancing believing he had a lot of catching up to do before rehearsals began. There he worked with experienced choreographer Corinne McFadden for two days, learning the steps and filming footage to take back to Australia to work with his dance teacher. Whilst in LA, Rob saw the LA production twice and was present for the unveiling of Stephen Schwartz’s star on Hollywood Boulevard. Rob spoke fondly of meeting Stephen Schwartz, Winnie Holzman and the members of the LA production including experienced performers Megan Hilty and Kris Cusick:
"It was really cool to meet the LA cast. Everyone was so welcoming... That’s a great thing about theatre, not just Wicked but all theatre shows. If there is an opening night or a big event somewhere we send out faxes or messages with ‘chookas’ or ‘congratulations’...It’s a really nice, sort of family."
After months of hard work and rehearsals, Rob and the original Australian Wicked cast performed their first preview show in Melbourne on June 27 2008 to rave reviews and went on to play a box-office record breaking season at the Regent theatre for 464 performances. The production then moved to its current home in Sydney, the Capitol Theatre, on September 5 2009 and Rob has remained a stable and reliable member of the cast.
Despite having witnessed the Wicked popularity in LA with the large crowds at the stage door and lining up for the Wicked lottery, Australia’s very positive reception to Wicked well exceeded Rob’s expectations.
"It blows my mind. I love it though. I love the fact that they love the story. It is a beautiful story and that’s what I think keeps bringing people back."
When posed the theory that Wicked has helped to boost the popularity of theatre in Australia in general, Rob agreed:
"Especially when we were in Melbourne, everyone seems to love the theatre down there... At one stage we had about 5 or 6 shows going on at once. We had our own little mini-Broadway. I am hoping that continues in Melbourne and in Sydney...that people keep coming to see shows. You can pay $10-$15 to see something at the movies but you aren’t getting anything out of it, you may as well wait for the DVD whereas theatre, it’s the whole atmosphere that you get, a live production, anything could go wrong at any moment..."
Despite this potential for anything to go wrong at any moment, Rob keeps his pre-show nerves to a minimum, often spending time in his dressing room on his laptop, checking his Facebook and Twitter and replying to fan messages.
"At the start I was really nervous but I am lucky enough in the show that I get to start in the mob where I am anonymous. It’s a good way of getting rid of the nerves... then I come back to my dressing room and I have twenty minutes to collect my thoughts before going on as Fiyero."
Before each show, Rob joins the rest of the cast in stretches and vocal and physical warm ups and then returns to his dressing room to do his own exercises and get in costume. Whilst Elphabas get greenified and Glindas get their glitter, for a Fiyero the makeup preparation is limited. Rob’s only main makeup job before a show is to draw on his eyebrows.
"I don’t really wear any makeup. I have to draw on my eyebrows though because the makeup department said I have to because you can’t see mine when I am on the stage, they don’t exist!"
Looking around Rob’s dressing room, it is easy to see that his family and friends are very important to him with his dressing room covered in photos. It is also impossible to miss what AFL team he supports (the Hawthorn Hawks). Despite being a Melbourne boy, Rob says he is enjoying his time in Sydney with its weather, living closer to his mum and being able to walk to work. In his spare time away from his Wicked commitments, Rob enjoys being in the water, going surfing or just having a couple of beers and jamming with his mates on his guitar.
With experience in television, a solo music career and musical theatre already under his belt and an eye on the US for more theatre and film, the future looks bright for Rob Mills who happily posed for a few photos for BroadwayWorld as he prepared for his evening show.
For more information about Rob visit www.robmills.net.au or follow him on twitter www.twitter.com/RobMillsyMills.
Wicked is currently showing in Sydney at the Capitol Theatre. Visit www.WickedTheMusical.com.au for more information. Tickets can be purchased by calling the box office at 1300 723 038 or on www.ticketmaster.com.au
Backstage photos by Emma Cambey. Icon photo of Rob Mills and Amanda Harrison credit: Jeff Busby
Rob Mills Checks his Facebook in his Dressing Room
Rob Mills Draws on his Stage Eyebrows
Rob Mills Looks through his Costumes
Rob Mills Outside his Dressing Room Door
