BWW Interviews: Marty Thomas of Handel's Messiah Rocks!

BWW Interviews: Marty Thomas, "The Baritone" in Handel's Messiah Rocks! at Atlanta's Fox Theatre, November 21 at 7:00 PM. 

The Christmas season is upon us and when it comes to the sounds of the season, one classic piece often comes to mind, The Messiah, George Fredrick Handel's most performed oratorio. But for one night only on November 21, at The Fabulous Fox Theatre, Atlanta patrons will have the unique opportunity to experience this glorious music in a brand new way, in a groundbreaking musical event that blends classical music with classic rock and breathes new life to the classic score. Featuring stunning visual effects, thrilling songs, a live orchestra, a rock band and Broadway soloists, along with local adult and children's choirs, this new, reimagined Messiah is sure to thrill audiences of all ages. Performing in one of the three main roles is Broadway veteran and Grammy nominated recording artist, Marty Thomas. I spoke with Marty about the show, his career and what makes Handel's Messiah rock.

BWW: Marty, thanks so much for taking the time to talk with me today. I am excited to hear about this production and I know our Atlanta readers will be too.

Marty Thomas: Absolutely!

First, tell us a little bit about yourself and your career. From your bio it looks like you have had quite an interesting career journey!

I started performing as a child. I grew up in church and in country music and in gospel music. I got a start in theatre really early in community theatre when I was 6 or 7 years old. I was performing in a few regional theatres, honing my skills and gaining experience and made a connection with an actress who was my age who had done a few Broadway shows. She put me in contact with an agency and long story short, a few years later I made my Broadway debut when I was 11 in The Secret Garden and I have had a romantic career with musical theatre ever since. I worked on that show for a while, worked on some TV, started traveling with country bands, went to business school, did some regional theatre and then came back to New York and returned to Broadway with Wicked. I did that for about 3 ½ years and then was in the recent run of Xanadu on Broadway.

Has being part of Handel's Messiah Rocks! been a unique experience for you compared to your past experiences?

Yes and no. It's been unique to me because of the rock nature of the show. Rock music finds its roots in gospel, country and soul as well, so it has been interesting for me to be able to flex those muscles and experiment a little. This show has such an awesome message and is still very much theatrcally based. So, as new and fresh for me as it is, it's also very comfortable and exciting.

I have to say, being familiar with your work, you have an amazing upper range, so it was interesting to hear you were actually in the role of "The Baritone" and not "The Tenor." 

I think everyone who knows me was interested to see that too! If you are familiar with Jason Howland's work in Little Women you know that he enjoys hearing people sing at the absolute tip top of their range, so I will be singing no baritone notes in this show! Traditionally within Handel's Messiah the roles are titled Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass. So, as they stayed true to the keys of the songs and to the melody lines of the songs, they wanted to stay true to the role titles as well. But, what they have done is combine the two female roles into one role, played by Ramona Keller, which means that our tenor, Mike Eldred from Les Miserables, he is now basically an Alto where the baritone then becomes a tenor.

This treatment is new and unique, but did you have any experience with the classic piece prior to this show? Does that make it harder to perform this updated version?

I always am up for experimentation. I always get excited about things being turned on their ear and being reinvented. I have never performed the full Messiah. I know that Ramona [Keller] and Mike [Eldred] have both performed it a million times. I have perfomed the Hallelujah Chorus in both the traditional style and the Mervyn Warren gospel arrangement of it. I did The Black Nativity at the Palace for four years and that was the finale every year. And, I have done it with high schools and pops orchestras around the country, but I have certainly never done the rock arrangement and it is super fun. Within the show we all have very unique characters and mine gets to be darker, trying to force people to understand that they need to be a little more reality based, that everyone is not good and everyone is not kind and everything is not hunky dory and there is evil in the world and we need to be aware. It's kind of cool to be the bad guy for a change. I never get to do that. 

So, is the show supplemented with dialog or is it all conveyed in the music?

It's all oratorio and it's all unspoken character development. We are all, of course, presenting the same message together. But, just as any group would present a message, everyone is going to come from a unique background and unique perspective. So, Mike plays it very innocent and open and honest. My character comes in as the dichotomy saying everything isn't so wonderful and if you open yourself up to everything you are just begging for a world of hurt. Then Ramona comes in to be the buffer and it's kind of interesting how we all find our way together towards the end.

Having experience in more traditional roles, does that create a challenge to convey those emotions without dialogue?

Well, my beginnings were in gospel and country music. There isn't a style of music that tells a story more strongly or relies on a story more heavily than country and gospel. So, I am always so much more comfortable conveying a message through music than I am through spoken words. Acting and conveyng lines, that was something that I developed over the years so I could do theatre because I love theatre so much. But this is falling back on my comfort level and my roots and has been a real joy.

And the show is tour the during the holiday season, correct?

Right, we are on the road through Christmas Eve. We are in Newport News, VA now and then we come to Atlanta!

Handel's Messiah is such a classic piece, and one beloved by many people. What can people expect to experience when they come see your show?

Well, If you are familiar with the original Messiah, you should see this show because it is a fresh take on something that a lot of people expect to be long and boring. Then there are the orchestral purists who love the piece and are familiar with it and go see it every year, and they should come see it as well because it is so fresh and so new. There really is something for everybody. It is a human based message. In no way have we been directed to browbeat a religious message to anyone watching the show. The message is love and acceptance and foregiveness. It's cool that regardless of the level of your religious beliefs this message can hit home with anybody. This is the premiere of the piece but it has been performed once before on a live PBS special with J. Robert Spencer from Jersey Boys and LaChanze from A Color Purple.

Tell us a little about the staging. I know there are three main cast members but you have a full orchestra and a choir behind you as well, correct?

We tour with a full orchestra and rock band side by side to supplement each other. In each city we pick up gospel choirs so audiences get to see locals perform as well. We send ahead a team to select and work with the choirs and the choirs are taught the music and the choreography and it is so cool that we walk into the city, meet them and instantly perform together. They are so talented and so well trained that it's like they have been performing with us the entire tour. We have an adult choir, a teen choir and a children's choir. I know that coming from the experience as a child performer that getting the opportunity to work with Broadway performers and a Broadway tour is invaluable to a young performer.

How does performing in this show compare to your other theatrical experiences?

I have been really fortunate to be able to work on some extremely unique projects so I feel like I have been so lucky that every time I enter a project I get to become a completely new person and this is definitely one of those. I am getting to pull out my friend from Wicked, Adam Lambert,out of my pocket and channeling him in this show. I get to be my dark, punky alter-ego and I love it!

Would you say the "rock opera" style score makes the piece more accessible to a wider audience?

Handel's Messiah has been performed for something like 240 years and that is a long time. I don't think anything that anybody does is ever going to steal the heart that is the original piece, but what this is doing is making the music accessible to a wider audience. This definitely has the power and the potential to reach a wider audience than just the original arrangeents alone. I think any composer would be thrilled to have someone take a new spin or a new take on their material and I think Handel would be very pleased with what Dani [Davis] and Jason [Howland] have done with this. You see children to grandparents standing up in the aisles flipping out over the new takes on these songs.

So, I am curious, what is your favorite part of the show?

I love the entire show! I get so excited about the whole thing, but my favorite part is the acapella trio that I get to do with Mike and Ramona. I just find it cool because I don't know when the three of us would ever get to work together again, and so it is such a neat moment for me that the three of us can come together and make such a beautiful sound because we blend so well. That is a powerful message in and of itself. We come from such different backgrounds, beliefs and history and we are such different types yet we can blend so perfectly.

Having started your career at a young age what advice would you give to young people who are interested in pursuing a career performing in the theatre?

Just follow what's fun. I always feel like if you are doing what you love to do and what you enjoy doing, wonderful things will come your way. As long as you are having a great time you are going to want to work harder so follow what you enjoy doing.

Have you ever been to Atlanta, or will this be your first visit here?

I have, it has been awhile, though. I came through with a tour of The Wizard of Oz in 1998 and we played the Fox and I had the best time. I can't wait to come back and see it again.

What's next for you after Handel's Messiah Rocks?

I am working on Frank Wildhorn's new musical Bonnie and Clyde and I am so excited for that to come around to Broadway next year. I have done a couple workshops and a couple readings of it and I just love it. I am also working on two new albums, a solo album, my second , and I am also working on an album with my country band called The Country Band, which is myself, Rachael Potter and Jamie Ray. 

Marty, I really appreciate you taking the time to talk with me today. Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?

Just that my debut album is available on iTunes and on my website www.martythomas.com. Also there is a cast recording and a DVD available of Messiah Rocks! 

-

Handel's Messiah Rocks will play the Fabulous Fox Theatre in Atlanta on Sunday, November 21 at 7 pm.  Tickets are on sale NOW at area Ticketmaster outlets, the Fox Theatre Box Office, by calling 800-982-2787 and online at www.ticketmaster.com. Prices range from $25-$65. Special Group Rates are available through Fox Theatre Group Sales at 404-881-2000. 

Theater of the Stars celebrates its 58th Anniversary as one of the nation's premier regional theater companies.  A civic not-for-profit cultural treasure, Theater of the Stars is dedicated to presenting and producing the best in musical theater.  To learn more about our history of excellence, visit www.theaterofthestars.com.

Follow Us on Twitter @