BWW Spotlight Series: Philip McBride – A Musical Theater Triple-Threat Actor and All-Around Stage-Savvy Guy

With the current theatre world on hiatus, I have created a Spotlight Series on Broadway World Los Angeles which features interviews with some of the many talented artists who make our Los Angeles theatre community so exciting and vibrant thanks to their ongoing contribution to keeping the arts alive in the City of the Angels. And like all of us, how are they dealing with the abrupt end of productions in which they were involved?

This Spotlight focuses on Philip McBride, a musical theatre triple-threat actor and all-around stage-savvy guy who I have seen in many productions all over town. His skillful comic timing and brilliant smile light up the stage and his respect for others earns him accolades from everyone with whom he creates theatre magic.

Shari Barrett (SB): What would you like readers to know about your theatrical background?

Philip McBride (Phil): What a journey it has been to this point! I started performing in local theatres in my hometown of Beaumont, TX when I was ten and became obsessed with it. Eventually, I went to college for Opera (I thought the classical training techniques were the smarter choice at the time) and put Musical Theater on the side for a bit until a friend of mine suggested auditioning for a school in New York our sophomore year.

Flash forward a couple months and we're living the dream going to school in New York and I end up landing a job working on the production side of some high-profile Broadway productions. That job ultimately led to joining the National Tour of one of the biggest shows (still on the production side) and I toured with them for four years before moving back to New York and beginning work in our main offices overseeing countless Broadway Shows, National Tours, Music Artists, etc. during which I was surrounded by the best of the best in entertainment.

In the summer of 2016, the company offered me the chance to move to Los Angeles and I leapt at the opportunity. Upon arrival, I started doing anything I could to seek out a theatre community as I had spent the past thirteen years working in, but had not been actively pursuing performing. I saw a couple shows around town, and eventually realized that the passion for theatre was still inside me. Flash forward to 2020 and I've managed to amass almost 50 shows under my LA Theatre belt.

(SB): What production(s) were you involved with when word went out you needed to immediately postpone/cancel the show?

(Phil): While this photo shows me portraying in Dancing Lamb in "Silence!" by Bucket List Theatre, at the time of the shutdown I was Music Directing and playing Horton the Elephant in The Fable Theatre's inaugural production of "Seussical." We were set to open this coming Friday, March 27, and we had been following the news about the spread of the virus. And once we got the news of New York theatre shutting down, we knew it was most likely only a matter of time until the same security measures were taken across the country. Our entire production team had a day of chatting about it and, ultimately, had to make the decision to halt production and notify our entire Company. It was a very sad day after all the work that was put into the show. And I also had a couple other performance opportunities that have since been postponed for the time being.

(SB): Are plans in place to present that production at a future date, or is the cancellation permanent?

(Phil): Like everything currently, we're in a state of hold until we know more about the current state of affairs. The entire production team would love to present the show when it's safe to do so but obviously additional factors then come into play including venue availability, company member availability, production rights, etc.

(SB): I hear the same thing from others in that theatrical productions are always tied to windows of availability, and with no set date to resume production, it is difficult to know not only when but "if" a show ready to be presented at the time of the shutdown can be presented in the future.

(Phil): Yes, we are all in the same boat, not knowing where we should be paddling. And I'm such a neurotic planner, I had a couple irons in the fire for future projects. Most of them, like "Seussical," are hopefully only on hold but only time will tell.

(SB): How are you keeping the Arts alive while at home by using social media or other online sites?

(Phil): For me, I'm having such a blast watching so many people I know and across the country posting videos of themselves performing. It's such a joy to see people still turning to musical theatre to keep them calm and helping to entertain others. Additionally, some of my future projects were dependent on me completing work so I've been able to focus on arranging musical mash-ups, orchestrating, curating material, etc. While this has been highly inconvenient to so many people across the country, I'm choosing to think of it as a reset for myself and just trying to find the positive in every day.

(SB): What thoughts would you like to share with the rest of the L.A. Theatre community while we are all leaving the Ghostlight on and promising to return back to the stage soon?

(Phil): People will always need the joy and escape the Live Theatre brings. As humans, we always want to do what we can to help and as performers, sadly, our "help" is not something we can provide at this time. At least, not in the way we're used to. While the Ghostlights are burning bright in the theatres across our area helping to guide and protect the spirits looking over out stages, it's not lost on me that those same Ghostlights will be guiding us all back to the theatres soon.

And one more thing I'd like to share with my fellow actors and artists. When I was preparing to move to Los Angeles, I had so many people in New York telling me how much I would not enjoy Los Angeles as there was no theatre scene. How wrong they were! The Los Angeles theatre scene has embraced me and introduced me to so many ridiculously talented and wonderful people and I personally cannot wait to be able to get back into those comfy theatre seats, hear the orchestra tune up, and see my friends light up those stages once again doing what they were born to do. It will be an absolutely amazing day when we all get to say "Thank you places" and be ready for our cue to get back onstage.

(SB): For more information about Philip, please visit his website at https://www.philiplmcbride.com/

Photo credits:

Bert in "Mary Poppins" - Photo by JDC Photography

Papa Starling/Lamb in "Silence!" - Photo by Bucket List Theatre

Joey in "Sister Act" (left) - Photo by Jon Neftali Photography

Hunter in "[title of show]" - Photo by Bucket List Theatre

Harry in "Mamma Mia" - Photo by Jon Neftali Photography - Read my review: /los-angeles/article/BWW-Review-MAMMA-MIA-Celebrates-the-Power-of-Family-Friendship-and-Love-20191002