As our sports stars and Hollywood actors are lauded by domestic press for grand feats overseas, Australia’s theatre stars are also making waves abroad without any major fan fare. In early July, John Ellis of the Mornington Peninsula broke new ground for Australian theatre performers as he was announced as one of the leads in the Sir Cameron Mackintosh’s new production of Phantom of the opera on London’s West End.
Ellis is the first Australian actor to be given the role and is turning heads in Europe and the US theatre community for his excellent raw talent coupled with what he describes as an “Australian like work ethic”.
However the success of Ellis is particualarly incredible given the fact that he has never employed an agent in his career. The unorthodox rise to fame for Ellis all started when he moved to London at the age of 22. “Looking back I guess (first moving to London) was a struggle” Ellis said from London.
“ I worked back stage on some of the biggest shows on west end and This was not great money but I felt it a good way to keep my ear to the ground in terms of agents and auditions coming up.”
From here Ellis successfully auditioned for some of west end’s biggest theatre producers. Andrew Lloyd Webber, Bill Kenwright and John Frost are all names Ellis can drop on his résumé.
Like most actors Ellis’ success would be sporadic, roles would come and go for the performer.
To save money, Ellis worked on a cruise ship production to allow him to fully fund his dream of finding a lead West End role.
With the stories of failed Australian actors seemingly as common as those who succeed, Ellis has lead the way for Australian theatre actors abroad and says that the training of actors in Australia is strong however it is the sheer lack of jobs in the industry that has prevented many Aussie actors from breaking through.
“In every musical I have been in out of Australia, there have been at least 2 or 3 other Aussies in the show… I guess the training is good and there are not enough jobs for everyone… So they need to travel and work around the world, like I have done”.
Before given the go ahead as Piangi in “The Phantom” Ellis had auditioned for West End tycoon Sir Cameron Mackintosh three times, most notably for the role as Jean Valjean in Les Miserables.
On each occasion Ellis made it to the final rounds of the audition stages only to be told he wouldn’t be picked for the role.
Ellis described feeling “pride” when he finally received the go ahead in the german edition of the Phantom (in which he was forced to learn and then sing the songs in german) and now in London. Ellis is excited about the new west end show and says that rehearsals so far bode well for an exciting and more contemporary version of The Phantom.
“ One of the most exciting things about this rehearsal period is that not only do we get to work with Cameron, but we have the original director Hal Prince, also working with us for a week. Of course this brings incredible insight.”
The show will begin on September 1 and Ellis’ proud family are all expected to see the show as it hits its straps towards the end of the year.
