Anthony Warlow | |
|---|---|
 Warlow in 2008 | |
| Born | (1961-11-18)18 November 1961 (age 64) Wollongong,New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupations | Singer, actor |
| Years active | 1980–present |
| Known for | The Phantom of the Opera Annie Jekyll & Hyde |
Anthony WarlowAM (born 18 November 1961) is an Australianmusical theatre performer, noted for hischaracter acting and considerablevocal range. He is a classically trainedlyric baritone and made his debut with the Australian Opera in 1980.
Warlow has performed onBroadway, theWest End,Carnegie Hall and across Australia with all of the symphony orchestras. His studio recordings have spanned three decades and include solo albums, cast recordings and live performances in concert and withOpera Australia.
He has been honoured as anAustralian National Treasure and his achievements have been acknowledged with his investiture as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for his services to the performing arts.
Warlow's notablemusical theatre roles include lead roles inThe Phantom of the Opera (as The Phantom),The Secret Garden (as Archibald Craven),Annie (asDaddy Warbucks),Guys and Dolls (as Sky Masterson),My Fair Lady (as Henry Higgins),Jekyll & Hyde (original Gothic thriller cast recording and, for the 25th anniversary, as Dr Henry Jekyll / Edward Hyde),Man of La Mancha (asDon Quixote),A Little Night Music (as Frederik Egerman),Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (as Sweeney Todd), as well as a significant supporting role inLes Misérables (asEnjolras). Circa 1988, he was internationally regarded as the best Enjolras and was honoured by being selected for the complete symphonic recording, along with leadingLes Misérables performers from around the world along with fellow Australian actorPhilip Quast asJavert. This was arguably his break-through role, as he was cast as the Phantom as the Australian tour ofLes Misérables was ending. In 1998, he played Teen Angel inGrease: The Arena Spectacular. He performed the role of Doctor Yuri Zhivago in thenew musical adaptation ofBoris Pasternak's novelDoctor Zhivago. In 2012, Warlow reprised his role as Daddy Warbucks inAnnie at the Lyric Theatre, Star City, for a strictly limited season of 12 weeks.
Warlow made his long-awaited debut onBroadway, New York, in theJames Lapine-directedAnnie in the role of Daddy Warbucks at thePalace Theatre. From June to September 2015, he played Charles Frohman/Captain Hook inFinding Neverland on Broadway. From December 2015 to May 2016, he returned to Australia playing the part ofTevye inFiddler on the Roof.[1]
Warlow reprised the title roles inJekyll & Hyde in October 2019 (His first time playing the roles on stage) in a 25th anniversary concert tour. The production first performed with theMelbourne Symphony Orchestra at theArts Centre Melbourne and then in November in Sydney at theICC Sydney Theatre with the Sydney International Orchestra.[needs update]
In 2020, he was set to reprise his role of Archibald Craven inThe Secret Garden in Australia. However, the production was cancelled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[2]
Warlow'sopera roles withOpera Australia include major roles inDie Fledermaus (Gabriel Eisenstein),The Magic Flute (Papageno),A Midsummer Night's Dream (Puck) andThe Tales of Hoffmann.
Warlow'sGilbert and Sullivan roles for Opera Australia include the featured comedic roles of Ko-Ko inThe Mikado (2004–2009), Archibald Grosvenor inPatience (1996), Pirate King inThe Pirates of Penzance (2006–2007–2010) and in the 2005 double-bill ofTrial by Jury (as the Learned Judge) andH.M.S. Pinafore (as Captain Corcoran). Apart fromThe Mikado, these Gilbert and Sullivan productions are available on DVD. In 1987, Warlow also performed a one-man show originally written forJohn Reed, calledA Song to Sing, O, aboutGeorge Grossmith, the comedian who originated the principal comic roles for Gilbert and Sullivan from 1877 through the 1880s.
Warlow performed "Advance Australia Fair" at the1993 NSWRL Grand Final on 26 September 1993 and at the2008 NRL Grand Final on 5 October 2008.
Between 2 August 2006 and 2 June 2007, Warlow appeared in theOpera Australia production ofThe Pirates of Penzance (a popularGilbert and Sullivan comic opera), in which he played the role of the "Pirate King" – with performances during 2006 inSydney,New South Wales (at theSydney Opera House), inCanberra,Australian Capital Territory and inBrisbane,Queensland (at the Lyric Theatre,Queensland Performing Arts Centre), as well as enjoying full houses inMelbourne,Victoria in 2007.
Warlow's Pirate King appeared in dress, voice and mannerism very similar toCaptain Jack Sparrow fromPirates of the Caribbean. In a press interview inBrisbane, Warlow said that he had deliberately based his Pirate King onJohnny Depp's character fromPirates of the Caribbean so that people who may not know the opera but are aware of thePirates of the Caribbean trilogy of movies could enjoy the opera more.[3] This production ofThe Pirates of Penzance was shown on television by theAustralian Broadcasting Corporation on 9 December 2006. A DVD of the production was subsequently released.
Warlow first portrayed the Phantom inAndrew Lloyd Webber'sThe Phantom of the Opera in the original Australian production, circa 1990. It was announced in October 2006 thatPhantom would re-open in Melbourne the following year and that Warlow had agreed to reprise his role as "The Phantom".[4]
Phantom reopened in Melbourne at the Princess Theatre, its original home, on 19 July 2007. Although he performed for the industry opening night, Warlow was struck down by a bout of influenza that had also claimed many of the other cast and crew, and as a result, he missed the first two and a half weeks of the show's Melbourne season. Understudy Simon Pryce performed in his place until he made his return on 9 August 2007.[5]
Unlike the original AustralianPhantom, Warlow played the Phantom for the two-year tour of Australia and New Zealand.The Phantom of the Opera opened at Melbourne's Princess Theatre on 28 July 2007, then at Brisbane's Lyric Theatre in February 2008 followed by Sydney's Lyric Theatre in May 2008. After closing in Sydney on 14 September, the production moved to Auckland, New Zealand and following a holiday break, subsequently opened in Perth in February 2009. The last stop on the tour was Adelaide where Warlow donned the mask for the final time on 23 May 2009. Warlow appeared as a guest at the 25th anniversary production ofThe Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
Warlow was found to be suffering fromNon-Hodgkin's Lymphoma in 1992, during the early publicity for the arena production ofJesus Christ Superstar where he was to appear asPontius Pilate. He had to put his career on hold for about a year while he dealt with the disease. He returned to the performance circuit in the second half of 1993 with a national concert tour for the launch of hisBack in the Swing album. He has since done promotional work for theLeukaemia Foundation of Australia.
His fourth solo album,Midnight Dreaming, reached the top ten of the Australian Aria Charts. Warlow also briefly appeared on the ARIA Singles Chart in 1998 with the double A-side single "Beauty School Dropout/My Prayer". Warlow was back on television, in a concert performance, on the night of 24 December 2006 (the concert was shown by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation).
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications |
|---|---|---|---|
| AUS [6] | |||
| Centre Stage |
| 4 | |
| On the Boards |
| 5 |
|
| Back in the Swing |
| 3 |
|
| Midnight Dreaming |
| 10 | |
| Face the Music |
| 18 | |
| Tenor and Baritone (with David Hobson) |
| — |
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications |
|---|---|---|---|
| AUS [6] | |||
| Highlights from The Main Event (withJohn Farnham andOlivia Newton-John) |
| 1 |
|
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications |
|---|---|---|---|
| AUS [6] | |||
| Best of Act One |
| 10 |
|
| Title | Year | Chart positions |
|---|---|---|
| AUS [6] | ||
| "Beauty School Drop Out" / "My Prayer" | 1998 | 31 |
The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as theMo Awards), were annual Australian entertainment industry awards. They recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia from 1975 to 2016. Anthony Warlow won eleven awards in that time.[12]
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result (wins only) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Anthony Warlow | Musical Theatre Performer of the Year | Won |
| Anthony Warlow | Male Musical Theatre Performer of the Year | Won | |
| 1991 | Anthony Warlow | Musical Theatre Performer of the Year | Won |
| Anthony Warlow | Male Musical Theatre Performer of the Year | Won | |
| 1993 | Anthony Warlow | Australian Performer of the Year | Won |
| 1995 | Anthony Warlow | Male Musical Theatre Performer of the Year | Won |
| 1998 | Anthony Warlow | Arena Performer of the Year | Won |
| The Main Event (Anthony Warlow, John Farnham and Olivia Newton-John) | Australian Performer of the Year | Won | |
| 2004 | Anthony Warlow | Australian Performer of the Year | Won |
| 2007 | Anthony Warlow | Classical / Opera Performer of the Year | Won |
| 2008 | Anthony Warlow | Classical / Opera Performer of the Year | Won |
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