Caroline O'Connor On The "Meaty Fabulous Characters" She Wants To Play

It's less than a week until the curtain rises on opening night of Dream Lover: The Bobby Darin Musical and Caroline O'Connor - who plays dual roles: Polly and Mary Douvin - can't wait to bump in. "The rehearsal room's fine but there's nothing quite like hitting the stage," she enthuses. Performing in front of audiences is "the most exciting time", according to O'Connor, although she's also eagerly anticipating "sitzprobe, which everyone considers to be the best day of the whole rehearsal period: when you first hear the orchestra".

This world premiere production of Dream Lover: The Bobby Darin Musical boasts an 18-piece orchestra and one of the musicians is O'Connor's husband, Barrie Shaw (Tenor Saxophone/Clarinet). "He's actually at band call right now as we speak," O'Connor shares.

O'Connor goes on to commend Dream Lover: The Bobby Darin Musical's Musical Director for his commitment to authenticity: "Guy Simpson really wanted to recreate that feeling of what it's like to have that kind of powerful band behind you. I mean, they could've done it on a tighter budget, but you wouldn't have had the same impact... And it's great for David [Campbell as Bobby Darin] because he's got this HUUUUUUGE support behind him when he sings these fabulous songs."

"Guy Simpson really wanted to recreate that feeling of what it's like to have that kind of powerful band behind you."

This brand new Australian musical, written by Frank Howson and John-Michael Howson, tells Darin's extraordinary (yet tragically condensed since he died at just 37) life story, incorporating hits from the American teen idol's extensive songbook such as Splish Splash, Mack The Knife and Beyond The Sea.

O'Connor says her two characters are "kind of black and white, really, as far as their personalities are concerned": Darin's mother Polly ("she was a showgirl at one stage... she sort of encourages Bobby") and Sandra Dee's mother, Mary ("your kind of almost archetypal stage mother... a real sharper").

If you were fortunate enough to catch O'Connor in Bombshells - a one-hander written especially for her by Joanna Murray-Smith and directed by Simon Phillips, who also sits in the director's chair for Dream Lover... - you would have seen her successfully juggling six roles, ranging in age from a feisty teenager (based on herself) to an elderly widow.

"Scarlett O'Hara At The Crimson Parrot, that was also written for me - David Williamson wrote that play - and that was performed at the Melbourne Theatre Company as well," O'Connor points out.

Once Dream Lover: The Bobby Darin Musical wraps, O'Connor will return to New York "around the end of January" to start rehearsals for the musical adaptation of Anastasia, in which she's reprising another "brand new role" that was created on her, Countess Lily Malevsky-Malevich, for the world premiere of this musical adaptation in Connecticut.

"I wasn't really sure if I was gonna be able to do [Dream Lover] because we were just waiting to find out about the dates in New York," O'Connor reveals, "because they have to find the perfect theatre and it has to go in before the Tony Awards and, you know, there's all these elements that play out. And I was so grateful because Dream Lover sort of waited a little bit to find out what was happening, and it just feels like fate that I was able to do this one."

But it's not often that projects fall into place and schedules align in this way, as O'Connor illuminates: "When I was doing Anything Goes I got offered a show for the Encores! at Lincoln Center and I thought, 'I would love to do that!' you know? The Encores! are such an interesting project. But I had Anything Goes, so you can't be greedy. And it was a wonderful show and - of course - ended up being a fantastic thing for me; you know, I got the Helpmann Award [Best Female Actor In A Musical] and it was very exciting."

Anastacia will be O'Connor's "third show in New York" and she observes, "In Australia, they tend not to do such long runs; if something's successful they'll bring it back. But in England or America they'll keep it running for as long as they can, you know, once it's mounted."

"There were 1200 of us in the queue that went out the theatre door and it went down St Martin's Lane right down towards Trafalgar Square - the line. I'll never forget that."

After acknowledging that performers often sign up to perform the same role in a musical for several years "for security", O'Connor admits, "I'm too interested in the new... I've never felt like I've wanted to do that". "I think the longest I ever did was when I was in Me And My Girl years ago, I was in the show for 15 months," she informs.

She's certainly already ticked a lot of dream roles off her bucket list, so we wonder whether there are any parts that have so far eluded O'Connor? "Look, when I got to do Gypsy I was like, 'Wow, that's amazing!' That was always a dream for me, for sure. Doing Funny Girl was amazing-amazing and then I got to do it again, like, this year... I loved doing Piaf, you know, that was on the bucket list. I loved - doing West Side Story was amazing. I just feel like there's a lot of shows - Chicago, of course - where I've got to do roles that I used to dream about when I was a little girl; you know, revivals that I adored. There's still a few: I mean, I would love to do Mame; of course I'd love to do Hello, Dolly!; and I'd love to do more plays - you know, just straight plays - if I was given the opportunity at some point."

O'Connor admits she loves "to challenge [herself]" by pursuing opportunities abroad and pitting herself "up against all that competition". "The culture of theatre is huge in say England, and in America," O'Connor stresses.

A discussion about the "highly competitive" nature of a life dedicated to showbiz transports O'Connor back to The West End. "When I did A Chorus Line in England, we did a national tour," she reminisces. "That was in 1987 and I remember going to the cattle call. They used to still call them cattle calls in those days and they still called you 'chorus' in those days, too - that's why it was called A Chorus Line - now they say 'ensemble'. I remember going and there were 1200 of us in the queue that went out the theatre door and it went down St Martin's Lane right down towards Trafalgar Square - the line. I'll never forget that. It was cold and it was wet, and they brought out cups of hot tomato soup in polystyrene cups for us in the queue; for those who wanted to wait.

"And then you go in — in maybe a group of, like, ten or 20 at a time — and learn a bit and then would be the cut, you know, 'Cut-cut-cut!' It was just like watching one of those films; like watching All That Jazz or watching A Chorus Line - it was just like that experience. Of course Baayork Lee was there and she was doing all the cuts, and then you get given one script. And I remember them handing me one script, and it was for Bebe Benzenheimer, and I was so excited! You know, I thought, 'This is amazing. I'm gonna get to read'. And then the next day I went in, she gave me the script for Cassie!" O'Connor marvels, stressing that she had already survived the singing and dancing rounds at this point. "And I was crying walking out the door, holding [the script] like it was the Holy Grail and thinking, 'Just the fact that she's asking me to read this is unbelievable to me!' And then I got the part and I couldn't believe it! Our business can make you so incredibly happy, ha ha, you know? And it makes people incredibly unhappy too, but it just can make you feel so happy that all the hard work paid off."

When O'Connor's star was rising, she recalls there were really "only revivals" to audition for. "I envy young people now that are getting to go for... all these very interesting shows," she muses. So what of O'Connor's plans post-Anastasia? "The older I get now there's all these wonderfully interesting mature women roles that I go, 'Wow!'... There's some really meaty fabulous characters still in the future, I hope."