Interview: AN AMERICAN IN PARIS Star Robert Fairchild Talks Its Australian Tour

Ahead of his Australian season, we had a chat with Robert Fairchild - a former principal dancer with the New York Ballet who made his debut as Jerry in An American in Paris on Broadway and then reprised it for London's West End.

Welcome to Australia! Is this your first time down under? How much of the country have you seen?

Yeah it's my first time and I love it. We had a brief hiatus because of covid so I went and did an RV trip with 2 of the cast members from Brisbane to Cairns and had the time of my life. Then got on a scuba diving boat for 7 days out in the coral sea and I'm going to Kangaroo Island this weekend.

You're very notably recognised for your long career in ballet. What inspired your transition from principal ballet dancer to leading man in theatre?

Well I didn't really ever think I would be in a ballet company. My sister told me to go to the School of American Ballet to get better ballet training after she saw one of my competition videos of one of my jazz dances and she said "oh you you need to work on your technique." She said to just come for the summer course to get a better foundation so I went to the summer SAB course because I wanted to be a better jazz dancer, and ended up falling in love with ballet. SO shocker to me and my whole family of me wanting to move to New York and pursue ballet. Next thing you know, I'd made it my mission to get into the New York City Ballet and I'd got into the company, but I'd never really lost that desire to be a song and dance man. So I told myself, "when I don't look good in white tights anymore, playing the prince in Sleeping Beauty, I would love to move to Broadway because I just want to keep performing."

When I was 26, I was still very much in my peak of my time at the company and Christopher Wheeldon asked me if I could sing. I said "it depends who is listening!" and he said he was working on American in Paris. I got the part and I had to really think about it. This was the prime time to be a dancer in a ballet company... is this really what I want to do? And looking back on it now, the role is so hard I don't think I could have waited any longer to transition to musical theatre. This was going to be my "in" and it's amazing that I was able to use what I'd been working on for so long in a ballet company and have it be my advantage in a show that showcases a lot of ballet. So it felt like, was I in a ballet company so I would be right for this role? And now I'm actually exactly where I want to be?

What can audiences expect from American in Paris? Do they have to like ballet to enjoy it?

One of my favourite things someone said to me after a show one night on Broadway was "I have seen the show 8 times and I love it so much that I have just bought my first tickets to the New York City Ballet. I've never been to the ballet before". So what I love about it is that it's really an introduction to ballet. It's a full broadway musical with a little introduction to ballet that might stir up something you didn't know was there.

It has so much singing, so much text. It's got a book by Craig Lucas and Gershwin score - it really is super, super Broadway but you have this elevated dance that happens to be ballet. I think people would be surprised because a lot of the time ballet is about technique and what you're doing with your body but the way Chris Wheeldon choreographed and directed it, the dancing continues to tell the story. So you don't just turn your brain off and watch the lovely dancing, you have to really lean in and watch because there are so many things being said through movement. It's a different kind of ballet to the classics.

Art and theatre is so special now, after the last few years of not being able to see it. Why is An American in Paris important now, in 2022?

Every time we do this show in a different place, there's something crazy going on in the world. This show is set at the time of the Nazi occupation of France, so with everything happening in Ukraine right now and what we've all been through with Covid, it's a real look at people putting their lives on hold. Lise, played by Leanne Cope, is hiding in a house for 4 years and she can't take ballet class. It's like coming out of lockdown and isolation and having this feeling of breathing again. There's a part at the end of the first prologue that we call "Paris Breathes Again" and it's the first time everyone on stage has stopped and they all just lift their eyes and breathe in as one. To be around people, to be in a theatre is about opening up again and you see that on stage too.

Working with the incomparable Leanne Cope and a team of incredible stage legends must be amazing. Is the team something that has kept you returning to perform in an American in Paris?

I love this part, I love the music, I love the cast that it always brings. There's something special about this show that it brings the best of the best from every world - ballet, musical theatre, acting. It's a melting pot and everyone is so obsessed with each other because they can't do what the other person can do so there's this admiration around being on stage together.

How have you approached the role of Jerry? Is there anyone that is inspiration for you?

Gene Kelly is the reason this show is what it is, and of course every time it happens there is a nod and an homage to him. I'm a very present person and I respond to whatever is happening in front of me so every time I've done this production I'm blown away by the person I'm performing alongside of. Each cast that I've done this show with has come at a different time in my life and I'm a tiny bit older than I was when it premiered on Broadway. So getting to come back to this as a more evolved human and getting to see how that relates to the people across from me is really cool. Also to have done it with Leanne this entire time, we've both developed as humans and every time we come back to it we explore different things.

Does Gene Kelly's portrayal cast a shadow when you're performing the role or are you consciously trying to make it your own?

I get asked that question so often and I think "should I be nervous?". He's the one that got me excited about being a performer, he's the one that made me want to do this for a living, so I've never thought that the pressure is too big. I'm not doing the choreography that he did, and when you look up to someone so much you're just excited. I feel like if he was around, he would tell me not to do it the way he did it. I was really lucky to have got to know Leslie Caron a bit over the course of the show and in my London dressing room she left me a bottle of champagne and a card that said "Gene K would be so proud of you". I kept it and I framed it because that's the woman that he danced with and I thought "how incredible".

There is still a lot of stigma around boys wanting to be dancers, definitely here in Australia. Do you have any advice for young male identifying dancers?

If you've been bitten by the dance bug, you have no choice. You have to do it. There is no amount of bullying and harassment that can keep you from doing it. You've been chosen. There is a dedication beyond a lot of other occupations. It's such a grind and it is so worth it. It's also your escape. If it's what people use to make fun of you when you're younger, well the joke's on them because it's also your weapon and your safe haven. If it's a doubt in your mind, maybe it's a hobby but when you're bitten by the bug you know you have no other choice. Everyone wants to be the same when they're younger, but as soon as they're out of college they want to be different. You've just chosen the path to be different early and that puts you ahead of the game. It's not easy, but the reward is so high. So keep your chin up and dive in.

An American In Paris is produced in Australia by GWB Entertainment, The Australian Ballet, Stuart Oken, Van Kaplan and Roy Furman by special arrangement with Elephant Eye Theatrical & Pittsburgh CLO and Théâtre du Châtelet.

After finishing its Melbourne season on 24 April, An American In Paris will open its Sydney season at Theatre Royal Sydney on 29 April.

Arts Centre Melbourne, State Theatre
Season Dates: Fri 18 Mar to Sun 24 Apr
Previews: Fri 18 Mar 7.30pm & Sat 19 Mar 2pm
Opening Night: Sat 19 Mar 7.30pm
Times: Tue 6.30pm, Wed 1pm & 7.30pm, Thu & Fri 7.30pm, Sat 2pm & 7.30pm,
Sun 1pm & 6pm
Tickets via americaninparis.com.au

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