Interview: Actor Daniel Assetta

Daniel Assetta is one talented guy! Looking at his resume will bring out the green-eyed monster in any Australian theatre performer. Still under 30, Assetta is the winner of the 2015 Rob Guest Endowment Award and has racked up an impressive line of stage credits: including appearing in Wicked, as The Rum Tum Tugger in CATS, Elder Young in The Book of Mormon, alternating the leading role of Tony in West Side Story, and as Al Deluca in Darlinghurst Theatre Company's revival of A Chorus Line.

Despite this recent production being cut short due to COVID-19 restrictions, Assetta has already premiered his solo cabaret, SONGS UNSUNG as part of The Darlinghurst Theatre Company's Red Carpet Cabaret season. I caught up with this bright-eyed and bushy-tailed gentleman via Zoom on a Saturday afternoon, to hear about some of the highlights of his stellar career and how he got into performing.

The first child of a large and proud Italian family from the western suburbs of Sydney, Assetta first got into performing when his parents took him to a dance class at age three. "I just would not stop moving around the house, so they knew they had to do something about it. They happened to send me to one of the best Sydney dance schools (Glenda Yee School of Dance) and I'm so grateful that that is where I ended up. We got to dance behind Guy Sebastian on 'So You Think You Can Dance' and I did the 'ARIA Music Awards' at 12 years old... I was so lucky to be able to do all of that stuff as a kid. Having that little collection of wonderful experiences as a child shaped the performer I have ended up being as an adult"

Once high school was finished, Assetta began studying a Diploma in Performing Arts at ED5 International. During his training he auditioned for his favourite show Wicked and shortly after found himself cast in the 10th Anniversary Australasian tour. Having only partially completed his qualification before becoming a 'citizen of Oz', Assetta was still determined to graduate. "I'm a firm believer in finishing things... so I really wanted to close that chapter and graduate with my year group". 'Lady Luck' favoured Assetta and he was able to meet all his contractual obligations while still being able to attend his graduation. "I learnt all my graduation routines via video, while I was in Auckland trying to be an onstage swing... I came back two days before the grad performance and they slottled me straight into the numbers. I rehearsed the whole thing and I did my graduation concert three days after I came back from New Zealand... it was crazy!"

After spending two years 'Dancing Through Life', Assetta was cast as The Rum Tum Tugger in the 2015 Australian/New Zealand tour of CATS. This saw him reinvent the hip-hop/rap version of this character, which had first appeared in the 2014 London Palladium revival. "We were the second production to take on this new reinvention, so basically they gave me full creative reign to be like... what can you do with this? It ended up being a really special thing for me because I got to control the way that it was being performed every night. Actors in commercial music theatre don't usually get the chance to do that very often so that was very special for me. It will stand out as one of those experiences in my life that I am very lucky that I got to do."

Finally, we discuss Assetta being cast as Elder Young in the original Australian production of The Book of Mormon. "Mormon was the show that I always wanted to do, it was on my radar from when we all sat at home watching Andrew Rannells at the Tony Awards... I was like 'I have to be in a white shirt... I need a name tag... I have to be in this show!' " Assetta certainly wore his garments with pride over the next two years, which saw him accomplish the life-long dream of being in an original Australian production.

While the reopening date for Australian theatre is unclear, one thing is certain. A true triple threat like Assetta is destined to become Australian music theatre royalty.

For more information on Assetta visit danielassetta.com or follow him on Instagram at @dassetta.

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