Finding Inspiration On Tour With Colin Donnell Of 'WICKED'

Don't tell Marcie Dodd and HeleNe Yorke (Elphaba and Glinda, respectively, in the second national company of Wicked), but during every performance Colin Donnell, aka Fiyero, has a ritual, "a tradition" if you will, that he follows. He stands in the wings and watches his two leading ladies in a scene "and everytime I do it, it gives me chills," he says, "it sort of reminds me what's going on with the show and why I'm doing it. They inspire me."

The two women "are amazing," Donnell explains, and while he's never told them of his ritual, it's something he started doing a few years ago, and has continued in every show he's done since. "I like to pick out a certain part of each show I'm in and I watch it when I'm not onstage or in my dressing room. I'll go down to the stage and watch that part of the show each night. It could be a little snippet that has nothing to do with me, but it's inspiring to be there and watch both of them."

Donnell wouldn't divulge which scene he watches for the inspiration: "I've never told either one of them I do it-and they don't know which scene I watch, so I don't think I can tell you," he confesses.

"The main thing that I've always kept in mind is that Fiyero is there to help tell the story of these two women," he says. "Along the way, as their story is told, you go through the arc, the storyline of the two women, seeing them trying to do what's right and seeing what happens to them and how it affects their relationship."

As Donnell sees it, Fiyero is there to help develop the Glinda and Elphaba relationship and to allow the two women to develop as individuals in the wildly popular musical ("And the whole swinging in on a rope is pretty cool, but I hope I don't give too much away," he laughs), which still draws huge audiences to the Broadway production five years after its debut and which continues to set attendance records at theatres across the country that play host to the touring companies and resident productions in Los Angeles, Chicago and now San Francisco.

"The tour's going great, we're about to come up on the sixth month and it's really just flown by," Donnell said during a phone interview Tuesday as he drove Interstate 40 eastbound from Little Rock to Nashville. "It's been incredible. This is my second time on a national tour and knowing now what I learned on the previous tour, I take more time to explore the cities we're in."

Previously, Donnell toured in Mamma Mia, but this is his first time to play Nashville, the tour's next stop after a successful stand in Austin, Texas. "So we're essentially going from one music city to Music City USA," he says. "Last night, some friends and I were having a drink at our hotel bar in Little Rock and we realized that we were going to be in Nashville for three weeks and the Grand Ole Opry has no performances on Monday nights, which is our day off."

That, of course, led to the realization that Tuesday night would be their only opportunity to see the Opry. "We got online and bought tickets for tonight's show," he says excitedly. "I can't wait to see the show. The Bacon Brothers are playing and the Del McCoury Band."

Wicked opens Wednesday night, continuing through Sunday, September 20, at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center's Andrew Jackson Hall in Nashville. At press time, TPAC officials reported that 94% of tickets had already been sold; and a sell-out isn't out of the question by the end of the run.

With a three- to four-week stand in each city that Wicked plays, Donnell and his castmates have the chance to "really see the cities we're in, get a taste of the local flavor," something the St. Louis native clearly relishes.

"I do a pretty good job of exploring and meeting local people," he says. "I'm a golfer, so I try to get out to a golf course at least once, twice, maybe even three times in each city."

Donnell's most memorable local exploration may have happened during the show's run in Norfolk. "David DeVries, who plays Doctor Dillamond, and I got paired up with a couple of guys at a golf course who were pilots at the Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach. They invited us over for a Memorial Day picnic and one of the guys said, 'I could take you over to the base and maybe even put you up in a flight simulator.'"

Donnell admits he suddenly felt like a kid in a candy store: "Growing up, I wanted to be a pilot! And when he got us on the base and I got to do the flight simulator, it was so cool!"

In fact, he came to a life in the theatre rather late, he admits, despite his vague recollection of "maybe" playing an orphan in a production of Oliver! during second grade. "I got into theatre kinda late by some standards and I sorta fell into it. I had broken my ankle playing football and my high school was doing a production of Barnum. I could juggle and my mom really wanted to get me out of the house. She said since I wasn't playing football and couldn't wrestle, maybe I should audition for the show. It took off from there and it was definitely a case of instant love."

And because love of theatre and being onstage is such an intense personal experience for Colin Donnell, he can easily understand how audiences can become so caught up in the whole Wicked phenomenon.

"I can understand how audiences, the various groups of people that make up the audience, can attach themselves to the show, the music, the story, the spectacle, there's so much there for them," he says. "So many people have told me that Wicked is their first musical ever and that they're hooked for life. I'm like 'wow, you really got it right when you picked this show to be your first one.'"

Photo credit: Joan Marcus

Wicked. The second national company at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center, Nashville, September 2-20. For details and ticket information, visit the website at www.tpac.org or call the TPAC box office at (615) 782-4040.

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