How a pale Canadian opera-lover wound up in ‘Margaritaville’

Two weeks after being forged in “Escape to Margaritaville,” Paul Alexander Nolan discovered himself singing in a bar in the Florida Keys. And though he’d already performed in 5 different Broadway reveals, he says nothing was extra nerve-wracking than harmonizing with a barefoot Jimmy Buffett at Islamorada’s Inexperienced Turtle Inn earlier than a hundred invited friends. “All people was speaking, laughing and singing alongside,” Nolan tells The Submit. “I believed, ‘How impolite!’ However that’s what Jimmy’s used to — and that’s what he loves.” Theater is what Nolan loves, which is why he’s philosophical about final week’s Tony Awards announcement, which left “Escape to Margaritaville” with out a single nomination. “Once I take a present, I by no means count on to be rewarded for it,” he says. “We’re simply privileged to be on Broadway. Any time you get to work right here, it’s like being struck by lightning, however in a great way!” Over a pre-show meal of matzo-ball soup and water (“I can’t sing once I’m ingesting”), the lanky Canadian says he didn’t suppose he was the correct man in any respect for the position of Tully, the musical’s womanizing, songwriting slacker. Rising up in a farming group (inhabitants: 480) in Saskatchewan, he listened to people, opera, present tunes, classical — all the pieces, it appeared, besides “Cheeseburger in Paradise” and the remainder of Buffett’s musical buffet. At 20, contemporary out of music college, he landed a gig with Disney Cruise Line, performing abbreviated variations of animated films like “Hercules.” “What an journey for a younger man,” Nolan says, some 20 years later. “We rehearsed in the Bahamas and twice a week we landed on Disney’s personal island, sat on the seashore all day, and entertained folks at night time. It was superb!” And sure, he realizes now, that’s the life his “Margaritaville” character leads, with one key distinction. “Not like Tully, I’m a fairly severe particular person,” says Nolan, the Jesus in 2012’s “Jesus Christ Famous person” and the conflicted Southerner of Steve Martin and Edie Brickell’s 2016 musical “Vibrant Star,” the fast closing of which broke Nolan’s coronary heart. Alison Luff, Paul Alexander Nolan and Eric Petersen in “Escape to Margaritaville.”Matthew Murphy However whereas he couldn’t think about himself in Tully’s Hawaiian-shirted world, Buffett and his inventive workforce may. (Additionally they forged Nolan’s spouse, Keely Hutton, who’s in the present’s ensemble and understudies Rachel, the girl who wins Tully’s coronary heart.) “Escape to Margaritaville” kicked off final summer season in La Jolla, Calif., the place tanning — a should for the musical’s seashore bum — wasn’t a downside. As soon as the present began shifting east, Nolan acquired spray tans, with spotty outcomes. Throughout their cease in Houston, he says, the sprays he acquired gave him a rash that lasted a week. As of late, he heads as soon as a week to Midtown’s Future Tan, which has been a lot gentler on his pores and skin. By way of all of it, he says, Buffett’s led the way in which, even exhibiting him tips on how to play sure chords on the guitar. And the singer’s followers, that slap-happy crew often known as the Parrotheads, appear completely satisfied to listen to their idol’s music sung by another person, Nolan says. A number of just lately got here straight from a tailgating occasion into the Marquis Theatre bearing a big, blow-up monkey, which the stage supervisor promptly confiscated. “We put it into [that performance’s] occasion scene,” Nolan says, laughing. “We’re nonetheless ready for them to return and get it!” Share this: https://nypost.com/2018/05/08/how-a-pale-canadian-opera-lover-wound-up-in-margaritaville/ The post How a pale Canadian opera-lover wound up in ‘Margaritaville’ appeared first on My style by Kartia.