Forever Plaid E ARRIVES for our interview punctual to the second and imme- diately apologizes in case he is keeping me from the beach or my mother on this sunny Mother's Day. Martin Millerchip SPOTLIGHT FEATURE He ‘never mentions that he arcived from Toronto on the red- eye fast night, or that this is his one day off in two weeks or that tomorrow he starts 12-hour tech- nical rehearsals. Only as he leaves does he mention that he gave up tickets . to the Canucks/Dallas playoff game to meet with me today. Robert Miller is polite. He is also fresh-faced and looks considerably younger than his 24 years. Perhaps he knows this. When asked his age he says he will be 25 in October, which by my reckoning is some six months away, ; It is not hard to believe that four weeks ago he was delivering copies of the North Shore News for his zone-manager parents whom he obviously loves and respects. |: Yet at 16 Miller chose to stay in Victoria and finish high school by himself when his parents moved to Vancouver. Looks can be deceiving. Miller's appearance embodies . the innocence that is at the heart of Forever Plaid, the musical in which he will star this week at the specially adapted Starlight. Theatre on Denman. Describing the wide-eyed wonder that his character, Jinx, experiences on stage he uses the image of a deer caught in a car's headlights. As | watch the enthusiasm spring out of those startlingly. blue eyes | see what the show’s creator and director, Stuart Ross, , must have seen when he cast Miller. "FINE ITALIAN DIS Ross, has directed 23° produc: tions of his show =~ about a mythical male harmony group of the fifties — since it opened off Broadway in 1990. Full of standards like Three Coins In A Fountain, Shangri-la, Heart And Soul and Chain Gang, it has just celebrated its one-year anniversary in Toronto andi is still selling out , a situation that Miller hopes to duplicate in Vancouver. “it's a breath of fresh air amongst all those mega-musicals. -. it relies on the talents of the actors, rather than special effects to make it work,” says Miller as he points out the lack of heli- copters and falling chandeliers. He predicts the simple happi- ness at the core of the show will bring people back to see the show more than once. He men- tions one woman who has seen the Toronto production 67 times. “When people think of the ’50s they think of bikers, leather jackets and slicked-back hair. It’s before that. We’re not the Fonz, we're the Richie Cunninghams with the letterman sweaters and the close-cut hair. “Peaple look at the song Syrics back then and go ‘How corny, how syrupy,’ but it seems to me that's the way things were back then, The appeal of the show is the hope it gives people that maybe the world can be that way again.” It's not that Miller doesn’t appreciate the music of modern bands like Pear! Jam. He ran his own rock band in Victoria for three years until the . fun wore off and the frustrations mounted. “People don’t listen to you. Until you get to a certain level the band really isn’t the focal point.” Musical theatre at the ‘University .of Victoria gradually took over as he began his B.F.A. studies. By the time he graduat- ed, Miller had found a better out- let for the performer-within that he discovered at the age of 10 on stage with Gordon Pinsent in ‘John And The Missus. In his final year at U. Vic. Miller went to the Vancouve: NING ... chosen as the best Italian Restaurant on the North Shore for 1993. Timothy Renshaw North Shore News celaalan at anieualenlentetieskakertentucbapkententar % QFF LUNCH or DINNER ; « Max. - 6 people * Food only I y OFF . Lunch Mon. - Fri. 11:30-2:00pm] COUPON - ¢ Dinner Sun. - Thurs 5:00-106: 00pm] EXP. MAY31/94* Fri. - 922-6282 1747 Marine Dr., Ww. Vancouver Sat. 5:00-11: 00pm) / 5 s ° i Ristorante 1 Italiano 1 Photo Devid Cooper “TO SING with three other guys and make that kind of sound Is just phenomenai.”. Robert Miller (third from left) is the high tenor of Forever Plaid, the '50s harmony group that is the focus of Vancouver's newest musical, opening tomorrow at ‘the Starlight Theatre on Denman Street. cattle call for Miss Saigon. He made the callbacks in Toronto but not the cast. Six months later, after gradua- tion and a role in Pacific Opera's Merry Widow, Miller auditioned for a western tour of Forever Plaid. Another callback in Toronto followed and this time Miller was cast... or so he thought. Having quit his job at a North Shore group home and packed his bags to fly east for rehearsals Miller waited by the phone for four days only to learn that the tour had been postponed. “! was all depressed. Back at square-one with no job going: ‘Now what do | do.’” But a role in The Phantom “Concert Tour materialized. lronically, it was a safari around B.C., Alberta and the Northwest Territories singing hits from the mega-musicals he had audi- tioned for. And then, out of the blue, he. was Offered another chance at Miss Saigon. “I left the tour for two nights in Dawson Creek, went to Toronto, got it this time, came back to the tour and two days later was offered Forever Plaid in Vancouver. “{ was in shock at first. | didn’t know how to take it. Here f am ; WORLD’S MOST POPULAR POCKET PHONE! MOTOROLA DPC WHILE QUANTITIES LAST! 5O /5 The 50/50 Opvackage from BC Tel gives you fifty days and fifty nights, all absolutely free. After that, you get 50 minutes a month free. And your weekends are free, too. All for only $49.95/Month. Some restrictions may apply. on tour and I’ve got two major: productions to choose from.” Miller found it difficult to refuse Miss Saigon. “I'd auditioned for it before . and didn’t get it. “So | had this bug: {’m gonna take dance classes and I’m gonna - work out and I’m gonna build up and i’m gonna get Miss Saigon someday.” But the thought of a feature role in. hometown. Vancouver won out over chorus in Toronto. “| knew it was the right choice to make as an artist, as.a per- former and as a Vancouverite.”” And he gets to keep | his Paper route. Mobility ‘ Authorized Dealer 150 PEMBERTON AVE. NORTH VANCO YER 1 (KITTY-CORNER TO THE PEMBERTON NCOUYER 986-1171