Leap of Fate:
Professional
opera singer (and native San Diegan) Tom Corbeil makes the move from arias to “Addams
Family”
By Donnie Matsuda
 |
| Tom Corbeil. |
Tom
Corbeil is not afraid to take on new ventures.
For
the past eight months, the 34-year old opera singer – who has tackled such
roles as Leporello in “Don Giovanni,”
Colline in “La Boheme,” and Don Basilio in “The Barber of Seville” – has been
touring the country as Lurch, the larger-than-life butler in the first national
tour of The Addams Family. It’s a bit of a stretch (pun intended) for
him to be stepping into such big shoes and the physical demands of the role
required him to extend his 6’6’’ frame to a towering 6’11’’ with the aid of
lifts in his shoes. On top of that, he
doesn’t get to showcase his powerful pipes, but instead has learned to
communicate by mostly grunting, grumbling, and hitting one single note – a low
E-flat – that resonates well with his shambling but mostly silent character.
Corbeil
doesn’t so much mind because he’s always up for giving his booming
bass-baritone a rest and this tour (which creeps into the San Diego Civic
Theatre starting this Tuesday for a week long run through June 3rd) is
a great way for him to break into the world of Broadway musicals – one giant
step at a time. Here, he’s surrounded by
a bizarre and beloved cast of musical talents and Corbeil (a newly-born
Broadway baby himself) says he’s learned a lot just by watching them work their
macabre magic each night on stage. His ghoulishly gloomy co-stars include:
Douglas Sills (The Scarlet Pimpernel)
as Gomez, Sara Gettelfinger (Dirty Rotten
Scoundrels, Nine, Seussical the Musical) as Morticia, Cortney Wolfson (Les Misérables, The Addams Family on
B’way) as Wednesday, Blake Hammond (Sister
Act, Billy Elliot, Hairspray, The Lion King) as Uncle Fester, and Pippa
Pearthree (Boeing Boeing, Titanic) as
Grandma.
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| Tom Corbeil in 2012. Photo by Jörg Meyer. |
Before going Gothic, Corbeil
- who has an undergraduate degree in statistics from the University of
California at Davis and a master's degree in Old Testament studies at Regent
College in Vancouver - worked for the U.S. Navy as a data analyst in San Diego
and joined the chorus at San Diego Opera, which started him on his modern-day
musical journey. He soon quit his day
job, and within the next few seasons, Corbeil practiced his craft as a young
artist at Opera North, Palm Beach Opera, Florida Grand Opera and Santa Fe Opera
(among others), spent a summer in the Merola Opera Center at San Francisco
Opera, and made his New York debut with Gotham Chamber Opera singing the role
of Enrico in Haydn’s “L’isola disabitata.”
Now, he’s taking a break from
the world of opera and indulging his inner-Addams. (Although his is scheduled to return to the Canadian
Opera Company for “La
boheme” and the Florida Grand Opera for “La sonnambula” and
will make debuts with Alabama Symphony in Handel’s “Messiah” and
Michigan Opera Theater in Rossini’s “Il barbiere di Siviglia” in future
seasons.) For now, amid a crazy whirlwind tour schedule, Corbeil had time to escape
his butler duties and answer some questions about how he constructed the
character of Lurch, his take on The
Addams Family score, and what he’s most looking forward to as he returns to
his hometown of San Diego.
DONNIE: Where did you grow up in San Diego? Did you know at an early age that you were
blessed with a professional-grade bass-baritone?
TOM: I grew up just north of
downtown San Diego, near the Mission Hills neighborhood. I sang quite a bit as
a kid, in church and in school, but I didn’t ever think I’d end up using my
voice to pay the bills!
DONNIE: How did you get involved with the first national
tour of “The Addams Family”? It seems like
quite a change (and a huge leap) from your career as an accomplished opera
singer.
TOM: It’s a funny story
actually – the role of Lurch came up in several disparate casual conversations
with friends (and a few strangers) in San Diego, Miami, Toronto and New York –
all at completely different times. After about the fourth or fifth occurrence,
I thought maybe it was time to look into it and see if I might be able to get
an audition.
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| Tom Corbeil transforms from handsome hunk to lanky Lurch. Photo by Lori Kane for timesunion.com. |
DONNIE: Tell me more about the character you play,
Lurch. How did you prepare to tackle
this role of the family’s towering, hulking butler?
TOM: Lurch is a tricky
character to pin down – it can be very easy just to try to imitate performers
who have played him in the past, whether that’s in the TV show, the movies or
the Broadway production of the musical. In the rehearsal process, we went back
to the original Addams cartoons from the New Yorker and looked at Lurch’s
posture and demeanor to provide a foundation from which to build the rest of
his character. It was definitely a great challenge, but the result is something
that is much more personal for me while still adhering to traditional
expectations about this iconic character.
DONNIE: How well does the concept of the Addams Family
translate from TV screen to the stage?
Is the musical version as creepy and kooky as we would expect?
TOM: Honestly, I think we
exceed what most audience members expect when they enter the theater. The
artistic team that put this show together did a phenomenal job of creating the
Addams Family ambiance (if you will), and the finished product is just as
hilarious as it is heart-warming.
DONNIE: How would you describe the Andrew Lippa
composed score? I’m assuming it’s a far
cry from the astounding arias or beautiful ballads you are used to singing.
TOM: The score is really
beautifully done, actually – with pop-driven melodies for the younger characters,
tango-inspired harmonies and rhythms for Gomez, a great classic Broadway number
for Morticia, and lots of really gorgeous, lyrical lines throughout.
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| Pippa Pearthree (Grandma), Tom Corbeil (Lurch), Douglas Sills (Gomez), Cortney Wolfson (Wednesday), Sara Gettelfinger (Morticia), Blake Hammond (Uncle Fester) and Patrick D. Kennedy (Pugsley) in "The Addams Family" national tour. Photo by Jeremy Daniel. |
DONNIE: How has the show been received by audiences
across America? Any surprises? Any funny stories?
TOM: We’ve all been really
happy with the response we’ve been getting – there’s nothing like watching an
audience of thousands rise to their feet after the final notes have been
played. And of course there are some great moments that we laugh about
backstage – I’ve been accidentally punched in the face a few times!
DONNIE: What are you most looking forward to as the
show tours through your hometown of San Diego?
TOM: It’s always great to be
home. I’m mostly looking forward to seeing my family and friends. And the
sunshine isn’t going to be taken for granted, I promise you that!
DONNIE: Any more aspirations for breaking out of your
comfort zone once the tour is over? Ballroom
dancing or Cirque-inspired acrobatics, perhaps?
TOM: Well, I started my
singing career after working as a data analyst in Point Loma for three years.
So, who knows? Maybe I’ll move on to something completely different in a few
years.
For more information about
The Addams Family at Broadway San Diego, visit: http://www.broadwaysd.com/theaddamsfamily.php
For more information about
The Addams Family tour, visit: http://www.theaddamsfamilymusicaltour.com/
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