Vivacious, funny and charming to boot, Robert Tripolino is turning heads as Omar in Aladdin. He tells Matt Myers all about those pink scarfs and clashing swords!
Along with the characters Kassim and Babkak, Omar is one of Aladdin’s close mates, but he’s also a bit of a scene-stealer. How would you describe him?
Well he’s definitely the positive one. He’s like a puppy to a bone and always finds the good idea in everything. Omar is a great character to play because I get to find all the heart and positivity in the show’s story. In fact, he’s the reason why the guys attempt to save Aladdin. It’s Omar’s idea, kind of by mistake, as he really just wants to get his pals back together.
He’s very optimistic and also flamboyant!
A little too flamboyant, some would say (laughing)
Yes, he wants to be a choreographer! He’s like the token gay friend
Well that’s it. I think the pink scarfs at the end of the show say it all! It sums up Omar to a tee. There’s also the scene with the limbo, and we say that it’s Omar’s fantasy because all of a sudden things turn into a happy place where he’s not being hunted down by guards. He’s just singing, dancing and being joyous.
Speaking of choreography, the sword fight sequence is amazing. What kind of training did you do?
Well, pre-production I had no training whatsoever. The idea was that from day one for an hour in every rehearsal, we would train in sword fighting. And this was before learning the choreography. They wanted us be comfortable, because we are dealing with real heavy metal blades. In the theatre world sword fighting is like a tap dance and you have to hit the beats, and to do that you have to actually hit quite hard. It all comes together, with everyone actually fighting! I feel like I’m defending myself, but everyone is safe. So we have a fight-call before the show. It’s exciting and one of my favourite parts because it’s real. It is, what it is – boys with swords!
In 2013 you were a part of Dean Bryant’s Gaybies at the Melbourne Theatre Company. Can you tell us a bit about that?
I was in the first production and it was hard to cut down because there were so many great stories to tell. It was my third gig out of school, so it was special to have that experience early on in my career. Gaybies was the kind of show where you could teach people about things, especially my own family who aren’t theatre people. They’re keen supporters, but they weren’t really into it all until I brought them to the show. They discovered that theatre isn’t always glitz and glamour.
Speaking of which, you had a role in last year’s long awaited film Holding the Man.
Yes I got my mug in there for about two seconds. I was in the funeral scene and it was so ‘real’. It was another project I felt great to be a part of. That movie was reflective of so many things. I’d known about Holding the Man beforehand, but being a part of it gave me greater reason to research it. That in itself was quite full on, as I discovered how naïve I had been. So it was nice to be a part of it and to share Neil Armfield’s experience.
When you entered the industry, was it a change in culture to work with gay people?
I grew up studying classical ballet from the age of four, but moved into real ballet from around fourteen, and at the time, I was going to a private school in Geelong, so it was a very different world for me. I didn’t quite know what I wanted to be, until I went to the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) in Melbourne, where I met a lot of people sharing the same passion. I got introduced to the gay community as well, and to be honest, in a private school upbringing, there were a lot of young kids who were suppressed and didn’t feel comfortable or safe. It was amazing to come to the VCA and be in a different culture where I made new friends and felt safe, because there were moments growing up as a ‘ballet boy’, where I didn’t feel safe. We also didn’t have a dance class at school, so I was packing my tights into a bag and jumping across to the all-girls school for ballet classes. I was prime meat for victimisation! I got the bullying, but I was very fortunate because I was also playing the electric guitar, and I think that broke some boundaries for me.
Do you ever get mistaken as gay, or hit on in gay clubs?
Of course…I say that so confidently! (laughing) My favourite memory on that is when I went to a gay bar in LA called The Abbey, with my brothers. This beautiful man, in his forties, came on to me and my friends were like “Hey he’s straight, he’s straight!” And he said, “Okay, okay, but I want you to know that if you weren’t, you’d be the belle of the ball!” We had so much fun that night and that’s such a beautiful memory.
If you were gay, who would be your crush?
I think my biggest crush is Kit Harington. I saw him early on in his career in London doing War Horse. I had a bit of an “I like him” moment and then next thing he’s Jon Snow on Game of Thrones. But yeah I had a magnet toward him and he’s definitely an idol of mine.
And what about…er…Orlando Bloom?
Oh my god, are you going to say that I look like him?
Yes, you do! I’ve heard other people say it too!
I do get that. People are like “take the compliment”, so I should ride that wave. Maybe one day I can be his stunt double.
What is the campest song or artist that you listen to?
When I used to gig, my favourite song to play was Dancing Queen and I’d always get a kick out of dancing to that. I’m a massive ABBA fan.
Have you ever had a wardrobe malfunction?
I’ve had a very bad prop malfunction when I was understudying for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. I went on for Hugh Sheridan, so I was on stage with Geoffrey Rush and there was one moment where I had to give him one of the key ‘plot point’ props, which was the wedding contract scroll. That was pretty much where the show was building up to. So I was on stage, the adrenaline killing me, and I’d forgotten the prop! All of a sudden Geoffrey is feeling my sleeve, feeling my side, feeling everywhere and I’m thinking, “What’s he doing? I don’t remember this in the script”. Then he says “Ah! I’ve got the contract. It’s very small and you can’t see it.” Then the audience just burst into laughter, while my heart melted and I thought I’d never work in this town again! But he loved it and said it was nice to have a fresh laugh in the show.
What do you do to keep fit?
I do Pilates and yoga, but I can’t get too big for my role, so I can’t go to the gym as much as I’d like to. It’s really a stamina show, so we have to keep fit and maintain our physiques. There’s a great line that the Genie says “Everybody here in Agrabah has zero percent body fat!” In fact, High Adventure, the sword fighting number, goes for about ten minutes and we do get quite a workout.
And all those bare chests! Do you have group waxing?
Well in the dressing room we do! (laughing loudly). We’re on ‘chest watch’! We get told if we’re getting too hairy. But we’re also ‘street rats’, so we have to maintain some sort of life.
This is our swimwear issue. Are you a boardies or Speedos guy?
In my private school days I would say budgie smugglers, but now that I’m older it’s the boardies, short shorts. I’ll be hitting up Bondi this summer to get that experience in.
What about underwear?
The boys in the show pay me out, because I especially bought some monkey underwear. As you’d know, Abu isn’t in the show and we three pals are the closest you get to Abu from the cartoon. So I like to have a little salute to him, and I think the best way is to have him on my crotch! So every time we get dressed, the boys see my little monkey!
Aladdin is playing at the Capitol Theatre Sydney
For more visit: www.aladdinthemusical.com.au
