Nigel Huckle returns to Australia for Sondheim’s PUTTING IT TOGETHER

True to its name, Putting It Together is a collection of Stephen Sondheim’s greatest music presented by a cohort of Australia’s most esteemed performers. Opening this January at the Foundry Theatre, the production packs the exquisite breadth of work from the mind of music theatre’s most revered composer-lyricist into one, unmissable show. 

Set amongst the dilemmas of the patrons at a black-tie party, the piece explores the themes of love, ambition and desire through the lens of Sondheim’s classics. Reimagining some of his most beloved pieces, audiences can expect to hear iconic melodies from classics like Sweeney Todd, Company, and Sunday in the Park with George. 

Bringing their own flair to Sondheim’s extraordinary score is a stellar Australian cast, featuring Caroline O’Connor, Michael Cormick, Bert LaBonté, Stefanie Caccamo, and Nigel Huckle.

With a career spanning five continents, Nigel is most recently recognised on the Australian stage for his Green Room Award–nominated performance as Chris in Miss Saigon. His impressive credits also include Artie Green in Sunset Boulevard, Tony in Opera Australia’s tour of West Side Story, and Fabrizio Naccarelli in The Light in the Piazza at the California Center for the Arts.

Flying back to Australia from New York to join the show, Nigel shares with Aussie Theatre his journey into theatre and a glimpse of what audiences can expect from this very special performance.

You’ve forged such an incredible, international career in the theatre industry. Could you give us a glimpse into what first sparked your passion for performing and set you on the path to where you are today?

Nigel: I always sang as a kid! I was constantly walking around belting Whitney Houston and Sheryl Crow. So one day, after we’d moved to the US, my mum encouraged me to audition for Peter Pan at the professional theatre in my hometown in Virginia, and I got the job! From then on, I was constantly performing, whether it was on stage in musicals or as a musician in my school’s wind ensembles or in my conservatory’s choirs. All of those formative experiences in my youth have shaped the actor I am today.

After performing in two mammoth productions like Miss Saigon and Sunset Boulevard, how does it feel to step into something more intimate with a Sondheim piece?

Nigel: What is special about doing a show like this is the artistic autonomy, and the creative fulfilment that comes with it. You get to build a show, an experience and a point of view from the ground up in a way that you don’t often get to do when doing big blockbuster musicals (though Miss Saigon was a bit of an exception, and how cool that Sunset Boulevard was an original Australian production).

Artistically, what differs in your approach?

Nigel: I approach a creative experience like this with a bit more breath in the sense that not every beat of my character’s existence in the show needs to be as meticulously planned and prepared in advance. Instead, there is room for us all to add our own shading and nuance together as collaborators in the room. This show is unique as well in that there’s not much of a plot, but a focus on Sondheim’s music – what everyone’s really coming to hear – so the journey on stage is whatever we want to make of it.

You’re surrounded by such a legendary cast — how are you feeling about working alongside them?

Nigel: Well first, I’ll say that I am taking a second to pat myself on the back that I get to perform alongside these amazing people as peers, so I’m really allowing myself to learn what it’s like to be included in a company like this. What’s funny is that I first worked with Caroline in 2018 in Funny Girl at the Opera House, and yet I first worked with Michael just a few months ago in Sunset Boulevard, so you never know when the theatre gods will work their divinity to place other performers in your path – perhaps I’ll be saying something similar about Stefanie, Bert, Paul and Jeni in five or ten years’ time.

Sondheim is renowned for the intricacies and complexities in his work. How has it been tackling his music? What is your learning process and what has been the biggest challenge so far?

Nigel: I played the euphonium (I know, what a random instrument) for seven years in middle school and high school, so I’ve been reading music proficiently almost my entire life. I’m grateful for that experience because it’s made me a really technical musician, so Sondheim is a challenge I’m up for! It’s been really exciting learning this music because it’s such a sensorial experience. You really have to listen to everything, piano and your fellow vocalists, to give it the dramatic weight that Sondheim demands in his writing. I like preparing the music nice and thoroughly before we start rehearsals, but not so memorised that it feels baked in and that it precludes me from listening well and building the music with everyone.

Tell us a bit about the numbers you get to perform in the show — which moments are you most excited for and why?

Nigel: My big ones that people might recognise are “Pretty Women” from Sweeney Todd with Michael, “Unworthy of Your Love” from Assassins with Stefanie, and towards the end I sing “Marry Me a Little” from Company. But honestly, I’m such a sucker for an opening number, and I’m so excited for the audience to meet the cast and be introduced to the show in the very special way that this opening number does.

Having worked across the world, what do you think is unique about the Australian theatre industry?

Nigel: There is a tenacity that is unique to Australian performers. In the US I feel like there is such an emphasis on getting the job, while in Australia there is equal or more emphasis on doing the job because the market is smaller with fewer opportunities. You appreciate every moment you get to work and create, and you put your absolute best into it. I do feel like I’ve taken that sensibility with me to New York very proudly. 

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Putting It Together runs at the Foundry Theatre from January 6th.

For tickets and more information, visit the Foundry Theatre website.