What a couple of years it’s been for breakout musical star Tobias Turley. After winning Mamma Mia! I Have a Dream in 2023, Tobias then completed a successful run in the West End playing Sky in the worldwide smash hit.
If that wasn’t enough, Tobias also created a movie podcast and performed with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall. Next up, is a leading role in White Rose the Musical at the Marylebone Theatre, opening on the 27th of February.
Congratulations on getting the role Hans Scholl in White Rose the Musical. What drew you to this project and are you a history fan?
I’m really excited for this project. What drew me to it is that it’s the polar opposite of Mamma Mia! It’s gritty, dark, sad and true.
It’s an important story that needs to be told.
When they came to me and said, “we’d like you to be a part of this”, I listened to the music, read the script and I thought it was a no brainer. It’s a project I was excited about even before accepting it.
I’m not that big of a history guy. I find it interesting, but I’ve never looked too much into it. I’ve been doing a lot of research for this role however and I have really enjoying looking into it.
What was the audition process like?
I didn’t audition for this one. Will (Will Nunziata), the Director came to me, and we had some great chats about the project and what he wanted from me in the role of Hans. It progressed from there and we started rehearsals on the 5th of February.
Are there any particular scenes you are anticipating being tricky to rehearse?
There are going to be a few tough ones, some real tearjerkers. I cry quite easily at theatre, movies or songs, so I’m going to try and hold back the tears a little bit!
I think everyone will be emotional, it’s such a haunting story and it’s going to be a tough but rewarding watch.
The theatre is famously superstitious. Do you have any rituals that you go through before you step onto the stage?
I can’t say that I do. I like having a cup of herbal tea before I go on, the scent helps to calm me down. I’m not very superstitious when it comes to the beginning of a show, but at the end my routine is to do a cool down exercise.
You have been on an amazing journey since you won Mamma Mia! I have a dream with Stevie Doc. Have you had time to reflect on everything that has happened to you since then?
It’s crazy. I still don’t feel like I fully understand it.
I look back on it so fondly, the TV show and then the musical was just the best time. I have so many great memories of the entire process and the people.
They’re things I never thought I’d get to do.
We got to perform on shows such as the Britain’s Got Talent Final, This Morning and West End Live. The last two years have been so special and it’s very sad to be moving on from the Mamma Mia time, but now I get to do cool, exciting projects like White Rose.
You and Stevie Doc finished your West End run of Mamma Mia last October. When I interviewed Stevie, she said how happy she was to have had you alongside her during the whole process. What was it like working with her and do you meet up with her often still?
She’s an absolute dream. I think we became so close and it’s a testament to our friendship that we’re not sick of each other, because I’ve seen her pretty much every day for the last two years!
We are still so close. We talk most days, she’s just great and brilliant.
You graduated from the Guilford School of Acting with a BA in Musical Theatre. Was going to drama school important to your later success and did you enjoy the experience?
For myself it was. I needed the three years’ worth of training; I wouldn’t be where I am now without it.
My three years there were disrupted slightly by COVID. Half of my second year and a lot of my third year was done online, which sucked. GSA did very well to adapt and change the course, but I don’t think my training was as good as it would have been without COVID happening.
I had training though and I got better.
I saw you perform with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall in September. I thought you were amazing. Do you get nervous before performing?
That was such a crazy experience! I only found out I was doing that about six days before I went on because it originally wasn’t meant to be me.
Anna Jane Casey, who’s my Maria in the West Side Story section, she’d known for months so she had time to practice. I didn’t have long to learn the material at all, it was all a bit of a blur.
Getting nervous depends on what it is. For the Royal Albert Hall I was so incredibly nervous I sung the top note in Maria in my dressing room about 20 times before going out to do it!
I was terrified because it was such a dream for me to sing one of most famous musical theatre songs ever. There was a bit of pressure going in, but as soon as you start you begin to settle. It’s the waiting aspect beforehand that’s the worse.
Do you have any routines to protect your voice from strains put on it by singing every day?
I like to take good care of my voice by drinking a lot of water, a good warm up and a good cool down. I love a Jateman’s which is a throat sweet.
I sleep with mouth tape now, which is good for singing.
What inspired you to set up your podcast The Scene Stealers with your friend Henry Calvert and can you tell me more about it?
I’ve always had a massive love for film, and I wanted to set up a film podcast for ages. After the Mamma Mia TV show it was the right time to do it. I wanted to host it with someone else, so I pinged Henry a message and I was like “look, I think you should do this. I think it’d be great.”
We went for coffee to see if we got along, if we had good banter together and if it would work as a podcast. We decided it would be interesting listening, so went from there.
A podcast is a lot of work, especially when you’re doing a lot of it yourself. We have another member of the team, Riley, who does designs and animations but there’s still a lot to do outside of that. It’s very busy but I absolutely love it and wouldn’t change a thing.
I believe you are really into films. Can you name your 5 favourite films off the top of your head?
Yes. It’s Psycho, Seven, Ocean’s Eleven, When Harry Met Sally and Ratatouille. I’ve got a list on my letterbox; I think it’s about 56 films which are my favourite films of all time.
Do you have any aspirations to do TV and Film work in the future?
I’d absolutely love to; it’s very hard for a musical theatre actor to get into TV and film, but I’m going to try my hardest.
Is there any particular director and actor that you would want to work with?
I’d love to work with someone like Paul Mescal.
A real idol of mine is Andrew Garfield.
We have had similar paths in the sense that he came from a theatre background and then went into Film/TV, so he’s a big inspiration to me.
Working with Director Danny Boyle would be cool. My favourite director is David Fincher.
Is there a question that you wish an interviewer would ask but they never do?
I’ve never really thought about it. That’s a great question though! Maybe it’s the question you’ve just asked!
How about a question you get tired of answering?
There’s never a question I wouldn’t want to answer again.
There’s a lot of questions that come up repeatedly which makes sense, because they’re the questions everyone wants to know.
What’s your favourite ABBA song? Or, what’s your favourite song to do in the show?
I think I’ve answered those questions about 30 times!
What projects are you hoping to have in the future and any that you can talk about now?
White Rose got properly announced today which is exciting.
I had the pleasure of being part of the cast album for Joe, A Little Women Musical, which also got announced today. It’s a brilliant cast with Laura Benanti, Tony Winner Rob Houchen, Liam Tamne and Christina Allado.
I’m very honoured to be a part of it and I think it comes out later this year.
I’ve got a few things coming up post White Rose which I can’t say too much about at the moment. I’m involved in a lot of conversations trying to get those moving ahead, so keep an eye out!
Over The Shoulder will be keeping its eye out for future projects that Tobias has and will be on hand to watch him perform in White Rose the Musical later this month. We can’t wait and a full review will be posted soon.
MAMMA MIA! Is just the start of what we are sure will be a sparkling career.
Thank you so much Tobias for taking the time to talk to us, we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did, and we hope to sit down with you again soon.