Oliver Ormson on Bringing High Fidelity to London with a Fresh British Spin

High Fidelity didn’t last long on Broadway in 2006, but the musical adaptation of the Nick Hornby novel has had plenty of airings elsewhere since that time and is now in previews at southwest London’s new Turbine Theatre, where it opens November 1. The British premiere stars 30-year-old Oliver Ormson as Rob, the record store owner played by Will Chase on Broadway and by John Cusack in the much-loved 2000 film, so there was much to discuss—on topics vinyl-related and otherwise—when Broadway.com rang for a chat.

Where is this production of High Fidelity set, given that the Broadway version transferred the location from London, where the novel takes place, to Chicago?
We’re bringing it back home! We’ve made some changes to make it a bit more Brit-friendly given that some of the references from the Broadway version were very Americanized, and it feels at home here; it’s nice to bring it back.

Will returning to the original location prove beneficial to the show’s reception here?
Yeah, I think so. Without having seen the original production, I can’t very easily see what went wrong, especially because [the show] has a great book and music and is so clever and so well-written. But maybe bringing the story back to its original roots will be the missing piece.

What was your first response when you got the job?
I bought the novel and read it as quickly as I possibly can so as to be fully aware of the material. Rob in the show is in every song, and if he’s not singing, he’s probably narrating or watching the song take place, so the actual preparation for this has been super-intense.

Does this feel like a new level of challenge?
This is like nothing I’ve done before, really. My knowledge of musical theater is pretty vast, and I can’t think of another male role which has this amount of stage time and songs: it must be among the top five male leads in terms of what it asks of a performer.

How is that affecting your daily regimen so far?
It’s about no alcohol and watching what I eat and sleeping a lot. I do a lot of prep work on my journey home, so that I when I get home, I can just relax and hit the hay. I need to switch off and if I don’t, I won’t be rested enough to do the show.

What do you think of Rob as a character?
He’s kind of weird [laughs]: his life is records but he’s very flawed at the same time, and I think what we’ve found so far is that I want to make him likable in terms of the way he addresses the audience and tries to get them on his side. If I go in and straight away play the surly, rude, pretentious parts of Rob, I may lose the audience and never get them back. The trick is for the audience to find him relatively charming and relatively intriguing and different, and then when the shit does hit the fan, they can go, “Actually, I get why he did that.”

Do you share Rob’s musical tastes?
I’m too mainstream for Rob! If I were to come into his shop playing Lady Gaga, I’d be kicked out. I couldn’t really tell you what Rob likes, though it’s clear from the book that he’s into Marvin Gaye and “Let’s Get it On.”

Did you manage to find a record store for research purposes, given that they aren’t as plentiful as they once were?
I was walking through Soho [in London] not long after getting offered the role and there was a sign outside this shop saying “Records,” so I went in and spoke to the owner about how long he’s been doing it, how the records are laid out—that kind of thing. I was impressed [in the shop] at how clean everything was and how well thought out.

Had you had any personal experience before with vinyl?
I knew what vinyl was but I did have to teach myself how to open an album and how to place it on the deck. I’ve never owned a vinyl player, so that wasn’t anything I’d ever done in my life. What I needed was to master just how meticulous Rob would be with those records.

What’s your sense of the High Fidelity score?
I think the music’s wonderful. It does exactly what it has to do, and the styles are so different and so emotive. There’s some very Next to Normal-esque music in there, as well, where you can tell it’s by [composer] Tom Kitt. I used to listen to Next to Normal all the time and would love to be part of it if it ever comes to London.

Did you get to see Torch Song, which was the opening production at the Turbine venue, in order to get a sense of the theater itself?
Yes, it was great, and Matthew Needham knew how to use the space and play with the audience so well. Our production is going to have bean bags and sofas for the audience to sit on.

How do you look back on your West End debut in The Book of Mormon?
I was in the third cast here at the Prince of Wales Theatre and spent two years understudying Elder Price. The first year, I was a lower cover but the second year was when I was first cover and did 59 shows that year as opposed to one show the first [laughs]. That was amazing, since, as you know, Elder Price starts onstage and so there was an announcement that the role at that performance would be played by Oliver Ormson and the audience all clapped and cheered; I’ll remember that day for the rest of my life.

More recently, what was your feeling about playing Rum Tum Tugger in Cats?
That was at Kilworth House, which is an old country house that is now a hotel and has a theater on the grounds. Our production was I think the first time Cats has been done in the U.K. without the Gillian Lynne choreography [Nick Winston directed and choreographed], which of course was so iconic, so to be able to remake something was so exciting. One of the guys from our cast is in the Cats film as well and it will be interesting to see how much you can do with the camera.

How do you now feel as you head towards High Fidelity opening night?
It feels like I’ve been crying out for this for a long time. I feel very privileged and happy and can’t wait to show everyone what I’m made of.