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The Patriot-News, November, 2002
Fan: Where were you born and raised?
Randal: I'm from a small town in North Carolina about 30 miles southwest
of Winston-Salem called Mocksville. From what I've been told, I was
singing before I could walk although I'm not from a musical family so no
one knows where it comes from. Singing is just something that I've always
enjoyed and I can't remember not ever having it in my life.
Fan: When did you realize you had a voice that was exceptional?
Randal: From an early age I would sing along with all of mine and my
sisters records (yes, records. CD's were not invented yet) and try to
imitate which ever singer I was listening too. It got to the point to
where I barely had any voice left. Then, when my voice began to change, a
big low, mature voice emerged. Yes, I started out my adult singing stage
as a Bass.
Fan: Are you still able to hit those low notes? What range do you prefer to
sing, tenor, baritone, bass?
Randal: I can still sing fairly low. I can hit a low F. I like to sing
Baritone. Tenor is harder.
Fan: How did you get started out singing?
Randal: In High School I began taking a lot of chorus classes and for the
rest of my school years I took more and more classes singing bottom Bass.
Around this time I also got involved with a new Church that had a lot of
people around my age that where getting together to start a singing group.
About my second or third Sunday Dean Shore and Joey Shore came up to me
and ask if I would be interested in joining them. I was, and we became a
large group of singers that we called The Believers. I stayed with them
until I left for College. We raised enough money to buy a sound system and
a big school bus that we painted the ugliest color of green that you can
imagine. We traveled for years all over the state and it was some of the
best times of my youth.
Fan: What hooked you?
Randal: Singing so closely with a group of people can create a powerful
bond. These were my best friends and we all shared something that no one
else could. To this day, I still get that feeling while singing. I connect
emotionally to singing more than any other time. I think that is why I
love touring so much. You're connected to these people the same way you
are to your own family and there is such a sense of belonging.
Fan: Have you ever had any formal acting/voice lessons?
Randal: No. Believe it or not, my talents are all God given. When I
attended college At Anderson College (now university) in Anderson, Indiana,
I really didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. I knew I wanted to
include music in some way but I didn't know just what. I spent the first
two years just taking required courses until I could decide. I did sign up
for voice lessons in the music department but I quit after just a few
meetings with my Teacher. He had a big Baritone voice that I hated the
sound of and all he ever talked about was how much I sounded just like him
when he was my age. He said he knew exactly how to train me so I would
sound like him. That's the last thing I wanted. If it came down to
sounding like him or never training at all, I chose to run. If I sounded
like him I think I'd never sing again. Of course, that was just my
opinion.
Fan: What was the first play that you saw live? On Broadway?
Randal: My first trip to Broadway was with a group from college and we saw
shows all week. My first day was a two show day where I saw an interesting
combination of Annie and The Elephant Man.
Fan: What was your first audition?
Randal: I'm assuming that you mean first paying job and not anything I did
in school. My first audition was also my first show out of school. It was
"They're Playing Our Song" at the Barn Dinner Theater in Greensboro North
Carolina. I was one of the three male chorus members and I think I got around 40
bucks a week. That led to my second audition and show in Knoxville Tennessee. I
played the male lead, Billy, in "Anything Goes". From there, I kept getting jobs
farther and farther north until I moved to Chicago and lived there for about 5
years.
Fan: What did you do while you were in Chicago?
Randal: I did a lot in Chicago over a period of about five years. To
name a few, there was Sweeney Todd, Doonesbury, The Nightingale, Evita,
Chess, Mame, 42nd Street Funny Girl, The Human Comedy and on and on and
on.......
Fan: What was the first play you were in?
Randal: Do you mean nonmusical? In college almost all the shows that I had
a part in was nonmusical. I could never get cast in the musicals that they
did except in the chorus. My first role was in a dress. The title role in
"Charley's Aunt". On opening night my plain black boring high-necked dress
ripped apart and there was no one there to fix it. During the first
intermission, we ransacked the wardrobe storage room, trying to find
something that would actually fit me. I finished the next two acts wearing
a huge, lime green ball gown from "Hello Dolly" that was 6 inches too
long. every time I would enter the stage the set doors would close behind
me and my train would get caught in the door and I couldn't cross the
stage until someone else entered and opened the door to set me free. The
Director laughed so hard that he made me wear it for the rest of the run.
Fan: What motivates you to keep on doing what you are doing?
Randal: I love it. I can't imagine ever wanting to do anything else. I
consider myself very fortunate to love what I do for a living. That's half
your life. Why be unhappy with your job?
Fan: Do you ever get nervous/stage fright before a performance? How do
you overcome it?
Randal: Always. I get very nervous and I hate singing solo. Being onstage
alone with no one to turn too for support is terrifying. And yet.....
Fan: You love it, fear and all?
Randal: YES!
Fan: What is your favorite city to perform in?
Randal: I've loved all the cities that we have played in Canada.
Vancouver is great, as is Toronto and Montreal. Here in the states I would
have to say that I prefer the West coast cities. LA, San Diego, San
Francisco, Portland, Seattle are all great places.
Fan: What has been your favorite/best role?
Randal: Well, the role I'm doing now, Jean Valjean in Les Misérables, is
probably the most fulfilling role I've ever done. It is also the most
demanding role, physically and vocally. But the truth is, I love every
role that I've done and I love every role for different reasons. One of my
first leading roles was Billy in "Anything Goes" and It was a blast.
Singing a great Cole Porter score, doing comedy and tap dancing. What's
not to love. I got the chance to take over the role of Che' in "Evita"
very briefly. That was amazing. I had to learn the role in 3 days. So no,
I can't pick a favorite. As for my best, I'm far to self-critical to know
what my best would be.
Fan: Tap dancing? Were you trained in dance? Have you had other dancing
roles?
Randal: No training. As in everything else I do I just picked it up. Other
Dance shows have been mostly in my younger days. Anything Goes, Dames at Sea,
42nd Street, Tulsa in Gypsy, No, No, Nanette. lots of tap but I was in the
Nutcracker once in college.
Fan: What was your worst role?
Randal: That's hard to answer. I've enjoyed all my work but there have
been shows that were really bad all the way around and roles that I was
probably miscast. I was doing summer stock and we had six shows between
June and August. I had agreed to star in five of the shows with the
promise of not having to do the third show of the summer so I could get a
bit of a break. The show was "Hello Dolly", not one of my favorites, so I
was happy to miss it. About a week before the show the guy who was going
to play Horace Vandergelder quit. I was the only person around to fill in
the role. I was only 23. I was also a part of a very poorly received
production of "The Human Comedy"
Fan: Any roles you would like a 2nd chance at?
Randal: I performed as the Phantom in "The Phantom of the Opera" several
hundred times but only as an understudy. I never had the chance to take
over the role. That is a show that I really enjoyed and would love to do
it again. I understudied the Russian in "Chess" but never went on in the
role. I would love a chance at that.
Fan: Would you consider auditioning for the tour if the present Phantom
leaves?
Randal: Yes.
Fan: What is your favorite performance story?
Randal: I love the answer that Ethel Merman gave when asked how she warms
up her voice before she goes on. "Warm up? What do you think the first
song's for."
Fan: What was your worst/most embarrassing performance experience?
Randal: There's not enough space here for them all! I've lost clothing,
had wigs fall off, missed entrances. Once while doing "Dames at Sea" I was
singing a solo and dancing and the crowd was loud and great and laughing
and I thought they must really love me until the end of the song during
the applause I realized that my pants were unzipped the whole time and
sailor pants have a zipper that is about six inches long so it was
definitely noticeable.
Fan: What was your best performance?
Randal: I think for a very long time, my greatest performance will be May
18th 2003. The last performance of Les Misérables at the Imperial Theater
on Broadway. I have never been a part of anything so electrifying and
magical. The entire cast and the whole audience was just incredible. It
could never be replicated. It is times like that when I know I will never
leave this business.
Fan: What other performers do you admire?
Randal: Anyone who can stick to this business long enough to get noticed
is certainly someone who has my admiration. More importantly, anyone who
has become a star and still remains humble. They remember where they came
from so fame doesn't go to their head. In this business you can be on top
one show and back in the chorus the next. If you don't make enemies on the
way up, it is much easier to still be happy when you have to come back
down.
Fan: Have you ever dropped/forgotten a line/missed an entrance?
Randal: Many, many times. One of the worst times was probably my very
first time on as the Phantom. I started singing "The Music of the Night"
and as I was starting to get up from the organ and cross to Christine my
mind just shut down. I continued the blocking but didn't sing a note for
what seemed like two hours. It was more like two lines but instead of
trying to think of the words I remember looking out at the crowd at the
Auditorium Theater in Chicago and thinking that the company made a
terrible mistake. I had no business being out there and they will never
let me to it again.
Actually, I just thought of a time were I didn't forget the words but forgot
the tune. I was doing bad Children's Theatre and the melody just wouldn't come
to me. I panicked and started singing notes at random all over the scale trying
to match the piano with no luck. I sounded like a wounded animal howling his
death howl. Luckily the audience wasn't over the age of 10.
Fan: How has Theatre enriched your life?
Randal: A tour took me to Florida where I met my wife Karen. Your life
can't get more enriched than meeting your soulmate.
Fan: How do you balance your family life with your professional schedule?
Randal: I am very lucky in the fact that my wife is in the business as well
so she understands what life in Theatre is all about. She was able to
work on the shows I toured with so for the first 9 years of our marriage
we traveled together always. We have built a very strong foundation to our
relationship that can't be cracked. For the last couple of years we have
made a home in California and she splits her time with where ever I may
be. Any time we have a longer stop she's out with me. When we're not
together we talk on the phone 15 or 20 times a day.
Fan: Do you travel
with a Pet?
Randal: I used to travel with my cat but now I go alone. Karen brings our dog
Merlin out when ever she visits.
Fan: What brings you the greatest joy?
Randal: That's easy. My wife and family. If I ever get to the point to
where work is more important in my mind, then I hope to never work again.
Work is work but your family is your life.
Fan: What really irks you?
Randal: Unprofessionalism. Not caring.
Fan: If you won LOTTO tomorrow, what would you do?
Randal: The usual. Get out of debt, buy a house, see the world. If it is a
really big LOTTO I'd own my own animation studio.
Fan: What would you do with an animation studio? Create? Draw? Voice over?
Randal: Well, I can't draw so that leaves create and voice-over.
Fan: What is your favorite color?
Randal: Dark Burgundy I guess. I really don't have a favorite color.
All dark jewel tones I like.
Fan: Favorite snack food?
Randal: Anything chocolate.
Fan: Favorite meal?
Randal: Orange chicken.
Fan:
What turns you off with fans?
Randal: When I was playing the Phantom I would get fan mail asking me to
write them back as the Phantom. I'm thrilled that people like what I do
but please remember that I'm just an actor playing a part. Also, I'm
entitled to my own life. Don't get mad if I ever ask for privacy.
Fan: What is your favorite curse word?
Randal: I can't answer this one in case my mother reads it.
Fan: What profession other than yours would you like to attempt?
Randal: Everything that I would like to do is still in the entertainment
industry. Directing, Animation, Film Editing. My dream is to one day be a
voice in a cartoon. Dreamworks, are you listening
Fan: What profession would you not like to participate in?
Randal: I am one of the few actor's I know who has never had to wait
tables. I pray that it will never happen. I would be very bad at it.
Fan: What do you want to hear St. Peter say when you reach the Pearly
Gates?
Randal: "Hey you're just in time. All the Artist's up here have written a
Musical and we had no one to play the lead.
Fan: Have you ever had any strange (ghostly) encounters in any theaters?
Randal: I know that this is a boring answer but no. I do believe I saw a
UFO when I was 12.
Fan: Who would you most like to do a duet with, male/female?
Randal: Tori Amos.
Fan: What hobbies do you have?
Randal: I love to read. I also spend way to much time in front of my
computer playing games. I collect items from a comic book called Elfquest
which is the greatest comic ever. They're making a movie so it ties into
my answer above about wanting to be a voice in an animated film. At least
let me sing the end credits song. My favorite movie is "Nightmare Before
Christmas" so I'm always buying collectibles from that film. Now that
Disney owns it, there are tons of items that I don't have.
Fan: What would you be doing if you were not on the stage?
Randal: I have no other skills. so probably working back stage or
directing. I'd love to try film or TV. I've not done that yet.
Fan: Do you read much in your spare time?
Randal: I use to read a lot more than I do now because I just don't have
the time. However, I drive my own car from city to city so I listen to a
lot of books on tape. It really helps the trips go much faster.
Fan: What is your favorite book? Favorite author?
Randal: I love Horror, Fantasy and Science Fiction. The Sword of Truth
series by Terry Goodkind is great. I've read all of Stephen King. His
Dark Tower books are the greatest. Thank goodness he is writing two more
of them before he is done for good. I love a good Ghost story. I hate
short stories though. I want them to go on forever.
Fan: Now that you have seen what life on Broadway is like, would
you like to go back, or do you prefer the every changing life on the
road?
Randal: As long as I feel young enough, the road will always
be my first love.
Sharon Johnson, The Patriot-News, Hershey, PA
"When Randal Keith first saw "Les Misérables" on stage, he decided that there was no role for him in the show. Which didn't seem to matter, since there was so much for him in "Phantom of the Opera," the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical in which he was touring at the time. (Keith is one of the few actors to have played Monsieur Andre, the juvenile Raoul and the title role in "Phantom")
Keith, who says he's not a pure tenor, was convinced he'd never play the musical's hero, Jean Valjean. But when he went to audition for the role of the "Les Misérables" villain, Inspector Javert, the director asked him to sing some of Valjean's music. Six years later, when the orchestra begins Valjean's themes, they're playing his song.
Keith has played the role in Toronto, across the United States on the national tour, in Shanghai (where he alternated with the original Jean Valjean, Colm Wilkinson, in the role) and in Seoul where he discovered that Korean audiences were restrained during performances but overwhelming in their response at the final curtain. So much so that the musical had to add another curtain to to satisfy the ecstatic crowds.
Keith has developed so many fans in South Korea that he and two of his co-stars are returning there for a concert and to record a CD of duets (It may be available later at the actor's web site, (www.randal-keith.com). But he's now continuing with the national tour which will bring "Les Misérables" to Hershey for a fourth engagement beginning Tuesday.
There's little geographic logic to these tours. From his hotel room in Ottawa where the musical closes tonight, Keith said he passed Hershey on his drive from Richmond, VA, to Canada's capital, knowing he'd be returning the following week. Unlike most of his co-stars, Keith prefers to take his car on tour. The upside: He can set his own schedule and get around easily in each town the casts visits. The downside: When the vehicle is vandalized, as it recently was, dealing with insurance claims by long distance can be an ordeal.
Not that there was to be much time for sightseeing in Ottawa Keith said. the production was to open on Wednesday, rather than Tuesday, but still play an eight-performance week. With a demanding three-hour-plus musical such as "Les Misérables" three matinee days in a five-day work week leaves little free time.
But Keith and company were looking forward to Hershey. Theater management usually tells the performers what local sights shouldn't be missed. Other visiting actors let them know where the best restaurants are. Aside from that " we do a lot of shopping" Keith says. He and his fellow performers are experts on the malls in every city they've visited.
With winter coming on, safeguarding the voice is also a concern of the touring performers. "It gets harder and harder every year," Keith says. His formula is "drink lots of water, get plenty of rest, and I'm willing to try any home remedy I hear of." Even so" if one member of the company gets a cold, everyone does," he said.
Although it can be hard on the cast, it's the travel that keeps the show fresh, he believes. There's an opening night every week or so, and that cast adjusts to a new theater, different audiences, a new group of critics.
Naturally, Keith hopes one day to create a role in a new musical. But he's spent much of his career happily and gainfully employed in roles other actors have created, most of them the big British imports. (He's also toured in "Evita" and "Sunset Boulevard.") I'm very happy there are these hits," says the National Company's Jean Valjean. He says he hasn't quite adjusted to the news that the long-running Broadway production of "Les Misérables" will close in mid-March. "It seems very odd," Keith says. "I was thinking it would just be there forever. I guess I'll really react when it gets closer to the closing date."
Bill DeYoung, TCPalm, Florida
Baritone takes Jean Valjean's journey every night
By Bill DeYoung entertainment editor
May 11, 2004
Playing Jean Valjean, the protagonist of the Tony-winning musical "Les
Misérables," puts Randal Keith in the middle of a whirlwind every night.
Keith has played the role more than 1,000 times -- he was in the show when it
closed on Broadway last year -- and stars in the touring production that begins
a six-day run at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts tonight.
"For me, personally, to be able to do it accurately every night I really have to
throw myself into it and take that journey," says the North Carolina-born
baritone in a phone interview. "I can't just kind of observe the journey from
the sidelines. I've got to be on it.
"So it's very emotionally and physically taxing, every time."
"Les Misérables," of course, is based on French novelist Victor Hugo's 1862 book
about Valjean, an ex-convict searching for redemption, and his relentless
pursuit by the pitiless Inspector Javert. It is partially set against a student
revolution in the streets of Paris, and takes Valjean from violence to
tenderness to high comedy to heroics over the course of a few short hours.
The musical, by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michael Schonberg, opened in London in
1985, and won eight Tonys in 1987, including Best Musical. It has been
translated into 21 languages and has played in 38 countries throughout the
world.
"Personally, I think it's timeless," says Keith, 42. "It's just as timely and
relevant when you see it now as when it was written. There's always things that
pertain to real life in our show, and to people's own personal lives.
"There's so much going on in our show, no matter where they are in their life
there's some character in the show that they can relate to on a personal level,"
he says.
The persecuted Valjean, Keith says, "is very human. I try to stay away from ever
playing him as St. Valjean. He begins the story very inhuman, almost
animalistic. He's been in prison for 19 years, and shunned by society, and is
really almost ready to give up. And he's finally paroled.
"He soon discovers that it was not really all it was cracked up to be. Because
he's got to carry around this label with him, this yellow ticket that he has to
show in every town he goes to, every place he tries to get work or find a meal.
He's got to say yes, I am a criminal and I'm labeled as such. And I expect to be
treated as such."
In many ways, Valjean's life on the outside is worse than prison.
"At least in prison he had something -- he had a spot in life," says Keith. "But
out in the real world, he couldn't find it, because people couldn't look past
what they perceived of him."
An unexpected act of charity begins to give Valjean an entirely new outlook.
"If not for the kindness of one person, he probably would have died a thief,"
Keith says. "But his life gets turned around very drastically, and he realizes
that he does need to change."
Keith's resume includes the first national tour of "The Phantom of the Opera," "Che"
and "Sunset Boulevard."
It was on the "Phantom" tour, in 1991 in Fort Lauderdale, that he met West Palm
Beach's Karen Price, who was working in the local wardrobe department.
"It was love at first sight," he says. "We were engaged by the third date, and
we got married in the next city."
Although the couple live in Los Angeles, Price is in West Palm this week while
her husband's show is in town.
Keith has just finished recording his first CD, a collection of songs from some
of the shows he's been in (including "Bring Him Home" from "Les Miserables"),
and hopes to have it on sale at the Kravis shows (it's available through
www.randal-keith.com).
His dream gig would be to sing with his musical idol, Tori Amos.
"I'm just a great admirer of her music," he gushes. "She is such a strong
person, and there's such emotion and passion in her music. There are so few
singers that write anything meaningful."
Amos, who keeps a home in Martin County, may well be reading this.
"Tell her she's got a seat waiting, and a free CD," Keith says with a chuckle.
"In Toronto once, I called in sick to my show so my wife and I could go see Tori
on our anniversary."
- bill.deyoung@scripps.com