The state of my hair right now is… Pinned under a wig, which makes me look like crazy old Maurice, Belle’s father, and also makes me feel like crazy old Maurice, too! Pins in my scalp make me crazy!
The state of my underwear drawer is… Fun because I play underwear bingo. I have socks matching most of my underwear, so each day I grab my socks and jocks randomly and if they match… bingo!
The most famous person I’ve met is… Hugh Jackman. We worked together in the mid-’90s when no one knew which one of us was going to become a superstar. He’s been quoted as saying, “Rodney Dobson is the naughtiest actor I have ever worked with.”
My best on-stage stuff up was when… Maurice’s invention in Beauty And The Beast, which I normally ride in on, broke down. I pushed it around instead, barking about how happy I was that “It’s working.” If you believe it’s true, then it is true. Right?
Back in high school, I was… Lazy. Music lessons got me out of academic classes, and drama classes had very little homework. By the end of high school, they were the only two things I was good at so I signed up for a Musical Theatre course.
If I could have a superpower, it would be… Something silly like never needing to use the bathroom, or always being allowed to go to the front of a queue.
The best thing about theatre is… Taking a bow at the end of your working day. What other job gives you that?
The worst thing about theatre is… Nothing. It’s like dress-up day on Play School every day… and then people applaud you!
I’m shit scared of… Onstage muck-ups. Live theatre is so much fun except when things go wrong, leaving you floundering. It’s fun for everyone else though!
People don’t know that I once… Snubbed Dannii Minogue. It was the opening night of the Full Monty Musical where I played Dave. At the after-party, people were demanding my time. Dannii was a special guest, and her PA took me to meet her. The only problem was, I didn’t know it was her and brushed her off pretty rudely. Moments later, I saw her up on stage rocking out with the band. Oopsie!
Being in Beauty And The Beast is… The best. The show makes so many people happy. We see all kinds in the audience – old, young, couples on dates. People even dress up as Belle. No one dresses up as Maurice!
My autobiography would be called… Rodney Reckons! A collection of random meaningless ideas and theories.
The song that makes me smile and want to dance is… Fireball by Pitbull ft. John Ryan. Shooting a fireball at the same time helps.
My all-time favourite TV character is… Gilligan. I wasted a lot of my youth guffawing at Gilligan’s Island. It never let me down.
My gay friends are… Going to give me shit for being in this mag before them and roll their eyes dramatically at all my answers!
Beauty And The Beast is playing at Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne. Go to: beautyandthebeastmusical.com.au
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