Actor-singer Michael Damian is no stranger to hard work. He began performing professionally at 12. Since 1981, he has portrayed Danny Romalotti on the hit daytime drama “The Young and the Restless.” For several years, he has been moonlighting as a pop-rock concert attraction.
Still, he never knew just how grueling show biz could be until he accepted the starring role in the Broadway production of the musical “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” (In Chicago, another veteran entertainer, Donny Osmond, is featured in “Joseph” at the Chicago Theatre.)
Many actors whine that toiling in soap operas is a terrible grind. “They lie,” laughs the affable Damian. “At least you can yell, `Cut!’ You can’t do that on the theater stage. You can’t walk off the stage and go to the bathroom like you can on `The Young and the Restless.’
“With `Joseph,’ ” he continues, “it’s a two-hour commitment. You can’t stop. You can’t change things. People are relying on your cues-lighting, orchestra, cast. It’s happening, moving. It’s a roller coaster you’re on. You can’t get off. That’s the thrill.”
During “Joseph” engagements in Los Angeles and San Francisco, Damian continued to appear regularly on “The Young and the Restless.” He also was immersed in the recording and promotion of his latest pop album, “Reach Out to Me.” The schedule he kept was mind-boggling.
“I finished the first week of the play,” he says, “and felt like I’d been beaten up. I was so weak. My body wasn’t used to being tied to a camel or being thrown into a pit. I was (thinking), `My God, what have I gotten myself into?’ But, at the same time, there was this wonderful magic taking place in the theater. Even if I’m dead-tired, I get caught up in it and, by the end of the show, I feel good. It’s amazing how this play stimulates you. The fun outweighs the work.”
Damian himself weighs a lot less these days. Under the supervision of a trainer, he dropped 45 pounds. And the 30-pound dumbbells in his dressing room attest to the fact that he plans to maintain his muscles. “I had big love handles,” he reveals, “and I have to wear a loincloth through much of the show. So I had intense workouts. The role is physically demanding, as well as mentally and vocally demanding.”
Going from his own pleasant pop material to the demanding Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice songs in “Joseph” required some adjustment on Damian’s part. “I worried that, after eight shows a week, I’d be hoarse.
“A singing teacher taught me how to take the weight off my vocal cords and use my head voice, as well as how to support it through my diaphragm. That takes the stress off the vocal cords, which helps me survive. I can apply this technique to pop concerts, where you have to compete with amplified power guitars.”
Damian is now an integral part of the glittery pop power of “Joseph.” The musical, which uses the biblical tale of Joseph and his coat of many colors as a launching point, was conceived by Webber and Rice in the ’60s as a 15-minute cantata for school. It gradually expanded until reaching its zenith with this production, which is an energetic, sassy entertainment extravaganza.
The show has given Damian a different perspective on vocalizing. “It’s made me realize that you can’t distract yourself with thoughts of fancy singing. It’s the story-telling ideas you’re trying to convey that must come first. The rest will follow naturally.”
Damian is a big fan of Webber’s composing skills: “He finds a melody that just haunts the living hell out of you. `Phantom,’ `Evita,’ `Jesus Christ Superstar,’ even that little keyboard melody that runs through `Cats,’ they’ve all stuck with me.”
Growing up near San Diego, Damian was inundated with musical influences. His mother, a piano instructor, gave him keyboard lessons at an early age and exposed him to classical music and show tunes. His father, who sang as a hobby, was partial to old love ballads, and as the second-youngest of nine children, Damian also heard a lot of Beatles tunes.
When he was 12, Damian, his six sisters and two brothers formed a rock band called the Weirz. (His real name is Michael Damian Weir.) The act lasted almost 10 years.
