Mark Vincent - From West End To Broadway

Confession: I missed the memo about Mark Vincent when he won Australia’s Got Talent 15 years ago, at the age of 15. So, when I finally did view his audition on YouTube, it was AFTER witnessing his stellar performance as a grown adult, last night at the Princess Theatre Launceston. Weirdly, I think seeing the audition afterwards had even more impact. 

Obviously, the years have refined his technique and power, but so much of his talent was self-evident as a kid as well as his adorable sentimentality. At the time he expressed deep reverence for Opera and his forebears - not just his grandfather who raised him, but also the great Italian tenors throughout history - especially Mario Lanza. So unexpected from Generation Z!

When I was a child, my mother also had a thing for tenors - especially good old rhyming slang himself - Barry Crocker and former Goon Show great, Harry Secombe. Interestingly enough though, she also loved Mario Lanza and had a copy of The Student Prince. Naturally, being a wild child coming of age during the 70s, I turned my nose up at opera, being more into David Bowie, Alice Cooper, etc. 

Nevertheless, as I got older, I realised just how important and magnificent Opera is in the grand scheme of things. Movies like The Mirror Has Two Faces alerted me to Puccini. In my 30s, in search of a culture hit, I saw Madama Butterfly at the Sydney Opera House. This was still five years before I became involved in Musical Theatre. 

When I heard the orchestra tune up, I literally started crying. It didn’t start me on a mad Opera bender, but it all feels relevant. 

Fast very forward…to night two of the Australian Musical Theatre Festival, and I’ve committed to seeing as much of the program as I can. Mark Vincent appeared as one of the performers at the official opening of the event. He sang “This is the Moment” from Jekyll and Hyde. 

My jaw hit the floor. Then he slipped into the “Ghost Light” tour/show on day two to gift us with his rendition of ‘The Music of The Night’, with the ‘ghostly’ lamplight (appropriately) beaming across only half of his face. 

Then last night, he opened this highly anticipated one-man show - although with the wise-cracking and brilliant Guy Noble at the piano, it was really a two man show. His first song was “Somewhere” from West Side Story. 

Tears streamed down my face from the opening bars. It’s so weird and funny how you can come full circle in life. West Side Story came out the year I was born and that song has always made me cry.

After the opening couple of songs, Mark asked if the audience minded if he snuck in a bit of classical Italian opera into what was supposed to be a set of show tunes. Obviously not. Then he talked lovingly of his grandfather and his Italian roots and his absolute devotion to Mario Lanza - the guy my late mother worshipped as a matinee idol. The guy who sang “I’ll walk with God” - which somehow reached her agnostic heart strings. She died in 1989, aged 66. And there I was, at 63 years of age, weeping over the music I never particularly liked as a child. 

But music is life and life is music. It was my only religion and song lyrics were my prayers. Last night, Mark Vincent took us all to Church! 

This still very young man has had a fantastic career and there’s so much left ahead of him. How fortunate we are that he’s ours. A proud Italian-Australian, with a heart of gold, a twinkle in his eye and the voice of an absolute angel. I know that’s a cliché, but one does get swept up in the magnificence of it all, when it’s all so…magnificent.   

Rose Cooper

Images: Cameron Jones and AMTF