For Broadway actors and singers Matthew James Thomas and Keri René Fuller, performing in Malta next month is more than just another gig. 

“What we will be creating is something completely unique and it will be happening for the first time in Malta. I’m so excited for it,” said Thomas.

He was speaking ahead of next month’s Defying Gravity concert at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, featuring a selection of music by Grammy, Academy and Tony award-winning composer Stephen Schwartz.

It will be Schwartz’s debut appearance in the country and the first time his Broadway music has been arranged for orchestra and comes just two months before the release of a Hollywood adaptation of his award-winning musical Wicked.

Thomas and Fuller will be joined onstage by local stars Joseph Calleja, Ira Losco and Destiny and fellow Broadway performer Michael McCorry Rose, accompanied by the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra.

“For a minute, we didn’t think we’d be lucky enough to pull this off. Everybody’s schedules are crazy... they’re all superstars,” said Thomas.

The British-born performer found early roles in cult films About a Boy and Billy Elliot and is now based in New York full-time, where he starred in the 2013 Broadway revival of Schwartz’s Pippin musical. 

And while his career has taken him to venues across the world, the MCC offers something special: “Broadway is amazing but when you walk into that unbelievable, medieval-looking theatre you can feel it [the atmosphere] already... We’re so excited.”   

Matthew James Thomas found early roles in cult films including About a Boy and Billy Elliot.

Thomas’s relationship with Malta began a decade ago after his parents purchased a holiday home in Gozo, a choice that would pave the way for next month’s concert – the idea for which he came up with around five years ago.

“I was waiting for an early morning flight and that’s when I decided I had to do something here... by that time, I had seen a lot of performances in Malta and had really got a sense for the intense amount of musical talent here. And it all just fell into place.”

Stressing it was rare for Schwartz to make live appearances, he said the award-winning composer, arranger and lyricist had been enthusiastic about the idea of bringing his music to Malta, however. 

Debut appearance in Malta for Grammy, Academy and Tony award-winning composer Stephen Schwartz

“I sent a very impromptu email to Stephen asking if he wanted to do a concert in Malta and he emailed me back almost immediately saying yes,” he said, adding plans for the concert had to be put on hold after the outbreak of COVID-19 shortly afterwards, however. 

And further challenges lay ahead. 

“Finding the artists we thought would be great for the show, the availability of the MPO, raising money – and putting a lot of our own money into it to get it moving – finding the right venue and figuring out the right size audience for something like this... it’s difficult.”

But he believes the difficulties will be worth it, stressing that, being able to hear Schwartz’s music performed live by a philharmonic orchestra, opens a “whole new world of opportunities”.

Keri René Fuller said it was difficult to know which Schwartz songs to include, with the composer having written “hit after hit”.

Fellow performer Fuller added it had been a challenge deciding which repertoire to include in next month’s performance, stressing Schwartz’s catalogue includes “hit after hit... even this concert doesn’t include all of his amazing songs”.

In addition to his more than five decades of work on Broadway productions, Schwartz has also penned music and lyrics for animated blockbusters The Prince of Egypt, Enchanted, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Pocahontas.

Asked about working with the well-known Maltese performers taking part, Thomas called them “brilliant” and said the cast were having fun rehearsing together. 

“Everyone’s got such a great sense of humour and they’re so enthusiastic and supportive…. they’re the best.”

The next generation

The pair also plan to run a series of masterclasses in September and believe the time is ripe with cultural activities seemingly on the rise in Malta. 

Fuller said that while researching the local scene they discovered “so many music schools and dance studios, with more springing up”, stressing it was important to foster creativity in the next generation of performers. 

Do the pair have any advice for young performers in Malta? 

“Keep doing it [performing] as much as you can, everywhere and all the time... in front of your friends and family and even other places where you’re less comfortable,” said Thomas, while warning against relying on platforms like Instagram as the only place to perform. “It’s not the practice of being in a live space with an audience and acting hasn’t actually changed; your ability to communicate has to come through.”

‘We don’t know Maltese stories outside of Malta’

Last month, a leading Hollywood casting director told Times of Malta she was “not at all” aware of any Maltese films, something the two Broadway actors think should be addressed.

Describing the award-winning Maltese film Luzzu as “amazing”, Thomas said it was a shame that audiences “don’t know Maltese stories”, stressing the country should “not just be a place for people to film because it looks like somewhere else”.

“There’s so much history in this country and I just want to see more of it,” he said, adding the pair had seen some “unbelievable independent films... and most of them haven’t come from the [United] States”.

Fuller agrees: “This is a culture that is deserving of being celebrated... there are very deep roots here but they could be tapped more.”