{image1}Hello, Tony, well, hello, Tony, it's so nice to have you back ...
Oopsie, wrong musical. Sorry, Dolly.
Still, Milwaukee's own Tony Clements returns to the Marcus Center in the "ABBA-solutely Fabulous" musical, "Mamma Mia!," which has been running 26 months since his last appearance here in June 2002. At that time he told us, "I don't foresee wanting to leave the show. There's possibility for advancement; I'm understudying the principal male roles."
Advancement came this past December in the form of an offer to play the role of Sam, one of three possible-fathers. Clements couldn't resist signing on and starting rehearsals in New York in January. "Why wouldn't I want to be here?" he asks. "It's a completely different show for me."
Yes, but rehearsals after two years of performances?
"While it's the same tour that already played here, there's been a big turnover in personnel. I think from that original company there are, right now, 1, 2, 3, 4 of us left. So, the principals are all completely different; the Ensemble is mostly different" he says. Back then Clements numbered among the Ensemble.
"Initially," Clements continues, "if someone had said, 'You're going to do a show for two years, the same show,' that's daunting. But if they'd said that the audiences were going to act the way they do every night, I'd have jumped at the chance," despite the long commitment.
Clements reports that people "come into the theater humming and they go out humming because they can't get the songs out of their heads." But something unique happens, too, with these very songs. "The audience often laughs when a song starts, you know, in the middle of a dramatic scene when we start singing." Although that's a convention of musical theatre, it's a tad different with "Mamma Mia!"
"When I sit down to have a very serious moment with my possible-daughter and I sing, 'Breaking up is never easy ...' the audience knows we're going to sing, 'Knowing Me, Knowing You' and they laugh." It's a kind of revelation for them, the tenor says. "'Oh, it's not a boyfriend singing this to his girlfriend; it's a daughter singing to her possible father. And it works, too!'"
When he lived here on Brady Street, Clements enjoyed the variety that theater life in Milwaukee offered him. "There was no chance of getting bored. You were with one company six, seven weeks and then you were on to the next thing. You might be going from a straight play to a musical or from performing to directing."
So, where's the variety to add spice to his life on the road?
"The country! What a beautiful country we have," he says and he enjoys exploring it. "Portland? Love it. And the part of the country it's in, the Columbia River gorge? Gorgeous. I spent two days camping in Yosemite, toured the canyons in Utah. That's one of the best things about being on tour is being able to do things like that.
"I love hiking, camping and being outdoors," Clements says. "After Yosemite I camped on Mt. Lemmon in Arizona, gorgeous mountain drive. People equate going from the base to the top like driving from Mexico to Canada in one hour, the temperature changes so drastically. You're in the desert and suddenly there's snow on the ground."
It wasn't just the view Clements sought. "Everybody kept saying, 'You have to go to Mt. Lemmon Cafe for pies.' So here I found this very rustic cafe serving fantastic homemade pies."
Just in time Clements lucked out on Lemmon.
"Shortly after leaving, it burned. There were terrible wild fires. That beautiful little cafe that we were in? Gone. Completely gone. In the next city -- I believe it was San Jose -- I sat there watching the news, horrified that it was all gone."
That recall brings out the philosopher in Clements.
"The national parks in this country? So, so amazing. And the idea that we're not protecting them or doing enough, everything we can to protect the parklands? That's sad."
Mention almost any place in the country (you can even throw in Kauai now if you want!) and Clements has possibly been there, done that.
"The coast line in California and Big Sur? I camped at Big Sur. The Blue Ridge Mountains and all of West Virginia, the horse country and Tennessee? It really is amazing country. Not to say that Wisconsin isn't amazing as well.
"Door County peninsula? It's Wisconsin's own little Cape Cod. And places like Kettle Moraine country; a wonderful state."
Reminded that he skipped over the urban, Clements reveals, "Every time we go to a new city the rule is: 'Would I want to live here? When I'm done, would I come back to live here?'"
How about Columbus, Ohio where the show played just prior to its Milwaukee engagement?
"Columbus? I would, actually. It's one of my favorite cities on tour. It reminds me very much of Milwaukee. Especially the people -- who are very friendly. It gives off -- I hate to use that '60s term, but -- 'good vibes,' know what I mean?
"The last company loved Milwaukee -- and not just because it's my hometown. They loved that people live downtown, that there was so much to do, so many places to eat and so much going on: Summerfest; the Harley-Davidson festival; the All-Star Game; the ethnic fests, Jazz in the Park."
Adding it all up Clements summarizes, "Milwaukee has lots to be proud of. And I really am. It makes me proud to say that 'I'm from Milwaukee.'"
"Mamma Mia!" runs at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, Aug. 17-29. Tickets may be ordered from the box office (414) 273-7206 or from Ticketmaster (414) 276-4545.
