Rob Mills was once famous for being the “cheeky bad boy” of the inaugural Australian Idol.
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In recent years he has matured and channelled his singing, dancing and acting talent into becoming a star of Australian musical theatre.
He’s appeared in Grease, Hair, Wicked, Ghost The Musical, Jesus Christ Superstar but his biggest role to date has been in the UK production of Puttin’ On The Ritz.
Mills will be the only Australian performer in the song and dance production that features predominately stars of the West End and will perform at the Albury Entertainment Centre on September 10, as part of its national tour.
Puttin’ On The Ritz features the music of Irving Berlin, Cole Porter and George Gershwin and takes the audience to the golden era of Hollywood where swing music and Fred Astaire loomed large.
Securing a role in Puttin’ On The Ritz, as well as a series of meetings with West End theatre companies, has convinced Mills to follow his dreams.
“With touring with this company there might be some work for me in the UK at the end of the year or early next year,” Mills says.
“I’ll try my luck over there and I could be a really small fish over there and have nothing come of it, but I won’t know unless I go.”
Like most entertainers who rose to fame through reality TV shows, Mills has endured a long and arduous battle to earn respect.
“I did drama all through high school, but I didn’t do year 12 drama because I was too scared of what other people would think of me,” he says.
“If I could go back and tell that kid, little Rob, ‘everyone is going to have an opinion about you, so just do what you want to do’ and I would have definitely pursued drama through year 12, knowing what I know now.”
Luckily, says Mills, Australia has progressed since his teenage years and it’s more socially acceptable for boys to study the dramatic arts.
“You learn so many great lessons through acting games and you learn emotional techniques and empathy and things that will make you a better person,” he says.