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We were looking for someone who looked as good as John Travolta, someone who could sing the Bee Gees songs and, more importantly, someone who could dance. You might think that given the vast pool of talent throughout the country, performers would come flooding through the door. They didn't. After all these years, that still surprises me. Luckily, in 1994 I had been at a Variety Club dinner at the Grosvenor House and part of the cabaret was from a show called Hot Shoe Shuffle which was playing at the Queen's Theatre in the West End. It was a tap-dancing show that had originated in Australia and was very good. There were about a dozen dancers. At the end of the line of dancers I noticed a very young, more than usually handsome, dark-haired guy, who was a fantastic tapper. We were auditioning people for Grease at the time and I thought he had star potential. I had my two daughters with me and they were both seriously impressed by him. He was, as my teenage daughter would say, extremely 'fit'. This was my first encounter with Adam Garcia. What struck me about him was that he looked so much like John Travolta. He really stood out. He had the same quality as Travolta - vulnerability and boyish charm. He was clearly a brilliant dancer. We were focused on Grease at that time, but I knew Fever was on the cards and I was thinking ahead. I talked to Robert and David lan and suggested Adam try out for the role of Doody in Grease. I said I felt that he also had the potential to play Tony Manero, the Travolta part in Saturday Night Fever, when we finally got round to producing it. We asked him in for an audition but when he arrived I was somewhat surprised. Instead of seeing this sexy Travolta type with shiny black hair, in shuffled this kid of about 18 in an old overcoat, wearing glasses and looking about twelve. I had called everyone in for this audition and when Adam sang he didn't sing terribly well. When he read for the part of Doody he didn't project. He was laid back and rather inexperienced but there was something about him that was different. A couple of years earlier he had been studying science at Sydney University and surfing in his spare time. He was more Beach Boys than Bee Gees. Robert Stigwood, like me, also saw Adam's potential. Although he hadn't sung brilliantly, he'd sung well enough and he got the part of Doody. Grease helped Adam to grow as a performer. We were by now preparing the auditions for Saturday Night Fever. Adam had become number one in everyone's mind to play Tony Manero. He knew this and had worked with Arlene prior to auditions. He had gone to Brooklyn to work on his accent and lose his natural Australian twang. In September 1997 we all turned up at the Cambridge Theatre in London to watch Adam Garcia audition for the part of Tony Manero. He failed to impress. He gave a poor audition. Yes, he looked fantastic. Yes, his dancing was good, but Arlene had doubts about his determination to be the Tony Manero she wanted. As she put it, did he have the kind of real punch and expertise that the show would require? His singing was not his strongest suit and his acting, although it was OK, didn't reach beyond the front row. Adam's first report card as Tony Manero was 'could do better' and we were worried . |
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