Todd McKenney returns with his maracas in hand to reprise the role that made him a household name over ten years ago. Performing six shows only, The Production Company presents The Boy From Oz at the State Theatre this August.

Despite almost a lifetime of dance training, singing and performing,
would it be fair to say your role in the original stage show of The Boy From
Oz, catapulted you to household name status?

It was certainly the turning point in my career, I think as Peter Allen was such
a loved character and he died so suddenly and too soon, people weren\'t ready for him to die, so for me to be able to bring him back to life, people were very supportive of the show, so yes, it definitely changed my life.

What attracted you to reprise your role with The Production Company?

I loved the show and when it finished I could have just kept on doing it, it\'s ten years since the show finished with me in it and I thought it would be interesting to look at it with ten years of experience now under my belt, it\'s going to be interesting to see how I have changed in that time.

I was very raw and very nervous when I first did the show and now and I have more confidence as an actor.

What is involved physically to be performance ready for a show like The Boy From Oz?

A lot! That\'s the other thing; my body is also ten years older! I have had a personal trainer for the past two years but I have just ramped up the sessions I do with him from twice a week to four sessions a week. I also tried to drop a little bit of weight as I am on stage for two and a half hours and I have to be light on my feet otherwise I\'ll literally be a big sweat ball out there. I have to go from scenes to dances to songs and I need to be fit to pull that off.

From an audience point of view how will this concert spectacular differ from the original stage show?

It\'s much more relaxed but still has the pizzazz Peter Allen was known
for. There\'s an orchestra on stage, costumes and sets that still carry an impact but the audience is much more focussed on the story rather than the neon, I feel in the concert version the story really jumps out at the audience.

What do you think it is about the late Peter Allen and The Boy From Oz productions that endears audiences so much, is it the legacy of the man himself or the quality of his songs?

Both of those things, his material is full of emotion, with heart wrenching lyrics and he also has a great story which many people don\'t know, they only know him as a party boy, the flamboyant aspects of his life but there is an amazing Australian story under all of it; his father shot himself, he was discovered by Judy Garland and married Liza Minnelli, so there\'s the razza matazz but there\'s also a real gut wrenching story behind it all and I think that has been what has captured people\'s imaginations.

Is there a particular song in the show that strikes a chord with you?

Tenterfield Saddler, it really sums up what Peter Allen was about, he seems to
have captured a real sense of Australian culture in that song and that strikes
a chord with me, it\'s one of the most beautiful Australian ballads.

How do you balance your show business commitments and fatherhood to your young daughter Charlie?

It just works, it\'s just time management at the moment, I have three jobs on at once. I am also not the primary carer for my child, so I can manage my work commitments with being a father.

Everyone seems to think they know something about you, you\'re referred to as the \'mean judge\' on Dancing with the Stars, the man women want to father their babies, and there are countless references to you as an extremely nice person who is generous to a fault, is there an aspect of Todd McKenney that the general public would be surprised to discover?

I think so, it\'s easy for people to judge me by what I do on Dancing with the Stars but that\'s a job like any other, being in show business you need to be entertaining and colourful but you can\'t live like that, that person is a character.
I work with the deaf community and I Sign, I also foster greyhounds so there
is a softer side to me but I don\'t need to peddle that, I need to do these things for some inner balance between that guy on the TV and my own life. One of the reasons I became involved with the deaf community was to bridge the gap between the misconceptions about deaf people; the deaf aren\'t dumb,
they\'re just deaf.

The Boy from Oz:
When: 18 - 22 August
Where: State Theatre - The Arts Centre
Tickets: 1300 182 183