UCLA alum ‘Breaking Through’ to audiences with passion for performance

Six naked male strippers stood with their backs to the audience, each clutching a small hat over his genitals.

As they turned around, one of them dropped his hat and gave the spectators more of a flash than they had expected, before dazzling stage lights blinded the room.

It was the opening night of the musical “The Full Monty” and UCLA alumnus Will Collyer had to scramble around down the stage to recover his hat and his dignity. He said that in his excitement at having finished the musical, his hat flipped out of his hand.

Less than a year after “The Full Monty,” Collyer will star as Smith in the world premiere of the musical “Breaking Through” at the Pasadena Playhouse on Sunday.

Collyer said the show centers around a young singer-songwriter and her journey through the treacherous world of the music industry. He said the main character fights against corporate machines to maintain sight of what she stands for as an artist.

“The show’s about chasing your dreams and then having to hold onto them through a lot of the real-world realities of the music industry, where all of a sudden a bunch of commercial infrastructures grab a hold of a girl and she loses herself in the craziness,” Collyer said.

He said his character, Smith, acts as both the love interest and voice of reason to the main character. Smith can be described as a more conservative, sensible person, Collyer said.

“I really feel like this role is closer to who I am as a person than any role I’ve ever played,” Collyer said. “I’ve sort of been a dad to all my friends for years. When I was in my twenties, I was usually the one who didn’t drink too much and made sure we were all safe.”

The first musical theater roles Collyer saw were in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” at his local theater. He remembers being blown away by the colors and music. However, Collyer said it was not until he saw his first Broadway show in high school that he realized the power of musical theater and was inspired to tread the boards.

Collyer said each time he’s in a show, the performances he looks forward to the most are the high school matinees which usually take place Wednesday mornings.

“A crowd of (Los Angeles Unified School District) students are bussed in and for a lot of these kids it’s the first time they’re seeing a musical,” Collyer said. “I know how powerful that was for me, it was like nothing I’d ever experienced before.”

At UCLA, Collyer became involved in the musical theater department and Awaken A Cappella. Collyer said things were not always smooth for him when it came to performing. In his freshman year, Collyer auditioned for a show but wasn’t cast because he didn’t have a good audition song, he said. Spurred by this rejection, Collyer took his first ever voice lessons and prepared songs that were right for his voice.

In his sophomore year, Collyer auditioned again and was cast as the lead in “Once Upon a Mattress” put on by the musical theater department and directed by Emmy Award-winning actress Carol Burnett.

Calvin Remsberg, Collyer’s voice teacher who has directed him in theater workshops and nightclub performances, said the key to a successful audition is to pick a song that fits the part. He described Collyer as a lyric tenor, a voice type which he said most of the leading roles in musicals are written for.

Remsberg said most performers, Collyer included, have a book of around 15 songs that showcase their lyrical range. He said Collyer’s includes a George Michael song the two prepared together, along with more unusual numbers.

“I used to tease (Collyer) because he sang some weird songs,” Remsberg said. “One of his go-to pop songs was by Kelly Clarkson, but it sounded great so I told him to run with it.”

Ashley Fox Linton, a friend of Collyer’s who regularly performs alongside him, most recently in “Bonnie and Clyde,” said communication is key to forming a bond between a leading man and a leading lady. She said the close relationship she has with Collyer offstage helps them be convincing onstage, and that Collyer has an ability to raise everyone else’s performances around him.

In his career, Collyer has branched out from musical theater into voice-overs, TV shows and nightclub performances. More recently though, he has gone into looping, the process of underscoring or providing backing vocals for a show or song.

However, Collyer said he always seems to come back to his first love, musical theater.

“In musicals, the singing is secondary to the storytelling,” Collyer said. “That’s what is so exciting about musicals; you get to go to this bigger place and shout to the rooftops. It’s a really nice itch to scratch.”