The Fantastic Mister Fox

He's among Longford's most successful entertainment exports, but Bobby Fox is better known 17,000 kilometres away than he is in his home county.

Bobby is one of the leading lights in Australia’s musical theatre scenes. In a career that encompasses dance and music, the Ballinalee man is considered among the most talented performers in his adopted country.

“I live in Melbourne,” the Longford-born Australian actor told the Leader. A former four-time World Irish Dance Champion he toured with dance productions 'Riverdance' before Jean Butler and Colin Dunne's 'Dancing on Dangerous Ground' brought him down under.

“I had toured a lot as a dancer following the Riverdance boom,” he said of his first foray into the realm of professional performer, “there was the Lord of the Dance and a number of spin-off shows.

“Ironically I wanted to come to Australia to get away from Irish dancing. I believed it would be great to learn other kinds of dance to incorporate them into my Irish dancing, so I could come up with my own style.”

He first moved from Longford to Australia 2002: “I was limited. I had only done Irish dancing and Irish music. When I came to Australia I thought it was brilliant. It was easy to get the working holiday visa.”

The performer realised he needed to broaden his offering: “I got into a dance course, by accident really,” he tells. After hearing about the course from a friend, he put together an audition reel and was accepted, “I moved to Sydney, found a place to live and that was it.”

Bobby received a lot of support in pursuing his dreams: “The people who ran the course, Elena and Mario (De Cinque), helped me so much. They put me in contact with an immigration agent.

“All I had to do was prove that I had a skill set that was of a world standard that an Australian didn't have. I had my Irish dancing, and through that I was able to get residency. Elena and Mario paid for the whole process.

“At the end of the course we did a showcase. That's where industry representatives attended. Every agent worth their salt comes along to see if there's anyone they want on their books. A couple of people approached me to say they wanted to represent me,” yet as a young man he was still finding his feet and returned to Ireland.

At 20 years of age Bobby found himself at a juncture in his life: “I had a choice to make at that time. I went home to Ireland, penniless really. I had spent all the money I saved while touring. In March 2003 I decided to go back and have a go at making it in musical theatre in Australia.”

Bobby went straight into audition mode. Mamma Mia! The musical made him enough to pay back the generosity of his mentors within two months.

“They really believed in me, and I was so happy to be able to pay them back so quickly,” he said.

“I didn't have any grand scheme,” Bobby recalled his lack of plans at the time, “I was just going in and giving it loads. The confidence of a young man who had nothing to lose.”

One crucial aspect of the course, one essential for his career development, was perfecting his singing skill, something he had not considered earlier in his life.

“I had hardly sang at all,” he said of his early life vocal experience, “in the choir, perhaps at the back. It was there undiscovered, but it needed to be honed. Singing is like rhythm, you have it or you don't.”

The techniques he developed were the basis of his future occupation: “You either have pitch or you don't have it. It's not a question of having a huge range, or being able to sing across the octaves. If you have pitch, you can sing. You can train your ear, but you have an aptitude for it or you don't.

“You can learn rhythm, it's like patterns. There is a mathematical aspect to it. I was always good at maths, I enjoyed figuring things out. You use numerical phrasing, like the one, two, three, four to count the music. There are correlation between mathematics and music,” he explained.

The cerebral aspect of performance is one side of the equations, the other is the physical. The demands of singing and dancing every night for a living takes its toll, the gruelling schedules, the stress and strain on the body.

“I got the lead in Jersey Boys,” he says to signpost what aspect of his career made him most proud, “I finished stronger than I started. I went in being able to sing, I came out knowing how to sing. That was something I was particularly proud of. That was three years in total, six nights a week.”

The dedication to his craft was part of that process: “I warm up for about 45 minutes before the show, with a 20 minute cool down after the show. On my day off I sang through the show. That was the only way to keep in condition and how I could do the job well.”

Shows that followed Jersey Boys included Hot Shoe Shuffle, Blood Brothers, Assassins and Saturday Night Fever.

The enormous physical commitment was never something Bobby shied away from: “It's a daily slog. Most people don't realise that it's an athletic pursuit. Even in the commitment outside of it. You have to refrain from social activities. I've had the mindset where I always want to improve. Not to be content to rest on my laurels. There were times when I could have been complacent, but I've had the application to keep going.”

His debut album The Fantastic Mr Fox was released by Warner Music Australia and saw Bobby embark on an extensive, sold-out tour of Australia. Bobby has created his own shows combining a range of performing skills that celebrate his heritage and homeland as well as showcasing other aspects of his showmanship.

In 2016 and 2017 he appeared in Ladies in Black which toured Australia and for which he received a Green Room Award nomination.

Later in 2017, he performed in Assassins at The Hayes Theatre for which he received a Helpmann Award nomination. In 2019 Bobby was a Star Vocalist in GFO’s Saturday Night Fever.

On screen Bobby’s credits include Upper Middle Bogan, It’s a Date, Tricky Business and Househusbands. He also appeared in the feature film The Cup.

Reviewing two decades of performance in Australia Bobby selects a recent show as one he is particularly pleased with: “I recently performed a show in Adelaide. I finished the show and thought 'That is the best show I've ever done'. It's the culmination of 20 years of experience honed into one evening. It included traditional Irish music and dance, then some jazz and contemporary music.

It was creating an event with the audience.

“I will never forget the intimacy of creating something through honesty. That is something I am particularly proud of. It was called Mr Entertainment, after a Sammy Davis Jr album. It thematically summed up everything I have done over the last 20 years.”

Although he has now lived in Australia as long as he has lived in Ireland Bobby is emphatic about where he calls home: “I'm an Irishman without a doubt,” he says.

“I live here, but I am from there. I am making moves to base myself back in Ireland within the next year. I miss home, I miss my family dearly. I want to be part of the lives of my nephews and nieces. I am burning to get home. Before Covid I was about to do it, but I had to put a pin in that,” the performer said.

Bobby believes working in the West End of London is something that could make his desire to return to live in Ireland a reality. Wherever he winds up his achievements have brought reflective glory to his home county.