ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

David Burnham has performed in multiple shows such as “Wicked” and “Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat,” among many others, and he will soon be bringing his talents back to Liberal.

Burnham will be performing Sunday, March 29 in Maskus Auditorium at Liberal High School as part of this year's Community Concerts of Liberal series. The show will start at 3 p.m., and tickets will be available at the door that day. As he tells it, his interest in musical theatre got sparked at an early age.

“As a child, I loved musicals and would watch them on TV, but I never really considered myself a singer – I sang in church and stuff like that, but I didn't know I could really SING until I was a junior in high school. I was enrolling in my classes, and I was kind of behind the ball, and the only class that was left was choir,” Burnham said. “I'd wanted to get into Wood Shop and do that stuff, but it ended up being full, so I went into choir, opened my mouth, and it turned out I could sing. It made the choir director happy to finally have a guy in the class because it was almost all girls. He introduced me to musical theatre and that style of music, and I ended up getting cast in some school musicals, and I ended up really catching the bug.”

Ultimately, that led to his first major job in college.

“I didn't have an agent yet, so I decided I was going to crash the auditions for a brand-new show at that time, 'Ragtime.' I showed up to that audition with long hair and was wearing a tank top and ripped up jeans and flip-flops absolutely not knowing what I was doing, and the casting people took one look at me and said 'You are NOT right for this show,'” Burnham said. “But I convinced them to let me sing, and after I did that, they said 'You're still not right for THIS show, but you're perfect for another show we're currently working on casting,' which happened to be the national tour of 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' to replace Donny Osmond. I got that job, and Donny was absolutely as nice as you think he would be and he took me under his wing and gave me advice about the character and music and everything else. I'll never forget my opening night for that show – I was so nervous and had just come onstage to sing my opening song, and there was a guy sitting right at the front row saying 'Come on David, you can do this!' which added to my nerves. After the song, he was cheering for me, and I was feeling kind of irritated because it was just such a big night for me and I was already a little on edge from nerves, and I later discovered it was Donny himself.”

Burnham said Joseph is definitely one of his most memorable roles.

“Joseph is particularly big since that was my first major role, and I'll always hold that in my heart, and I'd say the same about Fiyero since 'Wicked' ended up becoming the absolute juggernaut it is,” Burnham said. “However, I would say my favorite role is Fabrizzio in 'Light in the Piazza,' which is a show that's not quite as well known to people – that ran for about a year and a half on Broadway and then I was part of the national tour for another year, and that's just a great role. What was so fun about 'Light in the Piazza' was it played to all my strengths and everything I love to do – I love to sing big and hit those high notes and have lots of big, soaring songs, and it also let me be funny and make the audience laugh. I got to do a lot with that show, and it was just so, so much fun to do every night.”

Burnham said his previous show in Liberal a couple years ago made him want to come back.

“I'm doing a mini-tour in the spring, and the people producing that tour contacted Liberal and gave them some ideas for artists to come, and the people in Liberal luckily said they would love to have me again. I was in Liberal a couple years ago to do a show for a Rotary International meeting, and that ended up being a great time,” Burnham said. “I had such a great time at that event – the audience was wonderful and the coordinators treated me so, so well. I'm excited to bring my music back to Liberal, and hopefully I'll see some of the same people I did at that event so we can all have a good time. The last time I visited Liberal, I did go to the Dorothy's House museum in town, and it was so much fun. I will have a full section of 'Wicked' music in my show because I was lucky enough to do Fiyero for a year on Broadway, but I also created the role while the show was being developed and in workshops and all of that, and I was in that role for about five years right up until it officially got to Broadway.”

Burnham said the audience can expect to have a great time at his show.

“I'm a Broadway guy, so I'll be doing some Broadway hits I've done in the past and recreate some songs from shows I've been in. I played Fiyero in 'Wicked,' I was Fabrizzio in 'Light in the Piazza' and multiple other roles, so I'll definitely be performing some of those songs,” Burnham said. “My show is really fun because it's what I call Broadway and beyond. As a performer, I don't do ONLY musicals, I do regular concerts as well – for example, right now I'm doing a Michael Bublé-inspired show, and I'm also touring with a show that's a tribute to Tom Jones. My show will be a grab-bag to introduce Liberal to David Burnham and what I do. I'll do some songs from everything I've done, and it'll all be music people will know and love. It's a lot of fun and crazy stories and a lot of great music. If you love music and are ready for a fun afternoon, come on out. It's a show that's completely accessible to everyone, and you'll leave in a great mood. The show will be funny and touching, and everyone will leave with a smile and warm heart.”