Drew McVety of WICKED at Orpheum

Get ready for a WICKED good time at Omaha’s Orpheum Theater! Drew McVety who appears as Doctor Dillamond spoke with BroadwayWorld about playing the part of the intellectual Goat (or is it G.O.A.T.?) in one of Broadway’s most successful musicals. And Drew McVety is absolutely one of the most versatile, accomplished artists I have spoken with.

McVety: actor, musician, composer, producer. He does it all. Blending his talents in music and theater, he has been featured with Sting in “The Last Ship” on Broadway and has performed in “Titanic,” “Cabaret,” and much more. He has a string of television appearances to his credit. He formed his own production company called “Fat Goose.” And as a composer he’s a Drama Desk nominee for Outstanding Music in a Play for “Corpus Christi.”

I asked McVety about his background and how he developed such a wide range of abilities.

I grew up in Michigan and began doing community theater with my family when I was five years old and, at the same age, began studying the violin. The violin was kind of my ticket to the world. I would get scholarships to music camps and when I was 12, I was lucky enough to play with an orchestra that toured Europe. However, I also was always doing theater. I suppose I was torn, (between music and theater), but I also always thought that it would certainly be possible to pursue both disciplines.

I got a violin scholarship to attend Interlochen Arts Academy (in Michigan) and while I was there, I switched majors to Theater and got a scholarship to NYU to study Theater at the Tisch School of the Arts.

Pretty much straight out of NYU I was lucky enough to get a job on Broadway in “The Heidi Chronicles.” There was this movement on Broadway where they wanted actors to play their own instruments. I did two years on the national tour of Sam Mendes’ “Cabaret” and played principal violin. Joe Mantello, who directs WICKED, and who directed “Corpus Christi,” hired me to be an actor and violinist. As we were putting the play together he would say, “Come up with something musical for this scene.” By the time we opened, we had a full score that had been developed organically. That’s when I got the Drama Desk nomination for composition. So there I was again, balancing music and the theater.

I’d always been writing music as soon as I could play music, but that was my first composing experience within the New York theater world. I had done some concertizing in Vienna. I got a job in Vienna and wound up staying a couple of years, being known primarily as an American composer who played violin.

While out on tour I practice my violin at least 3-4 hours a day. That’s a wonderful thing about national tours— you have really solid long blocks of practice time. I’m putting together a repertoire for some sort of recital when I return to New York after my time with the WICKED tour is over.

What do you do to relax when you are not working?

When you’re attached to a production you have the obligation to maintain physical stamina, so I work out. I love traveling. I’m an avid bicyclist and hiker. And I love exploring these cities. I’ve also worked as a professional chef. So, I can usually explore cities from the aspect of food.

You also have a production company called “Fat Goose.” Tell me about it.

In 2019 just before COVID a great friend of mine, Mark Shanahan, who is now the Artistic Director of the Westport Country Playhouse, and I were doing a Connor McPherson play together in Nantucket called “The Weir.” Mark had this idea for a play called “A Sherlock Carol,” a kind of mashup between “A Christmas Carol” and “Sherlock Holmes.” It’s set 20 years after Ebenezer Scrooge passed away and who is now known as the nicest man in town. He has died of mysterious circumstances and a grown up Tiny Tim approaches Sherlock Holmes to investigate. He said he kept hearing me playing Sherlock. I said “Go ahead and write that play,” and he did over the next couple of months. And the thing was, it was a really terrific play. It was great!

I had been considering doing some producing and I took the script to some friends of mine in New York City. We had a staged reading of it with Bill Irwin playing Ebenezer Scrooge and we were fortunate enough to be offered some investment capital to have an off broadway production in December of 2020 so Ray Bohkour, Fred Lassen, and I formed “Fat Goose Productions.” And then, of course, the pandemic occurred, and all of theater shut down! We went a year and a half without any theater. We were determined not to let the opportunity go, continued raising money, and in 2021 we opened up a first class Off-Broadway production at New World Stages. We were a New York Times critics pick and across the board got terrific reviews. We remounted again in 2022, and as of last year there were 30 productions worldwide, including our sister production in London that ran for three seasons.

You’re not afraid to try anything new!

If you’re an actor or an artist in general you have to be willing to keep throwing the dice.

I see you have done quite a bit of television, including some of my favorite shows. Do you prefer Broadway over television?

They are very different. If you’re lucky enough to have recurring roles, or become a series regular, you will make far more money than you could ever make in the theater. I did many guest spots on a lot of great TV Shows. But it seems that I’ve been fortunate enough to bounce from Broadway show to Broadway show and that has become my bread and butter. I really do love the theater. I love the challenge of it. I love eight shows a week. I love the impossible work ethic and am proud of the work I have done over the years.

Now you are touring with the national tour of WICKED as Doctor Dillamond. How would you describe this character?

Well, he’s a goat! He’s pure academia. He’s got a PhD in history. He’s adapted remarkably to a human world, and is easily the smartest being within the Oz world.

I read that Doctor Dillamond is a moral compass for Elphaba and is who encourages her to rise up against the oppression of the animals.

Exactly. He’s the one who warns her that something’s going on. In a speech to the class he talks about how there used to be many more animals who taught at Shiz University that are not there anymore and lets Elphaba know that there are animals currently who are mysteriously losing the ability to speak. The song, “Something Bad” is about something more going on than you are aware of, something quite dangerous. Dr. Dillamond’s ultimate removal from Shiz demonstrates how members of society who think or act differently can become very vulnerable, sometimes with disastrous consequences.

There is definitely something good going on in WICKED the musical. Children and adults can enjoy it on many levels. Don’t miss out. It will defy your imagination!