Blake Bowden can't wait to step into Jason Donovan's high heels as Dr Frank N Furter in Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show this weekend at the Civic Theatre.
It's a far cry from squeaky clean Brad Majors, the other character he was cast as in the popular musical.
"They are very opposite roles, very! That's what drew me to the project, to be honest," Bowden tells Weekender.
"It's obviously such a canon of a show and so loved by so many people, but what drew me to the production was the fact that I got to play both roles and show my versatility as an actor.
"You don't often get that experience - you usually get cast in one role - so to be cast in two is a very unique situation, and to follow the many wonderful actors who have played Frank is really exciting."
Bowden has been treading the boards for more than two decades and his theatre credits include The Phantom of the Opera, Fiddler on the Roof, Sweeney Todd, South Pacific, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Moonshadow, West Side Story, The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber, Jekyll and Hyde, The Boy From Oz - Arena Spectacular and Dirty Dancing.
In 2019 he received a Helpmann Award nomination for his performance in The Book of Mormon.
But Bowden had never performed in a Rocky Horror Show production, until now. He was in London when the producers approached him last year about joining the cast and touring Australia.
"I'd just seen the very wonderful new version of Cabaret at the Kit Kat club," he explains.
"Because of my career to date, and the roles I've played, if I was going to be asked to join Cabaret it would be for the role of Cliff, the romantic lead, but the role I would really be interested in playing is that of the Emcee, which is wacky and wild and out there.
"So when I was asked if I was interested in alternating Frank and Brad in Rocky Horror I jumped at the chance. I thought 'this is exactly the place I would like my career to go, to really broaden the kind of roles that I play'."
I ask how he has approached the role of Frank N Furter, especially given the stand-out performances of other actors performing the role - not least Jason Donovan, who has impressed Rocky Horror Show audiences at the Civic Theatre over the past two weeks.
"Look, you can't help but be influenced by others, it's a canon of a role, a canon show, it's been around for 50 years, and we're all basically copying some version of Tim Curry, ultimately," Bowden replies.
"I had a big chat with the director, Chris Luscombe, about this the other day.
"The way that I approach any role is from the material first, from the script. It builds from there. When you trust the material it just takes care of itself.
"With a show like this, the audience starts informing what you do, once you realise what they respond to and what they love. It's not the best bit of acting advice to give someone, to do your performance based on the audience, but when a show is loved as much as this one you can't help but be influenced by the things that they love about it and the things that they respond to."
Reflecting on the popularity of the Rocky Horror Show, more than 50 years after it was written, Bowden says it's "pretty wild" that it continues to resonate with audiences today and it's "a testament to the show's strength".
"That's the thing that I've found surprising over the couple of weeks, how much audiences truly love it," he says.
"The choices that you make as an actor are up to you, you feed off the audience, so it's developing and changing every night, which makes it so exciting.
"As an audience member you can come back and see it again and there will inevitably be different people on stage, and you'll see a slightly different show."
I ask him about the infamous "call outs" from the audience in response to the words of the Narrator during the show, and he laughs.
"They're fantastic, aren't they? We love it when that happens. The more rowdy they are the better. It's what makes the show fun," he says.
"Every single night, you're not quite sure what is going to happen. As we look towards the next few months of doing this show, that's what's going to keep it fresh and interesting for us."
As for mastering dancing in high heels, Bowden says it's a work in progress.
"I'll be honest, it has been a bit of a journey [laughs]. I don't know why anyone would wear them, although they make you feel pretty fabulous," he says.
"Frank's heels aren't that bad - they're more of a platform - but the heels that I have to wear as Brad are a very high stiletto with a pointy toe and they take a lot of concentration. But every day I get a little bit better. I trust at the end of this production I'll be a very confident, proud heel wearer."
