The Conversation: Colm Wilkinson and Deborah Hay discuss melodic storytelling at the TIFF Bell Lightbox

The place: Luma at the TIFF Bell Lightbox. The people: musical theatre legend Colm Wilkinson and actor-turned-singer Deborah Hay. The subject: melodic storytelling By Courtney Shea | Photography by Derek Shapton

Torontonians love blockbuster musicals. We flocked to Phantom of the Opera for a decade and sang along to Mamma Mia! for five years, and Colm Wilkinson has made his career on our zeal. The prodigally piped Irishman moved here in 1989 to star in Toronto’s first production of Phantom after spending two years doing Les Misérables in NYC and London. His latest concert, Broadway and Beyond, features a band and two singers accompanying Wilkinson as he sings classics from both shows, along with some of his personal favourites (John Denver, Johnny Cash, John Lennon and of course the Irish anthem “Danny Boy”). Deborah Hay made her name in Shaw Festival productions like The Women and Born Yesterday and is now adding musical theatre to her repertoire, taking on Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady. We got them together for seared tuna salads and a little shop talk.