(bucket tinging)
Hi, I'm Bobby Conte Thornton.
I play Calogero in "A Bronx Tale,"
and these are three of my dream roles
on my Broadway bucket list.
First on my list is Barrett the stoker from Titanic.
I first heard this music when I was in college,
and I stumbled upon an interview where Maury Yeston
was talking about he would play a major cord
in the right hand and then a minor cord in the left hand
and then he'd switch them and go back and forth
and back and forth and back and forth,
and that became the beginning of the overture.
And that set the tone for how this musical
was tonally very complex both musically and emotionally.
This role of Barrett gets to sing, in my opinion,
some of the best music Maury Yeston has ever written.
And it would be a real dream to be a part of it one day.
♪ She's sparkling clean ♪
♪ This newborn ship ♪
♪ But one old thing is clear ♪
♪ The orders they propose above ♪
♪ We execute down here ♪
♪ We'll watch from here as up above ♪
♪ They'll catch a whiff of glory ♪
♪ This wonder ship may be brand new ♪
♪ But it's the same old story ♪
♪ Stoke the fire in the hole as the men draw back ♪
♪ Feed the heat in the hole as the men draw back ♪
♪ And the dust of the coal in the air is black ♪
♪ And a trickle of sweat runs down your back ♪
♪ And what are the boys from the Midland doing here ♪
♪ Coal it is that makes the steam ♪
♪ That runs the machines that run the world ♪
♪ And that send the men below the ground to mine the coal ♪
♪ Each day ♪
♪ Get out of the pit ♪
♪ And westward I knew I could run ♪
♪ And ship out to sea and there my new life was begun ♪
♪ And the screws are turning at 71 ♪
♪ Faster and faster we watch as we gain ever more ♪
♪ 73 and too soon it is 74 ♪
♪ For a record speed I believe we strive ♪
♪ For the maiden trip that's too hard to drive ♪
♪ If you push her faster than 75 ♪
♪ That is the truth ♪
♪ I swear ♪
Next up is Freddy from "My Fair Lady",
Freddy Eynsford-Hill.
I had the great pleasure of doing this role
this summer actually at Bay Street in the Hamptons,
directed by Michael Arden.
And I love the role so much because
he's such a pure character in his directness
and in his clarity.
It's easy for young lovers to come off
and seem sort of flighty and ethereal
and head in the clouds,
and in my opinion they're actually very grounded
and very much clear about what they want,
and they're not going to let anything into their world
unless it's going to help them get what they want,
which is this entity, this woman, this person.
That may be sort of naive and oblivious
to the world around him,
but there is a purity in just going after
what you want with clear dedication.
And when you get music like this, by Lerner and Lowe,
to amplify it it's a real gift for an actor.
So I'd love to play it.
♪ I have often walked down this street before ♪
♪ But the pavement always stayed beneath my feet before ♪
♪ All at once am I several stories high ♪
♪ Knowing I'm on the street where you live ♪
♪ Are there lilac trees in the heart of town ♪
♪ Can you hear a lark in any part of town ♪
♪ Does enchantment pour out of every door ♪
♪ No it's just on the street where you live ♪
♪ And oh the towering feeling ♪
♪ Just to know ♪
♪ Somehow you are near ♪
♪ The overpowering feeling ♪
♪ That any second you may suddenly appear ♪
♪ People stop and stare ♪
♪ They don't bother me ♪
♪ For there's nowhere else on earth that I would rather be ♪
♪ Let the time go by ♪
♪ I won't care if I ♪
♪ Can be here on the street where you live ♪
And last on my list is Billy Bigelow from Carousel,
which I think is arguably
one of the greatest musicals of all time,
it's one of the greatest male roles
in musical theater of all time in terms
of the journey he takes and the music he gets to sing,
and whenever I'm the right age it would be a real,
a real blessing to sing this role anywhere.
I'd go anywhere to do this role
♪ I gotta get ready before she comes ♪
♪ I've gotta make certain that she ♪
♪ Won't be dragged up in slums ♪
♪ With a lot of bums like me ♪
♪ She's got to be sheltered and fed and dressed ♪
♪ In the best that money can buy ♪
♪ I never knew how to make money ♪
♪ But I'll try by God I'll try ♪
♪ I'll go out and make it ♪
♪ Or steal it ♪
♪ Or take it ♪
♪ Or die ♪