Broadway bound: From left, Graham Russell, Natalie Roy, Tony LePage and Russell Hitchcock were recently together following the reading of Lost In Love in New York City. Lost In Love is a modern‐day retelling of A Midsummer Night's Dream set to the music of Air Supply, which LePage said he hopes will become a hit Broadway musical.

Former city man penning Air Supply musical

By LAVERNE STEWART [email protected]

When Fredericton's Tony LePage was listening to Air Supply albums as a kid, he had no idea he would one day be working with the iconic musicians.

LePage, who's starring in the hit Broadway musical Rock of Ages, i s also involved in a new project called

Lost In Love, featuring the music of Air Supply.

LePage said he was approached by Justin Matthew Sargent, who appears in Rock of Ages with him, to see whether he would be interested in co-writing writing the script for Lost In Love .

This isn't his first foray into writing a musical script. While he was still living in Fredericton he wrote a show called Plastic the Musical which was well-received. The desire to do more writing remained with him. So when the chance to write Lost in Love arose, LePage said he jumped at the opportunity.

'We came up with the concept and started writing and we sent it to Graham Russell of Air Supply and he really loved it,' LePage said. 'He said to keep writing and we'd see what we could come up with.' Rock of Ages runs eight shows a week. LePage said he found time to write Lost in Love in between shows and on his time off.

'As soon as we got the green light from Graham Russell, it was so exciting and we just found the time because it's just an incredible opportunity. It was just a labour of love from the beginning. I still have to pinch myself, thinking here I am suddenly writing this show and meeting with these people who I heard on the radio and I had their albums when I was younger.' It's a modern-day retelling of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream set to the music of Air Supply. The story is set in New York City and features 16 Air Supply songs plus an additional two songs written by Air Supply member Graham Russell specifically for the project.

What makes this even more exciting for LePage is that he gets to work with his wife, Natalie Roy, who is one of the lead performers in the show.

'Air Supply was incredibly impressed with her … she has earned this. She is such a hard worker and such a talented actress and such a great singer.' Recently, Lost In Love had its first reading in New York City for musical theatre industry insiders. Air Supply's Graham Russell and Russell Hitchcock were there watching, too.

LePage said he sat at the back of the theatre with Sargent watching the audience as they watched the reading. Throughout the performance, he said, he anxiously waited and wondered what the reaction to his work would be.

'At the end of it we were speaking to people who were really impressed, and I heard from a lot of people who said that we have a hit on our hands,' he said.

The goal is to see the show on Broadway, he said. But long before that happens, it will be presented on stage with some costumes and lighting so those involved can get a better idea of what this will look and sound like. In the coming days, he said, there will be meetings to discuss how the project can be moved forward quickly.

'Right now we want to take what we've learned from the reading so that as we go forward we know that we are putting out the best possible product that we can,' he said.

Pairing '80s music with theatre seems to be a magic formula. Mamma Mia! features the music of ABBA, Rock of Ages features the music of Journey, Whitesnake, Styx and Bon Jovi. Both shows are wildly popular with audiences around the globe. LePage said he believes people love shows with nostalgic music.

'If you can inject the element of nostalgia into anything, especially into a musical, it brings so much more to their experience. I think that's why shows with popular music are so successful because people bring their memories to it. I believe the star of Lost In Love will be the Air Supply music. People will be singing in the aisles at the show,' LePage said.

LePage has appeared on Broadway in Rock of Ages for over two years, doing eight shows a week. That's very demanding vocally and physically. To be able to do this, he said, it's important to eat well and exercise to remain fit and ready to perform.

Living in an apartment in a brownstone that's within walking distance from Broadway, LePage said he and Roy are living their dream.

'Natalie and I are living in a dream right now. It's just really exciting. It makes you realize that all the days working as a bartender were all worth it.' In September LePage will take a week off from Rock of Ages a nd will return to Fredericton with Roy, where they will star in Theatre New Brunswick's production of The Last Five Years at the Black Box Theatre.