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A WICKED SUMMER
Nolan Robba, who has adopted the stage name Nolan Edwards, is enjoying a slowerpaced summer this year away from London, the city which he has called home for the past seven years.
BY ALEX ORFILA
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olan Robba was accepted into the prestigious performing arts school London Studio Centre back in 2013 and his drive for success teamed with his demanding workload meant that even as a student, visits back home to Gibraltar - or more specifically La Caleta where his family is from - were always cut short. On his final show, when graduating from London Studio Centre, he had already been scouted by an agent, which meant that roles soon followed and visits home became even less frequent. When asked what pushed him to pursue a career in the arts his answer was simple; he could not imagine doing anything else. This conviction together with raw talent has led Nolan to where he is today, as part of the cast of one of the most loved and established shows on the West End, Wicked. His first part was in the West End adaptation of the Rodgers & Hammerstein’s classic – Carousel, closely followed by a role in Aladdin, where he worked for two years before joining Wicked. He describes getting into Wicked as the highlight of his career so 58
far, mainly because it is such a sought-after show and can be described as every dancer’s dream job. In most cases, artists have to audition several times before being accepted as it’s a very rigorous audition process. He was honoured to have been selected after auditioning only once. 2020 has undoubtedly been an unusual year for everyone, but of course some sectors have been hit harder than others. The theatre industry has been deeply affected by the global pandemic as all shows had to shut their doors when the lockdown was announced in March. Even now, as restrictions start to ease, there is still great uncertainty as to how or when live shows will be permitted to reopen. As a result, many artists and performers such as Nolan are experiencing a rarity in their usually very hectic lives – some down time. But in order to understand just what a stark contrast summer 2020 has been to his usual routine in London, I asked Nolan to talk us through a typical working day. “Coffee! Coffee is the oxygen in London!” is Nolan’s answer when
asked how he starts the morning. Even on days where he only has one show in the evening there is no time to relax - the entire day centers around preparation. The main focus is energy reserve, and this involves meticulously planning the day to ensure he properly fuels himself for the evening. Diet and exercise throughout the day have to be closely monitored as they will have an impact on energy levels later on.
"He was honoured to have been selected after auditioning only once." “I go the gym at midday to slowly ramp up my body, to then go into warm up and vocal warm up [at the theatre] at 6pm. In between I usually fit in a voice lesson and there are also days on which I may have auditions to attend. When people see that our working hours officially start at 6pm they assume we have the rest of the day to GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 2020
