Little comes back
to his roots in Baby

By Rita Charleston
For the Times

Baby has arrived at the Bristol Riverside Theater. The show, which tells the story of three couples on a university campus as they deal with the painful, agonizingly funny consequences of impending parenthood, continues through May 21.
There are the college students, barely at the beginning of their adult lives; the thirty-somethings, having trouble conceiving but determined to try; and the middle-aged parents looking forward to seeing their last child graduate from college when a night of unexpected passion lands them back where they started.
Appearing as the thirty-something couple are real-life mates Brad Little and Barbara McCulloh. The couple met on the Bristol Riverside stage in 1987 when they starred opposite in The Robber Bridegroom and Irma La Douce. Since then, they married, bought a house in Bristol and have continued with amazing careers.
McCulloh appeared at BRT in 110 in the Shade (for which she received a Barrymore Award nomination) and more. She also starred on Broadway.
Little won a Barrymore Award for his performance of Che in BRT’s Evita, and on and off over the last 10 years has played the role of the Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera across America and the world. He’s also appeared in many other Broadway and national tours.
"In fact," said Little, "I just received a Best Actor Award in Shanghai for Phantom. Needless to say, I’ve enjoy the role a great deal."
It appears that Little has enjoyed all the roles he’s had since deciding to be a performer, although his first choice was to become a basketball player. And, at 6 feet 2 inches tall, his chances looked good.
"My father was a university theater professor, so I think as a child I rebelled at being in the business," Little recalled. "But as it turned out, my voice was much better than my jump shot."
Realizing that, Little moved from southern California to New York to seek his fortune, and the rest, as they say, is history.
"I never went to college but I did start to study voice, acting and dancing with some amazing teachers. I had on-the-job training, so I guess you could say I went to the University of Brad Little, and for me, it worked!"
Today, appearing in Baby, Little describes the music and the role, especially playing opposite his real-life wife, as very satisfying.
"The music is phenomenal. It’s been one of my favorite scores ever since I first heard it in the ’80s," he said. "But it’s a very difficult score in that we’ve had to learn to fit the dialogue to the music. And being a married couple, Barbara and I tend to do what we do, even in private, so it becomes very voyeuristic in certain ways."
Little confessed that just being able to continue working is perhaps the best part of his career — a career that will lead him next to playing in Beauty and the Beast in Pittsburgh, and then to Hong Kong to appear once again in Phantom of the Opera.
"I love what I do," Little said. "I love being able to make my character real and hope that people can relate to it. I love the feeling of being live on stage as people come to the theater where, hopefully, they will leave feeling different, and much better, than when they first came in. I’m now booked ’til September, and for an actor, that’s pretty good. I’ve been very fortunate." ••
For additional information, call the BRT box office at 215-785-0100.