Tobias Madden Turns In His Dancing Shoes To Be A Storyteller

Tobias Madden has spent a good chunk of his life entertaining people from all over the world, on cruise ships in exotic locales and on stages all over Australia and New Zealand. Even though he’s hung up his tap shoes for now, he’s still entertaining the world but instead of Arabesques and Auditoriums, it’s Anachronisms and Alliteration!

Madden’s second Young Adult fiction outing is titled Take a Bow, Noah Mitchell and “is a flirty, funny and heart-warming coming-of-age story about growing up gay in country Victoria (Ballarat)”. 

Madden spoke with the Star Observer recently and conversation quickly turned to how he managed to excel in two careers that so many could only dream of cracking once!

https://twitter.com/tobias_madden/status/1565127058484695040

“I have no formal qualifications whatsoever in writing, my degrees are in singing and dancing, so the complete opposite really but I do think the most important thing to get into writing is just having the stories to tell because, especially artists and other creatives, can really find a way to write and find their own unique voice.”

“Reading is by far the best way to learn how to write because you absorb it all – the way people write, the words they use, the structure they use to tell their stories and then it kind of helps you form your own version.”

People Look At You Very Differently When You’re Giving Them A Latte

Madden said he draws upon his life as a singer, dancer and actor travelling the world,  to come up with his characters.

“In hindsight, I’m really thankful that I had basically every job you can possibly imagine in between shows when I was an actor, like I’ve worked in cafes and catering and gift stores and taught dance and the list of random jobs I’ve done is quite extreme, so I think it’s really useful because you meet so many different people and you don’t think any of it’s going to be useful. At the time, you’re just wondering why you’re slaving away at a cafe instead of singing and dancing but then I got to this point and I’m so grateful!”

He would definitely have a unique point of view with all of those different careers!

“I had so many varied experiences because you really see how people treat each other, especially in those different kinds of roles. People look at you very differently when you’re giving them a latte to when they’re applauding you on stage, which is always kind of a humbling thing.”