PETALING JAYA, Feb 7 — For fans of OlaBola The Musical which returns on stage this month, comparisons are bound to take place between actors Tony Eusoff and Stephen Rahman-Hughes for the role of Harry Mountain.
In the second run of the highly popular musical, Tony will replace the English actor as the strict, no-nonsense British football coach.
“There’s always pressure because people will always compare but it gives the show a different sort of colour,” Tony told Malay Mail of his stage performance that will be the first since being released from a Singaporean prison for drug possession.
But the 41-year-old seasoned performer won’t let the pressure get to him, saying his performance in P. Ramlee the Musical prepared him well for comparisons.
“P. Ramlee the Musical was more terrifying because two people have already played P. Ramlee prior to me so I wasn’t going to get compared to one but two people and two very stellar performers.
“This time is less of a pressure as I got my confidence from P. Ramlee.”
The biggest challenge for Tony is staying true to the script and delivering a believable performance as a football coach.
“I’m not exactly a footie fan,” he confessed.
“My preparations would be to look at different coaches, especially José Mourinho who’s known for his arrogance and is very stern and assertive. I look at coaches like that as a reference.”
He added that the difficulty remains in living up to football fans’ expectations of what a coach should be like.
“Also, I’m not a teacher type and never have been,” he said.
With OlaBola The Musical 2 marking his first mass public performance in four years, Tony said it feels like going back to familiar grounds.
His last musical was the P. Ramlee road tour in Penang, Johor and Malacca in 2015.
“I love performing in theatre, it provides a different satisfaction for me so it’s like coming home again.
“I’m excited and thrilled to be back,” he said.
Dubbed the biggest musical ever staged in Malaysia, OlaBola tells the story of Chow Kwok Keong aka Tauke who leads Harimau Malaya in their journey to the 1976 Olympics.
The musical stars Iedil Putra, Altimet, Douglas Lim, Lim Jian Wen and Brian Chan.
It is produced by Enfiniti Productions and directed by Puan Sri Tiara Jacquelina.
Catch OlaBola the Musical Season 2 at Istana Budaya from February 18 to March 5.
Tickets are priced from RM80 onwards, available here.
