Tyler Burness has taken one gigantic leap of faith after another, and he’s now reaping the rewards. The musical theatre aficionado sat down with Garrett Bithell.

Once upon a time, Tyler Burness had a dream. But a life treading the boards and singing camp musical theatre numbers didn’t even touch the dream’s periphery. The Tweed Heads native dreamed of being an Olympic swimmer – or, in lieu of that, a professional rugby player. Indeed sport was his life.

“My main goal was always to go to the Olympics for swimming,” he tells AXN.

“I’d done it almost every day of my life. It’s funny because there are no performing arts people in my family – everyone is sport oriented. My Mum was world-championship rower!

“My grandmother had heard me with a guitar just being an idiot, and when my great grandmother passed away, she asked me to sing a song at the funeral. After that, requests from the family started coming in, and it all kind of developed from there. So when I realised I didn’t really want to pursue anything athletic anymore, I thought why not become a lazy actor shit and earn no money! Or limited money…”

Burness applied for the musical theatre course at NIDA and was immediately accepted. He relocated to Sydney and, to use a crude cliché, the rest is history. “I really didn’t think I’d ever be Institute material,” laughs the 22 year old, who now lives in Redfern.

“But NIDA was great – their philosophy is pretty much to rip you apart and build you up again! It’s funny listening to a recording from when I first moved – I sound so ocker! But NIDA ripped that apart pretty quickly.”

According to Burness, adjusting to Sydney life was fraught with difficulty. “I miss Queensland so very much,” he admits.

“I miss my beach! It was very tough to leave. I’m not a city boy; I’m not into fashion. When I walk down the street, people look at me like I’m a hobo. And I’m like ‘no, I’m a Queenslander!’ I’ve only grown to Sydney probably this year – I’d hated it ever since I moved.”

Last month, Burness landed a leading role in the musical Love Bites, a quirky and hilarious song cycle about love and relationships. The reviews were almost unanimously glowing. One of the highlights was what we’ll label ‘The Shit Song’, which responds to an urban myth and has the chorus: ‘When you see someone’s shit and still love them…’

This writer, for one, was in fits of laughter on opening night. How the whole cast didn’t dissolve into uncontrollable giggles every night is a wonder.

“That was the hardest part and for two weeks during rehearsals, we did! There were some times when I heard someone’s laughter in the audience and I would lose it! I have this new appreciation for the words ‘poop’ and ‘shit’,” Burness muses

Since Love Bites, job offers are finally beginning to come in, and he has been offered one of the leads in the 2009 Australian tour of Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story.

“If was going to have an idol for the career I wanted, it would be Hugh Jackman,” Burness says.

“He’s got the best of both worlds – he’s a musical theatre star and a Hollywood star.

“But at the same time, if I was just to become a respected local actor, I would love that as well. I’m not really aiming for fame and glory. But at the same time, if it was on the table I wouldn’t say no – provided I had worked hard for it. I don’t want the quick, easy Big Brother fame.”