Josh as The Phantom. Photos: Supplied.
Josh Piterman fulfilled a long-held dream in 2019 when he made his West End debut in the coveted role of Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera, and later the iconic role of Jean Valjean in Les Miserables.
But behind the mask was an artist quietly questioning his purpose.
This Saturday (15 November) at the True Story Festival in Coledale, Melbourne-based Piterman will share the personal and philosophical journey that inspired his memoir Behind The Mask, including what happens when achieving your dreams doesn’t bring the fulfilment you expected.
He said the book was really “a self-help book but it’s ‘masked’ as a memoir”, delving into themes of personal growth, vulnerability, and self-discovery.
“I had no interest in musical theatre growing up, other than the odd car trip down the Great Ocean Road with my family, where they played Les Miserables in the car on a cassette,” he said.
“I learned how to moonwalk in Year 10, and in Year 11 I did it in the school cafeteria, just being an idiot.”
While showing off the Michael Jackson move, he literally bumped into the head of English who had directed the school musicals for 30 years.
He was so impressed with his moves, he asked him to audition for this “musical called Fame”.
While his interests were in AFL, tennis and cricket, he was always up for something new.
“I did it, got a role in it and, and I just couldn’t believe what I’d been missing,” he said.
“Even with footy, I wanted to do the ‘mercurial’ or kick the goal after the siren. And I think I did that in under 10s once.
“I wasn’t a role player. I had to be a hero. I had to be noticed.
“There’s all sorts of wounds and reasons why one wants that. It took me later in life to work that out.”
He said a lot of the book was about discovering why we are who we are, and the way we behave.
For Piterman, his path from school was set, going on to be part of international pop opera group The Ten Tenors, and performing in Australian productions of West Side Story, Cats, Hairspray and Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, before his West End debut.
“I wanted to play lead roles in Les Mis and Phantom and West Side Story,” he said.
“That’s what I wanted to do and I never believed anything was impossible.
“I’ve always had a ‘why not’ attitude.”
Josh’s book Behind The Mask. Photo: Supplied.
He said his parents were children of Holocaust survivors, who moved to Australia in the 50s with nothing, but rebuilt their lives to prove anything was possible.
“That still is my belief system,” he said.
“I wholeheartedly believe if you have a gift and pour education and discipline into it, something beautiful will come of it.”
He said whether you hit rock bottom or hit the mountain top, each could be a doorway for awakening the soul.
“That’s really what the book is about – you think that this is the dream,” he said.
“For some people it’s playing Jean Valjean and the Phantom, or for others it’s earning millions of dollars, or having hundreds of thousands of Instagram followers.
“It’s whatever you’re trying to get from the outside world and then getting it and feeling like, ‘Oh, is this it?’
“There were times doing those shows where I felt amazing, but it wasn’t always the dream I’d envisaged.
“So you ask, ‘What is life really about? I’m constantly trying to get things from the world to fill something up, but what am I actually missing inside of me?’”
He said the book shared his vulnerable and raw story and posed questions through journal prompts to allow people to reflect upon their own journey and life.
“I just wanted to go, ‘Here’s a guy who achieved everything he wanted to achieve and realised it’s not about that,” he said.
“Achievement and fulfilment aren’t the same thing.”
Piterman said as a meditation teacher, doing breathwork and mindset work with athletes and corporates, he wanted to provide tools to go inward, because “if you don’t go within, you’ll always go without”.
He said he also had a podcast that worked alongside the book, with stories from people such as tennis star Jelena Dokic, news presenter Michael Roland and singer and drag artist Rueben Kaye.
At the True Story Festival, he will participate in panel discussions, with no topic off the table, including his rise in musical theatre, his work as a meditation teacher, and his philosophical approach to personal development.
Purchase True Story Festival tickets and see the full program for True Story Festival, featuring Australian non-fiction writers on 15 November at Coledale.
