Nino Firetto
Theatre and Film
Theatre
'Jimmy' in 'There's a Girl in My Soup'.
UK national tour.
Theatrical roles and opportunities have come and gone. I love a night at the theatre, who doesn't? Being in the audience is wonderful but being on the stage was magical. Theatre though is a notoriously bad payer. There is little to no money and most actors tread the boards as a labour of love. Me? I had to pay the mortgage but I did find a good role, in the comedy 'There's a girl in my Soup'. A great play and my character was as the hungover boyfriend 'Jimmy'. It was a wonderful comedic role.
Did I make a mistake in turning down the few theatrical opportunities that came my way? Probably.
Pantomime beckoned most years, until recently,
but always seems to clash with other work.
I was originally thought of for the West End role of Danny Zuko opposite Michaela Strachan in the production of 'Grease' by the wonderful David Ian and Paul Nicholas.
It wasn't a role that I was comfortable with. I do not have the best singing voice and I know my limits.
So I scared myself out of that gig. That would be stage fright without stepping out on to the stage! At least I spared the audience the fright of my singing voice.
The parts were eventually given to Craig Mclachlan and Debbie Gibson.
At least I did get to play one great role and that was Jimmy in 'There's A Girl in My Soup'. It received some great reviews too.
Film
The True Pirates of The Caribbean. A film for The History Channel. Filmed on location in the Caribbean. The movie was actually shot at the locations of the original events. It was hot, sticky and uncomfortable. I remember a lot of the actors, myself included, were sea sick. That was before we even left the dock!
ITV: Robin of Sherwood filmed for the ITV Network in the 1980's. I appeared in several episodes. Often as an 'Extra' in the village of Sherwood. Filmed in the Forest of Dean near Bristol. I kept getting told off for removing my wig during filming. It was so itchy. The boots I wore on the show were the ones I was wearing when I auditioned for Splash. I believed them to be my lucky boots.
Warner Brothers: Joey. A Warner Brothers sitcom. This was a spin off of the very successful show 'Friends'. I was there as an 'Extra' again, working to get my 'ticket' (SAG and AFTRA). Actor Charlie Sheen, a friend, got me the gig. It was great fun.
The History Channel 01-10-2006 True Pirates of the Caribbean (Puerto Rico)
Warner Brothers: Invasion. I also appeared as an 'extra' in several episodes of a television show called 'Invasion'. The show was a 'Sci-Fi' series. I never watched it but apparently it was good. Filmed in 2005. Again I was working for my 'ticket'.
Many of the productions including film and television shows can be found on You Tube and on other media sources.
Unfortunately, of the one hundred and fifty plus episodes of 'Splash', Get Fresh' and the daily television show, 'Nino Firetto Totally Live', only a handful exist. If you are fortunate enough to come across any or have a clip of a show that is not featured here please share them with me. Contact@MemoryLaneUK.com Thanks.
Commercials and Voice-overs
COMMERCIALS.
National & Provincial - TV commercial.
London Jazz Festival - TV commercial.
Lombard Insurance (corporate) In vision.
Pears Soap - Voice Over.
Air New Zealand - Voice Over.
Burger King - Voice Over.
Harley Davidson - Voice Over.
AWARDS.
Children's ITV Television Personality of the Year. 1988/89. What little attraction I had for the theatre came late in my career.