Suzie McNeil Rests While Working Six Nights A Week

Releasing an album and premiering a musical are both seriously demanding tasks. For most people, one would be more than enough to handle. But Rock Star: INXS alumnus Suzie McNeil is no ordinary person. The singer is both unleashing her Broken & Beautiful debut album and taking the stage in the role of Oz as the Toronto production of the Queen musical We Will Rock You premieres on Tuesday.

"I've renamed the day 'Suzie Day,'" she says with a smile. "It's going to be a great day for me."

When it came time to pick a release date for her album, McNeil had the option of spreading things out a little bit, but she didn't want to.

"We were looking at a date, just sort of, 'When is it ready?' and stuff like that. It was looking like the 10th or the 17th and I went, 'Heck, let's do it! Let's do it all!' Now I'm wondering if I should have because there's a lot going on around that date. But after the opening night, there's going to be a great gala. There's just a big celebration and I don't think there's any better way for me to celebrate my release than that."

As crazy as the day may be, though, McNeil's stint on stage could actually be considered a break from her hectic, post-Rock Star life. Since the reality show ended in the fall of 2005, she's managed to tour North America as back-up singer for Pink, record a duet with Clay Aiken, perform with some of her fellow castmates in Afghanistan over the holidays, and make Broken & Beautiful.

While We Will Rock You provided more work and a whole new set of challenges for the musical theatre rookie, it also offered McNeil the opportunity to come home to Toronto and settle down for a few months. It was a combination she couldn't resist.

"I've never done musical theatre before, but I've always wanted to," says McNeil. "As soon as I saw, I think it was, Cats and Les Mis when I was a kid, I wanted to do it.

"So it's pretty special to me and it kind of works out perfectly right now in my career. I needed to stop living out of a suitcase for a couple of months."

The suitcase will come back out again as soon as the show finishes, however, because McNeil plans to go right out on tour. While she's looking forward to returning to the road ("I definitely prefer concerts. I'll never leave my rock 'n' roll roots"), she's enjoying her so-called break while it lasts.

"It's a nice rest leading up to that. If I can call doing the show six nights a week a rest. But it's fun. It's a lot of fun."