John Barrowman, who plays the male lead in the forthcoming production of Aspects Of Love, is one of those media phenomena that the theatre can throw up; commanding lead roles in Britain and the US in stage musicals such as Miss Saigon, Phantom Of The Opera and Sunset Bou- levard, he is not widely wellknown in Ireland - not yet at any rate.
"It's funny; while the vast majority of people don't know me, I still get stopped on Grafton Street quite regularly because of the amount of people in their late teens and early 20s who grew up watching me on BBC's Live And Kicking and The Movie Game, both shows for young people."
Barrowman is excited about potentially building a profile in Ireland and says many people in London's West End feel the same.
"There's a real feeling that Ireland is going through a real growth in the arts; that there's an expanding market for the talents we have to offer. So when Andrew (Lloyd Webber) asked me to play the part of Alex in the Irish production of Aspects Of Love, I jumped at it."
Having the boss himself ask you to appear in his favourite musical (or opera as he prefers to call it) is impressive for a man who has only been in the business eight years - but that's the way it is with John Barrowman. Born in Glasgow, he moved to the US at the age of eight and returned to Britain only during his final year studying for a BA in musical theatre in California.
When visiting his grandmother in Scotland he heard about open auditions for the lead male opposite Elaine Paige in Anything Goes, went along and within 48 hours was flown to London to meet the director.
He currently presents a magazine programme, 5's Company, for Britain's Channel 5, commuting back and forth through rehearsals for Aspects, and has plans in the pipeline for another Broadway show, and a TV programme about the Internet which he has scripted himself. But what seems to please Barrowman most is the chance to work with directors he had always admired.
"I remember so well sitting on my bed with a girlfriend from my high school in Illinois and listening to the soundtrack from Phantom Of The Opera. I told her it was my dream to work with those guys: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Cameron Mackintosh, and she just laughed. We keep in touch now and she still finds it all quite funny."