Josh Piterman has been many things.
An established and incredibly talented musical theatre performer and classical crossover artist, Piterman has been Tony in West Side Story, Corny Collins in Hairspray, Jean Valjean in Les Miserables, and the Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera, the latter two of which he coveted his whole life.
In fact, in his new book, Piterman writes that his opening night as the Phantom on London’s West End in 2019, was “one of the most exhilarating and fulfilling nights of my life”.
Piterman goes on to explain that since he started performing as a 16-year-old in high school, he fell in love with both The Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables quickly. He made it his goal to play lead roles in both. And while it took twenty years, he achieved it.
But as his musical theatre star began to rise, Piterman began to look inward. Who is he behind the mask? It’s the question he focuses on in his new book, aptly titled Behind the Mask.
“I hope readers feel like it speaks deeply to them and asks them in its various ways some of life’s more existential questions…”
“The concept of Behind The Mask has been sitting with me since playing the Phantom in London back in 2019/20. I recall very distinctly the feeling of arriving at this pinnacle of my musical theatre career, the most iconic role on the West End, something I’d worked my whole career to achieve, and although I was incredibly grateful for the opportunity and excited by it, even thrived in it, that didn’t shift innate feelings of inadequacy, imposter syndrome and a sense of unworthiness or not enoughness,” Piterman told The AJN. “Outwardly I was killing it, inwardly I was questioning myself constantly. I realised then, that no matter how much of a somebody I become, no matter how extraordinary the masks I continue to wear look like, If I don’t fall deeply in love with who I am behind the mask, no amount of becoming ‘somebody’ will ever fill me up or make me feel enough.”
The book sits alongside a podcast bearing the same name, where Piterman asks guests to reveal who they are behind the masks they wear in their own lives. Piterman describes it as “going behind the mask of issues that don’t get unmasked enough”. And alongside the book, that’s what Piterman does.
According to Piterman, the book straddles the memoir and self-help genres.
“At times, a story might make you wee a little from laughter or ask you to run and get a box of Kleenex for your tears or a just a big hug for your heart. But most importantly it asks you to look inward and gives you so many functional and accessible tools and prompts to guide you through that process,” he explained.
Piterman said the writing process was so enjoyable that he hopes to do more of it. Most of the book was written in Port Fairy, a place that has a special spiritual significance to Piterman.
“I knew the themes I wanted to discuss in the book; identity, conditioning, the ego, fear and self-limiting beliefs, self-awareness, purpose, and faith (what I describe as a flowing relationship with The Universe). I wanted to have a completely different take on a self-development book. One that is not so much about telling you what you’re doing wrong and how to fix it but rather, a revealing and vulnerable look at my journey and allowing that to naturally be a mirror to yours,” he explained, saying his preparation for musical theatre roles helped immensely in his writing, helping him move beyond his analytical mind.
“Creativity is the language of the soul because it is in art that we connect to that soulful part within us and each other … I have been in flow state, what athletes call ‘the zone’, many times onstage. To be honest, during many performances of The Phantom. I know this because I can’t ever remember those moments, they feel completely timeless and free … When we are in creative flow or the zone we transcend time. An hour can feel like a few minutes,” he said. “So, in that sense yes, performing (and meditating) have been a great help as they’ve taught me how to surrender to the aliveness and bliss of the present moment and how to transcend into that feeling of flow. I had many similar experiences whilst writing the book.”
Piterman said after the rush of performing, he also appreciated the slow pace of writing.
“No matter how extraordinary the masks I continue to wear look like, If I don’t fall deeply in love with who I am behind the mask, no amount of becoming ‘somebody’ will ever fill me up or make me feel enough.”
“I was very burnt out after back-to-back runs of Phantom and Les Miserables in 2022/23. So aside from the fact that I love writing, I find the slowness of it extremely cathartic and soulful. You don’t get to the soul quickly, it is buried deep down within us, so the process must be both slow and down, and slowing down wasn’t something I was very good at,” he recalled.
Ultimately he said he hopes his book offers readers what it gave him – a doorway inward.
“I hope readers feel like it speaks deeply to them and asks them in its various ways some of life’s more existential questions,” he said. “I really hope the book offers some helpful tools to go about answering them for you, whilst enjoying the roller coaster of personal showbiz anecdotes along the way.”
Behind the Mask is published by Echo Publishing, $29.99 rrp
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