This feature was a labour of love for me. As most would know, I love musicals and am an avid campaigner for more theatres in Sydney for larger-scale productions.
With Doctor Zhivago, Love Never Dies, Strictly Ballroom AND An Officer and a Gentleman all making their international premieres in Australia, I felt there may be a shifting tide in perception of Australia as a great place to launch new musicals.
If that means Australian audiences act as guinea pigs for the meccas of Broadway and West End then hooray for us.
Attracting big overseas investment and employing local talent (we have truck loads of triple threats in Australia) to stage brilliant musicals is very exciting.
It will be interesting to see how we fare in the next few years. Hopefully the trend is only in its infancy and producers will start thinking of Sydney and Melbourne as good try-out locations for brand spanking new shows.
Here's the article, published at news.com.au and the Herald Sun:
Only hours after discussing The Addams Family musical premiering in Sydney in March 2013, we have an even more exciting announcement from Events NSW; Strictly Ballroom the musical will make its world premiere in Sydney in September 2013.
In a style similar to Doctor Zhivago, producers have decided to test run a musical version of Baz Lurhmann's iconic film in Australia before it has to compete with the 'big boys' on Broadway or West End.
If Australian audiences are the guinea pigs I say all the better for us.
It means local casts and crews are being employed, which supports the great deal of talent we have in Australia.
Furthermore, international attention will fall on little ol' Australia to boost its musical theatre 'image'.
Best of all, the world premiere will help foster a theatre-appreciating audience who feel privileged to be the first to experience the show.
"Last week we announced Sydney was chosen for the Australian Premiere of The Addams Family. I said we’d bring major events back to Sydney - here's the proof," Premier Barry O'Farrell said.
While I hope he doesn't think we are stupid enough to think when he magically jumped into office in March this year all the important contracts that would have been milling for months (if not years) had been signed, this is another win for Sydney's theatre community.
All debts haven't been cleared yet, O'Farrell. If you give us a 1,500 plus seat theatre then I think you can start boasting about how you are moving Sydney forward in the right direction.
Since I'd like to make a daily post, at least to get me started and my thoughts flowing, I have fallen back to letting it be known that I love to sing, and have been classically trained since I was 9. Only a few years ago when I was 13 I happened upon The Phantom of the Opera when my brother and sister-in-law took me to watch it at the movies while we were on holiday. Now, I know for all POTO fans, many do not approve of the film, but for me, it was a significant moment in my life because while I was there, as the chandelier rose and the overture pulsated through the cinema, I can't quite explain it, but I had this overwhelming feeling of belonging. Now I often get that same feeling when I am watching musicals live, or am in one myself.
Anyhow, to cut a long story short, that day I 'fell in love' with musical theatre, and that love remains just as strong, if not stronger.
Since then, I have moved into musical theatre repertoire for my voice and began taking a few acting classes before I was cast as the understudy to play Serena in Fame: The Musical two years later in 2006.
The picture below was taken while I sung one of the feature songs, 'Let's Play a Love Scene'.
That day when my time came to shine, I again felt at home, and I never wanted the show to finish! It of course did, and later in the year I did a revue called Seasons where I was fortunate enough to play a leading role with numerous solos, duets and ensemble pieces. [I even got to perform 'What is this feeling' from Wickedbefore it became the next big thing. That was SO much fun!]
I have been banned from doing musicals since, due to the need to concentrate on my last two years of high school. Those two years have only come to an end in the last two weeks, so I'm now free to do another musical.
The only problem is I came down with a harsh case of laryngitis due to overworking my voice for my music performance. A combination of stress, lack of sleep and bad belt technique has meant my voice is still highly fatigued, and I am about to begin therapy in the next two weeks. God willing, I will be back on the road to my dream in no time.
This was my last performance of a beautiful song written by one of the most talented musical theatre composers, Jason Robert Brown, before my voice gave out at a very inconvenient time. It's called 'I'm Not Afraid' from the musical Songs for a New World.
As you can probably gather from my above mini-life-story, if there would be one dream(career wise), I would love so much to be a professional musical theatre performer. I know the career is far from easy, and those who make it big time are like grains of sand in the ocean. However, now, as I look up to people like Sutton Foster, Idina Menzel, Stephanie J Block and other powerhouses who have been blessed with amazing talent, watching them and many others only fuels my desire to reach for the stars.
If there is the slightest chance that I could make it, I will take it. For the chance that maybe for just one day, I could truly shine.
May the fire for your own dreams always burn brightly.
