Australian theatre is caught in a cancellation crisis – this obscure 1970s musical offers hope
“Damn these pot-bellied bastards with big necks,” screams actor Ethan Jones as Ned Kelly. He paraphrases Kelly’s manifesto, written in 1879, known as the Jerilderie Letter: “A pack of big ugly, thick-necked, wombat-headed, big-bellied, magpie-legged, narrow-hipped, straggly-footed sons of Irish bailiffs, or English landlords, better known as justice officers, or Victorian constables, as some call honest gentlemen.”
“You are not toy soldiers,” says Robert Grubb as police officer Superintendent Hare. “You are the avenging angels.” He leads his officers in a thoughtful song. “Bring the people to their knees,” they sing.
Rehearsals restart at Victorian Opera’s rehearsal space on Victoria Street Ned KellyA musical written by Reg Livermore and Patrick Flynn that opened in Ballarat this year to strong reviews.
With its Australian vernacular and stark depiction of early colonial life, it’s a far cry from most of Melbourne’s big-ticket musicals, many of which are based on feel-good American movies. Ned Kelly’s story is familiar but not musical – although it has a long history.
Nearly fifty years ago Livermore Ned Kelly It premiered on stage in Adelaide. It was an ambitious, big-budget rock opera in keeping with the style of the time; Livermore was coming out from behind the roles. Hair And Jesus Christ Superstar. Reviews were brutal and ticket sales failed to meet budget. The show was closed after just three months.
“The cast was so young and enthusiastic, and I was so devastated,” Livermore says today. “I carried that around as a sign of guilt for most of my life. And as I got older, it started coming back to me.”
Decades after that initial pain, Livermore got in touch Stuart MaunderWas the artistic director of the Victorian Opera ready to revive this dark piece of theater history?
“I thought, look, this is my last chance,” Livermore says. “Nobody else cares.”
Maunder wrote the next day that he thought it was a great idea. Livermore and Maunder have worked together many times over the years, and Maunder has loved Livermore’s work since the age of seven, when he watched her on stage as the Wicked Witch of the West. The Wizard of Oz. Maunder remembers what he saw Ned Kelly He remembers thinking there were things he would change, but it wasn’t the disaster the reviews suggested.
“He had tremendous energy,” he says now. “I remember being stunned by the theatricality of it. No one had seen anything like it in 1978.”
When Maunder and conductor Simon Holt began researching, they found that there was no complete score and that much had to be reconstructed from different scores and recordings. They made some corrections and changes along the way.
“This is a very different show,” says Maunder. “We edited and distorted the original material a bit. There’s more to it than that Evita-y, Les Mis-I feel it now. But it’s the same music, the same feeling of playing.”
Livermore embraces the inconsistencies in the Kelly saga, but doesn’t sugarcoat Kelly’s life. He was a thief and murderer driven by desperation and injustice.
“I’m on his side,” Livermore says. “People like the Kelly family were living in really tough conditions. Life was shit. And of course the police had to do something. But they were a vengeful bunch.”
Ned Kelly It opens at a time when Australian musical theater is in the news for all the wrong reasons.
During a rehearsal break, lead singer Jones expresses his anger about the concert closing early. WaiterHe also had a role. “Some Americans say you have to get this stupid haircut because they own you for 12 months,” he says. “And after three weeks they put an end to it. Dogs.”
It’s a joke, but there’s real disappointment there. This is one of a string of cancellations to hit the theater scene in Australia recently. Waiter The Melbourne run was cut short and plans to move to Sydney were cancelled. Jones was there too Back to the FutureIt closed early in Sydney this year. insect juiceThe film, starring Jones’ partner Erin Claire, also ended prematurely.
The tension between the cost of living crisis, spiraling production costs and the demands of a big-budget musical seems to have finally come to a head.
“A ticket to a show like this is like a luxury item now,” Jones says. “The products are nice, but how do we persuade people to come to the theater? And maybe one of the answers is family stories.”
Ned Kelly It is a familiar topic, but it is ours.
“We have all the talent here and we can do outstanding work here without relying on acquisitions from abroad,” Jones says.
“We don’t make enough noise about Australia,” says Livermore. “We know that. And it feels very Australian. It brings me to tears, if you will, because of the feeling of it. It’s not just the story, it’s the way we captured it.”
Reg Livermore Ned Kelly: The Musical At the University of Melbourne’s Union Theater from 24-25 July.
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