Wills Words Blog

As published on Aussie Theatre 14 May, 2013, Gillian Wills

Gillian Wills talks to Opera Queensland’s baritone Jason Barry-Smith about Rossini, Oklahoma, six pack abs, bullock trains, stage disasters and next week’s “Operatic Night of Fun” presented by 4MBS Festival of Classics.

“I tend to make a program a surprise. If people know what they are going to hear they make decisions. They know how they want to hear a piece. If you catch them by surprise they can go on a journey with you and not be distracted by set ideas or a map. They are free to enjoy the beautiful vista they are walking by”.

Barry-Smith says a firm “no” to whether Wagner and Verdi are scheduled for an Operatic Night of Fun. As it is two hundred years since these whopping rivals were born the question had to be asked. Instead, he says the musical trail follows Puccini, Rossini, Mozart and Kurt Weill. It slips out accidentally that Cole Porter’s “The Tail Of The Oyster” could be an encore.

About the program, the Baritone says, “I’ve chosen important things from my career and songs of importance to me. I’m singing a Figaro aria as this is a role that fits me like a glove and a Rogers and Hammerstein duet People Will Say We’re In Love with the glorious soprano Emily Burke. Oklahoma was one of the first records I raided from my father’s collection. I was in love with Gordon McCrae’s voice.

The mercurial Barry-Smith laughs infectiously, cracks jokes and leaps wildly from one topic to another in the discussion. It’s risky. I don’t want to spoil the generous mood by asking, but doesn’t a teenager hero worshipping Gordon McCrae smack of nerdiness?

“Yes I’m a nerd. Totally. I was mad about Star Wars from the age of 7–15 and collected all the figurines Garth Vader, Queen Jamillia and the rest. I was also fascinated by classical music and fixated on Gilbert and Sullivan. I listened to Pinafore and Iolanthe, sang the songs, learned the words and then started to speak like a Victorian gentleman. When I was 24 this served me well. I was employed as a chorus member for several of Simon Gallaher’s productions”.

Barry-Smith will sing two surprises from Mikado in next week’s concert.

Dr Malatesta in ‘Don Pasquale’

This performer is not one of those who finds the recital dauntingly exposed. Communicating with a smaller crowd is important.

“I want to get intimate with the audience. I love it. Intimacy for me is a really important thing. It’s pleasurable when you have an audience close. I adore singing opera but on the downside there’s twenty feet between you and the first person you can reach in the front row”.

I like to announce the songs and be amusing. I make people feel at home, the music accessible. It’s about celebrating the gift someone like me has been given. It’s a two way street. I have a community of followers in Brisbane as supportive to me as I want to be to them”.

Is it true from your experience that you can’t be a guru in your own village?

“OK … I made a choice that Brisbane was the place I wanted to have a life as well as sing but not as a globe trotting star. You can’t have both if you don’t travel. It’s a choice. A long time ago I asked myself how do I make this work if I’m based in one place. I like to think I have a big skill base and can contribute more”.

The “big skill base” is something of an understatement. Versatility is Barry-Smith’s middle name. He’s not only a soloist but composes, arranges, conducts, is a creditable actor and, as a strong communicator, he is commandeered to entertain at important functions such as the launch of the Festival of Classics at Government House last week. And, he is Opera Queensland’s Creative Director of Open Stage, a demanding and popular community enrichment program.

Will there be a special look for the evening?

“Always there has to be glamour, it’s important. Costuming is a glamour thing, a uniform. I tend to dress up in clothes that make me feel fabulous. I need the help. I don’t have the muscled shoulders or six pack abs”.

Can you tell me something awkward that has happened to you on stage?

“Years ago I was giving a joint recital and had to cover my associate’s costume change. I learned an unknown piece. I memorise songs by knowing the story. When the pianist gave me the cue to come in I couldn’t remember the first line, so I went into that part of the brain that had spirited away the story and retold it in my own words in rhyme. Amazing what adrenalin can do.

Apparently, uncomfortable moments are not expected because Barry-Smith, soprano Emily Burke and pianist Narelle French are so in sync as performers that if something happens all three instinctively fall in line and make it right.

“The other piece programmed because it has the greatest connection for me is “The Dying Stockman” an Australian folk song based on a Banjo Patterson poem. I arranged this for Waltzing Matilda the music theatre piece Opera Queensland tours into regional areas. I wrote this with my wife. My Dad’s family was from Barcaldine. My grandfather was called George Smith. Born on a bullock train George became an itinerant shearer”.

Mum and Dad were good singers. Dad was the church organist. The family is musical, Betty Beath is my cousin. In a different time, Dad could easily have been a professional musician. And perhaps that’s why he approved of my career path. He would tell me, you get one life so please choose something that you bloody well like doing, something you have a passion for”.

I think music is something that goes far beyond what I realised as a younger person. It’s a chance to share what it is to feel. Performance is therapy. A lot of people don’t feel happy expressing their emotions. Music lets us enjoy them by channelling them into something else. I want people to be enlightened when I sing. No way could I imagine my life without music”.

The Baritone is close lipped about it but an aria from Rossini’s Cinderella could well be included in next week’s concert. Barry-Smith is playing the Prince’s valet Dandini, a streetwise, playful lad who assumes different accents and cockney slang in Lindy Hume’s eccentric new production of Cinderella in July.

Jason Barry-Smith, Emily Burke and Narelle French in an Operatic Night of Fun, 4MBS Festival of Classics, 17 May at 7pm.

As published by Australian Stage Online Tuesday, 7 May, 2013

Hot Shoe Shuffle

Written by Gillian Wills

Tuesday, 07 May 2013 10:17

Left – David Atkins.   Seven brothers are a tap-dancing team with names to match Tip, Tap, Slide and Slap. The opening scene features a dour Scottish lawyer reading the contents of their father’s will. Each will receive a lucrative inheritance if they present a reprise of their Dad’s tap dancing extravaganza. There’s one catch. They must include their sister April Showers (Jaz Flowers) who they didn’t know existed, and, there’s only four weeks to rehearse. David Atkins is elegant as Dexter. The brothers dress in eye-boggling red, yellow, turquoise and purple suits with strident, clashing ties.Eldest brother Spring (Bobby Fox from Jersey Boys) struts around ruling the roost delivering corny jokes of the Christmas Cracker variety. The talented, dancers fire stunning toe-tapping routines, which get better and slicker and more virtuosic as the show progresses. Storyline is on the clunky side for sure and creaks into gear at the start. Once the intensely rhythmical dancing taps up an electrifying percussive storm, the crowd surrenders to this heart- in- the- mouth, flagrantly silly, bling-fuelled song and dance show splashed with glitz and glam from the Big Band era.Flowers lights up the stage, milking the screwball humour for all it’s worth in a honey babe American twang. She skilfully goofs up rehearsals crashing into the not-to-be-won-over Spring. Flowers has a lovely, persuasive voice that especially shines in soulful ballads. And, she brings pzazz and her own lexicon of smouldering pouts when channelling the Rita Hayworth and Ginger Rogers glamour stars of the forties in the more inspired second half. Flowers models those long shimmer dresses, clouds of diaphanous chiffon floating behind her, with attitude plus.         Left the entire cast and Jaz Flowers Flowers goofing it up in rehearsal.     The glimmering silver staircase and glittering look is so authentic it’s possible to imagine Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers could drop by and make a surprise appearance at any moment. Never mind, Max Patterson drilled a breathtaking, show-stopping, spinning impression of Astaire anyway. Swing Time (Youtube) with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxPgplMujzQ The 24-strong play list buzzes with show stoppers; Shall We Dance, Puttin’ On The Ritz and Ellington’s It Don’t Mean A Thing. It’s probably churlish to mention but the male tappers, though absolutely amazing on their feet, are not so gifted vocally. Ideally, there could be more back up singers to boost the vocal elan. Nevertheless, the music fires because of Flowers, the Band’s convincing, syncopated swing and the we-will-give-it-all-we-got regardless tappers. Morgan Junior-Larwood deserves credit for his funny incarnation of dull-brained Slap. Mitchell Hicks is hilarious as the uber smart Wing. (Puttin’ On The Ritz Fred Astaire www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKPMk5_gStk‎) This old school entertainment is a charmer. And, the extraordinary investment of energy by the cast triggered a standing ovation from a delighted audience. David Atkins Enterprises presents HOT SHOE SHUFFLE Australian Tour 2013 Venue: Lyric Theatre, QPAC Dates: 4 – 28 May, 2013 Tickets: $125.00 – $79.00 Bookings: QPAC 136 246 | www.qpac.com.au Visit: www.hotshoeshuffle.com

Fred Astaire Dancing and Singing in Top Hat

As published by artsHub on the 7 May.

In Red’s opening scene Mark Rothko (Colin Friels) stares out from the stage. He’s looking at one of his paintings, weighing it up, sizing its integrity and gauging its impact. This wordless contemplation is a pivotal moment, for there’s a hint of the stereotypical portrayal of the artist. Yet, impressively Alkino Tsilimidos’ stylish, informed and canny direction steers clear of sentimentalising clichéd and reverent pap.

For a start, the drama doesn’t hinge around Rothko’s struggle for recognition. Instead, it’s a study of a successful Rothko engaged in creating large-scale paintings to hang in the upstairs dining area of New York’s Four Seasons Restaurant. Rothko has secured a fee of $35,000 for this commission, a big deal in 1958, since the sum is the equivalent of a million today. Rothko assuages his conscience and any trace of doubt he harbours about ‘selling out’ by believing he can create works to ‘ruin the appetite of every son-of-a-bitch who ever eats in that room’.

Twenty five-year old Tom Barton is insightful, alert and persuasive as Ken, Rothko’s earnest new assistant. Ken is the archetypal, youthful enthusiast, at once intimidated yet enthralled and crushed by his hectoring employer. For the purposes of the dramatic arc, the young man is a bridge to the outside world, a barometer of the art world’s shifting preoccupations.

All of the action occurs in Rothko’s paint-splattered, dimly lit studio and the props and memorabilia are well chosen to reflect the times. It could so easily become claustrophobic but isn’t because the mercurial ambience and progression through each day are skilfully conjured by Matt Scott’s pertinent lighting and Tristan Meredith’s Foley effects and astute sound design.

Around his pontificating, irascible boss, Ken treads warily. The responses he gives to Rothko’s questions are pounced upon by the older man and ripped into shreds. Rothko’s narcissistic rants make Ken a whipping post for the painter’s contemptuous view of the art world and its ignorant consumers. The latter buy his works as an ‘investment’ or even worse, a decorative object of interior design, to his disgust.

The soundtrack amplifies Rothko’s moody reflections and adds irony. An old record player references Schubert’s ‘Death and The Maiden’ String Quartet. Extracts from Mozart’s ‘Don Giovanni’ highlight the fraught tensions between the younger man and the patriarchal, domineering painter. As Ken grows in confidence this is reflected in his musical choices. He likes trumpeter Chet Baker, much to Rothko’s disapproval. For jazz is synonymous with the excesses of the cultural new guard as exemplified by Andy Warhol and the rise of Pop Art.

John Logan’s script snarls, hisses and fumes and the frisson between these two men preparing a canvas has an admirable intensity. And, the edge between them darkens and peaks into a powerful climax when Ken turns the tables on Rothko and serves up his own brand of stinging invective.

What happens after this is to give too much away but Red is intelligent and engaging theatre with compelling dialogue. Friels is brilliant, a seasoned virtuoso attentive to varying the pace, nuance and emphasis to hold attention. Spare though it is in setting and design, Red nevertheless interrogates a fascinating moment in art history and must be one of the best QTC productions Brisbane audiences have encountered in recent years.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Queensland Theatre Company presents a Melbourne Theatre Company production

Red

Written by John Logan

Director: Alkinos Tsilimidos

Set Designer: Shaun Gurton

Costume Designer: Jill Johanson

Lighting Designer: Matt Scott

Composer: Tristan Meredith

Cast includes: Colin Friels and Tom Barton

The Playhouse, QPAC

27 April – 19 May

As published on Aussie Theatre 5 May, 2013

Santos GLNG City of Lights 2012
Photo: Atmosphere Photography

As the countdown to the launch of the Brisbane Festival begins Gillian Wills talks to Noel Staunton, the Artistic Director, about this year’s program.

“I love a Festival with Opera, Music, Dance and Theatre. It means brokering a relationship between companies and growing and developing new ideas. It’s about cultivating a Festival audience. And, it’s wonderful to discover local and international artists and bring them together”, says Noel Staunton in a phone call from The Festival’s headquarters in Brisbane’s funky West End.

I ask him what would be one of the most significant moments in his career? There’s a long pause. It would be tough to choose if you had been the longest serving Technical Director in the trail-blazing days of English National Opera and played a seminal role in mounting The State Opera South Australia’s ambitious Wagner’s Ring Cycle. Now you are the Director of the prestigious Brisbane Festival that presents 60 events with over 250 performances in a time frame of 21 days.

Staunton refers to staging Puccini’s La Boheme on Broadway, a critically acclaimed production that ran for over nine months. Apart from taking pleasure in the Opera’s surprising success in such a commercial landscape, he enjoyed making it accessible. He once said, “it was nice to see it [La Boheme] taken away from the palaces… and put back on the street”.

Innovation and accessibility are crucial elements in Staunton’s vision. During the conversation Staunton mostly begins each of his answers with “we”. There’s nothing regal about that, but it does suggest a firmly inclusive mindset. The need for challenging content is referred to repeatedly, like an idée fixee coursing through a Wagnerian opera. Reaching an audience of all ages and from every social strata is another major thread.

Noel Staunton. Image by Atmosphere Photography

Prior to Staunton taking the helm there were grumbles that the Festival peddled high art and steered clear of music that appeals to younger audiences. Is there anything in the 2013 program to draw a youthful crowd? Before answering he admits to liking Prince, Michael Jackson and Madonna and the gangnam sensation Psy, as alternatives to his first love, Mozartean and Wagnerian Opera.

“Look we go there. This year there’s a big Hip Hop show and a series of participatory workshops. This year, we will have stuff for younger people”.

No one was surprised by the emphasis on Dance in recent years; the last position Staunton occupied was Executive Director of Sydney Dance Company. In 2013, Staunton aims to boost theatre with the help of the recently appointed David Berthold, the Artistic Director and Chief Executive Officer of La Boite, as a specialist curator-cum-director.

Brisbane doesn’t have the pulse that Sydney and Melbourne have in theatre. There’s a lot happening but if you don’t come through the powerhouse of QPAC it’s hard to find a space for it. This year we have a big theatre component. It’s great to have David on board. He will be directing but I’ve not worked out what as yet.

And for someone so motivated in chasing fresh and trailblazing content Staunton is aware of the importance of repeating popular events.

“Every year you have a blank sheet. You may repeat certain things, but each time you see that same thing it must be different. We will repeat the Santos Glng City of Lights laser light show on Southbank’s skyline of the Brisbane River. It drew 300,000 visitors last year”.

For Staunton, collaborative events are an essential driver in shaping the program. Last year’s Dance Energy, an ambitious collaboration between Queensland Ballet, Expressions Dance Company (EDC) and the Townsville based Dance North involving Peter Sculthorpe’s music, took two years to get together.

“We are working on a big Verdi Project for the coming Festival. Opera Queensland have such a fantastic chorus. It will be great to hear exceptional soloists and Verdi’s Overtures played by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra”.

The Festival generates a staggering $6 million of its $14 million budget from sponsorship.

“I haven’t done it alone. We have very good relationships with Corporate Brisbane. Between Events Queensland and the Corporations we’ve raised the bar enormously. In return for their dollar, corporations are gaining naming rights, the Sun Super River Fire for instance. Channel Nine is another huge sponsor.

Much as Staunton praises Queensland for creating the only real arts precinct in the country, he is critical of the Restaurants who shut down kitchens at 9 pm or even before”.

“The Festival is about getting Brisbane to stay up late, until 2 am in the morning. At 4 am, the sun is up. We don’t have daylight saving which is a shame. I’ve scheduled nine midnight shows this year. Hopefully the restaurants will think it could be a good thing to stay open. Go out in Melbourne at 1 am and the bars and cafes are packed. Here no one baulks at a 7 am breakfast meeting. It’s a bizarre phenomenon.

Staunton is very aware of the need to program home grown and International talent.

“There’s an Irish saying “the faraway hills are green”. Sometimes, it’s hard for a company to be taken seriously on its own patch. Natalie Weir is one of Australia’s best choreographers yet sometimes it is hard for EDC to get an audience. Circa is widely known in Europe but not so much in Queensland.

Staunton’s favourite festival is the Galway Theatre Festival.

“This is because the passionate audience wants to listen to new works. There’s an enormous appetite for boutique theatre. I want to grow an audience for contemporary art. A Festival should put the spotlight on the here and now. I’m going to keep offering challenging stuff because of the growing population in Brisbane that wants to hear it”.

“Now, I’m going to sell a project to a sponsor so I must be in my persuasive mode. There’s never enough money but it is how you make the idea work that counts. It’s about the vision, the artist and the intensity”.

Brisbane Festival 7-28 September 2013