“The Moment” is Almost Here
Coral Drouyn gives her take on the media launch of Jekyll and Hyde, perhaps the most anticipated Musical Theatre Premiere in a decade.
Well it’s taken 18 years, but finally “The Moment” is something we can start counting down to….December 8th this year. And YES (no disrespect to Mister Teddy Tahu Rhodes) we all hoped we would get to see Anthony Warlow in the role, since he has practically made the show’s anthem his own; and YES he was indeed approached but believes himself to now be of an age where he could not perform such a role eight shows a week, and is too old for the part. Timing alone is to blame for that. But it would be silly to focus on what isn’t….when what IS promises to be so exciting.
About 40 of us gathered for the media announcement which was already an open secret anyway. Anyone who came for a coffee was disappointed… because there wasn’t any. Just an innocent question…. Why is it that the press….who promote new productions so that group booking organisers can read and develop interest …don’t warrant a cup of coffee anymore and yet Group organisers (party bookings) get gourmet nibbles and champagne….surely it’s not JUST about sales? Just asking….naively.
That aside, it is always entertaining to see John Frost (I apologise for calling him Frosty the Showman) do his thing. He is a consummate raconteur with the ability to connect to any audience. On stage with him was CEO of Opera Australia, Craig Hassall, and the two had a marvellous comedy double act going. With Lano and Woodley no longer a duo, and Abbott and Costello (!) long deceased – there is certainly a place for Hassall and Frost on the Comedy Festival circuit (I’ll let them argue over billing). Seriously, it was a highly entertaining pitch for what could have been an ordinary launch. Frost told us that he plans to milk the anthem “This Is The Moment” by having Teddy Tahu Rhodes sing it at ALL Grand Finals….AFL, Rugby and Soccer; and Hassall bemoaned being there while his artistic director was “lying on a beach somewhere” in “Landlocked Switzerland”. All great chuckles which put us at ease.
We then learned that the production will have a Tim Burton Steam Punk look and feel, thanks to the incredible designer Gabriella Tylesova: that the show has been re-imagined with the order of some numbers changed, and John told us there is a legion of Jekyll and Hyde fans called Jekkies … who will most probably object to such sacrilege. Craig Hassall asked Teddy TR how it felt to be playing BOTH male leads in the same show at the same time. John introduced the incomparable Jemma Rix and explained how he auditioned her for Wicked under the stage in a concrete bunker …where she sang ‘Defying Gravity’ and, he swears, cracked the concrete ceiling. He introduced Lucy Maunder who gave us anecdotes of touring in Korea and then TTR sang THE Song … admittedly the sound wasn’t great and it was early in the day, but nevertheless several attendees got goosebumps.
There isn’t any doubt this is going to be a HUGE production, opening as it does just before Christmas, and at the most perfect theatre…the Gothic Princess in Melbourne. Afterwards the three posed for a picture….and the female stars kept my Stage Whispers copies. Which proves they have great taste along with exquisite talent.
Top promo image - photographer Jeff Busby.
Lower: Jemma Rix, Teddy Tahu Rhodes and Lucy Maunder check out Stage Whispers.
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