Theatre's Next Crop
20th May 2008
By Nathan Eva

"Amy is one of the rare performers who regardless of if they are centre-front or buried in the ensemble, you can’t take your eyes off them." - TP Review Return - From The Forbidden Planet

"His voice is a standout and was a highlight of many of the musical numbers. Watch out for this talented boy…remember his name!" -  TP Review - Urinetown
 

Imagine landing one of the biggest roles in music theatre in one of the biggest companies in Victorian theatre. Having to *shiver* sing, dance and act! Then add in playing opposite the new hottest thing on the music theatre scene. Sound scary? Well meet Amy Larsen, Millie in Catchment's Thoroughly Millie. Her Jimmy Smith is Nick Kong. Nick has become a drawcard in musical theatre – his name synonymous with quality productions. I’ve been watching him on stage now for 9 years and never had met the man. So Nick and Amy were good enough to let me take sometime out of their day to let the theatre public into life as a kid growing up in the country, moving to Melbourne, Thoroughly Modern Millie and the Music Theatre world.

For all of you who don’t know Nick and Amy here is a recap
of their last 5 shows.

Nick

Bare – Peter – Shoosh
Mary Bryant – Jamie Cox - Magnormos Musicals
Songs for a New World - Man 1 – Octave Theatre
Putting It Together – Shoosh
Shout – Deltone Brian Perkins- CLOC

Amy

Donna Marie – Blood Brothers - CLOC
Miranda – Return to the Forbidden Planet - Fab Nobs
Silly Girl - Beauty & the Beast – Whitehorse
Miss Adelaide - Guys and Dolls - Windmill
Ensemble – Steel Pier – CLOC

Thoroughly Modern Millie

So Nick I guess first things first how is the show going? “Fantastic, It is worth seeing just to see Amy Larsen as Millie. Alana Kiely is phenomenal, she is hilarious as Dorothy. It’s fantastic to be working with these two again. Amy is amazing! Millie is on for 90% of the show and it is in very, very capable hands. Oh the rest of the cast is great too, Dolly’s sets are fantastic. The musical direction by Ben is remarkable and James and Nathan’s direction is hilarious. They wanted to do this show for 4 years and you can really tell, they are so passionate about it and everything is really thought out.”

Opening last Friday night with the biggest role that’s she’s ever played, Amy, being the seasoned performer she is didn’t let it get to her. “It’s the biggest role I’ve played since Eliza Doolittle (My Fair Lady) and I did get a bit nervous in the first number it all went well from there. We got a good response from the crowd but I am drained now!”

I asked Amy what makes her interpretation of Millie unique, “I would say there are a couple of parallels that I’ve drawn on. The main being moving from Traralgon to Melbourne like Millie moved from Kansas to New York. I was only 17 and I was trying to work out what I wanted in life and I think that’s the same with Millie, she thinks that she wants to marry her boss and finds out what she wants is quite different. I’ve used a lot of my own experiences and really tried to take her on a journey. She’s quite a determined character and I’d like to think I’m like that.”

As Nick mentioned, Millie is on 90% of the time and this can not be an easy feat. Amy said that it was one of routine. “It was really tough but now running every night you don’t have to think about it. I run off stage, change costume, drink water and run back on. That and the scenes are really long. It is really satisfying because it’s so challenging. I’m tap dancing so much and singing and acting, its hard work but it’s really satisfying.”

With such a demanding role Amy chooses to drink water and eat lollies backstage.

Asking Nick what song will take our breath away I couldn’t get out the full sentence before he exclaimed “ ‘Gimme, Gimme’ sung by Amy. It’s such a powerhouse song and my favourite in the show. Its great working with Amy again, I first worked with her in Oliver when I was 10. I had the biggest crush on her then, but I don’t think she noticed me. (laughs) Millie is such a feel good show and it is fantastic to do this after the intensity of Bare”

I then let Amy reveal all about her experiences with Mille.

Amy on working with James and Nathan: “probably the most wonderful director and choreographer that I’ve ever worked with. They have had such a vision from the start and they could always tell me what they wanted. Because they had such a creative vision and were so inspiring that the whole cast wanted to live up to their expectations. James is a really good people person and he is an amazing communicator. Nathan helped me develop my character so much. He had such clear ideas and really knows what he wants”

Amy on working with Catchment: “lovely company, they are really family orientated, so friendly and do the best they possibly can for the cast and the production team. It’s a pleasure to work with, the atmosphere reminds me of a country company from back home.

Amy on working with Nick: “Great! It’s really weird, we worked together when we were little and we have really both developed as people and performers in that time. We worked really well together from the word go.”

Regional

Nick and Amy both started back in 1996 with La Trobe Theatre Company in Oliver. Nick’s mum made him audition because he was an introverted child and hated sports. I thought this would have been hard growing up for Nick with Traralgon being so sport orientated but he never really felt the pressure. He swam and played tennis but never felt he needed to conform to the world of football which is very strong in Traralgon. Amy on the other hand had a different reaction from her mother. “I auditioned for the Artful Dodger. My mum told me I shouldn’t be auditioning for a boy’s part and I should go for Bet, but I ended up getting it.”

Amy, who went to Traralgon High School found there were not many opportunities at school so she found comfort in La Trobe and Warragul Theatre companies playing various roles including Kathy Selden in Singing in the Rain and Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, both resulting in guild nominations. “From young age I’ve had a passion for theatre. I’ve been dancing since when I was 5 but I was better at singing and acting. I guess it stemmed from my family. I was in my mother’s womb while she was performing a Gilbert and Sullivan.”

In juxtaposition, Nick received a music scholarship when entering high school at St. Paul’s in Warragul. From here his singing talents were nurtured in many extra curricular groups and from the support of his drama teacher. He was later sent to Melbourne where his talent was realised and was offered free singing lessons. It wasn’t long before Nick found himself emersed in musical theatre with plenty of opportunities presented to him at the local theatre company (Barnaby Tucker – Hello Dolly, Tony – West Side Story) and at one stage 4 different singing teachers. Even after he left Nick’s name and voice still resonated around St. Paul’s. In an audition earlier this year I met a girl who had just finished high school and all she wanted to do was get into a show in the city so she could sing a duet with Nick Kong (who had been a year 12 when she started high school).

After moving down to the city to study a Bachelor of Arts at Melbourne University Nick quickly acquired a taste for the Melbourne theatre scene in the Uni’s production of Threepenny Opera where he played Maceath. The thing that stood out for him the most was the choice and the abundance of musical theatre in Melbourne. “It’s incredible, that people like Sunny (Devanesen) can do the Wild Party and Octave can do Bat Boy which wouldn’t see the light of day in the country.” Leaving such a tight knit community is always hard but finding the city was less secular and with a different culture and different people Nick soon found a home in Blackburn. Amy was first spotted in Mack and Mabel for CLOC and playing Sandy in Grease (Windmill). Often going between leads and chorus so I asked Amy what she thought on the situation. “People focus on getting a leads so much. Sometimes you can have the best time and meet the best people in an ensemble.”

Nick’s advice for regional performers moving to the city - “I don’t want to give advice I’ll sound all up myself ah umm ok. Don’t take theatre too seriously. If you don’t get into a show or a part don’t worry another one will come along. Is that alright it didn’t sound too bad? (laughs)”

Amy breathed in, thought and said: “join a local theatre company and get to know people and do what you love. It is harder in the city.”

Bare, Performing & The “Amy Larsen” effect

The talk has now been around since February after his breath-taking performance in Bare, Nick Kong already with 2 guild nominations and 3 performances at the 2007 awards will finally join the guild award winners list. Nick paused, thought and said “Peter was the ultimate goal and Bare was the ultimate show to be in. The cast was fantastic, the director’s were amazing to work with, anything on top of just being in Bare is a bonus. I know it’s a bit wanky but I don’t care about me but I hope the show itself gets recognised.”

People do often say to Nick that he does do too many shows. While being in Bare he was also doing Mary Bryant. With both shows being so intense it is nothing short of astounding that he came out the other end. Both creative teams were able to work together to make sure that Nick could do both. As Nick says, while he’s at uni and while he’s young, why not. There may not be a next time.

With so many shows being put on each year it is often just as hard deciding on what show to audition for as auditioning itself. Nick tends to look for shows that may not be around again. (Bare, Wild Party, Putting It Together) He enjoys something that is challenging, has a good production team, what’s the standard of the cast and company and what you can do with the role. That is what drew him to Millie because it had all of those things.

The one question I did want to ask Nick was one of ethnicity. Coming from a family where his Dad is Asian and his Mum is Australian and the lack of diversity we see in Music Theatre whether this was a hindrance to his career. “I’ve been thinking about this the past few days. I hope the audiences intellect would overlook casting. In Mary Bryant a Greek girl and I played two English people, with accents I would hope the audience would be accepting of ethnicity. It shouldn’t matter on your background it should matter on your performance. Les Mis is French but they cast people who aren’t French. Same with AIDA there are no Egyptians cast in that. If all audiences see is colour than that is plain stupidity.”

Growing up with Amy Larsen performing down the road, all of my older guy friends all swooned over her. Once I moved down to Melbourne boys still seem to go ‘ga-ga’ just by mentioning the name Amy Larsen. So I asked her about the “Amy Larsen” effect. “*laughs* I don’t know, oh I don’t think so, it very flattering. Back home I had all these country boys chasing me, I was apparently Nick’s first kiss, behind a mental asylum.”

Quick Questions

Amy and Nick have left such a mark on the Victorian theatre already there is no doubt that Millie will be no different. Amy’s strength in all three performance areas and her experience will no doubt shine in Thoroughly Modern Millie showing audiences why she is one of the hottest faces in the musical theatre scene.

For such a young performer Nick shows wisdom and maturity beyond his years, not only on stage but also in person. His appreciation for the people around him and the chances he has been given are often overlooked by many performers. With an unmatched talent, a passionate drive and the support of people around him make sure if you haven’t seen a Nick Kong show, you see one shortly. It can only be a matter of time before this young man makes his mark on the theatre world.
 

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