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Australian Musical Theatre Forum - December 4
LATEST: We are very excited to announce that Green Room Award-winning cabaret and musical theatre performer Melissa Langton will be performing as part of the day's presentations! Melissa will be performing songs as supplments to James and Anthony's discussions at 12:30 pm and 1:30 pm.
This free event is not to be missed - CLICK HERE TO BOOK
On Sunday, December 4, Theatre People and Theatre Works will host the Australian Musical Theatre Forum discussing the history of Australian musical theatre and Australian musical theatre today.
Presenters include (L-r below) James Millar, book writer of The Hatpin; Dr Peter Wyllie Johnston, author of From The Melburnian - Essays and Articles 1992-2011: The Broadway Musical – The Australian Musical; Prof. Peter Fitzpatrick, esteemed director and book writer of Flower Children; and Anthony Constanzo, composer of Life's a Circus.
The afternoon will involve presentations by the above experts with performances of songs from the shows being discussed and question time following each presentation. If you're an aspiring performer, composer, or just love Australian musical theatre you simply can't miss this free event!
This project has been supported by the City of Port Phillip through the Cultural Development Fund.
Session 1
12:00 pm Peter Fitzpatrick: "The quest for distinctively Australian stories in an essentially American genre."
12:30 pm James Millar: "Structuring a contemporary Australian musical and the conception of ideas."
Break 1-1:30 pm
Session 2
1:30 pm Anthony Costanzo: "Contemporary Australian musicals vs. the pre-1990s: Musical styles and trends."
2:00 pm Peter Wyllie Johnston: "The Australian musical since 1920 - separating fact from fantasy."
End 2:30 pm
Date: 04 Dec 2011
Time: 12pm
Price: Free - bookings required
Una questiona per favore
I had a question I wanted to ask Anthony today but didn't get a chance to.
Do you think the trend towards more contemporary 'pop' music influenced scores has caused to the demise of the Soprano voice in Musical Theatre? Is the Musical Theatre Soprano an endangered species or just not what the audiences expect from the 'modern musical'?
And with the shift to the expectation that Musical Theatre = belting the pants off everything, how do you think this will affect career longevity & voice quality?
Thankyou and thoughts
Hi Ian,
Was sad that I missed this event... but very pleased that the conversation is continuing! I think too often in film, contemporary music and theatre we try too hard to 'be' australian. We are Australian, and all we need to share is our stories. I've just come back to Melbourne after a week touring WA. Our land is breathtaking and unique and awe inspiring. It filters into our lives whether we live in the cities or rural areas and yes, it filters into our voices too.
I probably disagree with the concept that the Aussie accent is 'un-singable'... I think this responsibility lies with us all as teachers, directors and producers of creative products that we encourage and empower people to find their own voice and sing with their own unique tone and not follow 'trends' or 'copy' other products from around the world unless of course it is part of who we are! (noting that part of our Aussie beauty is our multiculturalism)
I'd like us to stop trying to be Aussie and just be... Our very best is pretty amazing!
Cheers, Mirra.
Re: Thankyou and thoughts
Hi Mirra,
You're right - our accent isn't entirely 'unsingable' but when you hear a real Australian accent sung (like Missy Higgins' work that James, I think, discussed) it can be a bit confronting when we're constantly surrounded by American or neutral accents in pop music. I'm just concerned about how far removed our accent is from the pure Italian vowel sounds of classical singing and, if we were to write shows that 'sing' with our own accent, if audiences would even accept them and, more importantly, if they would be financially successful (that also came up a lot in today's discussion).
Re: Australian Musical Theatre Forum
What a fantastic Sunday afternoon! Thanks again to everyone who came and, especially, our inspiring presenters.
We all agreed we'd like to continue the discussion here on the site so please feel free to post your thoughts/questions below using the Comments feature.
I'd like to start the ball rolling with a question of my own. Nearly every presenter spoke about how shows 'sing' and the importance of finding the Australian 'voice' in a musical, but I'm wondering how, with the influence of an American popular music vernacular and our innately 'unsingable' accent filled with dipthongs and other delights, as well as the importance of audience accessibility as was discussed many times, can we use our true, Australian voice/accent in Australian musicals whilst still making them commercially viable/profitable? Sure, we can talk in Australian accents on stage, but can our accent be readily transposed into song? What do you think? Happy discussing!
It's an interesting point
It's an interesting point that comes up a lot in Australian theatre because there seems to be something about our accents that we find crude or funny-sounding. A big contributor to this could be the huge exposure we have to American and English media. We hardly hear our accents on television, let alone in theatre, so when we do hear it in a performance scenario it sounds weird or wrong. So automatically we avoid them. For instance, the minute I pick up a Shakespeare piece I will recite it in what I'd call a refined Australian-almost-English accent and my fellow students tend to as well. A strong Aussie accent while reciting Hamlet will turn many people off. So what does this mean for our theatre? The other thing is no one wants to hear an American do an Australian accent (let's face it, it almost always sounds ridiculous) so if a musical about Australians goes oversees, that could really change the sound of the piece. Thoughts?
I'd certainly agree Emily
I'd certainly agree Emily that hearing an Australian show performed by American performers would change the sound of it entirely. One need not look further than sketch comedy such as Monty Python's 'Bruce' skit to hear how absurd we can sound to others. It's strange because in our day-to-day conversation, most cultures would believe their own accent to be neutral and any others to be the abnormalities. It's only when we hear the Aussie accent as portrayed by another nationality or just in comparison to another accent that we realise the inflections that make us, us. But you're right in saying that we are almost conditioned to 'hear' certain pieces in certain voices - perhaps we need an 'Occa Othello' or a 'Bogan Macbeth' to desensitise ourselves from it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f_p0CgPeyA
"Anything too stupid to be said is sung." - Voltaire.