FEATURE

PRISCILLA SETTO HIT THE

ROAD

64 CX 15 NOVEMBER 2006 www.juliusmedia.com

A new musical that is a road show. Will it work?Julius Grafton saw the parts in Sydney at presstime

Michael Caton is theserious male lead. Pickwhich one....

www.juliusmedia.com CX 15 NOVEMBER 2006 65

Anew musical that is a roadshow. Will it work? JuliusGrafton saw the parts in

Sydney at presstimeNick Schlieper is strangely relaxed

in the days leading up to previews ofPricilla Queen Of The Desert - TheMusical. His lighting design wasimplemented, with 500 fixedluminares and 60 moving lightshanging in the air at the Lyric Theatrein Sydney. And the bus wasn’tworking as advertised.

This is one of the most anticipatednew Australian musicals of moderntimes, and some would say one ofthe riskiest. When the idea ofmorphing the movie into a musicalwas first floated, many in the industrywere openly skeptical. Some of theskeptics were at the workshop inJanuary, and left impressed enoughto invest in the show.

This is a road show, which is moreabout the journey than the beginningor the end.

“What is to gain by the translationfrom film to the stage”, questions

Nick. He collaborated closely withdesigner Brian Thompson to bring theshow to life, and at rehearsals itcertainly looks like it has the parts ofa winner. The opening, as this issueis printed, will confirm whether

Director Simon Phillips, ChoregrapherRoss Coleman, and Musical DirectorStephen Murphy have meshed thepromising elements into the winnerthat is required.

The producers are Garry McQuinn

By JULIUS GRAFTON

Liz Coops and cast member.

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and Liz Koops, of Back RowProductions, who have sold shares toMichael Chugg, Specific Films, JohnFrost and Allan Scott. Bryce Hallettwrote in the Sydney Morning Heraldthat the show was costing aroundfive hundred thousand dollars a weekto run; and that it needed 65 percenthouses for 37 weeks to break even.Certainly there is optimism, as theLyric Theatre is said to be penciledfor seven months before it tours – ifit does. Talk about the future is partmuted, part boundless. These showstake on a life of their own. The creware circumspect.

There is interest from afar, with talkof a Vegas version. The Americanswere enamored with the film.

Nick Schlieper is keen to show mejust what The Bus will do. He has hadit wired for LED to within an inch ofits chasis. The bus itself is probablythe icon of the show, as it was in themovie. Measuring 9.5 metres, it isthe final of three concepts that weredesigned, and then the winningconcept was made by Stageweld in

Melbourne.“Scale factor is a major part of

this”, says Nick. “The stage is not asmall space. We will use theatre tothe max here, and theatre has itsown language, the close up isdifferent to the film closeup.”

The stage is trimmed with asurround framework that is stylized toremind of the Australian outback.Legs and borders are themed inoutback organge, with pink throughto purple colouring.

‘The box is completed with threebackdrops, so there are three depthsof stage. We have the classicdownstage half scene, the threequarter, and the full depth. Before theaction even leaves Sydney there aresome classic Sydney icons shown.Into that we have added a number ofspecific, styalized objects, like thepub wall at Broken Hill. This is seenfrom behind. Then as we movefurther outback, more corrugated ironcreeps in.”

Then there is The Bus. It looksremarkably real, indeed it has real

parts stuck on. It has a sense ofmovement, even while static. But italso has a tonne or more of batteriesstashed inside to run the rivers oflights that Nick has specified. Theones that are causing grief when Icall around.

“The bus needs to change colour,and unlike the film, we can’t justhave a bunch of people paint it pink.It has been long and involved to getthe design so it works”.

Likewise the automation is notbehaving either, since the bus mustnot only drive forwards but it needsto traverse sideways as well. Theside needs to open up, as a scene isscheduled to be performed within it.

Actors on the bill include MichaelCaton who says he is the serious andstrong male lead. There are 380costumes. Rehearsals started midAugust.

There is plenty of eye candy, as ifthe costumes are not enough. Thereare two LED webs of 10 x 17 metres,hung slightly offset, with a cutout forthe bus. Nick has a run of digital lightcurtain, several flood bars, and 14new Vari-Lite VL 3500Q’s. “There aresix Source 4 auto-yokes – these arerevolutionary”, says Nick. “It’s a realcoloured light source, with a scroller,not a mix.” The balance of themoving lights are Martin Mac 2000s.

“It’s like having one and a halflighting rigs – one conventional, tolight a play with music and oneautomated one over the top”.

Nick has to go and figuresomething out, so I take leave.“Don’t forget to mention Tony Daviesand Chameleon, they have beenfantastic. And very patient with thechanges we have made. The gear isin fantastic nick, we even got 120new Wybron scrollers.”

66 CX15 NOVEMBER 2006 www.juliusmedia.com

Nick Roadkill.

Simone Parratt.

FEATURE

www.juliusmedia.com CX 15 NOVEMBER 2006 67

FOODON THEROAD

In entertainment, designing a touring show based ona kitchen cooking segment is almost too hard. That’swhy no one did it before now.

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ON TOUR

In entertainment, designing atouring show based on a kitchencooking segment is almost too

hard. That’s why no one did it beforenow.

Jamie Oliver has, and his show is ahit everywhere it tours. The showrecently sold out in Australia, and CXsend our resident cooking trainerAmalia Portelli along to review thelights. She doesn’t know anythingabout lights, but boy – she can cook!

Amalia reports that at show timethe house lights dim and two guys(Black Sheep 1 and Black Sheep 2)appear in black curly afro hair wigs.Black Sheep 1 has 70’s flare trousersand does some dance moves at hisDJ equipment.

Black sheep 2 moves the camerathrough the audience, surprisingpeople and zooming in, audiencemembers projected with cheekycaptions. So the vision team are theshow opener.

Jamie Oliver is sitting in theaudience waving, grinning and

reading his own cook book. Themusic gets louder, faster and he runson. The stage was set like an openplanned living area in your home. Thekitchen is centered; to its left is adining table for two, in the far backright corner is a stage with a drum kitand in front of this is a lounge settingarea.

With a loud bang “Jamie” startsthe evening with a drum act thenmoves into his first food demo.There are no dull moments, as partof the audience you are eithercaptured by what “he” is doing, thecamera man, and waiting for thecheeky comments to pop up on thelarge screen.

Some are chosen to participate onstage and get a prize from the “DollyTrolley”- a lady who comes out onstage pushing a shopping trolley fullof Jamie Oliver memorabilia,accompanied by the theme musicfrom The Price is Right. Or maybe itsbest you don’t get chosen; Jamiemight get you to kiss a stranger on

stage or crawl on all fours in a raceto get the “Side Car” a strong, orlet’s say alcoholic drink served in amartini glass.

The show is consistently visual,interactive and you won’t want tomiss a thing. Black Sheep won’t letyou…. you can even see Jamielooking straight back at you when hislooking into his refrigerator via a minicamera in there.

There are video segments at cuedpoints, a support act in GenneroContaldo (Jamie’s mentor), whomwith audience support make a batchof home made pasta and rolls it outto 42 feet. Plus a fine musician whoserenades the audience from time totime during the show.

A fantastic fun show, lots of foodsmells, sing a longs and heaps tosee, says Amalia.

Black Sheep’s Ben Alcott is thedirector, and tours with Jamie aroundthe world to supply video and vision.Richard Neville was the lightingdesigner for the Australian tour.

The show is consistently visual, interactive and you won’t want to miss a thing.

www.juliusmedia.com CX 15 NOVEMBER 2006 69

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