Home  News Latest Blog Part 5 - Post Show Thoughts
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Blog Part 5 - Post Show Thoughts |
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So 2007 – the year of F**ked – comes to a close. For me it’s been a year of incredibly hard work, learning and reward.
I haven’t written here for a while, so I thought I’d let you in on what the post F**ked period has been like for me. The season finished with some great reviews – as well as some really nasty ones, and I’d have to say we seemed to divide audiences in the same way. A lot of people really loved the show, and got what I was trying to do, while for others …
Let me put it this way. I was sitting in the foyer and a couple of 30 something women exited the theatre to the bar. They commented to the FOH girl (and unknowingly me as well) “That’s just so not Menopause the Musical…” and off they went for another champagne.
Fair Cop. This show definitely isn’t Menopause, or Dusty, or whatever. For me it was a conscious attempt to do something different, and interesting in a theatrical form I’m passionate about. I guess in spite of what I wanted and thought, this show isn't for everyone.
I also think maybe we set up the wrong expectations as well. If those audience members were expecting something like Menopause, then they had every right to walk out. The flipside of that is if they had perhaps known exactly what they were attending, they might not have come in the first place…
Some of that is probably how we marketed it (sponsoring the Vega brekky show was probably the wrong idea) and also I’m quite sure the title had a lot to do with it as well.
Where we got to by the end of the season was we had audiences who had heard what the show actually was, and came to see it because they wanted to be part of it. So they were smaller, but enthusiastic and responsive.
We closed the season, drank too much, and returned to normal life.
Everyone suffers a post show slump, and EF has been such a big part of my life for such a long time it was inevitable I’d catch the flu and need a break. So I headed up to Byron Bay and had my family join me a few days later. Beach, friends, good food, and a chance to reconnect with Lesley and the kids.
I also began an analysis period on the project as I weighed up what we did right (a lot of things), what we did wrong ( a lot of things) and whether I thought the rewards of creating a show like EF justified the effort and sacrifice needed to create it. Inevitably you end up focussing on the negatives – like the reviews, and work out how to deal with that.
I guess I also started questioning what musicals can and should be. Are they nothing more than a diversion – something to cheer you up? A quick piss take of the form when a lot of audiences seem to say that’s what they want? Or should they attempt to be something else? Did I forget about the audience at times in order to make something I hadn’t seen before? Maybe for some people I did.
The most important thing for me has been to spend some time away from the score and come back and see what it is I made, without all the baggage and exhaustion associated with getting it up.
I am immensely proud of the score, the recording, and the performances we captured for the CD. The CD has been selling all around the world, and, as well as buying it here, you can get it through stores in Melbourne, US. U.K. and Europe. Middle 8 music have been great at getting the CD out there, and I would like to say that Max and Shane have been awesome.
We also made an incredible show, and I can say without question, that what was on stage, was what I had always imagined the show could be. From Abbie’s sexy cool of Red, to Andre’s driven Jack. Andre and I are so similar it’s scary sometimes. Alex and Lisa, were also amazing, and watching their roles develop and the joy and passion of songs like Belle Tells and Adam’s Call were things I’ll always remember. Geoff reminded me yet again of why he is one of Australia’s best directors of new Australian material, by the way he got this script out of me and on to the stage. The rest of the production crew, Bob, Kathryn, Vel, Dave, Mark, – you guys know I love you all.
The Adelaide Festival Centre too, need to be thanked in all of this as well. The show absolutely could never have happened without Nick and Karen’s enthusiasm and belief in the project. I found myself wishing we could have had the box office they wanted – even when we had 2500 people come and see this new Australian music theatre work. All of the AFCT people were great as well – and I hope they’ll have me back sometime.
At any rate – the news here is the show’s still alive. We still hope to organise a national tour – and I’m just finalising the resources to assist in organising that. There’s other exciting news for EF – but I’ll wait a bit longer to tell you here. Don't want to jinx it.
Finally, thanks to everyone who came and saw the show, or bought the CD or a T shirt, or who just dropped an email or phone call to say chookas, or that they liked the songs on the website. They have meant a lot to me in the period since the Adelaide season finished, and it’s for you that the show’s life continues.
Cheers all, and all the best for 2008
Sean
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