UA31316 Lumen Spring 2024 Final Digital - Flipbook - Page 20
Music
Making
a magnificent
song and dance
Noted Australian actor, writer and
director James Millar wasn’t quite
sure what he was getting himself
into last year when he was asked
to direct students in a production
for the University’s f ledgling
Music Theatre program.
What he discovered was a
world-class program already
launching careers around
the globe.
As a performer and creative in musical theatre, the words
‘Would you like to direct Sweeney Todd for us?’ couldn’t be
more exciting… or daunting.
The piece, which premiered on Broadway in 1979 with a book
by the much-lauded Hugh Wheeler and score and lyrics by the
inimitable Stephen Sondheim, comes with a rich and wonderful
history. As dark as it is funny, as psychologically complex as it is
achingly romantic, as frightening as it is tender, it comes with a
hefty level of responsibility to honour its legacy as one of
Sondheim’s most popular works.
So, when I had a phone call to ask if I’d like to direct the
graduating third year students at the Elder Conservatorium’s Music
Theatre course, I had to cast any trepidation aside and launch into
it with a great deal of excitement and gratitude; not only because of
the challenges and lofty creative heights of the piece, but because
I’d heard so much about this (relatively new) course, and the
achievements of its graduating students.
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