The part of Velma is one she’s played around the world and the Australian tour of Chicago was her first ever journey to Perth.
Soon she’ll be back again for one night only to present her cabaret show on the main stage at His Majesty’s Theatre.
OUTinPerth recently spoke to Caroline, who was in Paris undertaking final rehearsals in a production of Sweeny Todd, preparing to take on the role of Mrs Lovett.
Last year Caroline O’Connor wowed Perth audiences with her entrancing portrayal of Velma Kelly in Chicago.
‘It’s extraordinary. I used to often think to myself wouldn’t it be lovely to get to play this role, not thinking that anyone would cast me, I didn’t imagine. The call came out of nowhere’, O’Connor tells us on the phone from her Paris hotel.
The opportunity to play one of Sondheim’s great roles had certainly come out of the blue.
The original actress dropped out of the production two weeks into rehearsals, leaving the producers scrambling to find a replacement.
On top of that, Sondheim himself was set to attend the final rehearsals and opening night of the show. O’Connor admits the impending arrival of the legendary composer does add some extra pressure,
‘Everyone’s really nervous, but excited too, I mean what an honour for the person who wrote the show to come and see a production that you’re in. It really is scary, because he’s such a genius and you want to do his work such justice.’
O’Connor certainly lived up to expectation, after the opening night the 80-year-old Sondheim declared O’Connor to be the best Mrs Lovett he had ever heard. Could there be any stronger declaration that O’Connor is at the top of her game.
Caroline O’Connor has found success on stage in a wide range of musicals around the globe, and also had memorable films roles in Moulin Rouge and De-Lovely.
She tell us when started her journey in the mid- 1980’s she realised that she would have to leave Australia to find the training and experiences she wanted, so she returned to England the country of her birth.
Selected as part of the chorus of the revival production of Me and My Girl in 1986, O’Connor worked her way up through the ranks to become an understudy and the dance captain. Her experience led to more opportunities in Cabaret and A Chorus Line.
O’Connor notes that once you get on the treadmill, people begin to remember who you are, the auditions get easier and there was a lot more work overseas than there was in Australia.
While she originally only planned to be away for a few years, O’Connor’s journey saw her working constantly overseas for 14 years. When she came to return to Australia, she discovered that she would have to re-emigrate. O’Connor admits she hadn’t realised that after such a long stint overseas she would lose her Australian residency.
‘I didn’t realise that after ten years I wouldn’t be allowed back. Oh My God! I don’t want to not live in Australia. No way, I just love it, so I went through the whole process again, and I’m a citizen now. I wouldn’t want to give up Australia for anything.’
Now O’Connor resides in Australia, but is constantly travelling, performing in many countries. O’Connor also believes it’s important to keep seeing the work that other artists are doing.
‘You can walk down Shaftesbury Avenue or anywhere in the West End, see the National Theatre, and see just wonderful performers and learn from watching them, that’s what it’s all about, because there’s nothing like that experience.
‘That’s why I go to New York regularly to see what’s going on, because it feeds you, it feeds your enthusiasm.
Because when you’ve been doing it such a long time, I mean I started when I was nineteen, I think sometimes people can become a bit jaded and a bit stuck in their ways and become comfortable. I kind of like to see, other possibilities.’
O’Connor is enthusiastic about her upcoming cabaret show in Perth that is set to include tunes from many of the shows she has performed in and songs from women who have inspired her in her career like Garland, Piaf and Merman.
O’Connor also acknowledges that another performer on The Maj’s Cabaret and Comedy Carnivale program, Chita Rivera is also one of her heroes.
‘She’s one of my inspirations, because she can do all three, and she did it brilliantly on film and on stage. Eight shows a week and wonderful filmic performances too. And created roles as well, which are fantastic, roles that other people want to play. I think that’s very exciting.
‘When I did the Broadway 10 year anniversary concert of Chicago she was present for that and she did All That Jazz. She was at rehearsal and I sat next to her and we chatted and it was surreal for me to be around her.
And she is so loved, she is such Broadway royalty, and she’s still kicking it, it’s unbelievable’.
Caroline O’Connor performs at His Majesty’s Theatre on Thursday 26th May.
Graeme Watson
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