The West Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) is getting ready for quite possibly the biggest theatrical extravaganza ever staged as part of its theatre season.
Cole Porter’s Anything Goes will be springing to life at the Regal Theatre this June.
Appearing in the cast is Sydney ex-pat, Ed Grey, ensuring the comedic farce of Porter’s classic stage show is kept up to par.
‘Anything Goes is a musical that is a kind of farce,’ Grey explained.
‘It was written by Cole Porter, but this production is very much jazzed up and sexed up. It’s a very fun piece of musical theatre.
‘If you like Glee you’ll like anything goes.’
It’s a musical known for its music, including I Get a Kick Out of You, You’re the Top and the irrepressible title song Anything Goes, songs which are now jazz standards.
‘Songs that were once written for the show are now all pretty much famous in there own right,’ Grey added.
But Anything Goes is more than just the music: it’s a love story filled with slapstick fun.
‘It’s a case of mistaken identity,’ Grey pointed out.
‘It’s very Shakespearian in how everything comes together in the end. There’s love triangles and love squares and love pentagons. It gets very complicated.’
The play centres around Billy Crocker, a stock broking stowaway on a cruise liner who falls in love with Hope Harcourt, heartbreaking heiress who happens to be engaged to Lord Evelyn Oakleigh.
Billy is assisted in his quest for true love by a nightclub singer and Public Enemy #13, who helps win the heart… and hand… of Hope.
It’s the process of getting there which proves quite comical.
Grey himself plays the Ship’s Purser.
‘To be honest he’s not a big role… but then it’s how you use it,’ Grey said with a wry smile.
‘It’s farcical, it’s a bit old school musical comedy where there are lots of sequences where there are people missing each other by seconds, opening doors and shutting doors, people dressed as other people and some funny Asian people who, if the play had been written today, would never have made it past the first draft.’
Grey agreed that the sheer scope of this show is something to behold.
‘It’s by far the biggest show WAAPA has ever done. It’s three decks of a ship, there’s moving bits of scenery, there’s dogs… real dogs… there’s just so much that’s gone into this, its quite extreme. There are hundreds of costumes.
‘The set itself is humongous, which will be housed at the Regal theatre where we’ll be including a huge orchestra.’
Of course musicals haven’t always been cool, but now they’re on the small screen every week it seems that everyone loves a little sing-a-long.
‘Recently there’s been more movie musicals made and now that Glee has come out it’s all kind of in vogue to actually have people singing on our small screens at home and in the theatres.
‘I think it’s becoming more and more acceptable for people. It’s less of a faux pas to go and see a musical with someone you like.
But with this mainstream acceptance comes a backlash.
Newsweek writer Ramin Setoodeh questioned the authenticity of gay actors playing straight characters, singling out Glee’s Jonathon Groff and his straight role in the TV show.
‘It’s so anachronistic to have something like that said now,’ Grey said of Setoodeh’s comments.
‘Gay actors can play straight just as well as straight can play gay. It doesn’t even factor into my head. It just strikes me as bizarre and so totally odd. What is different about every other aspect you act about someone?
‘And I don’t think it’s true about people looking fey on screen if they’re gay in their actual lives. There are gay actors who do wonderful jobs both here and internationally and I think it’s a stupid and ridiculous thing to say.’
It’s a passion such as this which is sure to make Grey memorable when he hits the stage for Anything Goes.
And as a young actor graduating from one of the best schools in the country it’s clear to see where that passion has come from: he said that if WAAPA taught him anything, it was a sense of ownership and autonomy.
So advice for aspiring WAAPA kids?
‘Go for it,’ Grey said.
‘Train up. Skills are important. When you come into an audition people want to see you displaying your toolbox with your skills set out. You need more colours in your palette so to speak.’
Anything Goes opens at The Regal Theatre from June 11 to 19. Tickets are available now. www.ticketek.com.au
Scott-Patrick Mitchell
