Weary

Rick’s life on sta ge

Stefan Bradley

LATE, Late At Night, a play celebrating Rick Springfield, is coming to the Stratford Courthouse Theatre on Saturday, June 3. Written by award-winning Australian playwright, Kieran Carroll, Late, Late At

Night is a new stage adaptation of Rick

Springfield’s 2010 memoir of the same name.

Self-penned, the memoir is written (except for the opening chapter) in chronological form from the 1950s through to 2010. The work traces Springfield’s Australian and British childhood, his early music days in Australia, his rollercoaster ride in 1970s America and the huge pop and acting successes of the 1980s. This is followed by his fall from public view, his mental health demise, and finally, the resurrection of Rick Springfield as an artist in the 21st century. The aim of this biographical and musical stage adaptation – much like the result of the memoir – is to go far beyond Rick’s popular pop image or what he is best remembered for on the 1980s pop charts. This stage adaptation captures the heart and essence of Springfield’s major concerns and musings: depression, God, no God, his parents, self-motivation, a long sustaining career, love versus sex, music versus acting, his wife and sons, the way America shaped him and what he left behind in Australia as he built his career to lead the seemingly glamorous and not-so-glamorous expatriate life. This play adaptation is written as a two act, one-man work. Springfield moves between the text and the songs throughout. Mr Carroll told the Gippsland Times that he contacted Rick Springfield’s management after reading the autobiography to propose a stage adaptation. “Permission was granted and I began working on the play in 2018. It’s been a longish but very good process,” Mr Carroll said.

“Both Rick and his management were very helpful and supportive with my endeavours. The show is starting in Victoria, going to NSW and we eventually hope to take it to America.

“I was well aware of Rick Springfield’s 80s successes and had followed more recent work. Before writing the play, I was less au fait with his 70s albums but I did know Zoot, the 60s band he had with Darryl Cotton and Beeb Birtles. He’s had 22 solo albums and my admiration for his work ethic has grown and grown. He’s an Australian star, 17 Top 40 US hits, but this is not widely known in Australia.

“Rick hasn’t seen the show yet. The video is on the way! We are right at the beginning of the touring so I’m looking forward to his thoughts. He has read the script though and likes it very much. There are no changes from the book. It’s a very accurate mirroring of the autobiography.”

Performing the role of Rick Springfield in the play will be Sydney pop singer and actor Jackson Carroll (no relation to Kieran Carroll).

“Jackson has a fantastic voice, similar looks, fine acting skills and like Springfield, a great work ethic. Jackson does an incredible job with a demanding role and the audience gets 20 great Springfield songs across his vast career during the two-hour, ten-minute performance,” Mr Carroll said.

“It will be a great night and grab your tickets early! I am sure they will go fast if the other show sales are any indication.

“The Stratford Courthouse Theatre is a perfect space and size for a one man performance and we were very keen to bring the show to Gippsland. The venue also has a lot of old world charm. I kind of imagine Zoot playing there in about 1970!”

Tickets: https://www.trybooking.com/ BXKVP

Play your part in a Wilde play

Bond Street preparing for busy tim me this June

Tom Parry

WITH the pandemic subsiding and life returning to a relative normality, the Bond Street Event Centre is set to have a bumper June. Manager David Willington has announced that the venue will restart its regular poetry nights from Thursday, June 16. “The poetry nights are great opportunity for budding poets to test their poetry on a friendly, supportive crowd,” Mr Willington said. “The nights also provide people who are new to poetry to gain valuable performance experience and to meet with other like-minded people.” The announcement has made been made following great public interest in the poetry nights returning to the venue, which ceased running during the pandemic. Initially facilitated by local poet Ella Anderson, the events have been known to offer a wide variety of content, ranging from videos of beat poets to classic literature, bush poetry to contemporary works. According to Mr Willington, the latter works could be quite abstract and obscure. “Some of it’s pretty edgy, maybe sometimes it gets to boundaries of good taste; but I think most people would know that there’s a boundary, so they don’t tend to cross it,” Mr Willington said. “That’s what contemporary poetry’s about, in a way – provoking and pushing the boundaries a bit, but not too much.” The Centre plans to hold regular poetry recitals on the third Thursday of every month, with each recital beginning at 7pm. Entry is $5 and a light supper will be provided. In the more immediate future, the venue will be staging its second Art Extravaganza this Friday, June 3. The event will feature music from two local artists, Gerry Laughton and John Boyle, who will be playing their own original songs. Mr Laughton, who lives in Maffra, was one of the founding members of the well-known rock group Amunda (1985) who toured the majority of Australia from remote outback venues to major city centres. Mr Boyle is a renowned singer/songwriter who lives in Sale, and has been writing songs off-and-on for more than 40 years. Both Gerry and John are often seen busking at the clocktower on Raymond Street. Along with Gerry and John, Ella Anderson will be “Zooming in” with a few poems from Cairns. A raffle, a short trivia quiz on local history and several short, locally-produced home movies will also be featured on the night.

Bond Street Event Centre manager David Willington is ready for the return of poetry nights from Thursday, June 16. It will feature in what is going to be a bumper month of events for the venue.

Photo: Tom Parry

AFTER a successful sell-out season of the musical extravaganza Mamma Mia at The Wedge, Maffra Dramatic Society are gearing up for their next major production of 2022, The Importance of Being Earnest. A classic comedy written by Oscar Wilde in the late nineteenth century, auditions will be held for the play from 7pm tomorrow (Wednesday, June 1) at the newly relocated and renovated Maffra Neighbourhood House (corner of Thomson and Church Streets, Maffra). Maffra Dramatic Society president Grant van Brummelen said the production has been a long time in the making. “We’ve wanted to perform this one for a few years now, so we’re obviously thrilled that the time has come to do Earnest,” he said. It will also mark the first straight play that Maffra Dramatics has produced since their season of Blithe Spirit in May 2021, which was impacted by not only COVID but the local floods as well. “It has been a long and tough couple of years for live entertainment and theatregoers, so to get back to doing what we love without too much fear of lockdowns and restrictions is really wonderful,” Mr van Brummelen said.

The Importance of Being Earnest follows two young men who have taken to bending the truth in order to put some excitement into their lives. One has invented a brother, Ernest, whom he uses as an excuse to leave his dull life behind, whilst the other decides to take the name Ernest to catch the attention of a young and beautiful ward. Things start to go awry when they end up together in the country and their deceptions are discovered. The production will be performed on October 14 at Heyfield Memorial Hall, and on October 21 and 22 at The Wedge in Sale. For more information, head to www. maffradramatics.com.au