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Perth, |
Crack riders gather 'to the fray'
"There was movement on the station,
for the word had passed around that the
colt from old Regret had got
away." The Man From Snowy
River Arena Spectacular is coming to town - for two
shows. Along with an
extraordinary amount of equipment comes a cast of
150 performers, dancers and singers. Among the stellar
cast that includes Charles Bud Tingwell, Georgie
Parker, Steve Bisley and Lee Kernaghan, is former
Floreat resident Martin Crewes as The Man from
Snowy River himself. This is the first
show that Martin has done in Perth since graduating
from the WA Academy of Performing Arts in
1990. Martin and his
family have all been involved in Perth's local
theatre scene. His sister Amanda is an actor, just
finishing a season of Lipstick Dreams for Handzon
lunchtime theatre. His parents, David and
Elizabeth, and his aunt, Marie, Martin and Amanda
were all deeply involved in Floreat's community
theatre group, Playlovers, for many
years. Martin vividly
recalls sitting in a darkened auditorium at about
six years of age, watching his father rehearse and
knowing that that was what he wanted to do when he
grew up. "I didn't know I
was going to go into musicals," he said. "But as
soon as I auditioned for musical theatre I knew
this was it. This was just meant to be." Since his
graduation Martin has toured the world playing all
sorts of musical roles, including Marius in the
Australian touring production of Les
Miserables. "We had a fantastic
nine-month tour through Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea
and South Africa," Martin said. He said that when
the London director of the show, Cameron
Mackintosh, saw the Australian cast in action he
was so excited he closed the show in London for 10
days and revamped it. Martin played
Marius on the West End stage for seven
months. After a series of
musical theatre roles in productions ranging from
the Wizard of Oz to West Side Story, South Pacific,
Pal Joey and Hair, Martin is riding high in the
arena spectacular, The Man From Snowy
River. Could Martin ride a
horse? "I can now," he
replied dryly. Martin and other
performers have received intensive riding
instruction from the cast of skilled riders,
stockmen and stuntmen. "They are all
genuine stockmen in the show and they've all
pitched in and helped," he said. Billed as a
musical, a rodeo, a rock concert and an Arena
spectacular all rolled into one, The Man From Snowy
River is loosely based on Banjo Paterson's famous
story of the thrilling chase to catch a prize
thoroughbred. Tingwell plays
Conroy a station owner and Georgie Parker is his
daughter, Katie. Martin is Jim Ryan - The Man From
Snowy River - who arrives at the station looking
for a job. This opens the way for some spectacular
scenes of breaking horses, horse whispering -
something Martin has been taught to do by Steve
Jeffreys (who won renown for his ride into the
Olympic stadium at the opening ceremony) -- and, of
course, some impressive riding once the colt from
old Regret has got away. The successful
chase ends with a celebratory concert. Music in the show
features the score from the original movie by Bruce
Rowland and some new music written for the show by
Lee Kernaghan. The Man From Snowy
River Arena Spectacular is performing at the
Burswood Dome for two shows, September 13 and
14. Tickets are
available through BOCS. Copyright © 1999 - 2006 Post Newspapers Pty Ltd. All rights reserved.
Next week six horse
floats carrying 43 horses, 12 semi-trailers of
equipment, a restored Cobb & Co coach, two
buckboard dray wagons, one horse treadmill, a
full-scale country homestead and a windmill will
all make their way across the Nullarbor.
-Sarah McNeill
In Post Impressions this week:
Theatre:
Books:
Restaurants:
Cinema:
Music:
Hamlet, not the summit of all actors' dreams
Cover to cover
Take heart from pulses
Team is a microcosm of the community
Travis goes it alone