TWO Bendigo women will portray famous 18th century composers Antonio Salieri and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Apollo Productions’ Amadeus.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Ally Grenfell and Saari Frochot-Chauhan take to the stage from May 23 to 25 and have enjoyed the challenge of portraying male characters.
Following their auditions, artistic director Terence Carroll cast the two woman in the lead roles on the strength of their performances as adversaries in Elizabeth: Princess Ascending.
Both performers will be made up and costumed as men for the show.
“I haven’t played a male role since high school but it has been fantastic. Young Salieri is wondeful role and very complicated human. It’s taken me to different parts of myself,” Grenfell said.
“Salieri was an articulate, intelligent man and, given the time period, the role lends itself to softer versions of the masculine. It is a beautiful role to dance between masculine and feminine forms.”
Frochot-Chauhan said it was daunting to take on the male role of Mozart.
“It's very different to any role I have played before. I've never played a male role and never thought about playing a male role before,” she said.
“Movement and body language is the biggest challenge but because of the era they are extremely courtly and cultured men, so having women in the roles makes the characters more sophisticated and elegant.”
Frochot-Chauhan said any performer could played any role.
“Any role can be adaptable unless it is specifically identified by their sex,” she said.
Grenfell said taking on characters often went beyond gender to character traits.
“Salieri is tragic and has fundamental flaws that bring his demise,” she said.
“He's jealous, ambitious, and he’s in awe of a genius. (Those traits) apply to people not just a specific gender.
“It's always about the expression in the moment. What I bring to (this role), in 20 years, there will be a different expression of Salieri again.”
Amadeus is at St Paul’s Cathedral from May 23-25.
School gender flips Peter Pan characters
Girton Grammar School has twisted its casting for its upcoming production of Peter Pan.
Director Nick Pease said the show’s cast and crew wanted to break audiences’ perception of the traditional Peter Pan story.
Lucy Mills will play Peter Pan, Alicia McGovern has been cast as Captain Hook and Thomas Ayres is taking on the role of Tinkerbell.
“Audiences are used to (Peter Pan’s) basic plot, so when they watch the show, we want them to be surprised in some way,” he said.
“Peter Pan is traditionally played by a woman but we thought it could be fun have Captain Hook appear as a woman and gender flip Tinkerbell, who is classically petite, nimble and flighty, be more hulking and able lift Peter Pan.”
While Hook will be played by McGovern, the script has not been changed.
“(Alicia’s) wearing a pirate queen-type outfit, a dress with diamonds, and is portrayed as a woman but nothing has changed in the script,” Mr Pease said.
Mr Pease said both boys and girls were able to audition for the roles of Peter Pan, Captain Hook and Tinkerbell.
“We were very open about whether Hook, Peter Pan and Tinkerbell could be men or women,” he said.
“I had never done an audition where we had both males and females auditioning for the same role.
“We wanted to see what the kids could bring to it so really threw (auditions) open.”
In Girton’s 2017 production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Puck – often cast as a male – was played by Bronte Bailey.
“A lot Shakespeare plays have so many levels that changing genders of characters adds a new light. What I like is that you can examine a story in slightly different way,” Mr Pease said.
“(Gender flips) work better for plays that audiences already know quite well. If it’s new, it’s harder to appreciate. So it’s better to take something classic, play with it and you may get something surprising.”