What awful news this morning about ‘outages’, seems like total chaos and hopefully someone somewhere will get to the bottom of this and make everything right. It will take time by the sound of things. Travel disruption will probably be the big immediate effect on most of us but there will be many other ways it will hit the public. It was only a matter of time, thankfully it sounds at the moment that it isn’t terrorist related which would be one small blessing if indeed this is true. Fingers crossed.
THE YOUTH THEATRE MAKES A MARK
“You’re far too nice, you’ve got to be a diva, you MUST be a diva.” A director’s uncompromising note to actress Caroline McMichael who plays the role of Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, a disturbing play full of adult issues surrounding a silent movie star who has dropped out of the spotlight, living alone in a decaying mansion in Los Angeles but then along comes Joe and the story soars to the heights. This week her address is the Grand Opera House Belfast, where at the moment it’s all go, lots of fun but really hard work.
This production is intense so how can young people between 16 and 21 with less than three weeks rehearsal ever tackle such an iconic show and how will Caroline approach the main role of the obsessed embittered diva? With the tuition of director Tony Finnegan she slipped into the role on opening night with Conor Cox playing Joe Gillis her love interest. At rehearsal I noticed seating marked Brando, Chaplin, Astaire and Garbo – exciting times in Tinseltown. The recent production by this Summer Youth Company was Miss Saigon but Sunset is even more spectacular with the iconic staircase swirling down to the front of the stage with 71 cast members dancing and singing as they reflect Holywood in it’s heyday. Tony is a stickler for professionalism from attending rehearsals on time to getting into character be it a small role or a major part, one cast member travels from Derry every day and is always punctual.
He gave the main characters their scripts four weeks ahead of rehearsals with advice to read them over and over prior to a pre-project weekend where the principals sat in the hot seat as Tony and musical director Wilson Shields interviewed them in character.
“This year it was mesmerising,” Tony told me. “They had researched their characters throughly, knew about their lives living on Sunset Boulevard so any problems I might have anticipated just disappeared with their enthusiasm and their dedicated approach.”
Why Put Your Daughter On The Stage
Are there any long term benefits for joining such a company? Yes, there certainly are and I know this for a fact. For the young people taking part it’s a brilliant experience, testing their nerves, allowing them to hear an audience react with applause, it’s heady stuff and three nights they will never forget and that’s why they come back to the youth productions year after year, some like Alisha Weir, who played Matilde in the 2022 film Matilda The Musical, will even move on to a career. But there are so many other aspects of life to learn.
Like What?
How to work in a group, how to train your memory, how to take criticism and accept discipline and how to build self esteem. And working to professional expectations will be all important later in life when they are looking for work.
When it comes to youth theatre Tony is the best in the business and watching him at work is fascinating. The majority of the young people have no acting experience but he prides himself in being a teacher in life skills as well as a theatre director helping them to gain confidence. What happens if someone don’t fit in? “We have a responsibility to the audience who pay the money and they must realise this, so it’s a hard lesson to be told you’re lacking in what is needed but always I‘ll suggest something else for them to do, perhaps a line of their own which will give them pride and long term an appreciation of their skills also to learn about limitations. They are surrounded by professional technicians when it comes to stage crew, lighting and sound but not everyone wants to appear on stage so we have a youth ‘tec team’ to shadow an expert, to look over their shoulder and assist where needed. They sit in on discussions and gain experience that will help them in future employment.”
This is the thirteenth Opera House summer youth theatre production and it shows the support for young actors and respect for Tony and Wilson that the theatre is prepared to ‘go dark’ and close their doors for three weeks. Obviously the public also appreciate and enjoy the youthful enthusiasm and talents as tickets have been flying out of the box office since the show was first advertised. If you want to enjoy the talents of 71 young people and the story of a super superior diva, get along to the Belfast Grand Opera House.
Sunset Boulevard runs until 20th July with performances at 2 p.m. (Saturday matinee) and evenings at 7 p.m. so still time to catch it. Box office 028 90241919. More details at www.goh.co.uk.
AFTER THOUGHT
“We live in a world where funerals are more important than the deceased, marriage is more important than love, looks are more important than the soul. We live in a packaging culture that despises the content.”
Sir Anthony Hopkins.