Amanda’s new role set to be wicked fun
WICKED star Amanda Harrison will return home to Sydney in November to play the title role in the new Australian musical Evie May.
WICKED star Amanda Harrison will return home to Sydney in November to play the title role in the new Australian musical Evie May.
The Hayes Theatre production, which also features Strictly Ballroom’s Loren Hunter, Rake’s Keegan Joyce and Tim Draxl of a Place To Call Home, is set in 1966 on the night of the last Tivoli performance in Sydney.
Harrison, who won a Helpmann Award for her portrayal of Oz in We Will Rock You, plays Evie May, a veteran performer who, on the last ever night of the Tivoli, recounts the often rocky road that led her to the bright lights of the stage.
The story tells of how May left her home in Western Australia and has spent her life trying to run from the pain of her past and find her place in the world.
It’s a story that resonates with Harrison who is at a point in her career where she finds herself questioning her future.
“I only get a few chances a year to audition for big shows that are right for me because the roles are kind of slowing down,” she says. “It feels like I might actually be where Evie is in this musical - struggling to find my place in this business and this world and wondering if it’s worth.
“I think I’m going to be able to draw on my own personal experience,” she adds.
The former Sydneysider, who now calls Melbourne home, is best known for originating the role of Elphaba in the Australian production of Wicked. She is currently starring in The Rocky Horror Show but is looking forward to heading north and the intimacy of the Hayes Theatre.
“I’ve performed at the Hayes before with my own cabaret show and I just remember the intimacy of that venue and how I pitched my performance,” she said. “You don’t have to be as big because you’re not performing to a 2000-seat theatre.”
Australian productions in the past, such as The Boy From Oz and Priscilla, have often had a strong male lead and Harrison is excited about this story, written by locals Hugo Chiarella and Naomi Livingston, switching that around.
“A lot of those have had male characters at the centre of the stories and it’s so refreshing that this one will reflect the story in this era of Australia’s history. it’s a female-driven story and I think that’s what’s going to set this one apart,” she said.
Despite having plenty of big stage experience under her belt, the seasoned performer is still apprehensive about bringing Evie May to life.
“I will be nervous with this one. Opening nights are always quite frightening and I haven’t performed in Sydney since Wicked so it’s going to be one of those things,” she said.
Evie May is a product of a development program at Hayes called New Musicals Australia which aims to develop and produce new musical theatre.
* Evie May, Hayes Theatre, Elizabeth Bay, 12 October - 3 November. Tickets: hayestheatre.com.au