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| A special interview
with Phil Scott Troy Dodds talks to cabaret performer Phil Scott about his career, the theatre industry and the future.... TD: Filling in an application, what do you put your job title as - writer? performer? PS: I don't fill in many applications! I usually call myself a performer unless it's specifically about the writing, and I call myself a writer for insurance because the safety risks (and therefore the premiums) are lower. TD: You've been involved in theatre for a long time, what's your fondest memory? PS: I started in professional "entertainment" in 1976 and I've never worked in any other industry. I write scripts and compose music for stage, TV and film, and perform in all those areas as an actor and/or musician. I always enjoy my work, so this is a hard question. Writing a show and seeing great performers bring it to life is like nothing else: it happened to me with Safety in Numbers in 1982, The Republic of Myopia in 2004 and The Windows Project last year. A recent highlight, performance-wise, was appearing in the Anti-Sedition Concert at the Sydney Theatre. TD: Recently, The Wharf Revue has been your big thing. What has made it such a success? PS: Its success is due to its up-to-the-minute relevance (which also means the material has no shelf life), and the unique combination of writing and performing talents involved: Drew Forsythe, Jonathan Biggins, Genevieve Lemon, Linda Nagle, Valerie Bader, Tony Sheldon and recently Garry Scale and Michelle Doake. And our fantastic stange manager Ruth Constantine! TD: Where did the original idea for The Wharf Revue come from? PS: Jonathan, Drew, Linda and I had been doing comedy revue shows at the Tilbury Hotel in the 1990s. (Valerie, Genevieve, Tony & Garry performed there too.) Genevieve had joined the three guys on a TV series (Three Men and a Baby Grand). We were originally commissioned to write a show for STC by Wayne Harrison before he left, but Robyn Nevin knew our work, loves revue (especially political revue) and encouraged us to develop the particular Wharf Revue style. I had done political stuff before on stage and TV with Max Gillies, and as part of the writing team for TV's Good News Week. TD: It helps to have a slight resemblence to John Howard, too, does it not? PS: That has been an asset for ten years, I'm sorry to say! TD: What's your thoughts on the theatre scene in Australia at the moment? PS: Theatre has to compete with more and more new technologies (eg the net, pay TV) and blockbuster movies, but nothing replaces the immediacy of a live performance. I think audiences are always rediscovering this. The independent theatre scene is strong in Sydney at the moment, because so many talented actors and directors are constantly produced by WAAPA, NIDA and elsewhere and they all want to show what they can do. There is also a new generation of brilliant young Australian playwrights. Unfortunately, it's still almost impossible to make a living in theatre and there is, as ever, a high drop-out rate. I hope we don't lose too many Cate Blanchettes along the way. TD: Cabaret is obviously close to your heart - The Cabaret Convention's axing has been a big issue? PS: In retrospect, maybe its time had passed. Cabaret doesn't seem to have died as a result of the axing of the convention, but what the event did do was act as a focal point for artists and venue managers to get together: work came out of it. That's where we miss it. (Everyone goes to Adelaide now, so Sydney has missed out on something financially worthwhile too.) I recently co-judged a sort of mini cabaret competition at Bar Me: on the "finals" night, the styles were so diverse and the standards so high, any one of those five performers would easily have won a prize in the old Cabaret Convention. All of them should go to New York some time, the same way Shaun Rennie, Peter J Casey and other prizewinners did. (A NY trip wasn't the Bar Me prize, I'm sorry to say!) TD: What's next for Phil Scott? PS: Touring regional centres with the revue in Feb/March, then I'm acting in a play at the Darlinghurst Theatre (The Illusion) in May. I also continue to write a column for SX and classical CD reviews for an American magazine called Fanfare. Don't know when, but I'm determined to write a 3 or 4 hander musical. Maybe I'll start it on the road. |