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INTERVIEWS |
| Talking to the Stars: Shaun
Rennie Shaun Rennie is one of the rising male stars of Australian musical theatre. The Mamma Mia and Fiddler on the Roof performer spoke to Troy Dodds about his career, and his new venture, Light The Night....  TD: Shaun, what
have you been up to lately?SR: I've just gotten home from Melbourne where I was doing Camelot for The Production Company. It was lots of fun, crazy but fun. The cast was a really great bunch so that always makes a big difference. Other than that I have been doing some cabaret stuff - I have a show on this week (August 30) at Slide - and other gigs around the place. I'm also starting to work on Light the Night pretty regularly right now. TD: Light the Night is something that has become very close to your heart. Tell me about last year’s show – was it all beyond your expectations? SR: It really was. The idea for Light the Night started off by me thinking I could pull together some of my best friends from the industry and put on a small concert in a scout hall or something like that and raise a couple of grand for my brother's cancer ward. Then one day I sat down and thought, "Well I guess I can call them and I guess I could ask them" and it just grew and grew into something that was way beyond my expectations. I was overwhelmed with how much support we got from the industry TD: It’s back again this year – what can we expect? SR: Yep its Back. We were so happy with the reaction to last year's show that we thought that we were onto a good thing. We have committed to making Light the Night a regular feature on the Sydney calendar. The money raised last year has already helped many people I'm sure, but really $40,000 is only a drop in the ocean when it comes to the money needed to help find a cure for this disease. This year our challenge is to try to keep that amazing feeling that was in the room last year, without trying to recreate it. You can expect to see some pretty major musical theatre talent again this year, some big names that I will keep quiet a little while longer, and also I like that Light the Night can an opportunity for lesser known people to really be seen. There are so many amazing people out there but so few chances to be seen, Light the Night can be a big showcase for some people. TD: The of your first big shows was Mamma Mia. It must have been a wonderful experience? SR: It sure was. Huge learning curve. I was 18 when I got the gig, so it was really the time where I went from a school kid to a young adult. I loved everything about it. The show was so much fun, Pepper was a great role and I was blessed to be able to create a role in one of the biggest musicals to come here to Australia in the last 10 years. I made some of my best friends and learnt so much professionally as well. TD: Being a performer in Australia is a tough gig – so much competition, but very little regular shows. What’s your opinion on the current state of the theatre scene? SR: Yeah it's tricky thats for sure. I like to consider myself an optimist, so I would like to say that I think that things are on a bit of an upward slide at the moment. This year I have had the opportunity to at least audition for different things. This time last year there was not much going on, but 12 months later it seems that lots of people are doing shows or are about to start doing one. It's always going to be up and down, but that's part of the fun I think. It makes you really appreciate work when you get it. TD: You've just finished working with the Production Company on Camelot. How different are these shows compared to normal mainstream musicals? SR: They are crazy like I said, but I had a ball. I was expecting it to be really hectic and stressful but it really wasn't. I think the fact that our production team were very relaxed and happy it really fed down through to the whole cast. There is an element of "just get up there and do the best you can" but that is unavoidable when you only have 8 days to rehearse a whole show. It sort of felt like we were just settling into it when we closed. Mind you it also made me think "what the hell did we do when we had 6 weeks to rehearse Mamma Mia". Six weeks seems like far too long after doing a Production Company show. TD: What’s next for Shaun Rennie? SR: As I said I am doing my cabaret at Slide on Wednesday this week (August 30). Then some gigs here and there, and of course Producing Light the Night almost becomes a full time job around now. I think I'm doing another Morning Melodies in a little while and then who knows?? I'm sure something will pop up. It always does. |