DECEMBER 15
Rutherford's flying visit

I had the privilege this week of having a chat with one of Australia’s up and coming musical writers of the moment, Peter Rutherford. In a flying visit to London Rutherford managed to sit down with me on Monday before catching a plane back to Asia and the world of Cats to have a bit of a chat about The Hatpin, the musical he co-wrote with James Millar, the world premiere of which will open the Seymour Centre’s 2008 subscription season.

Rutherford says there is nothing like The Hatpin in the Australian musical theatre realm at the moment. It is refreshing to see the Seymour Centre taking a risk on a show that like many of the more successful musicals and great plays of our time has had to combat refusal after refusals. Now I understand with the arts the way it is especially in musical theatre there are few companies willing to take risks on these shows because they cost a lot to produce and in some cases can have devastating impact on those involved (ie Titanic). However it is very sad that an original Australian home grown book musical has had such a high level of resistance on its journey to the professional stage. I am not going to name names, but just say that the Seymour Centre should not be considered brave, but rather ground breaking as it is important to get behind musicals like The Hatpin in order for them to have even a little of the success box office smash hits like Billy Elliot enjoy. If we don’t give our little guys a chance how is it that they will manage to break into the bigger game?

Now you will have to indulge me a little. I am knee deep into reading The Royal Court Theatre Inside Out (geeky I know because I work there but useful for theatre facts) which takes a look at 50 years at the theatre and its history. Look Back In Anger by John Osbourne was rejected by everyone including Laurence Olivier. The Royal Court took the risk to programme this production in 1956 and even though it received terrible reviews at first, it went on to play on the West End and shaped a whole new generation of theatre. An important critic of the time, Kenneth Tynan reported in 1958 "I can scarcely remember the theatrical landscape as it was before George Devine set up shop in Sloane Square (The Royal Court) and called in John Osbourne...to scald us with his rhetoric". The Seymour Centre is taking a risk in programming a play about a prolific and scarcely explored part of Australia’s history with The Hatpin. Hopefully that risk pays off and The Hatpin becomes a crucial part of Australian theatrical history.

Rutherford is modest about his efforts on this new musical and praise must be paid to the writer of the book James Millar. Rutherford approached Millar about writing a musical. Millar, a true ideas man through and through offered him three ideas and he chose the story of what would become The Hatpin. James had discovered the story, of which, Rutherford is reluctant to give too much detail, in a true crime almanac. The case on which The Hatpin is based apparently led to Australia putting in place the Child Protection Act in 1902 following the Federation in 1901.

Like many Australian theatre practitioners Rutherford is West End bound in 2008 following The Hatpin season. Why London? Well he feels they are more open to being creative with the musical theatre genre and that it is a more acceptable medium in London. Although musicals are slowly starting to take off in a bigger way in Australia there are more opportunities to programme lesser known musicals in a bigger theatre hub like London. For example there are a lot more theatres who are willing and able to take more risks with newer work or riskier musicals.
Rutherford describes The Hatpin in terms of its musical type as being a mix of Jason Robert Brown’s Parade and a less sung version of Sweeney Todd but there is actually nothing like it in terms of musical theatre in Australia.

This is an exciting time for Australian theatre. Following in the wake of what is said to have been the best opening night in Australian theatre history with Billy Elliot, the 2008 line up of musicals across the country is impressive and The Hatpin is definitely a show that will appeal to a wide variety of audiences. Unsurprisingly Rutherford’s favourite musical is Into The Woods which he says is "clever, witty, full of the unexpected, showing the darkness of human spirit through fairytales, in short a masterpiece". His own musical will take its own journey, but given the right opportunities and targeted at the right audiences, The Hatpin has just as much if not more hope that most new musicals of propelling its way onto bigger things in the future.


Read Last Week's West End Whispers