DECEMBER 8
It's all a matter of opinion

This week I could not have met two Australian actors with opinions further apart with regards to London. Yet both of them have their reasons and both of them make a lot of sense. The London pilgrimage is something every Australian actor seems to make at least once. Some go home 12 months later, some stay for a few years and there are a few who never leave.

I have to raise the question is the journey to the West End what these actors need to do in order to make themselves more credible in Australia? Does a West End credit really matter in the age of many musicals running simultaneously in Australia?

This week I met up with both Frank Hansen and Luke Barron. Both young Australian actors, who have come here in good faith to follow the bright, and sometimes not so cheery yellow-brick road to fortune. Hansen has turned down his West End debut opportunity, a role in Jersey Boys as Donny, covering the lead role of Bobbie due to open here in February. What, "why" I hear you gasp! But no, he has a fair enough reason as he is flying home to work with one of Australia’s leading directors Gale Edwards in The Rocky Horror Show playing ensemble with 1st cover to iOTA’s Dr Frank-n-furter. Frank and I spent lunch chatting in the cafe bar at the Royal Court Theatre, the pictures on the walls depicting past stage shows, and funnily enough, Rocky Horror is on that wall. The first ever stage production of The Rocky Horror Show was produced at the theatre way back in June 1973!

This is a dream come true for Hansen who says Australia’s where he wants to live quipping, "work’s work but life’s your love". He misses the place, the way of life, everything. He says of us Aussies in London, "they [the English] don’t want [us] here". Although I am not so sure this is completely true, after all many Aussie performers are here performing, and are very successful. I think what Frank is trying to say is that it is tough over here. There are so many performers vying for a piece of the market. Getting an agent is difficult and as with anywhere it is about who you know, working contacts, dropping names and not giving up. Hansen would have had to be sponsored by Jersey Boys to stay. Yet, one of the lucky ones, he actually managed to get an agent straight away. He comments that there are two ways to go in London. You "can get a smash role and live it up, or come here and struggle".

In all honesty if you gave me the choice of Jersey Boys or Rocky Horror with the stellar cast (although still no Brad) including iOTA, Tamsin Carroll, Sharon Millerchip, Kellie Rode, John Waters and Paul Capsis I know what I would pick! As far as I am concerned Hansen has definitely done the right thing. But as he says it is horses for courses and I am sure he would not deter others from coming to seek their fortunes in the land of Ole Blighty. He has had auditions every week, which is a rare thing at home in Australia as there are not enough shows to warrant this.

Frank does not hold back and that gives him something that stands out. It is refreshing to hear a strong opinion from a performer who knows what he wants and goes out and gets it. He came over, "had a sniff", learnt a whole lot and now is going back to build his career in Australia. He says "you can’t split your trajectory, you can’t have a rod in each pond". He is passionate about his homeland and that believes that "the industry needs commitment". Australia needs more performers coming up through the ranks like Frank and I am sure as we see the current crop of WAAPA grads trying their wings for the first time, more will feel the same way.

Going back to my questions in the opening paragraph, at the end of the day I think to be honest it completely depends on the individual. Everyone will have a different experience. Along with the Frank Hansen’s of this world , we also need performers like Luke Barron coming to the big smoke to hone and develop their craft, performers like Simon Burke and Hayden Tee, taking the west end stage by storm and showing London what we Aussies are made of! Luke Barron, like me, has stars in his eyes and a gleam in his smile when it comes to this city. I am sure there will be more from me on Mr Barron in the New Year when he starts to make his mark here! For now, like me he is certainly not going back home anytime soon.

There is just nowhere quite like London in the world. I too miss the smells, sounds, lifestyle of Australia and the incestuous opening night crowd all a buzz with the latest musical, but London with its bright lights, big shows and huge publicity is just something very special that every theatre worker should try out, even like Mr Hansen, for a short while!