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The State Opera Company of South Australia and SINGular Productions present Australasian Premiere of: DIFFERENT FIELDSA musical drama about
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DIRECTOR |
Jonathan Mill |
MUSICAL DIRECTOR |
Timothy Sexton |
DESIGNER |
Morag Cook |
LIGHTING DESIGNER |
Susan Grey-Gardner |
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STARRING |
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ADAM JAMES |
Peter Michell |
CASEY WILLIS |
Benji Riggs |
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Lachlan Williams |
JENNY WILLIS |
Deborah Caddy |
DORIS WARNER |
Kathryn Dineen |
CAL FARBER |
Adam Goodburn |
RON BOWEN |
John Greene |
Different Fields will be the Australian premiere of a contemporary musical drama, as well as the first major collaboration between two new, critically acclaimed, award winning and award nominated South Australian theatre companies – The State Opera Company of South Australia and SINGular Productions.
Different Fields is about Adam James, a star footballer and a friend to a fatherless teen-ager named Casey. James has a flaw. He is a gambler, and he allows himself to be blackmailed into throwing a playoff game. At the heart of the opera is a song that James sings called "Bright September Morning”. It is a hymn to the childhood joy of sports that Reid says is often forgotten in big-time organized athletics. "I'd make one final punt kick for the fans inside my head," James sings, thinking about his childhood dreams. "But time has passed and I've lost that boy I used to be.” Different Fields is a story of sinning, redemption and self-discovery in the tradition of grand opera. It is a story about how athletes often lose an idea of who they really are behind the exciting veneer of celebrity.
Different Fields was originally commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera Guild and Opera Memphis and has been performed by several other companies, including Cincinnati Opera Outreach. His chamber piece, Tales of Appalachia, has been performed more than 200 times. His musical, The Ballad of Little Jo, had a successful run in Chicago. He and his librettist, Sarah Schlesinger, have “begun to begin” Shane, a new musical headed for Broadway. SINGular Productions has received permission from the writer to adapt the libretto for an Australian audience.
This production will unite a collection of established and emerging professional South Australian performers, directors and designers to exchange ideas, expand opportunities for professional development and form mentoring relationships – to create a skilled, innovative, socially and emotionally relevant new version of a production that is otherwise unlikely to be presented in Australia. Artists currently taking part in the project include Jonathan Mill (director), Timothy Sexton (musical director), Morag Cook (Designer), Susan Grey-Gardner (Lighting Designer), Peter Michell (Performer), Deborah Caddy (producer/performer), Kathryn Dineen (performer), John Greene (performer) and Adam Goodburn (producer / performer).
Download Teachers Notes for DIFFERENT FIELDS here
Download Poster for DIFFERENT FIELDS here
Currently in development:
A New Australian Musical: ‘IT’S A DAD THING’
SINGular Productions are in the early planning stages of developing a new Australian musical revue titled ‘It’s a Dad thing’, based on the play of the same name. The play was written by 6 Australian artists (and dads) Liam Amor, Michael Fry, Matt Green, Colin James, David Lander and Geoff Paine in 1999. Well-known Adelaide musician Matthew Carey will be the composer/Music Director and Jonathan Mill, our director of ‘I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change’, will return to direct this exciting production.
The show features a group of 5 dads who come together to build a playground for a local working bee and develops into a fast paced series of vignettes, with monologues, sketches and songs. It’s a Dad Thing examines parenthood from a strictly male perspective; this can result in some serious and often hysterical role-playing. The show illustrates that nothing can prepare a father for the sensory impact, the burden and the responsibility of a child. These young dads are searching in the dark for the rules of being a good dad. The stories are heightened and exaggerated but they are all true stories experienced by the original writers. The SINGular Productions cast will be contributing their own stories to the work.
OOTS (Out of the Square) will be presenting previews of this new musical in 2010:
- Friday 27th of August at The Arts Centre Pt Noarlunga
- Friday 3d of September at Marion Cultural Centre>
- Saturday 4th September at Star Theatres - Hilton
- Saturday 11th September at Golden Grove.
Check http://www.outofthesquare.net.au/ for details.