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| Paris | ||
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I first hit on the idea of ‘Paris’ as a play on words after the Brit band ‘Ultravox’ had a huge hit with a song called ‘Oh Vienna’. I remember thinking how very cool it would be to write a song called ‘Oh Paris’ and make it about the Trojan Prince as opposed to the capital of France. The point of the exercise was to find out whether anyone really listens to lyrics! | ||
| And so the song ‘Oh Paris’ was written and appeared in all its embryonic glory on an album called ‘Some People’ in 1984. The Producer of ‘Some People’ was David Mackay and, well one thing led to another and ‘Paris’ the musical was born, and eventually recorded on an album. | |||
| In 2003 The Laycock Street Theatre in Gosford, New South Wales, produced a quite astonishingly good amateur production of ‘Paris’. It quickly became the yardstick for all other productions. I was delighted therefore when the director, Stuart Smith, decided to stage ‘Paris’ again in 2008, incorporating some changes that had been suggested after the first production. I had such enormous faith in Stuart’s ability that I even agreed to be in it, albeit playing a different part than I sang on the album (I am nothing if not versatile!). |
| From those early days of putting the concept album ‘Paris’ together, to finally appearing in the show, things have come full circle. Dare I say that the April 2008 production of ‘Paris’ bought the show back very close to what it was originally intended to be (before well intentioned people took to it with the razor blades) with the added enhancement of making Paris’ role in the second act a little more prominent – as well it should be, he is the central character after all. |
| I was quite nervous I admit – I finally had to live up to my own hype, but at the same time I was excited to be a part of such a great cast and crew to test the changes to the show in front of an audience. Stuart summed the whole thing up in this extract from his Directors Notes in the program as follows: |
| Cameron Macintosh
said that “great shows are not just written, they are re-written”
and it takes a great amount of courage to objectively stand back from
your own creation and then alter it for the better. I am honoured
that Jon English and David Mackay trusted me to guide their work through
its next evolution. There have been many alterations to the original script since its world premiere here at Laycock Street. New songs were added while others were removed and then put back in again. Dialogue changes were emailed around the world and scenes were re-arranged and re-ordered. Two years ago I began sorting through the eight versions of Paris in an attempt to bring it back to one. I am a fan of Paris and I wanted to ensure that any new version of the show did not travel too far from what the original CD had created and yet still worked, not just as something to listen to, but to also watch. The purpose of this production is to workshop ideas and see how well they live on stage in front of an audience. This is not a multi million dollar production, it is not intended to be, but with your help we hope that the ticket price will double and you will have to travel to New York or the West End next time you want to see Paris… |
| Well Stuart, we must have done something right. The audience certainly seemed to enjoy the show, and they came from everywhere – even New Zealand! Here are some of the emails I received through the website afterwards, which I have to say were very gratifying to read and much appreciated: |
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| I have finally
had the pleasure of seeing Paris live on stage. I was in the audience
at Saturday afternoon's performance at the Laycock Street Theatre.
I thoroughly enjoyed it. I've loved the major songs ever since you
released "Some People" and have wanted to see the show ever
since you used to make John Dallimore put his hair up in a ponytail.
I have the original recording on vinyl, now I have the CD. It's a
credit to you, if only someone with money and an ear to talent would
take it to Broadway. I loved it. Bravo. My favourite show up until recently was Jesus Christ Superstar, which was the first time I ever saw Jon live. I've loved him and his music ever since. I personally think Paris is easily comparable to Jesus Christ Superstar. I could sit through it over and over again. As a matter of fact I do, cause I have the CD in my car at the moment and can often hear myself singing "Love has Power" or "Hell or High Water" throughout the day. |
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| - Andrea Mcleish, Newcastle | |
| My
wife and I have been fans of Paris since its original release. We
flew down from Brisbane to see the performance in Gosford on the 12th
April and bumped into Jon outside of the theatre. He was kind enough
to autograph a CD for my wife. Just to let him know the trip was worth every dollar - the show was magnificent, as evidenced by the standing ovation. I wish him all the best with getting the world-wide recognition this body of work deserves. As we discussed - perhaps Baz Lurhman will make the film version! |
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| - Keith Done, Brisbane | |
| I flew from Townsville to Sydney to see "Paris" at Gosford and it was well worth the journey. Wow! what a show. Now I can listen to the CD and relive the experience time and time again. Thank you Jon. | |
| - Kristine Barnes, Townsville |
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I had the privilege of attending Paris in Gosford last Saturday night. It was excellent. Why don’t you bring this production to Wollongong. Thanks again. |
| - Dianne Irvine | |
| Hi Jon, we have enjoyed your 'PARIS' show very much last Saturday, having had the box set with the 2 CDs since many years. They were given to us at one Christmas many years ago by our son. We cannot understand why you cannot bring the show as it stands now, to Sydney before and during the planned international youth meeting coming Winter. We are so sure it will appeal to all the young/old people coming here. Hoping you can find a sponsor for advertising it real big and central.. | |
| - Karin and Gerd | |
| I would
greatly appreciate if you would pass on my compliments to Jon, David
and Stuart and the cast and crew of Paris for a fantastic performance. I have been a fan of Paris for many years and still have the cassette tapes (yes that long!) and finally to see it performed on stage with the additional content was an event not to be missed. I bought the tickets to the Tuesday night show so I had an excuse to drag my wife along (for the wine tasting) as I knew she wasn't fond of the show based on the number of times I played the cassettes and she left the room. However, during intermission I was stunned to hear her say how much she loved the show and how it was different from the cassettes. To quote my wife "hated the wine, loved the show" is a compliment not given lightly. Friday afternoon in conversation with my wife we decided we liked the show that much we would go again. Unfortunately, we missed the box office by ringing one minute too late. So on the morning of the final performance I managed to purchase the last two tickets (phew). We wouldn't be seated together but that wasn't a problem. So how much did I like the show? Well I am ashamed to say I like it that much that I left my wife home in bed ill and went to see the show on my own. Do I care I wasn’t able to recoup the $40 for her ticket? Not one bit. During the intermission I spoke to one of the female ushers at the top of the stairs for about 10 minutes discussing other shows I have seen in Sydney, Melbourne and London, and that Paris was up there with the best and in many cases is better. I can't wait to see Paris become the world wide hit it deserves to be…So to all thanks again for a brilliant show and I wish Jon and his third eldest son all the best for 'graduation'. From here 'there's no turning back...come hell or high water'!!! |
| - Tony Davies |
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| I
just wanted to say what a wonderful time we had on Tuesday evening
last week and then again on Saturday evening when we saw the latest
Paris in Gosford…. We have now seen Paris 6 times and we have loved them all. Gosford 2003 we saw 3 times Melbourne we saw once and this time in Gosford twice. My work got in the way from us seeing it again this time. You should be very proud of this show and I hope you get the opportunity to see this show in a huge production with all the pomp and dress of the era. Mind you the cast you had in this were great and would be hard to beat. Big talents with big voices. The cast, band and crew were fantastic… |
My
wife and I have loved the Paris soundtrack since its release and have
always hoped to see it performed. We attended a performance of Paris
at Laycock St Theatre on 13/4/08 and absolutely loved it. The production
would put many "large scale" productions to shame. We thought
the casting was excellent, the performances were brilliant, and the
enthusiastic applause of the crowd showed that we weren't alone. The performance of "For Better or Worse", a song that is special to us as we had it played at our wedding, was breathtaking. I just wanted to pass on my congratulations to Jon and the entire production as it was brilliant. We couldn't help but notice the tremendous look of pride on Jon's face as the performers took their bows to enormous swells of applause. Once again, our congratulations on such a wonderful performance, and we hope that this production is taken to bigger and better things as it so rightly deserves. |
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| - Joe Costello | ||
| And this one, an extract from an opening night review by Rowan James and Helen McInnes at www.aussietheatre.com.au: | ||
| - Peter Weekes |
Bursting with energy from the outset, this recently reworked rock opera by Jon English and David Mackay leads the audience through the euphoric highs and devastating lows of Homer’s ‘The Iliad’, charting the intricate personal and political manoeuvres of the Greek and Trojan kingdoms, as seen through the eyes of Paris, the youngest Prince of Troy. … ‘Paris’ is an exciting new take on an age-old story. While no-one can deny that the production is dramatic in the very sense of the word, it is the music and its performance that drive the show. With such an enthusiastic cast and well-conceived design, Paris,, showing at Laycock Street Theatre, will be appreciated by seasoned theatre-goers and those just seeking a good night’s entertainment.
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