Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of) is currently playing at Melbourne’s Athenaeum Theatre until July 11. Based on Jane Austen‘s classic novel, the musical comedy stars Amy Lehpamer, Zoe Ioannou, Kaori Maeda-Judge, Ruby Shannon and Teo Vergara and is directed by Simon Harvey, who co-directed the West End production where it won the Olivier Award for ‘Best Comedy’.
AMY LEHPAMER and SIMON HARVEY on why people should see Pride and Prejudice (*sort of):
Amy: “Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice [was] voted the second best book of all time by The Guardian UK, so it’s got pedigree and the story has endured for so long for a reason. It’s beautiful, and it’s that real “will you, won’t they? That thing that we all adore in a story.
However, we’re telling it from the servants’ perspective, so it’s cheeky and it’s got a wink with the audience. The audience is in on it, and they get to experience the story really fresh, so even if you think you know it, you haven’t seen it done this way. [It’s] incredibly funny.
People often say on the box that a show is funny, but this one is genuinely going to warm you from the inside out. It is hysterical, and it’s got so much heart, because it’s the original rom-com. There’s Darcy and Elizabeth, and a lot of shenanigans, and that alone is enough to get people through the door.”
Simon: “It’s a fun night, you get to laugh, you get to cry, you get romance, it’s a good time. And you’ve got a selection of karaoke bangers in there interspliced which help tell the story, so we’ve got You’re So Vain – Carly Simon in reference to Mr. Darcy, Holding Out For A Hero, all sorts of songs that people will know and recognise and love.”
Amy: “And it’s never been done in Australia. So, we’re the first.”
Simon: “Certainly this production. The script has been licensed and has been done in various places in Europe, but this is the same version of the show that we did in the West End, in the UK. So this is the first time that it’s been licensed and put on in a different country.
But what’s really clever about this adaptation is we’ve got the wacky comedy stuff and all the karaoke numbers, but it does stay very, very faithful to [the book]. So Austin fans come along with a bit of trepidation sometimes, but come away going, “Oh yeah, it captured the whole story, and it is played very truthfully, and it is very romantic.” It really seems to capture people’s hearts.”
AMY and SIMON on the five leads playing multiple characters across the show:
Amy: “The five of us do it all.”
Simon: “Isobel McArthur‘s concept was that this would be told from the forgotten maids from all of Jane Austen’s novels, so she’s taken actual maid names from across Jane Austen’s novels, and they’re telling this story, and so it’s their take on it. They’re playing every character, so between five of them, they’re playing 20 characters, male and female. Amy is literally leaving the stage as one character, coming in as another, but at the top of the set, so there’s lots of running upstairs and changing costumes as well.”
Amy: “It’s very different to anything I’ve done before. We have fantastic stage management and people helping us on the side, but we are really the engine, we’re driving the whole thing, we’re playing instruments, we’re doing our costume changes, we’re changing the set with on wheels.”
Simon: “They do everything.”
Amy: “It’s huge, and the audience is in on that. We’re not hiding the fact that this is happening, so they really get to see the show within the show as we go along.”
Simon: “And it’s the kind of show that’s almost impossible for everything to go right every show, so there’s always something, and that’s part of what they’ve got to contend with as well.”
Amy: “[You] never get the same show twice, I can assure you.”
AMY on what drew her to being a part of Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of):
Amy: “I’ve always entertained dreams of being in a BBC adaptation of a Jane Austen novel, and this is the closest I’m going to get. And look, to be honest, with karaoke songs, it’s more my jam.
I have an English literature degree. There’s been many an essay written on Jane Austen from my early education years, but it doesn’t necessarily help me be good at the show, but I’ve got the knowledge, and it definitely made me sign up to the show as soon as I possibly could.”
AMY on playing the violin on stage:
Amy: “I don’t believe I have played anything on stage since Once (The Musical, in 2014-2015), so it’s been a while. I’d like to say playing the violin is like riding a bike, it’s not, but I have remembered. I have been doing [playing] since I was six, so it’s in there. But it is the first time I played the violin in a bin, but [I won’t explain that to you] you’ll have to come and see.”
AMY and SIMON on if their go-to karaoke songs are in Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of):
Amy: “You’re So Vain is a banger of a karaoke song! My personal favourite karaoke song is not in the show which is You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman (by Aretha Franklin). I do think one of my characters could sing it. Caroline Bingley would have an amazing time singing that song, but unfortunately Caroline’s not a singer, she’s a very different beast. But I also love Young Hearts Run Free (by Candi Staton, covered by Kym Mazelle in the Baz Luhrmann film Romeo + Juliet)…”
Simon: “Everyone loves that one!”
Amy: “… And Holding It For A Hero, say no more, Bonnie Tyler.”
Simon: “And we’ve got a few deep cuts as well, so ones that won’t be so well known to people. We’ve got one by a [English alternative rock] band called Pulp called Common People – it’s on one of my favourite albums from the 90s, and that’s from Isobel McArthur’s songbook, so she’s interspiced it with some of her favourite numbers.”
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PRIDE AND PREJUDICE* (*sort of)
By Isobel McArthur after Jane Austen
Original production directed by Isobel McArthur
Co-Director Simon Harvey
Produced by Neil Gooding Productions and Woodward Productions
by arrangement with David Pugh Limited
SEASON DETAILS
MELBOURNE
Atheneum Theatre
Season 18 June – 11 July
SYDNEY
Presented by Sydney Opera House
Venue Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House
Season 16 July – 30 August
WOLLONGONG
Presented by Merrigong Theatre Company
Venue IMB Theatre, IPAC
Season 2-13 September
CANBERRA
Venue Canberra Theatre, Canberra Theatre Centre
Season 16-27 September
BRISBANE
Venue Playhouse Theatre, QPAC
Season 30 September – 18 October
More information and tickets via prideandprejudicesortof.com.au
TINSEL and TAP SHOES 