A group of Australians have turned the life of Joseph Merrick, the so-called Elephant Man, into a comedy musical that makes its Sydney debut at the Fringe.
When a friend told Marc Lucchesi he was writing a musical about Rasputin, Lucchesi instantly replied: “Rasputin? I’ll do you one better: I’ll do the Elephant Man.”
Not knowing how to proceed, he shelved the project until a friend and fellow musician, Jayan Nandagopan, was in town on shore-leave from his cruise-ship gig. Lucchesi played Nandagopan his song, they wrote a second one together, and then suspended the project again. Lucchesi is also a member of funk band Vaudeville Smash, and will play the Ring Master in the musical.“We call it ‘an inaccurate and irreverent retelling of the Elephant Man story’,” says Lucchesi. “We wanted to give the guy a happy ending, and obviously it’s a comedy, so we couldn’t stay that true to his life.”
When Mitchell, who had directed independent films, made music videos , and run a Melbourne cabaret venue, was invited to join the team, he knew little about mounting stage musicals. “So,” he says, “I headed to Edinburgh to try and work out what our trajectory would be to get to the West End eventually. And so far it’s shaping up!”Credit:The Shark Is Broken
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