London Calling with Champagne Charlie - Hulce on 'SPRING' & Little in 'CAVEMAN'

London Calling with Champagne Charlie January 18^th 2009 

Breathlessly running towards the check in at London Airport actor and producer  Tom Hulce had promised to let Broadway World know FIRST what happening backstage at London's Lyric theatre as it gearings up for the UK premiere of 'Spring Awakening'.

Good to his word - the call came through and he caught his breath and collected his bags and Duty Frees started to reflect on the week.

'We have the most AMAZING cast' he told me via his cell phone waiting in the departure lounge waiting for the flight back to New York.

You could hear the emotion in his voice as fate had brought him and his creative team to these shores over a period of 8 years and how this production had had its roots strangely enough over here.

'Everyone knows the original play in London' he told me ' Even when I was acting more frequently I so remember Edward Bond's version so well as a play at the National. It sort of stuck with me and I was determined to adapt that...the question was how'. He told me. 'Then I fixed up a time to tell my director friend Michael Mayer about it'. Tom  then affectionately took me back to the time 8 years ago that in scrambling to tell the director about his new idea that same director interrupted him to tell him about a classic HE wanted to adapt. It was Spring Awakening'

'I just froze when I heard this.' Tom said. 'What Michael wanted to do though was use Duncan Sheik as composer and to have rock songs and give expression to their interior lives. I thought it was just brilliant way to burst open the material and to deal with the repression of those boys'. He added. 

'That was 8 years ago and I wasn't really very formally involved in that side of the development. Then 6 years ago I heard the entire piece' he went onto to say.' The potential was spectacular I thought to myself. It was so daunting; you know I thought then and there that in some ways this was the craziest inspired idea to respond to the problem of staging it in this way....it was a genius idea. I knew then and there we were onto a winner.' He was keen to stress that 'we had never wanted to break rules'. Indeed during his time in the UK the director and he had tried to find a conventional cast. The only thing that was there to be done was successfully tell a story. 'Let me tell you the results were exhilarating. We are starting out in London in a similar place to where we started in New York...the Atlantic which is a small 168 seater theatre. The Lyric is not much bigger. But between the Atlantic and Broadway there was a 'huge amount of work and changes' that took place' but the results for him clearly worked.

I asked him about work on a possible film and this seemed to puzzle him. 'To be honest it has this show has an inner life that you can't really translate to film. Or at least no one has come forward with the right idea of how to make work on the screen yet. Those moments in a play when a boy dressed from the late 18 and early 19 hundreds and he then so convincingly takes out a microphone and then sings. It works on stage but how can we do it on film...that's the problem?'

The journey from New York to London was a relatively short one.

David Farr, Artistic Director at the Lyric Hammersmith, saw the Atlantic Theatre Company's production at the start of its run in New York. He then immediately asked the entire creative team behind the original production to find a new generation of young British talent to perform the musical on the London stage. With that process now complete Tom has spent days now going over the final casting and staging arrangements.

Much of the NY crew has been used but with a new cast consisting of a group of relative unknowns that that been carefully selected.

A year-long casting search and a series of workshops at the Lyric have brought together the UK cast comprising of 16 - 24 year olds from throughout the UK, many of whom are making their professional stage debut. The cast includes: Aneurin Barnard, Lucy Barker, Natasha Barnes, Chris Barton, Jamie Blackley, Hayley Gallivan, Natalie Garner, Mona Goodwin, Evelyn Hoskins, Edd Judge, Harry McEntire, Jamie Muscato, Gemma O'Duffy, Iwan Rheon, Jos Slovick, Richard Southgate and Charlotte Wakefield. The adult roles will be played by the acclaimed actors Sian Thomas and Richard Corderey.

'This is the 1^st place we are going to roll the show out from' said Tom as he got ready to board the plane back. 'From here we go onto Vienna, Tokyo and the Brazil.' He told me. As he got ready to leave I asked him if there were any abiding memories of the original launch he kept with him while in London. 'You know I remember so well one performance with Peter Schaffer and Tom Stoppard sitting near each other, both were smiling' he added. He knew from there he had something really special.

'The woman sitting next to me laughed until she choked.' That's how the New York Times described this production of 'Defending the Cavemen' a one man show about the male and female 'condition' 1^st launched in San Francisco back in 1991 where it was written and created and performed

It has been seen by over 5 million people worldwide including in Germany, Slovenia, Belgium, France, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Croatia, Russia, Latvia, Estonia, Slovakia, Australia and South Africa.  Next year it will be seen in Argentina and Brazil. Mark Little who is an Australian actor and now UK resident has been a TV staple for over 10 years appearing in one of the UK's biggest TV soaps 'Neighbours'

As I put the phone down own Tom he came on the text and as he couldn't use the phone as he was getting ready to go on wanted to do the interview by text.

Champagne Charlie:
What brought you here to the UK to do 'Defending the Cavemen'?

Mark:
I have lived in the UK for a number of years now, and I have performed the show both in the West End and on tour before. It's a great piece of theatre and I think the time is right to bring the show back to the London audience. 

Champagne Charlie:
How has the show been adapted / changed from it's original US version?

Mark:
The show has evolved over the years but it hasn't really changed that much from the original US version, because relationships don't change that much where ever you are in the world. 

Champagne Charlie:
What attracted you to it?

Mark:
The show is extremely well written and it's a great challenge to perform each night as it's entirely a one man show

Champagne Charlie:
Why do you think the show has lasted

Mark:
I think it has longevity because the differences between men and women are something that all generations can relate to. The show highlights these differences in a comedic way, and anyone who is in, or has been in a relationship with a member of the opposite sex will be able to relate to what we talk about in the show.

Champagne Charlie:
Things may not always go to plan during live performing - what fond anecdotes do you have for this happening to you.

Mark:
I remember whilst performing the show I was caught short and had to leave the stage for a pee. After this run though I frankly want to live in a darkened room and recover.
 

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