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Times Interview
The Times Interview - Helen Medlyn, Explain Yourself to PJ Taylor
Wednesday, 02 July 2008
• Howick and Botany Times
THERE are two outstanding qualities, amongst many, that stand out when Helen Medlyn comes to mind. She’s a class act, a highly versatile showbiz principal in the classic music performance arena, who retains a great level of humility and passion for her craft. She’s also full of the joys of life and very funny. A chat with her would warm the soul on any chilly day. She’s coming to Manukau’s TelstraClear Pacific Events Centre on Monday July 7, playing two parts in the NBR NZ Opera’s one-night only performance of
Hansel and Gretel
.
Darling, you’ve accomplished plenty in the classic music performance arena. Is there a part or something you’d like to play or do that you haven’t tackled before?
(Love being called darling. Ta!) Oooh… hard question. I have been a lucky little diva and done (and am still doing) a heap of my concert platform ‘wish list’ – Verdi’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah and Mahler’s lieder and symphonies. In opera there’s a role I wouldn’t mind doing before I hang up my singing chops: Delilah (Samson and Delilah by Saint-Saens).
How is the new production of
Hansel and Gretel?
A little bit of heaven! I’ve really enjoyed being directed by Michael Hurst, learning from him, watching him, being inspired. I like how he and designer John Verryt have stripped the story and laid bare its bones to get to the heart of each scene. So there’s nowhere to hide, literally or figuratively, that you have to commit 100 per cent to each thought and action, or else you’ll be caught with your knickers down! Plus, my colleagues are a ton of fun and fab artists to boot, so I couldn’t wish for more.
What’s it like going on the road with a performance company such as the NBR NZ Opera?
Logistically, it’s bigger than
Ben Hur
. It all has to be done on the smell of an oily rag! The skeleton touring crew are saints. Headed up by the astonishing Kathryn Osborne, they’re on the road a day ahead of us, packing the set into the next theatre, working backstage during the show to pull, push, fly, rig, light, sew, make, fix, dress anything, everything and everybody, to make us look good when we go out on the green. Then, at the end of the night, they’re packing the set out, getting in the truck and going to the next town, so we can do it all over again. As cast, we’re part of the touring crew, so we help with pack-out doing designated jobs, then we tumble into our beds, get onto the bus the next day (driven by the amazing Terry Barry, who also acts as touring crew), roll into the next town, do a quick staging rehearsal in that theatre, accustom ourselves to the new backstage area (I have a quick change from witch back to mother, so it’s essential to learn the speediest route back to my dressing room!), grab a meal, warm up the voice, then…we’re on!
When did you first realise a life on the stage was for you?
There was never a ‘moment’ when I decided to do this. It’s just kind of happened. This is what I do. I love performing, and if I had an epiphany, it was at the grand old age of eight, taking my bow as a pirate in my mum’s production of
Pirates of Penzance
for St Thomas’ Light Opera Company, into which I had stepped at the last moment to replace an ailing pirate! It was the first time I had been in front of a theatre audience and the sound, the glorious sound, of that applause overwhelmed me. I felt I was a well being filled. I feel the same when I take a bow now. It’s a great jumble of emotions that floods me: Humility, privilege, power, joy, gratitude, vulnerability, grace, love. I hope it never leaves me.
Once upon a time, after the sad demise of the Mercury Theatre, Auckland was without a ‘spiritual home’ for live stage productions for some years. You were involved with the Mercury during the 1980s. How was it back then?
How lucky was I? Learning from, working with and watching the likes of Ray Hawthorne, George Henare, Lee Grant, David Weatherley, Myra de Groot, Michael Hurst, Elizabeth Hawthorne, Ross Duncan, Nat Lees, all performers who could turn their talents from opera to music theatre, straight theatre to cabaret. No wonder my already catholic performance tastes got to know – and still know – no bounds! Here was a place that did all those things and each genre was treated with respect and honour. Never was there an air of ‘slumming it’, each art form was highly prized and committed to. And there, too, was the place I was given the chance to perform what, I think, was the opportunity of a lifetime –
Joy Gresham in Shadowlands
. If for nothing else, I thank Paul Minifie and the Mercury for giving the actress in me the chance to shine.
Central Auckland’s live performance arena has since flourished beyond recognition, in terms of numbers of venues and quality productions, while suburban theatre such as Howick Little, the Harlequin, the Dolphin and Glen Eden Playhouse are thriving through top class work. How do you see the present situation?
I agree that we’ve got heaps of venues and productions to enjoy. But we need a ‘home’ for professional theatre in Auckland, and through the unceasing moving and shaking of some of Auckland’s tireless theatrical heavyweights, along with the help of city councils who (surely!) can’t help but realise the importance of live performance as part of a big, brawny city like Tamaki Makaurau, I’m hoping this idea will come to fruition.
You’ve played the big free public shows at the Auckland Domain. What’s it like singing to quarter of a million people?
It’s the most odd feeling. Because the audience is soooo far away, you feel like you’re not ‘reaching’ them, which I find somewhat disconcerting. When you take your bow, you can j-u-s-t hear a vague distant pattering sound. Very strange! What I love is going out into the crowd afterwards, having people come up and chat, have a squizz at your frock and have photos taken with you. Huge fun!
Who have been important influences in your career?
My grandfather, Victor Lamb, was and, though no longer alive, is a great part of who I am as a performer – genetically and spiritually. He loved story telling, was quite a good singer, wasn’t too shabby a musician and he loved making people laugh, pretty much a template for me really!
Then, there are my mum and dad, who loved literature, theatre and music, so I grew up thinking all kids read, listened to symphonies and operas, went to the theatre, sang, played the piano and didn’t have a television!
Professionally, three people have been mentors for me: Ray Hawthorne for teaching me stagecraft and to trust in my innate performance abilities; Janice Webb for teaching me to sing and believe I had it in me to be an opera singer; and Rosemary Barnes, my vocal coach, my drill sergeant if you will, who teaches me every new role, aria, symphony, so that I’m confident when I walk into a rehearsal room, I’m as prepared as I will ever be.
What have been some of the funnier moments in your stage career?
Crikey! So many! Here’s one. In the opera Rigoletto, I was playing (for want of a better word) a floozy! My costume was the size of a child’s handkerchief! I had a bustierre, French knickers, suspenders, stockings and high heels. Full stop, end of story, zip. As my mother would say: ‘It barely covered possible!’ To get used to wearing such a draughty outfit, I decided to wear my cozzie in rehearsals, and it’s a good job I did! Patrick, the guy I was singing with, was rapt about this. He said he couldn’t believe his luck! In true blue red-blooded male style, he loved having a half-naked woman around the place with her heaving bosom only j-u-s-t being contained in a black bustierre! But, when the director wanted Patrick to stand behind me and lay his hands on my, er, pointy-out bits, Patrick started to sweat on top line! When it came to him being ‘hands on’, the hands that took up their strategic positions were very sticky and sweaty indeed! With him ‘glued’ into position, we started to sing. Now, the thing about opera singing is, it’s hard work, and it’s very hard to try and do it just standing absolutely still, in fact, nigh on impossible. There’s a big effort that goes into making a big sound. Bits of your body have a tendency to go up and down as breath is taken in or sung out, or muscles of the torso, back and legs are used to support the high notes. So, there we were, Patrick and I, in close proximity and his hands were on my ample bosom and he was going up and down behind me – singing! And I was going up and down in front of him – singing! We seemed to be going along rather swimmingly, until somewhere in the middle, we got out of synch. His sticky sweaty hands went down, along with my bustierre, while me and my bosoms went up! Suddenly, there they were, two naked Medlyn parts that don’t often see the light of day… seeing the light of day! Patrick laughed, then started madly trying to squish my bosoms back in! He did such a hopeless job. I said, ‘oh, here, I’ll do it’, and I wrestled them back in again! Needless to say, each night when we reached that part in the opera, Patrick and I had to stifle our giggles at what might have happened on the stage had we not had our practice run!
Wow! Who have been some of the more colourful characters?
In this business, the rarities are the non-colourful ones! There’s a man who never fails to make me laugh though, Grant Bridger. His sense of the ridiculous, his comic timing, his total and utter naughtiness are just heaven to be around! There are plenty of ‘behind the scenes’ colourful characters too. A standout is the marvellous Maryanne Mummery, who works with NBR NZ Opera. She is a wonderment, not only does she love art and artists, loving us with a passion, but she inspires others to do and feel the same. She influences people with such vibrancy, flamboyance and gusto, there are usually no survivors, which is all good news for us!
Helen Medlyn fact file:
Born:
Falmouth, Cornwall, England, February 7, 1958
Lives:
Out of a suitcase
Educated at:
Oratia Primary, Henderson High
Favourite place in NZ:
The back of a Harley Davidson
If not in show business, she’d be:
A massage therapist
Favourite NZ musicians and performers:
Shihad
Would like to meet:
A gorgeous single bloke with a Harley Davidson, who could handle loving and being loved by a diva. (Oh, sorry, you mean what artist would I like to meet!) Marjana Lipovsek, fabulous mezzo soprano (my voice type), a fearless singer and courageous performer, unafraid to do dangerous things with her voice in order to serve the piece, just like Maria Callas, my all-time heroine, used to do.
Favourite venue:
Where the stage is on the same level as the first row of seats. When I’m in a theatre like this, I feel a connection with the audience that’s more immediate, tangible and challenging, because we share the same ‘ground’ and we can’t escape each other. I haven’t a clue what that’s about, but I love it!
