Illusion (musical)

Last updated

Illusion
Music Martin Armiger
Lyrics Peter Carey and Martin Armiger
Book Peter Carey and Mike Mullins
Productions1986 Adelaide

Illusion is an Australian rock musical by Peter Carey and Mike Mullins with songs by Carey and Martin Armiger, first performed at the Adelaide Festival of the Arts in 1986.

Contents

Plot

Setting: Sydney, Australia

The story, a critique of American influences on Australian life through a 'surrealistic pantomime', concerns Travis the Private Eye. Carboni, the Common Man, a newspaper seller, tries to persuade Travis to track down the Glowing Man. Along the way Travis encounters politicians, the Church, the judiciary, the media, big business, police, criminals, junkies and others. [1]

Production history

Mullins had conceived the concept for Illusion in the early 1980 as the third part of a trilogy of experimental performance. [2]

The musical was first performed for the Adelaide Festival of the Arts from 7 to 22 March 1986 at the Regent Theatre, Adelaide, directed by Mullins. [3] The premiere production, one of the major works of the festival, experienced substantial difficulties. Carey withdrew his name as author of the book and retained only a credit for co-writing the lyrics. [4] Following the first performance, three performances were cancelled during which the musical was reworked. [5]

Recording

A studio cast recording was released by ABC Records in 1986, featuring Wendy Matthews, Mark Williams, Peter Blakeley, Sherlie Matthews and Armiger. [6] It was nominated for an ARIA Award for Best Original Soundtrack or Cast Recording in 1987. The songs "Must Be Chemical" and "When I Was a Little Boy" from the album performed by Peter Blakeley were released as a single. [7] [8]

Track listing

Side A

  1. "Must Be Chemical" (vocals by Peter Blakeley)
  2. "Yellowcake" (vocals by Sherlie Matthews)
  3. "When I Was a Little Boy" (vocals by Peter Blakeley)
  4. "Nice Warm Anger" (vocals by Mark Williams)
  5. "There's Going to Be a Future" (vocals by Mark Williams & Sherlie Matthews)

Side B

  1. "Metaphorically Speaking" (vocals by Wendy Matthews)
  2. "No Interest" (vocals by Martin Armiger)
  3. "The Glowing Man" (by Ulpia Erdos)
  4. "The Defense" (vocals by Mark Williams)
  5. "The Beat Begins" (vocals by Sherlie Matthews & Wendy Matthews)
  6. "Only Half a Life" (vocals by Mark Williams & Wendy Matthews)

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Carey (novelist)</span> Australian novelist

Peter Philip Carey AO is an Australian novelist. Carey has won the Miles Franklin Award three times and is frequently named as Australia's next contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Carey is one of only five writers to have won the Booker Prize twice—the others being J. G. Farrell, J. M. Coetzee, Hilary Mantel and Margaret Atwood. Carey won his first Booker Prize in 1988 for Oscar and Lucinda, and won for the second time in 2001 with True History of the Kelly Gang. In May 2008 he was nominated for the Best of the Booker Prize.

Wendy Joan Matthews is a Canadian-born Australian singer-songwriter who has been a member of Models and Absent Friends and is a solo artist. She released Top 20 hit singles in the 1990s including "Token Angels", "Let's Kiss ", "The Day You Went Away" and "Friday's Child" with Top 20 albums, You've Always Got The Blues, Émigré, Lily, The Witness Tree and her compilation, Stepping Stones. She has won six Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Awards. According to rock music historian, Ian McFarlane she provides "extraordinary, crystal-clear vocals [...] a soulfulness that was the mark of a truly gifted singer".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ricky Fataar</span> South African musician

Ricky Fataar is a South African musician who has performed as both a drummer and a guitarist. He gained fame as an actor in The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash, a spoof on the actual history of the Beatles in which he also performed as a member of The Rutles. He is also known for his stint as a member of The Beach Boys between 1971 and 1974. Fataar is also recognized for his contributions as a record producer, and has worked on projects scoring music to film and television.

Venetta Lee Fields is an American-born singer and musical theater actress, and vocal coach.

Sherlie Matthews is an American singer, songwriter and former Motown Records producer, best known as a backing vocalist for pop, R&B and rock groups from the mid-1960s to the present time.

John Martin Armiger was an Australian musician, record producer and composer. He was one of the singer-songwriters and guitarists with Melbourne-based rock band the Sports from August 1978 to late 1981, which had Top 30 hits on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart with, "Don't Throw Stones" (1979), "Strangers on a Train" (1980) and "How Come" (1981); and Top 20 albums with Don't Throw Stones, Suddenly and Sondra (1981).

Rockmelons, often referred to as the Rockies, were an Australian pop/dance/R&B group formed in 1983 in Sydney. Primary members are Bryon Jones, his brother Jonathon Jones and Raymond Medhurst. They had two Australian top five hit singles in the early 1990s with "Ain't No Sunshine" and "That Word (L.O.V.E.)", both sung by Deni Hines. The associated album, Form 1 Planet, peaked at number 3 on the ARIA albums chart in 1992, and was certified platinum in Australia.

<i>Jesus Christ Superstar (Original Australian Cast Recording)</i> 1972 album

Jesus Christ Superstar or Jesus Christ Superstar – Original Australian Cast Recording is an album released in late 1972 on MCA Records. Jesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera created by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber in 1970. The earliest Australian version was staged from May 1972 to February 1974. This album features Trevor White, Jon English and Michele Fawdon. Together with other cast members, they performed vocals for a studio recording. It was produced by Patrick Flynn, the show's musical director and a conductor for Opera Australia. The album peaked at No. 17 on the Go-Set Albums Chart in June 1973, while it reached No. 13 on the Kent Music Report and remained on its charts for 54 weeks. It appeared in the top 100 on the 1974 End of Year Albums Chart. In May 1973, the album was awarded a gold record for sales of 50,000 albums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Blakeley</span> Musical artist

Peter Blakeley is an Australian white soul/adult contemporary singer and songwriter.

The Crossing is a 1990 Australian romantic drama film directed by George Ogilvie, produced by Sue Seeary and written by Ranald Allan. The film stars Russell Crowe, Robert Mammone and Danielle Spencer. The film was shot in the towns of Junee and Condobolin in New South Wales, Australia. The film was released in Australia on 18 October 1990. Russell Crowe was nominated for the Australian Film Institute Award for best actor while Jeff Darling was awarded for the best cinematography.

The Fifth Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards was held on 25 March 1991 at the Darling Harbour Convention Centre in Sydney. International host Bob Geldof was assisted by presenters to distribute 24 awards. There were live performances but the awards were not televised and the ceremony was noted for its three-hours plus length with Gary Morris, manager of Midnight Oil providing a 20-minute acceptance speech.

Paul Abrahams is an Australian musician and bass player for The Reels

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Mason (musician)</span> Australian keyboardist

Roger Ashley Mason is an Australian keyboardist who has been a member of new wave groups Models, Absent Friends and Icehouse. He was a session and backing musician for United Kingdom's Gary Numan and for various Australian artists. From the early 1990s he has composed music for television and feature films.

<i>Émigré</i> (album) Album by Wendy Matthews discography

Émigré is the debut solo studio album by Australian singer-songwriter Wendy Matthews released by rooArt in Australia in November 1990. It was produced by Ricky Fataar and reached No. 11 on the Australian Albums Chart. It yielded three singles: "Token Angels", "Woman's Gotta Have It" and "Let's Kiss ". Matthews won the ARIA Award for Best Female Artist at the ARIA Music Awards of 1991.

The Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature comprise a group of biennially-granted literary awards established in 1986 by the Government of South Australia, announced during Adelaide Writers' Week, as part of the Adelaide Festival. The awards include national as well as state-based prizes, and offer three fellowships for South Australian writers. Several categories have been added to the original four.

Dancing Daze is a 1986 Australian mini series about two sisters from Wagga Wagga who leave their family pig farm to make it as dancers in the big city.

<i>Youve Always Got the Blues</i> 1988 soundtrack album by Kate Ceberano and Wendy Matthews

You've Always Got the Blues is a 1988 album by Kate Ceberano and Wendy Matthews recorded as the soundtrack for the ABC TV series Stringer. The album is primarily composed of duets performed by Ceberano and Matthews but also features Joy Smithers and Martin Armiger. According to Ceberano's 2014 autobiography, she and Matthews recorded the album in 48 hours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Don't Want to Be with Nobody but You</span> 1990 single by Absent Friends

"I Don't Want to Be with Nobody but You" is a song originally recorded by Dorothy Moore for her 1976 album Misty Blue. It was written by Eddie Floyd, who recorded his own version in 2008 for the album Eddie Loves You So. Australian band Absent Friends covered the song for their 1990 debut album, Here's Looking Up Your Address, featuring Wendy Matthews on lead vocals and Peter Blakeley on backing vocals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Rathgeber</span> Australian actor and singer

Alex Rathgeber is an Australian actor and singer, perhaps best known for his Helpmann Award-winning performance as Billy Crocker in Anything Goes. More recently he appeared as the Tin Man in Andrew Lloyd Webber's revival of The Wizard of Oz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dancing Daze (song)</span> 1986 single by Wendy Matthews and Jenny Morris

"Dancing Daze" is a song written by Sharon O'Neill and performed by Wendy Matthews and Jenny Morris. It was released in January 1986 as the lead single and main theme to the 1986 ABC television miniseries of the same name.

References

  1. ↑ Hawley, Janet (24 February 1986). "In search of the truth and an entrepreneur". The Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 8 August 2015– via Google News Archive.
  2. ↑ Gallasch, Keith (February–March 2010). "Mike Mullins, the politics of change". RealTime . No. 95. pp. 38–39. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  3. ↑ Illusion at AusStage
  4. ↑ Steel, Anthony (2009). Painful in Daily Doses: An Anecdotal Memoir. Adelaide: Wakefield Press. p. 269. ISBN   978-1-86254-875-6.
  5. ↑ Shmith, Michael (14 March 1986). "La Blande Illusion". The Age . Retrieved 8 August 2015– via Google News Archive.
  6. ↑ "Illusion – 1986 Studio Cast".
  7. ↑ "Peter Blakeley – "Must Be Chemical"".
  8. ↑ "Singles Reviews". The Age . 9 May 1986. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.