Rebel | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Directed by | Michael Jenkins |
Based on | play No Names, No Pack Drill by Bob Herbert |
Produced by | Phillip Emanuel |
Starring | Matt Dillon Debra Byrne Bryan Brown |
Music by | Chris Neal |
Production company | Phillip Emanuel Productions |
Distributed by | Roadshow Entertainment (Australia) Vestron Pictures (United States) |
Release date |
|
Country | Australia |
Language | English |
Budget | A$5 million [1] |
Box office | A$886,769 (Australia) [2] |
Rebel is a 1985 Australian musical drama directed by Michael Jenkins and starring Matt Dillon, Debra Byrne, and Bryan Brown. It is set in World War Two. [3]
The movie was based on the play No Names, No Packdrill, by Bob Herbert, uncle of Louis Nowra.
The play had its premiere in 1979 at the University of New England.
The play was performed by the Sydney Theatre Company in 1980 starring Mel Gibson and Noni Hazlehurst, directed by George Ogilvie. The production was so popular the season was extended at the Theatre Royal. [4]
It has been revived several times, notably in 2006. [5]
Considerable changes were made from the play, including turning the female lead from a postal worker into a singer in a female band. It was originally hoped to cast Olivia Newton-John in this role but Debra Byrne was cast instead and made a great personal success in it. [6]
Director Mike Jenkins decided to push the musical aspect, and went for a stylised approach in collaboration with designer Brian Thomson. The manager of Matt Dillon, who was imported to play the lead, did not like the approach, saying it was too much like a Francis Ford Coppola movie - which Thomson took as a compliment. He wanted his client to appear in a straight period film closer to Breaker Morant. However Jenkins and Thomson's vision prevailed. [7]
The film was not a success. Director Mike Jenkins later said that:
It's funny, Rebel has attracted some fierce critiques from intellectuals who subsequently liked other things that I've done. But it also won five AFI awards and was the most nominated film of its year. It was a curious piece; it didn't altogether work. I was interested in it because of the basic story about the American boy who wants to desert. It said something about Australia and Sydney in World War II. [8]
A Soundtrack was released in December 1985 and credited to Matt Dillon and Debbie Byrne. The album peaked at number 75 on the Kent Music Report.
Mark Anthony "Baz" Luhrmann is an Australian film director, producer, writer and actor. With projects spanning film, television, opera, theatre, music and recording industries, he is regarded by some as a contemporary example of an auteur for his style and deep involvement in the writing, directing, design, and musical components of all his work. He is the most commercially successful Australian director, with four of his films in the top ten highest worldwide grossing Australian films of all time.
Strictly Ballroom is a 1992 Australian romantic comedy film directed and co-written by Baz Luhrmann in his feature directorial debut. The film is the first in his "Red Curtain Trilogy" of theatre-motif-related films; it was followed by 1996's Romeo + Juliet and 2001's Moulin Rouge!
Bryan Neathway Brown AM is an Australian actor. He has performed in over eighty film and television projects since the late 1970s, both in his native Australia and abroad. Notable films include Breaker Morant (1980), Give My Regards to Broad Street (1984), F/X (1986), Tai-Pan (1986), Cocktail (1988), Gorillas in the Mist (1988), F/X2 (1991), Along Came Polly (2004), Australia (2008), Kill Me Three Times (2014) and Gods of Egypt (2016). He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy Award for his performance in the television miniseries The Thorn Birds (1983).
Debra Lawrance is an Australian actress. She is best known for her role on Home and Away, as Pippa Ross, which she played from 1990 to 1998 and in a number of subsequent return appearances, the most recent being in 2009.
Debra Anne Byrne, formerly billed as Debbie Byrne, is an Australian pop singer, variety entertainer, theatre and TV actress and writer, director and choreographer of cabaret. From April 1971 to March 1975 she was a founding cast member of Young Talent Time. She started her solo singing career with a cover version of "He's a Rebel", which peaked at No. 25 on the Go-Set Australian Singles chart. At the Logie Awards of 1974 she won Best Teenage Personality and followed with the Queen of Pop Award in October – both ceremonies were sponsored by TV Week. She repeated both wins in the following year.
Emerald City is a 1988 Australian comedy-drama film directed by Michael Jenkins, based on the 1987 play of the same name by David Williamson. Much of the play's dialogue is retained, though discussion of off-stage characters is usually replaced with their appearance, and a more conventionally cinematic level and speed of dialogue is maintained. Also, the younger daughter Hannah is omitted.
Brendan Cowell is an Australian actor and writer.
Emerald City is a 1987 play by the Australian playwright David Williamson, a satire about two entertainment industries: film and publishing.
Rebel Melanie Elizabeth Wilson is an Australian actress, comedian, writer, singer, and producer. After graduating from the Australian Theatre for Young People in 2003, Wilson began appearing as Toula in the SBS comedy series Pizza and later appeared in the sketch comedy show The Wedge (2006–2007). She wrote, produced and starred in the musical comedy series Bogan Pride (2008). Shortly after moving to the United States, Wilson appeared in the comedy films Bridesmaids and A Few Best Men, both in 2011.
Brian Thomson is an Australian theatre, opera and film designer. He has been active in Australian stage design since the 1970s.
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.
Metro Street is an original Australian musical with book, music and lyrics by Matthew Lee Robinson. It was awarded the Pratt Prize for Music Theatre in 2004, and went through many workshops and readings, including at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival in 2006, before its world premiere season with the State Theatre Company of South Australia in April 2009.
Hollie Andrew is an Australian film, television and stage actress.
Matt Boesenberg is an actor born in Sydney, Australia. He has many credits in film, television and theatre. Matt is best known for Busman's Holiday (2020) and two seasons of the Underbelly television series. Matt is a skilled sportsman and has played representative cricket in Australia and England.
Matt Lee is an Australian dancer and actor. He has starred in Bootmen, We Will Rock You, Rent, Grease, and Mary Poppins for which he won a Helpmann Award for Best Actor in a Musical. He was a motion capture principal for the Oscar winning film Happy Feet where he brought to life the loveable tap dancing penguin Mumble. He has choreographed for, and worked alongside Paula Abdul, Ricky Martin, Human Nature, Samantha Jade, Hilary Duff and Christine Anu. He was also a judge and choreographer for So You Think You Can Dance.
Stephen Mahy is an Australian born tenor from Sydney, NSW, best known for originating the role of Bob Gaudio in the Australian production of Jersey Boys. After graduating from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts in 2006, Stephen toured the country in Miss Saigon, covering the lead role of Chris and playing the role to every audience in the country. Mahy toured nationally in Grease, playing the role of Kenickie alongside notable cast members Rob Mills, Gretel Scarlett, Anthony Callea, Lucy Maunder, Todd McKenney and Bert Newton as Vince Fontaine. In 2015, Stephen joined the cast of The Rocky Horror Show, playing the role of Brad Majors alongside Craig McLachlan, Amy Lehpamer, Jayde Westaby, Bert Newton and Richard O'Brien, just to name a few. He featured in "Stephen Schwartz in Conversation" at Sydney's Theatre Royal, where he performed on stage for the noted composer.
Christopher Hugh Neal is an Australian musician, songwriter, record producer and television and film music composer. His scores include Buddies, Bodyline, The Shiralee, Turtle Beach and Farscape. He has also scored and written songs for children's series including Johnson and Friends, Lift-Off, Crash Zone and Noah and Saskia.
Rowan Witt is an Australian film, television and theatre actor. He is best known for his roles in The Book of Mormon, Hamilton, Gloria, She Loves Me,Into The Woods, South Pacific, Dogfight, Home and Away, and The Matrix.
Anna O'Byrne is an Australian actress and soprano singer best known for her portrayal of Christine Daaé in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera and the original Australian production of Lloyd Webber's sequel, Love Never Dies, for which she was nominated for a Green Room Award.
Rebel: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is a soundtrack to the 1985 Australian film of the same name which is based on the play No Names, No Packdrill by Bob Herbert.