Showtunes at the ready

Julia Zemiro says she has done her preparation for her latest stage show. In fact, an abundance of research across many years went into making sure she was ready to be in the show, Spontaneous Broadway.

Spontaneous Broadway is an improvisational approach to the world of Broadway musicals, where a team of performers pull together a musical, including script and songs, based on an idea suggested by the audience.

Some previous creations have included Sale, a musical about post-Christmas shopping; Breadlines, which is set in the Russian revolution; and Love Of A Motorcycle, with West Side Story-style bikies.

Zemiro, who recently hosted the Eurobeat musical at the State Theatre, and also hosts SBS’s RocKwiz, says her teenage years prepared her to tackle every genre for Spontaneous Broadway.

I was a kid who babysat -“ a lot. Every weekend, I babysat and sat in front of the TV. And as I babysat, I watched Bill Collins, she reveals.

Thanks to Bill’s Saturday night movies, I know my musicals. I love Oklahoma! and I love Guys And Dolls, so this show is something I am already well versed in. Mind you, I had never done a musical until Eurobeat, but have to say I took to it like it was where I was meant to be.

Spontaneous Broadway is presented by such seasoned improvisational talents as Russell Fletcher, Ross Daniels, Geoff Paine, and Genevieve Morris, with musical assistance from John Thorn. It previously played a season in Melbourne.

In the first act, the performers ask the audience for ideas they would like to see created into musicals, and then present a number of short scenes and songs from each of those ideas.

Whatever show concept proves most popular with the audience is then, in the second act, turned into a musical.

So during interval, when the audience is in the foyer sipping on champagne, the Spontaneous Broadway cast is backstage in the dressing room, pulling together a full musical to fit the selected story scenario.

But what sounds like a performer’s nightmare is part of the pleasure, according to Zemiro.

Everyone in this cast has been improvising for 20 years, and so it is not that hard for us, she says.

At interval, the very worst thing we can do is plan what the musical will be. We instead brainstorm the world of what that show would be all about, so when we get out there, we have all those ideas at our disposal.

There might be a song in there that is a little bit Kander and Ebb, and maybe a little Rodgers and Hammerstein, and we might end up doing 15 numbers, and then there is a story in between all of that.

Zemiro these days is also presenting an afternoon radio shift on WS-FM in addition to her SBS commitments, but she says Spontaneous Broadway rates as her favourite gig.

This is the one show I have been doing which I genuinely can’t wait to get to the theatre to do as I love it so much, she says. Everyone has such a good time with this and, whether you love musical theatre or hate musical theatre, you’ll get this.

Spontaneous Broadway plays at the Riverside Theatres, Parramatta, until 25 March. Bookings on 8839 3399 or at www.riversideparramatta.com.au.