Twelfth Night Theatre is about to host a musical celebration of love in all its mysterious forms.
Entitled LOVE… and all that follows, the performance will star Australian television icon Lisa McCune and award-winning recording artist Kane Alexander as they sing a catalogue of songs concerning matters of the heart. Leading man Kane Alexander says he and Lisa will be covering a diverse range of material.
“It's a piece that explores the many facets of love through song,” he explains. “There are so many songs that have been written about love in all its forms. We're looking at early love when it first blossoms, love at first sight, right through to unrequited love and parental love. There are so many songs to choose from that it's been quite a difficult task to pull all the songs in but we've got a diverse mix of material.”
Kane’s career to date has been an illustrious one. He is a well-established star of the musical stage; as a career highlight, he lists his performance at Rupert Murdoch’s 70th birthday party alongside jazz royalty Natalie Cole. Having already worked with Lisa McCune on previous projects, Kane says he is relishing the opportunity to perform with Australian television’s favourite leading lady once again.
“Lisa is amazing, we’ve worked together before in a production called Urine Town, which is an unfortunate title. We played lovers in the show and she's just extraordinary because she brings something new every single night. I don’t know whether that’s her background in television where you're trying new things all the time but she’s incredibly disciplined. It's such a joy never knowing what type of performance you're going to get. It keeps it really fresh and she’s very funny and very dedicated and I love her to bits. It's been seven or eight years since we did Urine Town so it is lovely to be working with her again.”
Kane and Lisa are joined by musical director Denis Follington, who instructed both actors in musical theatre at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts.
“Dennis has been in the industry for such a long time,” says Kane. “In the role he had at WAPA as the head of music, he was responsible for developing so many theatre practitioners and he's quite inspiring because of his breadth of knowledge. He's so knowledgeable about music — and not just theatre music, right through to contemporary music as well. It's been quite incredible; he's like an encyclopedia when it comes to music. We've been looking at which material we would perform and Dennis has been throwing music at us from all angles and all periods in music. It's been quite inspiring.”
Most of all, Kane hopes that LOVE… and all that follows will give punters the opportunity to reflect upon their experiences with that ubiquitous four-letter word.
“The whole point of this piece is to take the audience on a journey. Love is such a universal thing and we all experience love in different forms throughout our lifetimes. The point of this is to highlight different forms of love and what it means to different people. If the audience walks out having analysed their own feelings towards love and relived with how they've connected with love throughout their lives, then we've done our job well.”
Kane Alexander will perform in LOVE… and all that follows for one night only on Thursday July 18 at The Twelfth Night Theatre.
