By Jada Fulcher
Sydney Musical Theatre brings a whirlwind of an emotional roller coaster ride to life in Jacob Richmond and Brooke Maxwell’s written-for-the-stage musical Ride the Cyclone.
Six Canadian teenagers, unlikely friends but stuck together as members of the school choir, tragically die in a freak rollercoaster accident. Greeted by a mechanical fortune-telling machine, they exist in a realm that sits between life and death.
The only way out is to vote amongst themselves, deciding who gets to live and who will face death and embrace an unknown afterlife.
Ride the Cyclone explores the themes of death at a young age and poses the question “what does it mean to have a truly meaningful life?” tied together with a dark comedy sing-song ribbon.
Sydney Musical Theatre is founded by Sarah Shanahan and Althaia Frost, who are the resident director and producer. The group manages the Greenhalgh Theatre in Lindfield, newly re-opened, which can seat up to 685 audience members at a time.
With passion and a promise to produce high-quality, meaningful theatre, Sydney Musical Theatre delivered a spectacular performance across four nights, with a 90-minute running showtime.
Behind the dazzling lights, stunning props, and fantastic costume changes, the heart of the musical lies with the fans of the play. Both those who bought a ticket and came to Greenhalgh Theatre to watch as part of the audience, and those who auditioned and danced on stage as part of the ensemble.
One such ensemble member shared their experience; both in the journey of production and in bringing Ride the Cyclone to life on stage here in Sydney.
“The show had many elements involving props and aerials, so rehearsals had to reflect that,” they said. “I’m most proud of seeing the aerials come to life.
“Director Sarah Shanahan told us in the very first rehearsal that all the main cast would be rigged up to fly onstage. This is an idea never been done before, at least as far as documented productions go.
“Dreamscape did the rigging and they’ve been nothing but professional and patient with set-up, training, and actually deploying the systems.
“The cast who were trained in aerials have told us it was an absolutely fun experience, and I’m happy for them that they got to experience something so unique in their theatre careers.”
In exploring the theme of grief, writer Jacob Richmond wanted to discuss the heavy topic of grief, but “in a really fun way”.
Ride the Cyclone uniquely expresses these heavy topics in a way that is contradictory; through nonsensical, hilarious, and catchy songs.
Richmond, together with Brooke Maxwell, co-wrote the songs, with Maxwell composing the music.
Within the musical, each of the six main characters has the opportunity to sing their heart out – as choir members often do – and showcase who they were when they were alive.
Through the songs, we as the audience are able to understand what kind of feelings the character carries and hides inside themselves, what their life story was up until that point of high school, and what their dreams were before their passing.
The heart of the musical can be felt through the cast who went above and beyond showcasing what those feelings mean to them through their performance on stage.
The ensemble member explained how those feelings were shared within the cast and what that meant for them as actors showcasing fun but emotionally complex characters,
“We’re all obsessive theatre kids, so of course this was one of the first topics the cast discussed during downtime at rehearsal,” they said. “We went around saying which character we thought represented which stage of grief.
“All the songs and all the characters touch on a stage of grief in some capacity, and it does so in a way that feels accessible but not patronising or preachy.
“I think this show will hit the 20s-30s crowd the hardest. There is a level of introspection that can only be achieved by surviving your high school years, and there is also a sense of doom when you’re in your twenties (or thirties!) and you haven’t done all that you said you’ll set out to do.”
Sydney Musical Theatre has brought to stage a musical that anyone of any age or life experience can relate to and laugh along with, and does so with lots of heart, and dazzling lights.
The ensemble member had one final message.
“In this period of life, you battle with feelings of being both too young to die and too old to start over. ‘Ride the Cyclone’ is an irreverent reminder that we only have one shot at this life. That for as long as air passes through your lungs and blood pumps through your heart, you can start over again and again to carve out an existence that gives you fulfilment.”
Featured image: Sydney Theatre’s Ride the Cyclone at Greenhalgh Theatre, Lindfield. Photo: Jada Fulcher