Hot on the heels of a string of musicals that have been through Adelaide recently, Cruel Intentions: The 90s Musical opens at Her Majesty’s Theatre this Friday, September 9 for a limited season.
Based on the acclaimed 1999 cult film, which was re-released in cinemas in 2019 with a new TV series in development, Cruel Intentions sets a scandalous tone for romance and seduction, with hilarious scenes and exhilarating performances.
Between her final performances in Perth over the weekend, I was able to speak to the witty and uproariously funny Fem Belling, who is playing Mrs Caldwell in the Australian touring production of Cruel Intentions: The 90s Musical.
Fem Belling is a jazz vocalist and violinist with a dual career in stage musicals and jazz singing. Fem was raised in Johannesburg and later moved to Cape Town to establish a career in musical theatre before moving to London as a leading lady in the West End. Lead roles include Hairspray, Fame, Footloose, Cats (original South African cast) and the 2011 production of The Boy from Oz, where she played Liza Minelli. Fem claims five Vita awards, a Green Room Award nomination for Best Leading Actress in the musical Genesis to Broadway and shares an ARIA nomination from her involvement in The Public Opinion Afro Orchestra.
Fem has had such a successful career so far. She shared with me how she got started in the industry and what drew her to pursue a career in the performing arts.
“I grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa, during apartheid, which is and was a very interesting time. I grew up there right at the end of apartheid, so it was as the country was changing and opening up. A little background: in South Africa we had cultural sanctions, and we were only allowed certain musicals. We didn’t really have trade with the outside world. We only could put on and see the old musicals, such as Oklahoma; we didn’t have any of the new stuff. Because my dad was a jazz musician, I thought that those stunning jazz-standard musicals were the only musicals in the world. Then the country opened up and the first show came to Johannesburg, and it was Cats, I literally had my eyes opened to the rest of the world and what was available. My little saliva glands started running and I knew I had to get out there and join this industry. I had behind me years of formal music training in violin, voice and music theory, and I had formal training as a ballet dancer. Ballet was something that I was also studying full time and was working towards that professionally, but I worked out very quickly that I enjoyed food much more, so I have made my name in musical theatre instead.”
So much great music came out of the 90s, and with that some brilliant bands and artists. I was curious to find out what Fem’s favourite 90s jams are.
“There are some extraordinary first timers to professional theatre in the cast of Cruel Intentions, and we worked out quickly they were not exactly around during the 90s. When we were talking about 90s music in rehearsals, the younger ones were referring to the music as ‘vintage’, which I found hilarious! To me the 90s was my coming of age: it was me copping a snog round the back of the cricket pitch, or discovering my sexuality as a woman. But then it did hit me…..in the cast’s eyes, I was also vintage. Damn it! I am however a bit of a weird one, because I grew up on a diet of jazz, so when all the other kids were listening to cool tunes, I was discovering Ella Fitzgerald and Nancy Wilson. However, with that being said…Phil Collins. Phil Collins and his drum fills, filled me with….Phil. His music, Alanis Morissette and Rodriguez were my soundtracks of the 90s. There is something transient about the 90s music as well. It really is where everyone started to explore genres more as well.”
Cruel Intentions: The 90s Musical is based on the 1999 film that starred Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, and Reese Witherspoon, which in turn is adapted from a 1782 novel. I was a teenager when it came out and I remember how much conversation happened around it when it was released. Fem spoke to me about how the film has been adapted to work on the stage.
“A lot of the show is very close to the film. The themes are very beautifully explored in the show, because you have that danger of live theatre. When people are manipulating each other in a movie, you can’t reach out and touch them, but there is something about that excitement that only translates on a stage for this musical. Our leads do such an incredible job of creating that danger and I think that’s part of the magic of this show. The adaptations between the movie and the show in the tricky part where we are presenting a slice of history and sometimes, we don’t like what history was. There is a lot of language that personally makes my skin crawl, and ways characters talk to each other that we have moved far beyond these days, but we still need to represent that. So, for me, that has been a challenge. There are a lot of reminders in the show of how far we have developed as a race since the 90s.”
Fem is playing Mrs Caldwell in this production, which was brilliantly portrayed by the sensational Christine Baranski played in the film. I spoke with Fem about how she is finding playing a character that audiences already know because of the film. How much creative license does she have to adapt the character and make it her own?
“Our director, Alister Smith, was so wonderful in the rehearsal process, with letting us play. As an actor, it’s one of the greatest gifts a director can give an actor. You get to bring the essence of something so incredibly well known, infuse it with all your own idiosyncrasies and quirks and make your choices – some terrible and some great, but you can filter them out. I got into the character as soon as I physicalised her. She is so well known to look at from the movie, and Christine Baranski plays her so incredibly well. I’m also the only character on stage and that comes with its own set of boundaries. I become the one who has to remain very steadfast in my ways, where the kids can be manipulated throughout the show. It was a very interesting dynamic to explore throughout the rehearsals.”
The score is jam packed full of 90’s hits, including: Bittersweet Symphony (The Verve), Every You and Every Me (Placebo), Bye Bye Bye (*NSYNC), Sometimes (Britney Spears), Just A Girl (No Doubt), Foolish Games (Jewel), Genie In A Bottle (Christina Aguilera), Candy (Mandy Moore), Breakfast At Tiffany’s (Deep Blue Something), Kiss Me (Sixpence None the Richer), Iris (The Goo Goo Dolls), I’ll Make Love To You (Boyz II Men), and more.
Unlike some jukebox musicals, the songs don’t feel forced into the show.
“The way the songs are intertwined with the dialogue is brilliant. They don’t sound like they are forced into the show like you get in so many jukebox musicals. The cast is a whopper of a cast – vocally, intentions and acting and the sound they produce in the vocal numbers of the show is extraordinary. Not only does the cast do these iconic songs justice, but they bring their own. From the audience’s perspective, because the songs are so well known, we find the audience feels they own a little piece of the show, because they bring back memories of where they were in their lives when the songs were first released.”
Cruel Intentions: The 90s Musical opens at Her Majesty’s Theatre this Friday, September 9. Tickets can be purchased through www.cruelintentions.com.au .
Interview by Ben Stefanoff
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