For anyone who has kids, knows kids or is young at heart, the names Bluey, Bingo, Chilli and Bandit Heeler would be very familiar. The TV series Bluey has quickly become a huge international success and, in recent years, a hugely popular live stage production — Bluey’s Big Play.
Adelaide based director Rosemary Myers was entrusted to direct the stage adaptation of Bluey. Myers is a multi-Helpmann Award nominated director whose productions have been performed on stages and in festivals around Australia and the world. Myers has worked as artistic director for multiple companies and has also worked for ABC Television, Back to Back Theatre Company, Windmill Theatre Company and Sydney Theatre Company.
Rosemary Myers spoke to Glam Adelaide about working on Bluey’s Big Play as well as what drew her into the performing arts and to directing as a career path.
“Honestly, I just love drama. I mean, I’m going back a long time now, but I loved drama at school – that was my favourite subject. I always dreamed about working in that industry. When I was in year 12, I went to a school that had a good focus on arts and I did film studies and drama studies. I was torn about which one I’d pursue. I ended up going to drama school, and after that I started working with an ensemble theatre group called Woolly Jumpers that had people like Rachel Griffiths go through them. It was a really formative time for me but I always knew that my heart was in the making of theatre rather than the performing. I just feel really blessed with the opportunities that have been given throughout my career so far.”
Myers has worked across stage and screen, as well as on projects for young people and adults. We asked Myers if there’s one area she enjoys over another, or if she loves the challenge each brings.
“For me it is just about different ways of telling stories. I think I’ve learnt a lot by crossing over to do film and TV. With shows like Girl Asleep, I brought a lot of the theatre onto the screen. That’s kind of been a bit of a trademark of the work that we’ve done through Windmill Pictures. It’s been a learning curve, but it’s been really great. It’s good to just expand the way you work, but then I love being in theatres, and I love working with actors.”
Bluey’s Big Play first hit Australian stages shortly after the COVID lockdowns. Bluey’s Big Play is Bluey like you’ve never seen it before – for real life. With an original story by Bluey creator Joe Brumm, the theatrical production features brilliantly crafted puppets and the voices that audiences will know and love from the award-winning television series, including Melanie Zanetti and Dave McCormack.
Myers shared how the creation of the production came about.
“The creation of Bluey’s Big Play happened throughout the pandemic when we had a lot of time to work on it and it was when the second season of Bluey had been released. Joe Brumm and the team at Ludo had created this incredible world and story with the character Bluey and her family. One of the amazing things about it was the sense that we had created something special, as it was part of the Bluey phenomena but only on a larger scale. It wasn’t until we got into the theatre and you could see the audience’s reactions in real time that we knew we had something really special. I travelled to the premiere in Madison Square Garden and in South Bank London, and just seeing thousands of people all getting excited the same way as audiences back home did was a very moving experience. Bluey is huge all over the world and to have been involved in part of that is very special.”
With such well known source material in the TV animation, adapting the show for stage would have created a few challenges for Myers and the rest of the creative team.
“It did create a challenge at times because obviously you cannot match the timing of animation. Joe Brumm, the writer of Bluey’s Big Play, isn’t really a big theatre person, and his background is in animation, film and screen. When he first sent through a version of the play that he’d written, we flagged early on that we would never be able to work at the speed of animation in the theatre because we’ve got the physical space to contend with and scene changes. We also wanted to bring out the artistry.There’s a lot of art in Bluey and we wanted to match that with our kind of theatrical artistry. The show has adapted slightly over time as we’ve worked through the staging. The live staging of Bluey brings all the elements of the TV series that families love, and it’s been a huge joy to work on it.”
Bluey’s Big Play is making its way to screens this Easter. Premiering Sunday 20th April at 7.30pm on ABC Family and ABC iview, the televised production will transport audiences to experience the magic of the worldwide hit theatre adaptation of Bluey.
“I haven’t watched the final cut of it yet, so I’m actually really keen to see it myself this weekend! A team from the UK BBC came out to film it, so they were very experienced. They’ve done a lot of National Theatre film work, so they knew what they were doing. There’s always a level of anxiety about how the show is going to translate. It was not designed originally for the screen, which is why we wanted the best film crew possible to handle this. The show has been touring for years now, with three touring productions running at the same time around the world. It’s massive when you stop and think about it, and it has generated a lot of work for Australian artists, which is absolutely brilliant. It’s going to be such a special night for families to be able to sit together and watch this very beautiful story and see all their favourite Bluey characters.”
Nominated for a prestigious Olivier Award for Best Family Show in 2024 and having played to families all over the world, Bluey’s Big Play was filmed at the Theatre Royal in Sydney. The production features music specially composed by Joff Bush.
Bluey’s Big Play
ABC Family and ABC iView
Sunday 20 April at 7.30pm
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