Get ready Adelaide – the smash hit Broadway musical Hairspray opens at the end of the month, following a highly acclaimed season in Melbourne. The star-studded Australian cast will be bringing the twentieth anniversary production of Hairspray to The Adelaide Festival Theatre for a limited season, opening on New Years Eve.
Making her professional musical theatre debut in the title role of Tracy Turnblad is Carmel Rodrigues. Born to parents with Portuguese, Indian and European heritage and raised in Sydney’s North Shore, Carmel has been performing from a young age, and in 2016, she made her first foray into the spotlight as a semi-finalist on season five of Channel 9’s The Voice, where she was coached by Jessie J and the Madden Brothers.
Ahead of the Adelaide season, I caught up with Carmel to talk about Hairspray and to find out where it all started for her.
“I did ballet when I was younger, but stopped that because my Mum didn’t want to drive me to that any more. I turned to music and started pursuing a lot of singing. I played at church with my family, which was a huge thing for me. After a while, my singing teacher got me to audition for a musical. I wasn’t too sure about that, as I was sure I was going to be the next P!nk or someone like that, but I auditioned and got in. I totally enjoyed the experience working on a musical. I caught the bug and I haven’t looked back since.”
From the hundreds that auditioned for Hairspray, it must have been such a ‘pinch me’ moment for Carmel when she got the call offering her the role of Tracy Turnblad.
“I didn’t believe it at first. I came from the open call auditions, and they rarely take anyone from an open call audition. It was absolutely unreal and still, months after the fact and even after closing the Melbourne season, I am in disbelief that I got cast in the show. I still get rather emotional.”
Carmel shared with me what it is about Hairspray that she loves.
“Every show of Hairspray has taught me something different. One day it might speak to me about really loving myself and who I am, another day it might teach me about confidence, and another day it might teach me about not caring what people think and putting yourself in someone else’s shoes. The whole show of Hairspray brings so much life, love and joy to people. It has such a powerful message that still hits hard every time I perform it.”
Carmel is working alongside an incredible cast, including Shane Jacobson, Todd McKenny, Bobby Fox and Rhonda Burchmore. It must be a rather surreal experience to be surrounded by some legends of the entertainment industry.
“I keep catching myself nearly breaking character during a show when I have the realisation that it’s Shane Jacobson or Todd McKenny talking or singing to me. It’s really surreal, as these are people I grew up watching. Also, Rhonda Burchmore has to play such a horrible, nasty character, which is not like her at all. I often catch myself looking at her in awe and then have to snap back as her character has said something rather negative that I have to respond to on stage.”
Hairspray opens in Adelaide at the end of the month, and Carmel cannot wait to hit The Adelaide Festival Theatre stage.
“The one thing that I loved seeing during our Melbourne season was how the audience always was up dancing at the end of the show. I’m really hoping that the Adelaide audiences also join in. The show is full of life and love, I hope that everyone forgets about their worries just for a little while and gets up and dances with us at the end of the show. If you, as the audience, are having a great time, then we will be having an even better time because we feed from the energy that you create.”
Hairspray opens on December 27 at the Adelaide Festival Theatre. Further information and tickets can be found at https://hairspraymusical.com.au/ .
Interviewed by: Ben Stefanoff
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