The genius of theatre giants Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice has captivated audiences worldwide for decades.
The Phantom of the Opera. Cats. Evita. Jesus Christ Superstar. Sunset Boulevard. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
You don't have to be a musical theatre aficionado to recognise these beloved musicals.
Silvie Paladino and Newcastle's Amy Vee are part of an all-star cast bringing the music of Lloyd Webber and Rice to Newcastle's Civic Theatre next week.
They will be joined by Marina Prior, Josh Robson (fresh from his portrayal of the title role in Handa Opera's The Phantom of the Opera) and Chloe Zuel (who most recently starred in Hamilton The Musical) as well as a talented cast of Novocastrian performers: Katie Blaxland, Tayla Choice, Danny Folpp, Thomas James, Jon Murphy, Layla Schillert and Marty Worrall.
Silvie Paladino
Paladino's singing ability was identified by her family at the age of nine and she won Channel Ten's Young Talent Time in 1986 when she was 15.
Her first theatrical role was Eponine in the Australasian tour of Les Miserables at the age of 18. Her stage credits to date include Hair, Cats, Chess, Miss Saigon, Mamma Mia!, Sideshow Alley, The King And I and Jerry's Girls, and she is a regular at Carols by Candlelight for the Nine Network.
She is regarded as one Australia's most versatile entertainers, with a remarkable vocal range that enables her to sing anything from jazz to light opera.
Paladino has just returned from a trip to Bali with her husband (where they celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary) when Weekender calls.
I ask her to describe the influence of Rice and Lloyd Webber on musical theatre and popular culture. Her reply? "Enormous".
"From Jesus Christ Superstar to Phantom to Cats and Evita, a lot of these shows I have either performed in or wanted to perform in," she says.
"They have been a massive influence on me, personally, and they've also stood the test of time ... I mean, they've crossed over generations. There are performers that have done their shows and their kids are now doing their shows, and audience members who take their children and grandchildren."
She also makes mention of the pair's ability to "write really great melodies in a popular way".
"Not only do they write incredible songs with wonderful lyrics, they have beautiful melodies that have this ability to stick in your head, even if you don't want them to," she says, laughing.
"You leave a show going 'Oh wow, that song ...' and three days later you've still got that song in your head. They're like a pop song on the radio in that respect."
She also says the songs of Rice and Lloyd Webber can be "challenging" to sing.
"They span across all ranges, for a woman, in one song. They go from alto to mezzo and sometimes even touch on soprano range," she says.
"It's quite demanding, particularly in a show like Superstars which is based on their music.
"They really stretch the voice. I mean, you look at something like Phantom for Christine Daae, she's singing in the stratosphere and then doing regular stuff in a middle range, and that's something Marina will be doing on the night."
The main cast of four in Superstars will mostly be singing songs from musicals they have performed in previously, and are familiar with.
"I'll be singing songs from Cats and Chess as well as Evita with Marina, which is actually a role neither of us have done before," Paladino says.
"And Sunset Boulevard, because I'm playing Norma Desmond in certain shows in an upcoming production which I'm very excited about. It's like a rehearsal for me."
AMY VEE
Newcastle singer, actor, musician and songwriter Amy Vee says she's been doing "a deep dive" into the songs of Rice and Lloyd Webber over the past two weeks.
And she actually met Rice once through her "close working relationship" with the late Jon English.
"I worked for many years with Jon, and he had a musical that he'd written called Buskers and Angels that I had the lead in," she says.
"I ended up becoming a member of his band which toured around all the theatres, and of course Jon was the original Judas in the Australian cast of Jesus Christ Superstar, so he'd worked with Tim Rice who'd come out here for that production.
"When I was playing the lead role in Evita at Newcastle's Civic Theatre in 2016, I think it was the night after opening that Jon died. Fast forward a couple of years and I was doing a production in Sydney and Jon's partner got an invite from Tim Rice to a gala night, and she brought me along as guest.
"We got to hang out with him for a bit and have a little chat ... it was really really special."
As for the Superstars line-up, which includes an orchestra and choir, she says: "It's insanely good, I can't even tell you. We've been rehearsing without the four leads, as the eight core members from Newcastle, and they all blow me away. I actually feel like the weak link [laughs]."
She says she enjoys musical theatre because it "challenges" her.
"I have to use my voice differently and that helps me to use different muscles, I suppose, and have those skills in my tool box," she says.
"And it does help, I find, with the other things that I work on. Even with my own songwriting it's all storytelling at the end of the day, and I love any opportunity to tell a story.
"It's terrifying at times, it's a big stage and there are some big voice up there so I definitely get impostor syndrome, but I'm really grateful at the end of the day. It's a privilege, really."
