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the Arts Centre presents
Leading
Ladies
A Creative Development Initiative
Interview
| Biography
Caroline
O'Connor
Caroline O'Connor had recently returned from
performing in New York at the time of her photo
shoot. The evening skyline was chosen to as
a reference to this bustling city and to Caroline's
inexhaustible energy.
Caroline
O'Connor
the Arts Centre, Melbourne, 2003
Photograph by Jeff Busby
Commissioned, 2003
the Arts Centre, Performing Arts Collection
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Interview venue: the
Arts Centre, Melbourne
Interview date: 1 July 2003
Leading
lady
Chicago
on Broadway
Caroline O'Connor: This is
like everything anyone could ever dream of to
get the chance to work on Broadway. And a show
that I loved. What an amazing time I had on
Chicago, what an amazing role that is
[Velma Kelly]. And also to do it at that time…
when the film was about to be launched…
and of course it was the talk of the town…
And I got to do it with a movie star, with Billy
Zane, who was just fabulous. And then I was
asked to stay longer, to extend my contract,
which was a wonderful compliment…
Simon Plant: You
were doing, of course, what other leading ladies
from Australia have aspired to do, but have
never managed to do, and that is to headline
a Broadway show. Did you feel you were standing
on the shoulders of giants in that respect?
Caroline O'Connor:
Yeah, you're making my eyes water up. You almost
feel guilty, you know? Because they were good
enough, they were great enough to be doing these
sorts of things… All of these women who
have inspired so many people here.
Inspirations
Childhood
talent
Caroline O'Connor: I loved
rhythm and music and tone and tune at a very
young age.
I couldn't stop dancing. I used
to dance on the bus… On the bus! Swing
around the pole and I'd be singing things like
'My Favourite Things' from Sound of Music…
I was just constantly entertaining at home and
I think my mum thought, 'Well, that's what she's
going to do.'
Being an
individual
Caroline O'Connor: My mother
used to say 'You're unusual, you're different.
You're not like anybody else.' And it's true,
I'm not and one of the greatest favours anyone's
ever done for me was to say, 'You're allowed
to be you.'
It took me quite a few years,
'cause when you're going through puberty and
when you're growing up and dancing around beautiful
girls and, you know, you're looking at them
and they've got long blonde hair and you're
kind of kooky looking and quirky, it takes until
you're older to appreciate the fact that you're
an individual.
Dancing
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Love
of performing
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Excitement
Caroline O'Connor: It's like
someone's just given me a toy. It's just ridiculous.
I still get excited. And I'm glad and I talk,
you know, a hundred miles an hour and get so
enthusiastic about it and get tears in my eyes
and all that going on… Music moves me,
there's nothing I can do about that. A moment
moves me. A silence can move me… Born to
do it, born to appreciate it.
Aspirations
Making
people happy
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Auditions
De-Lovely
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Auditions
are horrific
Caroline O'Connor: Auditions are horrific.
It's a bit like an out-of-body experience or
being in a car accident and being knocked unconscious,
because you have all good intentions when you
walk in…
And the best advice I could give
anyone now after all these years is that, the
more you trust your instincts and do what you
feel is right, the better off you are…
You've got to believe in what you're doing in
your heart yourself or you'll never crack it.
Also your preparation is just everything. Everything…
Know your song, pick the right song.
Rehearsals
Preparation
and approach
Caroline O'Connor: On average
I will walk into a rehearsal room knowing all
of my songs and probably all of the script.
I'm not saying I've decided how I'm going to
perform it, I've just learnt the material. Sometimes
I think it might be just out of pure excitement
of starting the job… I feel I have to be
prepared and I have to know it first and [have
it] fit like a skin for me to be able to go
in and start to create a character. For a musical
it's much more difficult because people forget
that the dancing demands and the acting demands
and the vocal demands gives you three times
more work to actually put on a realistic performance.
I just like to give it everything
in rehearsal, because then I know how far I
can go. Maybe I don't need as much; maybe I
should pull back a little bit… It's the
only time you've got to show what you're capable
of doing. And physically the only time you've
got to make yourself fit enough to be able to
do the show. You can wander around going, 'Oh,
I'll do the kick tomorrow', but you will never
know if you can do it eight times a week.
You have to relate to other people
on the stage… I just don't think it's courteous
to not allow another person to see what it is
that you might be doing on the night… I
think it's generous to say to someone, 'Here's
what you might have to expect.'
Developing a character
Caroline O'Connor: I think,
physically, certainly. Also what you're going
to be wearing… If you're going to have
long hair, if you're to have high heels on,
if you're going to be wearing a skirt…
because the whole body changes… If I'm
going to be wearing heels, I put the heels on.
If I'm going to have a skirt, I like to wear
it in rehearsal… You don't want to suddenly
put on a costume and go, 'Oh, I feel really
uncomfortable now.' You want to feel almost
like you're in the costume or the character
in rehearsal.
I become a sponge before I do
a show. I can't help it. I have to know as much
as I can find out about the characters. And
if they're new characters then I have to make
up a history for them. I have to give them a
history. Otherwise they're not solid enough.
It always feels good, because
you feel like you've got some weight in the
character before you even begin… I know
deep down who these people are so I can relate
to them. And I love not being me. Isn't that
a terrible thing to say? But I do, I love becoming
someone else.
Piaf
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Bombshells
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Backstage
Rituals
and routines
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On
stage
Making it
look easy
Caroline O'Connor: After a
rehearsal, and you've been sweating buckets
and you've got a red face, it's such a thrill.
Challenging yourself… I suppose in some
ways it's like being an athlete, but it's not
because there's more to it. You know, like we
have to look graceful and we have to look happy
and we have to look gorgeous and we have to
be able to not look tired… We have to keep
it all in control still at the end and I love
that feeling… like fooling everybody that
it's so easy!
Anita in
West Side Story
Caroline O'Connor: I just
fell in love with that role, so much. And plus
I got to do everything, you know? I got to dance
at that Jerome Robbins level and I got to sing
that comedy number, dramatic number, fabulous
duet… and the accent… And it was such
fun. It was so much fun. The thing about West
Side Story is that it's so brilliantly written.
There's like… half a dozen pages of dialogue
for Anita for the whole evening and yet it seems
like it's endless and that's the beauty of the
writing.
I remember Anita; she used to
swagger a lot. And, you know, she was all shoulders…
and a bit of chin… To me she just was sassy
and completely different to say, if someone
was English, they wouldn't walk into a room
like that, you know?
I don't just want to play me in
a Spanish dress… I want to find out who
that person is, Anita.
Audiences
Watching
and imagining
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