Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.<\/p>\n
Barnaby Joyce is the gift to political satirists that keeps on giving. Almost a decade after he threatened to euthanise Johnny Depp\u2019s un-quarantined teacup pups, he cheerfully agreed to take part in Andrew Hansen and Chris Taylor\u2019s six-part ABC musical documentary series, Australian Epic<\/i>, which mixes straight interviews with song and dance.<\/p>\n
The story of Pistol and Boo, told through bush ballad, hip-hop and rousing chorus numbers, sits alongside musical interpretations of other contemporary Australian folklore \u2013 Mary Donaldson, Schapelle Corby, Melbourne\u2019s cursed observation wheel, unlikely Winter Olympics gold medallist Steven Bradbury, and, on a sombre note, the Tampa affair.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Andrew Hansen as Barnaby Joyce with dogs Pistol and Boo in the musical comedy series Australian Epic. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cEver since we wrote musical nonsense on the Chaser, we wanted to write longer-form musical comedy,\u201d says Hansen. \u201cI\u2019ve always thought musicals are a bit naff and silly. There\u2019s something inherently amusing about people bursting into song for no apparent reason, even if a song is melancholy. So we\u2019re very excited to be telling these stories in a new way.\u201d<\/p>\n Hansen, who plays Bradbury and Joyce, is part of a seven-piece ensemble cast that includes only two other comedians, Fiona Choi (The Family Law<\/i>) and Michelle Brasier, who is a scream as Queen Margrethe of Denmark, and as Pistol and Boo\u2019s Gold Coast dog groomer. The rest are stars of the stage \u2013 Phoenix Jackson Mendoza (Six the Musical<\/i>), Sami Afuni (Hamilton<\/i>), Nicholas Kong (Miss Saigon<\/i>) and Amy Lehpamer (& Juliet<\/i>).<\/p>\n Lehpamer \u201crelished the chance\u201d to play Schapelle Corby, who was not interviewed for the series.<\/p>\n \u201cI wasn\u2019t conflicted,\u201d says Lehpamer. \u201cShe\u2019s gone into reality television, so it does make her approachable as a topic because she has continued to keep herself in the spotlight \u2026 Her story is about our [Australian] privilege \u2013 how we behave when we\u2019re overseas, what we think we\u2019re entitled to. That extends one further to what it means to be a white Australian, and that\u2019s something we\u2019re only really starting to grapple with in the last few years. It\u2019s less about Schapelle, and more about how we dealt with Schapelle as a country.\u201d<\/p>\n Sami Afuni and Amy Lehpamer as Hotman and Schapelle Corby in Australian Epic. <\/span><\/p>\n Lehpamer, who found solace recording demo vocals for the series while COVID had closed theatres, believes \u201cmusical theatre is definitely having a moment\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cBefore Hamilton<\/i> was The Book of Mormon<\/i>. Bringing that South Park<\/i> humour to the stage really opened up musical theatre to more contemporary comedy,\u201d she says. \u201cIt happened in the \u201980s with Les Mis<\/i>. Every generation has that pull-from-all-sides musical that unites people, and gets them back buying tickets. It feels like we\u2019re back in that heady time.\u201d<\/p>\n Hansen says the series, which was shot on a shoestring budget, with Aunty Donna<\/em> director Max Miller restricting the musical numbers to one take, is intended as \u201ca warts and all celebration of Australia\u201d. He hopes it will appeal to a national sense of irony, and prompt a rethink about some chapters of our history.<\/p>\n \u201cWe wanted to take people to unexpected places, and the Tampa episode, which is the series finale, is a much darker, meatier and more serious story than the rest,\u201d says Hansen. \u201cWe hope that it\u2019s very moving and thoughtful. It\u2019s still got a satirical spin on it \u2013 it came out of Chris and my heads \u2013 but we were lucky enough to be able to interview [author] Abbass Nazari, who was rescued by the crew of the Tampa. He is the main storyteller. It\u2019s an amazing story of endurance and survival and trauma and heartbreak and joy.\u201d<\/p>\n The interviewees won\u2019t see the musical numbers until the series goes to air. Hansen hopes Joyce enjoys his interpretation of his character, and viewers the details that emerge from that saga.<\/p>\n \u201cLike Chris and I, our producer, Laura Wate from Princess Pictures, has a background in journalism, and she was keen to dig up new information in our research,\u201d Hansen says. \u201cSo we\u2019re not just retelling stories that people already know. We wanted to have some spicy little surprises in there, too.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n