From Oz to California :: The Essence of Peter Allen

For the West Coast premiere of the Tony-winning musical "The Boy from Oz," the Celebration Theatre is trying something very different. The director of Celebration Theatre's production, Michael Shepperd, discusses the show's SoCal debut, the lasting legacy of its hero, Peter Allen and scaling it for a smaller space.

The show, which originally featured a 39-member cast in its productions in Australia and on Broadway, tells the life story of late songwriter and performer Peter Allen (his credits include "The Best That You Can Do (Arthur)," "Don't Cry Out Loud" and "I Honestly Love You").

For the Celebration Theatre's production, the show's director says that's not the case this time around. "It's a completely new vision of the piece," says Shepperd, who is also the co-artistic director of the Celebration Theatre. "I was fortunate enough to see Hugh Jackman do the show in New York. There was so much spectacle, glitz and glamour, along with multiple costume changes and 20 people on stage doing a Rockettes number with him. We just don't have that capability. We have a 57-foot theatre and I'm taking a 39-member cast and whittling it down to 12 to tell the story. So, it takes a lot of ingenuity and a lot of trust to be able to create some of the imagery that I have in my head. I'm cautiously optimistic that it will fit into the space and work out perfectly."

In lieu of spectacle, Shepperd says he is putting his focus on the many loves of Allen's life, specifically his music, his love for his mother Marion, his relationships with mentor Judy Garland and her daughter Liza Minnelli (who became Allen's wife) and his long-term partner, Greg. "I asked myself,
'What is the essence of Peter Allen?' For me, his music is always number one, and then his mother, Judy, Liza and Greg," Shepperd says. "Those are the ones we want to concentrate on and tell the connecting love story through all of that."

Shepperd's approach proved to be beneficial to his leading man, actor Andrew Bongiorno, who says that going more intimate with the show helped him to get in touch with the heart of Peter Allen. "If you look at the lyrics of the songs that Peter wrote, you can see very much that he's really expressing himself in the deepest way possible and really opening up to his public in his songs," Bongiorno says. "He didn't like to show too much on the exterior, so music was his real outlet and there are many scenes in the show where he sort of glosses over the real problem or doesn't talk about the elephant in the room, which is a wonderful opportunity to play with the subtext throughout the script."

Although Allen (who died from AIDS-related throat cancer in 1993) was primarily known for works that were popular in the '70s and '80s, both
Shepperd and Bongiorno stress the importance of not only Allen's legacy, but the legacy of many who have been lost over the years.

"I think too often these days we forget about our history and it's important to learn from the mistakes that have been made," says Bongiorno, an Aussie whose acting teacher down under just happened to be "The Boy from Oz" co-writer Nick Enright. "Nick has unfortunately since passed away from cancer, but it's a wonderful opportunity to pay homage to him in this way. I think anyone can relate to losing someone from a disease or in some other way. This show has so many different levels and I think it can touch a wide audience by being able to really cut into people's lives in different aspects."

"For me, I lived through the '80s and the '90s and watched the loss of everyone around me within the artistic community and how devastating that was," adds Shepperd. "With the exception of a few of us, we lost an entire generation of artists, writers, actors and dancers, so I feel very close to this piece having lived through that time period. Being able to direct this show and say, 'We have to continue to fight and tell these stories' is a blessing, or else it will keep happening."

"The Boy from Oz" runs from Friday, April 22 through Sunday, July 3 at Celebration Theatre @ The Lex in Los Angeles. For tickets and more information, call 323.957.1884 or go to celebrationtheatre.com