Multigenerational musical blooms

AT a sneak peak of his new musical Bloom, Tom Gleisner is nothing if not topical.

“If Dan Andrews had anything to do with this, it would have been cancelled months ago,” he joked.

While the Victorian Premier can stop the Commonwealth Games, there’s no stopping a musical comedy set in an aged care home.

The host of Have You Been Paying Attention? admits it’s an unusual premise for getting the audience in, but recalls the Working Dog hit Utopia was sold as a show about infrastructure, based in a government office.

Bloom tells the story of a young carer, Finn Bailey, who arrives at Pine Grove aged care home run by Mrs MacIntyre – Anne Edmonds – who’s intent on cost-cutting any way she can.

There’s romance, rebellion, and even a residents’ choir.

It’s Edmonds’ first theatre role and she said she’s been hitting notes she never thought she could.

“I’m not the best singer in the crew, but I can bring the comedy to the music, absolutely,” she said.

Gleisner came up with the idea for the show about five years ago, when he read about an aged care home in the Netherlands that was offering free board to students in return for their help as carers.

“Back then I really didn’t know whether it was going to be a film, a TV series, or possibly a Royal Commission,” he said.

The creator of some of Australia’s best-loved films like The Castle has long been a fan of musical theatre, but made his name with stories on screen.

A musical proved to be a different beast altogether, the first draft of Bloom had 30 characters and a car chase, Gleisner joked.

Collaborating with singe/actor/composer Katie Weston, he would email through scenes and lyrics for Weston to develop into demo tracks complete with keys, drums and strings.

Just over a year ago, they took some songs and scenes to the Melbourne Theatre Company, which “took about five minutes” to pick up the show, Gleisner said.

They agree seeing a new Australian musical on the main stage is a rarity – they are time consuming and very expensive to produce.

“You name me another Australian musical that’s been written from scratch, with an original story, original characters written and produced by Australians,” Weston said.

Casting a multigenerational musical has also been an eye opener, the producers didn’t want 50 year olds playing 70 year olds and the performers had to be up for eight shows a week.

Wednesday’s sneak peak featured an all-singing all-dancing number starring Edmonds at her hilarious best, while a ballad showed off Vidya Makan’s powerful vocals.

Bloom is on at Arts Centre Melbourne, with a season at the Melbourne Theatre Company on until 19 August.

– LIZ HOBDAY/ AAP