Story of the guy behind Jessie’s Girl brought to life

A ONE-man stage adaptation of Australian-American musician Rick Springfield’s autobiography Late, Late At Night is coming to the region. 

The musical was penned by Australian playwright Kieran Carroll and is directed by Robert Johnson, with the pop-rock production featuring 20 of Springfield’s biggest hits, including many that made the Top 40 chart in the United States in the 80s. 

Carroll who lives in Edithvale in Melbourne’s south eastern suburbs, said he discovered Springfield had lived in nearby Parkvale in the late 60s and early 70s.  

His mother continued to live there until she died in 2017. 

“He was continually coming back between America and Australia,” said Carroll. 

“I was very attracted to the localism of this, that someone who had become that famous and won a Grammy award, has been writing the early songs in the family home at Parkvale. 

“In 1984 when he got married, to avoid all the American paparazzi, because he was huge at that point, he got married in Mordialloc, which is next to Parkvale, and also Edithvale.  

“Also, I’m sort of interested in that ex-patriate journey, with someone leaving that young and tackling America at that time.” 

Carroll said he needed the okay from Springfield’s manager to write the play, and it’ll be livestreamed for American fans next year. 

The show stars Sydney actor Jackson Carroll, who’s no relation to the playwright, as portrays the performer’s life dealing with higher beliefs, family, relationships, and self-motivation. 

Springfield rose to fame in the band Zoot which he joined as lead-guitarist in 1969, by that time based in Melbourne. 

He later moved to the US in 1972 where his debut solo album Beginnings, recorded in London, was released by Capitol Records. 

His biggest hit came in 1981 with the iconic single Jessie’s Girl which went number 1 in Australia and the US. 

In the 1980s, Springfield got into acting, and since then has appeared in films and shows such as Ricki and the Flash, Supernatural, Hot in Cleveland, and American Horror Story. 

The memoir also talks about Springfield’s struggles with depression from his teenage years onwards. 

Late, Late At Night, the stage show, will be coming to Elmore on 1 December and Heathcote on 2 December. 

Tickets can be purchased at kierancarroll.com.