Hey There, Georgy Girl

As Georgy Girl - the Seekers Musical prepares to open on Australian stages, Pippa Grandison, who will play the iconic lead vocalist Judith Durham, speaks to Neil Litchfield.

Did you grow up in the 1960s too?

If so, you probably share the same proud, joyous memories of a nation watching from the other side of the world on grainy black and white TV as Aussie folk music quartet The Seekers blazed the trail as our first international pop superstars.

It was an eclectic musical time; rock singles by greats like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones jostled for top spot on the Top 40 charts with folk icons Bob Dylan, Arlo Guthrie, Peter Paul and Mary and Joni Mitchell.

For Australian children of the 60s, songs like ‘A World of Our Own’, ‘Morningtown Ride’, ‘Georgy Girl’, ‘The Carnival is Over’ and ‘I’ll Never Find Another You’ are imprinted in the play-lists of our musical memories just as indelibly as the pop music catalogues which have become the scores for international juke-box musicals.

The Seekers’ singles were perennial favourites on portable record players at church fellowship and folk nights, while any group of kids gathered around a guitar at a party, café or wine bar would try to emulate those famous harmonies, with greater or lesser success. Their songs even found a home in the popular folk church services of the time.

Children of the 60s will be out in force again, I expect, when Georgy Girl - the Seekers Musical hits our stages, celebrating their music and career.

I asked Pippa Grandison about her own earliest fond memories of The Seekers.

“I think it’s their music that gets to everyone. I was too young to go and see any of their concerts.

“I was telling Judith (Durham) earlier about how I went to buy a dress for the publicity call, and the young girl who was serving me asked what it was for. I told her ‘I’m going to play Judith from The Seekers’, to a blank look on her face, then I sang a little bit of ‘Georgy Girl’, and she said, ‘Oh Yes!’

“There were records in my parents’ collection, so I was a little more onto it than these young girls. I remember singing their music all the time.

“I was big into records as a child – whether I was at home by myself, or with my family or friends - there would always be that picking up of the needle, and putting it onto the vinyl, that little crackle and then the music kicks in. It was my favourite thing to play records.

“Then there’s the wonder of YouTube today. I saw all these wonderful old clips when I was preparing to audition. I was amazed at how many of their songs I knew – so I must have been singing, or hearing, a lot more than I realized when I was a child.”

I asked about the challenges and the joys of playing a living person – and not just a person, but a vocally iconic ‘living legend’.

“The weight of responsibility, and joy, is not lost on me.  There are fans out there who are particularly attached to The Seekers, and especially to Judith Durham - her style of singing and the ease of voice which she has.

“I feel it would be potentially insulting to the fans, and maybe even to Judith herself, to try and impersonate or imitate. There will never be another Judith Durham.

“It’s not lost on me; she’s an icon, and loved by so many. Hopefully we’ll help people relive their memories. What would be fantastic is if younger generations come along to see the show, and that music is brought to life again for them.

“To my mind folk music is the best – I’ve sung a lot of different styles of music, but there’s something about folk music that’s really from the heart, so that’s the way in for me to approach it as an actor. Otherwise I’d go crazy with the responsibility of it.”

Although she has no plans to imitate Judith Durham, are there vocal hallmarks Pippa will use to hint at her voice?

“I’m listening to Judith every day and I will go as close as I can to the style, but I don’t want people to think that I’m trying to be exactly the same, because I just don’t think it’s possible.

“Physically it’s not possible to sound exactly the same, so there’s ways I’ll work with the technique I have and the placement of sound. I’m going to have to move that around a bit so I can get the same sounds.

“Judith has a particularly recognizable vibrato in her voice, and the ease of the sound. When I listen to her it strikes me. It doesn’t detract from the notes – the music - at all, but it’s just quintessentially Judith, so that’s something that I’ll move toward.

“I’m an actor as well as a singer, and I think you need to be able to understand a character like Judith completely to play her with truth.”

The Seekers broke up at the very peak of their success. Are we getting a book that reflects that?

“Yes. It was a major decision for all of them, and not an easy one for Judith at all, and then of course it affected everybody’s lives.

“It’s not going to lean on it too heavily, but we are definitely telling a truthful story, which I think is great. There’s stuff in there which I had no idea about, and I don’t think even the die-hard fans will know.”

As Pippa prepares for Georgy Girl, I ask if there’s any Seekers song to which she finds herself particularly connected.

“That’s continually shifting. Right now I’m loving ‘I’ll Never Find Another You’. There’s something about it that I really relate to. I get quite emotional when I speak about my husband and my child, especially when I’m about to leave them for a long period of time. There’s something about that song that makes me really think about them – that support and needing them there - I’m so lucky to have that love in my life. And musically I love the way it moves.

“But there’s such a range of styles for me in this show. Judith started in jazz, then ended up back there, so we have that going on in the show as well. It’s hard to say what my favourite is because their repertoire is quite eclectic. So right now it’s ‘I’ll Never Find Another You’, but then I sing ‘The Carnival is Over’ and think, maybe that’s my favourite. There’s so much to choose from, and that’s the beauty of it.”

Georgy Girl - the Seekers Musical has its world premiere at Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne on Tuesday December 22, followed by a Sydney season at the State Theatre from April 2.

Click here for our earlier coverage of Georgy Girl.

Originally published in the November / December 2015 edition of Stage Whispers.

georgygirlthemusical.com