The Grinning Man

Aleksandar Vass is persisting with his vision of offering Melbourne affordable premiere productions of professional theatre from his Alex Theatre in St Kilda. David Spicer reports.

Full of ideas and ambition Aleksander Vass – a glass manufacturer by day, and venue operator/producer by night – is just what the theatre world needs.

A few years ago, I met him for lunch, and his brain waves at the time included saving the world by using glass as to capture solar energy and setting up a national lottery for the arts. Whilst those two ideas have not come off (yet), his dogged persistence in being a venue operator is bearing fruit.

Home to a cinema until 2014, The Alex Theatre in St Kilda was re-launched in 2015 to include two 250-490 seat theatres and several multi-purpose spaces. One of the spaces has been re-purposed for live to air television and is used by community channel 31 for an Arts program.

Alek is very keen to support new work.

“We love Grease and Mamma Mia!, but when is someone going to bring in something new,” he asked. “Let’s take a chance I say. Where else do you get a pro show for an average of $60 a ticket?”

In a coup for the Alex Theatre, along with The Salty Theatre, it secured the Australian premiere of The Grinning Man which opened on May 2.

Based on the novel The Man Who Laughs by Victor Hugo (Les Misérables), it’s described as a wildly different fairytale set in a world of pitch-black humour, magic, mayhem and alluring romance.

Its set at Trafalgar Fair’s freakshow, where one of the exhibits is the character Grinpayne, who has a hideous smile. In the grim and blackened streets of Trafalgar Square, with the help of an old puppeteer, his pet wolf and a blind girl, Grinpayne’s tale is told.

Alex describes the music as “to die for. It took off in West End. We are first outside of UK to do the show. It’s dark, it’s comic, light, with a fabulous ending.”

The production includes projections and puppetry. It requires a cast of 14, some of whom have to sing, dance, act and manipulate puppets. Whilst the original season used the designer behind War Horse, the Melbourne performance has permission to stage something fresh.

“The puppetry is quite phenomenal. It re-animates what happened in the past with the three leading characters of the show. There is a wolf that keeps re-appearing.”

Director Miranda Middleton snapped up one of the last seats to a performance of the musical in London’s West End.

“My friend had seen it and thought that I’d like it, so along I went, on a whim – not knowing that I was going to walk out of that little West End theatre vowing to one day direct it,” says Miranda.  

“The Grinning Man is a big, beautiful beast of a musical. It features puppets and swordfights, pleasure-seeking royals, and a nefarious clown. There’s just as much hilarity as there is heartache, darkness as there is magic … and when London reviewers called it the ‘best British score in years’, they weren’t joking. The music is nothing short of magnificent.

“Our production will take a slightly more abstract path than the original, drawing inspiration from the shapes and shadows of German expressionism, whilst using carnivalesque lights and video projection to transport audiences from the world of Trafalgar Fair to the royal palace (and everywhere in between).”

In the role of Grinpayne (The Grinning Man) is Maxwell Simon, who was most recently standby for the male lead Christian in Moulin Rouge! The Musical. Performing the romantic lead role of the sightless young woman who holds the secret to Grinpayne’s past is Helpmann Award nominated Luisa Scrofani. Seventeen-year-old blind musician and singer Lilly Cascun is making her professional debut in the role of Young Dea.

Alek is hoping that The Grinning Man will be first in a series of musicals staged every year at his venue, which he hopes will become a hub for new work.

Last year the venue hosted the world premiere of the musical Not Finished With You Yet. The next planned premiere is Victorian premiere of The Whale by Samuel D. Hunter.

“It's been a 10-year project to make this venue viable, and we couldn’t be prouder of how far we’ve come. It’s not an easy task to open a new theatre. Now the groundwork has been laid, we plan to stage our own new productions while continuing to provide opportunities for a diverse range of producers, artists and locals.

“We're currently working on a range of new musicals that will premiere in the second half of 2024. Our goal is to present six musicals a year in the main theatre,” says Vass.

The Grinning Man plays at the Alex Theatre until May 19, 2024.

Click here to read our review of The Grinning Man

Photographer: Ben Fon