Round the Twist

David Spicer spoke to composer / writer Paul Hodge ahead of Queensland Theatre’s season of new musical Round the Twist

Australian supernatural TV series Round the Twist has opened, penned by prolific Brisbane/New York based Dr Paul Hodge. It’s his second new musical to premiere within a matter of months. 

Have you ever, ever felt like this?
Have strange things happened,
Are you going round the twist? 

David Spicer: For those not of the generation who watched the Australian TV series (with its catchy theme song), please tell us a little about the show?

Paul Hodge: Round The Twist tells the story of the Twist family - single dad Tony Twist and his three children Pete, Linda and Bronson - who move into a lighthouse where strange things happen (as the iconic theme song says).  Each episode in the first two seasons is based on a whacky short story from beloved children's author Paul Jennings.

DS: What did you like about the series as a youngster?

PH: I loved how fun and bizarre the stories were, but it also had a lot of heart.  Each episode would swap which of the Twist kids was the protagonist, so it allowed a lot of different people to invest in the show.  I was the youngest child and the same age as Bronson, so I most identified with him and his silly antics.

DS: How challenging is it to translate the supernatural aspects of the series (mermaids, ghosts, history) to a stage production?

PH: Well, as Alain Boublil, writer of Les Misérables frequently said to me, "that is a director's problem!"  Simon Phillips and our amazing creative team have come up with some incredible ideas using a combination of very traditional and cutting-edge stage techniques to bring the magic to life.

DS: You’ve got the rights to the jingle from the TV series. How have you blended the music you are composing to match this? 

PH: The theme song was my touchstone for the sound world of the show.  I wanted to make sure that the music felt like one whole and that the theme song and the rest of the score lived in the same world.  The theme song also plays an important part in the plot of the show.

DS: Is there an episode/episodes you are basing the story on – or something new?

PH: The show is a combination of multiple episodes from the TV show, infused with new ideas that form the spine of the show to hold the different episodes together.  Paul Jennings went through a similar process of adaptation when adapting the disparate short stories into the TV show.

DS: Can you give us a little sneak peek without spoiling it?

PH: I think one of the most famous episodes is "Without My Pants" and I can assure you, it's in there!

DS: Would you like to tell us a little about the cast and creative team you have on board?

PH:  Simon Phillips is our director, and he is the most experienced directors of new major musicals in Australia, so we are privileged to have him steering the ship.  We have an amazing creative team and cast, the majority of whom are from Queensland, which is very gratifying for me as a Queenslander.  The thing I am most excited about is that this show will be a great showcase for a lot of younger performers.  Plus, we have three great kids alternating the role of Bronson and I think audiences are going to fall in love with them.

 DS: This year you have had not one but two new Australian musicals open (Black Box being the other), which is an incredible achievement. How did they both come about?

PH: Well, that is a long story for each of them!  The idea for Black Box came in the more common way that I stumble across ideas. I read an article talking about the Australian who invented the black box flight recorder that is now on every plane.

With Round The Twist, I had wanted to write a musical that I could bring my whole family to (I have a lot of nieces and nephews) and had been searching for a story to adapt.  There’s an episode of Round The Twist where the youngest Twist child, Bronson, saves up the stink of his feet for six months to use as a weapon to save a turtle.  Each time he uses this power he says, “up the pong!”   

One day my mum was changing my nephew’s nappy and she said, “ugh that’s a pongy nappy” and my brain immediately said, “up the pong!” And that’s how the idea for the musical came to me.  It feels highly appropriate that a smelly nappy inspired the musical adaptation of Round The Twist.  So, this show was always designed to be something you could bring the whole family to and I’m very excited that a new generation will get to experience this show that is so iconic to a whole generation of Australians who grew up watching it in the 90s and early 2000s.

 DS: And you are working on other new musicals/operas at the same time?

PH: I am!  I'm working on several other things, but two of my main focuses are a show about The Great Emu War, where the Federal Government went to war with emus and lost (the story is told from the point of view of the emus because history is written by the victors) and a show about the woman who invented Kabuki. 

DS: Do you sleep very much?

PH: I try to get 8 hours, but don't we all! 

DS: You live between New York and Brisbane. What opportunities do both cities offer you?

PH: New York has so much going on all the time in terms of things to do and Broadway shows to see!  It also has a very developed infrastructure for developing new musicals.  I think the quality of life in Brisbane is absolutely amazing and it will always be home for me.  And in terms of theatre, Brisbane audiences are very generous and hungry to see new work and embrace it.  Round The Twist is also a story about home, with the Twists living in a rather unusual home – a lighthouse.  So, I couldn’t be more thrilled for the show to premiere in my home, Brisbane. 

Round the Twist is being staged by the Queensland Theatre from 12 November — 8 December, 2024.

Production photos by Lyndon Mechielsen