Any Moment

The Melbourne Cabaret Festival is hosting the first outing of the new musical Any Moment by Bradley McCaw. Set over the course of 24 hours, the work begins at Midnight on New Years Eve, and moves throughout a single town, hearing stories from various individuals, as the clock tumbles toward Midnight and a New Year. Ahead of its showcase at Chapel off Chapel, on June 25 and 26, the writer Bradley McCaw spoke with Stage Whispers.

What was the musical inspired by?

I have always loved Songs For A New World, Closer Than Ever and I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, so that appreciation had conjured a hope to work on something like those works - with a small cast, that could be staged with limited resources. And two years ago I was reminded of the John Lennon quote; ‘Life is what happens while you make other plans…’ and the light bulb went off. I would write a show about the ordinary moments of everyday life. The moments that might not usually be musicalised onstage. 

What are some of the stories it touches on?

The show begins with four different people on New Years Eve. They sing about changing for the better, but come New Years, life gets in the way. We then jump in and out of various moments of their lives; parents cheering on their children during a football match, a young child talking to her dog, a group of students staging a protest… and more.

How do you rate New Year’s Eve…is it often a letdown?

Oh, in my experience, absolutely! I think we all have one or two memories from New Years that bring us some joy to reflect upon, but for the most part, these nights were memorable because they played out in a totally unpredictable manner. This was actually one of the big questions that helped shape the work; we all talk of change on New Years, but for the most part, we rarely do. We say we will go to the gym and don’t… we promise to drink less wine, and by February we are guzzling it like Gatorade! But life goes on. It plays out in the ordinary moments. 

How would you describe the musical style of the piece?

For starters, it’s a very contemporary score. It features a rock quartet with drums and electric guitar, with no brass or reed instruments. I really wanted the music to feel current and more pop driven than have a ’traditional musical theatre score'. I wanted a rock band to play it. The show features a lot of original feels that I’m really proud of - grooves that make you want to dance a little and sound like tunes on the radio. I’m really excited by ‘melody’ driven music. Songs with strong hooks that we WANT to sing and that get stuck in our heads. 

You workshopped last month – did it change much?

We made some great progress at the Australian Musical Theatre Festival workshop.  I wrote 5 or 6 new songs during the week and a few of these are being performed in the upcoming festival performance. Honestly, the entire concept of the show shifted during that development - which inspired the new material. But this type of movement or tweaking is very common at this stage in the writing process, in my experience at least. All the changes are more clarifications than ‘huge shifts.’ It’s about simplifying to the point of ultra clarity, and I can’t wait to see what audiences thinks of it next week!

How hard is it getting a new musical up?

It takes a lot of luck and a lot of faith. It takes a lot of advice from people smarter than you and it takes wisdom to hear them. It brings a lot of joy and an equal amount of anxiety. But I’m still very new at this really, so I guess the answer is simple. Bloody hard. It’s really bloody hard. But I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else. This showing is a great step toward presenting a fully staged professional production and we can’t wait to share these songs with Melbourne.

http://www.melbournecabaret.com/any-moment-a-new-musical-by-bradley-mccaw