DOCTOR ZHIVAGO

The project had been bubbling in her head for many years. Then last year I went to New York with [Producer] John Frost and just by chance, I was attending lunch with a producer friend of his, Anita Waxman [the Co-Producer of Doctor Zhivago in Australia] and she said 'Oh my God! Anthony's here, I've got to get Lucy on the phone'.

We literally got on the phone right then and Lucy said come over, I have a pitch for you. We went to her beautiful apartment looking over Central Park. I listened to the music, fell in love with the music, and fell in love with the pedigree – which is Lucy Simon.

How do you relate to the character of Yurii Zhivago?

I believe there is an innate sense of goodness in Yurii. In Russia, Zhivago is seen as a hero. In the West, he's something of an anti-hero because he's a pacifist. But his arc in the story is very complex, and for me as a musical artist it's a very intricate story to tell. I think there is a sense of great love in Zhivago and a peaceful quality that I believe is part of my makeup, too. I still have to work on certain elements but the connection is definitely there.

For me, there is an element that is simpatico for my work and my life. Yurii is just that - he is life. In fact the word 'zhivago' means life. There is a life force in this character and a similar life force in me. So this is the most perfect platform imaginable to display those parts of me that I need to get out.

What can you tell us about the music?

It is absolutely beautiful. For the first time in a long time we have tunes you will walk away with. In some cases you'll feel you know the songs straight away because Lucy has an innate sense of musicality and melody. They are a joy to sing. They are challenging and thrilling but they are also beautifully melodic and they make absolute sense.

This is the first time a role has been created specifically for you. How do you feel about that?

It's very exciting. The sensibilities of this character fit very well for me. That doesn't mean it won't be a challenge to get through but that's the joy of creating something new. Part of the process has been that I've been able to go to New York and work with the Creatives on idea for lyrics and musicality and what suits my voice, which is a joy and a great privilege for a performer. There's a lot to live up to, but I want Lucy to be proud of what I come up with.

What are your memories of the film?

I remember seeing it as a younger man. For me then it was a difficult film to fathom but very beautiful and, in its own way, incredibly romantic. And of course we all remember Omar Sharif. He caught the multifaceted nature of the character - part detective, part lover, part soldier, and part doctor. One of my challenges is to imbue Zhivago with qualities that fans of the film still associate with the character.

Any concerns about working in the shadow of Omar Sharif?

I don't think he can sing … but then again, I don't have those eyes, so what can you say?

How are you preparing for the role?

I am a research nut and I love that old adage 'knowledge is power'. The more I read about Boris Pasternak and his reason for writing the novel, the more it intrigues me. I can put that into my work. It may be a very subtle influence but it will allow me to be more confident in the choices that I make.

Will you be working in Russian accents?

No. Des wants to take the dialect out so we can really hear the words. We give the names and towns a Russian feel, of course. You certainly get the sense of place but we also want people to understand what we're saying.

Any Russian dancing?

Oh yes. But I kind of hope that I don't have to do any. I don't think my legs will cope! I'm good at waltzing though. The ballroom scene will be quite enough for me!

Are you looking forward to finding your perfect Lara?

I am indeed. This is a very difficult role to cast. Lara is enigmatic, she is that woman you can't quite put your finger on. There are elements of her that can seduce every type of man.

What kind of night in the theatre will it be for the audience?

I think this is going to be an incredibly eclectic night and very emotional. The boys in the audience are going to love all the revolutionary stuff and the battles. The women are going to swoon with the romance of it. And the men are going to fall in love with Lara, I'm sure they will. Hopefully they will be jealous of me by the end of the night. In many ways, it truly is one of the most breathtaking love stories ever told. The emotional stakes are incredibly high. The poignancy is amazing. It will be wonderful to watch, wonderful to listen to. I think it's going to be very magical.

A few days later he said 'Lucy let's get married'. I said, 'Anytime you want, how come you changed your mind?' He said, 'Because that jerk Zhivago let that beautiful woman out of his life and I'm not going to let that happen to me!' But that aside, it is a glorious story. What appealed to me about it, more than some other Russian novels I adore, is that the ending is transcendent. It doesn't end under a train. It ends with a death but it ends with love and art rising above the ashes of revolution and war. That's what we try to do as artists, to have our work touch people and continue to do so.

What was the musical starting point?

It was about finding the way the music would sound. Boris Pasternak's novel is very long - 550 dense pages of prose - and I thought to myself, how am I going to do this? But the last chapter in the novel is devoted to 25 lyric poems. That's him telling the same story in a different way, distilling it. He told it in prose in 550 pages and then in poetry in 30. So I thought, OK, I if it can be done as a poem then it can be done in music.

Were you listening to a lot of Russian music for inspiration?

I certainly was. I grew up listening to Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov. My father was a pianist, and music was very much a part of our lives. And I was a folk singer for many years with my sister, Carly [Simon]. We sang lots of folk songs and some of them were Russian. But with Doctor Zhivago, I wanted to listen to the 20th century composers, so I sat down and immersed myself in Shostakovich, Prokofiev and Scriabin. I'm not a classical musician; I didn't sit down and read it, because Lord, that's difficult music to read. Instead, I just sort of dreamt on it. I went to sleep with it and when you do that and you're writing something, it goes into your blood system somehow. That's how I like to write, from the inside rather than from out there.

How would you describe the feel of the music?

It's very romantic. I can't help it; I am very much a romantic composer. There are some places where it gets fierce and you get a sense of the turmoil of the times. But the main story is a love story so you can expect something very emotional, very melodic.

When I write I want people to understand and be brought in. I don't want to send them away confused by writing something that's too intellectual. I'm very much a person of the heart. And I think Zhivago is, too. He's an intellectual, but also a poet and a man of the heart. I've tried to get a bit of both, but I've got to say the romanticism outweighs everything else.

Will you include any elements of Maurice Jarre's famous movie score?

You know I'm asked this all the time, and I understand why. Lara's Theme is beautiful and it worked beautifully for that movie. It's 16 bars of music and they use it over and over. That's what movie music does best, you should feel it. But I'm not using any part of the motion picture score. I think when people hear my music, they will say, yes Lara's Theme is beautiful for the movie and this music is beautiful for this musical.

Tell us about your writing process.

I write with my voice because that's my primary instrument. I'm a singer, and also because the voice is the thing that communicates emotion. It's very useful for me to use my own voice when I'm composing. When I'm writing for Yurii Zhivago, I try to get into his voice. Same with Lara. That way I know how it feels in my throat to be singing their songs and expressing their emotions.

What qualities does Anthony Warlow have that you particularly admire?

His voice just fills your soul in a way nothing else can. He has a soulfulness that is indescribable. When he sings a song you feel it in the depths of your being. When he gets to the real meat of what a song is, nobody does it better.

What kind of night in the theatre do you want the audience to have?

I want them to be totally involved in this. They'll go through this huge experience of the Russian revolution and this passionate love affair, and I think they'll come out of it just like we have: wiser and stronger. Hopefully, that's what everybody will feel.

Tell us about your involvement in the making of the large-scale scenes.

Doctor Zhivago has a large cast and there are lots of battles to work out and very particular kinds of movement. We'll be working on individual physicality too, right down to the way people would have carried themselves in that period. It's about posture, gesture and stance. Des and I work very closely together. He'll send me off saying, 'I need that camp of soldiers to look like they're tired and it's hot'. So I work with the actors and set them in the space and give them some physicality or business, like dressing a wound or trying to find firewood. It's such an epic piece and it spans so much time. And so much happens. It's really interesting as a choreographer, because I get to do a little bit of everything.

What kind of preparation or training will the cast be doing in order to be fit for the show?

I'm going to tell them to stretch! After I had my session with the Russian dancer in New York, I almost couldn't walk for a couple of weeks because my quads were so sore. That Cossack style of dancing is all down-up, down-up. It's so demanding.

Is Anthony going to be busy too?

Oh yes! I'm so excited to work with him. There will be some dancing for him, including a waltz, but Zhivago is on the run all the time so there's a lot of physical work for him to do up there as well as sing. But he's just so fantastic. I'm thrilled to be working with him. I just want to watch him sing and be the fabulous actor that he is.

Can you give us any early hints as to what the show might look like?

I'm working with the brilliant Australian designer Michael Scott Mitchell. I don't want to give away too much right now but it promises to be an epic design with a metaphorical side to it. We're tapping into the Russian culture of the 19th and 20th centuries and it will be visually astonishing, that I can promise you.

When people think Zhivago, they think snow, they think cast of thousands…

There will be snow! There will be lots of motion on stage. Lots of locations, lots of shifts. I think it promises to be quite magical. It definitely exists on a large scale. We're working with a large orchestra and a large cast - about 30. Some of the performers will be playing more than a dozen characters, so everyone is going to be very, very busy. Given that we're covering the most tragic and exciting decades in Russian history, you can't cut too many corners.

How are you tackling the history?

There are three important ideas to convey. The first is the Russian participation in World War I. Then there was the Bolshevik Revolution and it's important to convey what that was about for the audience. And that leads to civil war and to Soviet totalitarianism under Josef Stalin. So there are a whole variety of ways we are covering those events but the most important way is through Yurii's story itself. You don't have to be a history buff to appreciate it. In the end it's about three men who are in love with one woman and two women who are in love with one man.

Will there be any scenes from the film that we will recognise?

There are some scenes that David Lean chose to dramatise in the film that we are dramatising as well. But by and large it's a very different take on the novel. For example, there's a famous suicide towards the end of the story that David Lean and [screenwriter] Robert Bolt chose to eliminate from the story. But it's one of the climaxes of the musical. This show is very different to the film and we also have the great benefit of Lucy Simon's extraordinary score. It allows the emotions of the characters to take flight and truly soar. I think this is Lucy's masterpiece and it's the reason we've all gravitated to the project.

Why is Anthony so right for the role of Zhivago?

He is a very gifted actor and he's extremely charismatic. He's playing a dramatic role but he has a wicked sense of humour and a great sense of compassion, too. And that gorgeous singing voice! It' a tremendously emotional instrument and he's a master at controlling it. Yurii has a fair bit to sing and Anthony is an extraordinary singer.

How does Zhivago compare to other production you've done?

I've done a lot of shows and the thing I've learned about productions is not to compare them! They are like children. Each one is unique and you need to help it find its own voice and to occupy its particular place in the universe. That said, this is one of the most challenging stories I've told, simply because of its sheer scale. You're dealing with these monumental events in history, perhaps some of the most important events of the 20th century, and at the same time you need to feel that the characters are very close to you. So that's a paradox - if not a contradiction - and it is a very difficult thing to achieve.

What do you want your audience to feel?

It will be an extremely emotional night. I think the score has tremendous sweep and variety. It's certainly funny – there's real humour in Doctor Zhivago. But at the end of the day there's a spirituality about the piece and a real emotional journey for the audience. I think people will be talking about this for a long time after the show.