Mandurah resident Matthew Manning, 15, is getting ready to groove up the stage in a hip and hilarious musical, loosely based on the timeless play Cyrano de Bergerac, at Roleystone Theatre this March.
Written by Barry Wyner and directed Madeleine Shaw and Tyler Eldridge, Calvin Berger is a story of unrequited feelings, love notes and physical insecurity among four high school students.
Calvin is smitten by the beautiful Rosanna but lacks confidence because of the size of his nose – while Rosanna is attracted to good-looking newcomer Matt (played by Matthew), who is painfully shy and inarticulate, although he is also attracted to her.
Hoping to get closer to Rosanna through his eloquent love notes, Calvin offers to be Matt’s speech writer while ignoring signals from another girl, his best friend Bret.
The musical premiered in the US in 2006 and received the Jerry Bock Award – Bock was a famed US musical theatre composer, responsible for Fiddler on the Roof.
“Matt appears to be an outgoing, happy-go-lucky kind of guy,” Matthew said.
“But underneath he’s really quite insecure and scared that his inability to hold an intellectual conversation, especially with females, will keep him from making friends.
“My main challenge in the show is rapping – but I love a challenge and am working hard to improve in this area.”
Involved in theatre for the past five years, Matthew has performed in several productions including Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at Crown Perth, Coppelia at His Majesty’s Theatre and 13 at Playlovers.
The Mandurah Baptist College student is also an assistant dance teacher with the All About Dance Company and has scored several dance awards, as well as a Finley Award nomination for best youth in a musical for his role in Murray Music and Drama Club’s Sweeney Todd.
“Calvin Berger appealed because it had a fun, energetic and relatable script,” Matthew said.
“I was immediately attracted to the role of Matt because he contains many character traits that I wanted to portray and perform.”
Director Madeleine Shaw described Calvin Berger as a light-hearted story about love and teenage insecurities featuring some fantastic humour and music.
“I’ve always wanted to direct and when I came across this musical I thought it would be a great choice – not only because of the great music and story but it also provides some fantastic roles for young performers,” she said.
Calvin Berger plays at 8pm March 10, 11, 15, 17, 18, 22, 24 and 25 with a 2pm matinee March 19.
Tickets are $25, $20 concession – book on 9490 9306 or at www.roleystonetheatre.com.au.
