Performed 20 September 2024 | The Rebel Theatre, Australian Theatre for Young People
A musical full of fun, brilliantly executed by second-year music theatre students from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
Photo by Grant Leslie, Cast of Paper Stars, 2024, @grantlesliephotography
Works reviewed:
Grace Chapple and Miranda Middleton, Paper Stars: A New Australian Musical (2024), music by Luke Byrne
In the inner-west of Sydney, there is a bronze statue of Mary Poppins. Dedicated to P.L. (Goff) Travers, this statue in Ashfield Park bears an inscription on its left, reading:
"P . L. Travers, the author of Mary Poppins, resided at 40 (previously 17) Pembroke Street Ashfield with her mother and sisters from 1918 to 1924 … a statue of Mary Poppins was erected in Ashfield Park by the Ashfield Council on March 13 2004 for all the children."
As a child, my only exposure to the life of the author of Mary Poppins was through this Ashfield statue. Grace Chapple’s and Miranda Middleton’s musical, Paper Stars, finally changed this, bringing Travers out of bronze and into life. This new Australian work, with a score by composer Luke Byrne, traces the life of Travers through her departure from Sydney Harbour to her literary success in London. It’s within Paper Stars that the difficult relationship between Travers and her family back in Australia is explored, simultaneously showcasing her struggle to be taken seriously as a woman within a male-dominated writing profession.
Paper Stars is a musical that does not waste time. Complete in only 90 minutes with no intermission, it does not suffer from the drag and repetition of a show struggling to reestablish itself in the second act. At first, I feared the show would be too quick-paced, but instead, I came to appreciate the writers’ choice not to linger too long on any one particular moment. Byrne’s music feels a natural pairing to Chapple and Middleton’s text, and achieves a nice level of variety with its combination of sadder ballads and more upbeat rock hits, whilst managing to avoid becoming an “all-in-one” musical that ticks-off yet another musical genre with each song.
Helen Jordan was exceptional in the role of P.L. Travers, proving herself more than capable of handling both more sombre moments, such as Travers’ struggle in London in “Anonymous”, as well as during more energy-driven songs like “Great Story”. There was an undoubtedly memorable feel to the catchy song “Everyday Magic” performed alongside Kristian Babian, who, whilst struggling to repair a window in Travers’ flat, drew many laughs from the audience in his role as Bill. Payton Green was exceptional as Madge Burnand, bringing her character to life by belting out songs such as “Making Tea” and “Winds of Change”.
Both Sophie Brown (Margaret Goff) and Bronte Muir (Aunt Ellie) convincingly played their roles as older women in the work – Brown’s reprise of “Anonymous” following Margaret Goff’s passing admittedly had me on the verge of tears.
My own favourite moments, however, were in full choruses such as “No place for a lady” and “Centre of the f***ing world”. These were full of joy and energy-driven, and also made good use of a simple but effective set design, climbing up the ladders on stage.
Paper Stars is a musical fit for our time, full of fun and hope, one which sheds light on a great Australian story. Despite arriving without much knowledge on P.L. Travers, I left captivated by the narrative of her life, told through Byrne’s music. All in all, the music theatre students involved, as well as the creative team, should be congratulated on this brilliant production.
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