Ordinary Heroes: Welcome Aboard!

SECOND BLOG — TUESDAY, AUGUST 18

THE MUNICH PROOF

We are on a fascinating odyssey of Homeric proportions. Our epic community musical, Ordinary Heroes, is certainly taking shape.

And, as if further proof were needed, the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München has requested more materials from Night of Broken Glass (2018) to display and feature in their Kristallnacht exhibition, which opens in Munich and will run for 12 months.

The true and amazing stories of Kurt Wildberg and Indigenous reformer and activist William Cooper were brought to life in a massive production at Cathedral Hall, ACU, making a dynamic contribution to the community — with a Cecil B. DeMille-sized cast to boot.

Inspired by such an international reaction, our four chapters are truly discovering all kinds of new skills as we set about creating and building our new musical: lyrics, stories, staging, songs, dance, collaboration and socialising — all in the spirit of inclusivity, creativity, diversity and quality.

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WARRIORS UNBOWED

The Sunday group have shot out of the gate, with guitars strumming, voices warbling and some delightful, quirky storytelling that threads air hockey, rock stardom and survival in the Gobi Desert into one bizarre yet compelling narrative.

The team have thrown themselves into the song “No One Is That Lucky”, inspired by the unwitting hero and sole survivor of last year’s Air India crash.

HONOURING AN ARCHITECT

Our tireless champion at the Tongji Alumni Group on Saturday, over in Hawthorn, Nancy Yang, director and choreographer extraordinaire, has done the Herculean work of compiling an entire script and detailing the staging and movement — right down to the glorious fans, materials and primal drums in the scene honouring the female Chinese architect Huiyin Lin.

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THE CREATIVE JUICES AT SOKOL

The Monday group are moving ahead, also at a rate of knots.

Three groups have emerged. In a delightful tribute to one of the members of the group, Diana from Croatia, one group has picked Alba as her Ordinary Hero — and an extraordinary tale has emerged.

A second group is focussing on the heroics of Indigenous Australian athlete Cathy Freeman.

And a third group is developing a very touching story about young Anita’s relationship with her dad, and a homage — a fitting tribute — to the inspirational contribution he has made as the spark and positive driving force in her life.

We’re thrilled to discover the multilingual nature of the group, with Indonesian, Russian, Italian, Croatian and Malay all getting a delightful airing.

We are over in North Melbourne at the Sokol Club, formerly the Czech Club, and loving our Monday afternoon sessions.

A NEW PERFORMANCE!

Thrilled to report that an additional performance has been added to our schedule.

On Saturday, October 17, Ordinary Heroes will perform a bespoke outdoor version as part of the Queensberry Cup, a North Melbourne festival.

THE DETAILS

And so we are gearing up towards unveiling our Odyssey at the Lithuanian Club, Errol Street, North Melbourne, with two shows on Sunday, October 25.

In addition to the groups I’ve just mentioned, we are also joined by the preschoolers from Aurora.

We had the great privilege of working with the Aurora preschoolers back in 2018 when we created Night of Broken Glass. They worked together with Gary Sokolov, the son of the Tattooist of Auschwitz, as they performed “Lali and Gita” in honour of his parents.

They are joining us once again, from as far afield as Rowville, Doncaster and the CBD, and they are most welcome in helping to make this a truly intergenerational production.

A special mention, too, to the newest members of our team: Darcy and Milie from Hello Music, who are now taking on the administration of our production, as well as our social media representation.

WELCOME ABOARD!

Warren Wills, Artistic Director