In David Campbell’s world, it’s all about the show tunes. As one of Australia’s most prolific cabaret artists, Campbell lives a life filled with music, a life he shares with his pregnant wife Lisa Hewitt… and a multitude of ongoing projects.
Now Campbell has yet another album hitting the stores, and this time it sees his name up in lights. On Broadway is his latest opus bursting with show tunes. Much loved numbers from the likes of Oklahoma!, Les Miserables, Chicago, Guys and Dolls plus many more all make an appearance.
‘(Broadway) is music that is emotionally intelligent, fun, has a sense of abandonment to it – gay abandon if you will – and there’s a real sense of letting go, of living life,’ Campbell recently told OUTinPerth on the eve of his new album’s release in early April.
‘There’s a lot of humanity to it, and humanity can be quite complex. I think you cover all these amazing facets and more in Broadway. It’s not just about beats in a song and a good melody. There’s something really deep and at times quite profound to it.
‘That’s why I think it’s lasted so long,’ he added. ‘That’s why I think kids are picking that up with Glee now and why Broadway is having such a big resurgence in Melbourne. And that’s why it never goes away.’
Campbell describes this album as being ‘the album of least resistance’, explaining that usually he’d torture himself over the track listing. But here it seemed to fall into place, the six months of preparation paying off when they finally hit New York and LA to record the work… and film the accompanying documentary.
Essentially, Campbell didn’t want this to be a vanity project where he was the leading man. It was crafted more as an attempt to capture the gamut of Broadway while being sonically pleasing and broadly appealing. As a result, he and Hewitt drew a line in the sand at Oklahoma!
‘That’s where Roger and Hammerstein caught lightening in a bottle, put it on stage, and changed the way we saw Broadway.’
It does, however, feature new music from Catch Me If You Can, a musical adaptation of the 2002 Steven Spielberg film. Catch Me If You Can is due out next year, and is written by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, the same guys responsible for the likes of Hairspray. Campbell’s favourite musical, however, is Carousel.
‘I think there’s something dark about Carousel. It explores the darker side of the human condition. But in that you go on this journey with this character who isn’t the greatest guy in the world but has to have redemption.
‘I think at the core of all of our humanity we all strive for redemption and wonder if in the end our legacy will pass on. That certainly plays on my mind while I’m about to have my first child.’
Which leads to the obvious observation: what with a new album and documentary hitting the charts, the second instalment of the Adelaide Cabaret Festival (ACF) with Campbell and Hewitt at the helm, plus a baby on the way… is this power couple potentially a little ambitious in their reach and aim.
‘We don’t mean to be ambitious,’ Campbell laughed after conferring with his wife. ‘We just like to do things properly. And like Sondheim said, opportunity is not a lengthy visitor.
‘So when opportunities come along you can’t just go “I don’t have time, sorryâ€. Although we do keep looking at each other and saying “Just say no†because if one of us does the other one will follow suit.
This year ACF promises to be bigger and badder and a little bit darker. It happens in June… which, funnily enough, is exactly the same time their baby is due.
‘We’re thinking this baby is going to be born on the red carpet in full regalia. I think it should dress up in sequins, boy or girl, and just get ready for flashbulbs because it is due the same weekend as the festival. But the child has already met Liza Minelli, so boy or girl it’s going to be theatrical.’
On Broadway is out now through Sony Music. For more information on the Adelaide Cabaret Festival go to www.adelaidecabaret.com.
Scott-Patrick Mitchell
