A TOUCH of magic
SIMON GAGE FALLS UNDER BALLET DANCER DREW McONIE’S SPELL AS HE TELLS HIM ABOUT MERLIN, HIS FIRST FORAY INTO CHOREOGRAPHY
DREW McONIE is a man who has it all going on… and we’re not just talking about his hair, which looks just-stepped-out-ofa-salon perfect even if he is all masked up on a train running home from rehearsals in Leeds – with lighting to finalise and a full technical rehearsal to get through. Because what he mainly has going on at the moment is Merlin, his first ballet as a choreographer, starting right at the top with the Northern Ballet and a piece he came up with himself. Exciting times.
‘We are magically on schedule, which is remarkable considering the year we’ve just been through,’ he says from behind his mask.
‘I trained as a classical dancer since the age of 11,’ he adds, when the line is not breaking up, ‘so this is the kind of thing I always dreamed of doing, but my career took me off on a totally different direction, doing musical theatre…
‘In a way, it’s like coming home to a house you’ve never actually lived in. Warm and yet terrifying. Brand new and yet homely.’
It’s the biggest of big deals and something he’s managing to juggle between a new production of Carousel for Regent’s Park Theatre, where he was nominated for an Olivier for his choreography on Jesus Christ Superstar, and, perhaps even more excitingly, his first movie, a Take That musical, which he is absolutely sworn to secrecy about.
As for Merlin, which comes complete with real magic from Chris Fisher (the illusionist behind Harry Potter & The Cursed Child), star-crossed lovers, swords, sorcery and costumes inspired by Game Of Thrones. ‘We were thinking about different titles for the Northern Ballet and were looking for something that could really celebrate the company’s unique ability to tell a story,’ says Drew.
‘We landed on the idea of Merlin and everyone was excited about it because it means taking characters that we know and being
able to weave them into something original.’
The extra challenge was that the high-ups at the Northern Ballet wanted him to create something for a family audience. ‘You can confuse that with a children’s show,’ says Drew, ‘and Merlin definitely isn’t a children’s show. My big inspirations have been the Disney/Pixar classics, something that can land with different generations.’
The fact that Drew is now at a point in his life where he’s thinking he might start a family of his own with his husband meant that the show ‘very quickly became about what family is and what family
‘If I wasn’t this busy, it’s then that I think my brain would explode’
means,’ he says. ‘It’s an epic adventure with warring nations and infamous romances but at its heart it’s a story about an adopted child and his relationship with his adoptive mother. It’s a story about coming home.’
With original music by Grant Olding – a Tony-nominated composer who Drew worked with on his production of Jekyll & Hyde at The Old Vic, where he’s Associate Artist – the show started with the story, worked on ‘from coffee shop to coffee shop’. The process of taking those ideas and turning them into actual dance happens with the dancers themselves.
‘I improvise it in the studio,’ Drew says, ‘and the dancers pick it up and then we alter it from there.’ Not that he ever wants the audience to even notice the choreography. ‘If they ever start thinking about that, then you’ve lost them,’ he says.
These are giddy heights to have got to but none of this has fallen in Drew’s lap. After his training, he actually competed on the BBC’s talent show So You Think You Can Dance back in 2010, but didn’t win.
‘I just thought it was the most amazing masterclass,’ he says when asked if he thought it was all over for him when he didn’t make it. ‘Working with so many different choreographers, I loved every minute of it. As a dancer, you can end up getting stuck in a particular role and as a choreographer it’s my job to be able in as many different styles as possible so that was a money-can’t-buy opportunity as far as I was concerned.’
So how does someone keep this much stuff in his brain – the various shows, the film, the starting a family? ‘I’m just lucky to have an outlet to do all the things that are in my head and I’m so grateful, especially after a pandemic,’ he says.
‘If I wasn’t this busy, it’s then that I think my brain would explode. I need those creative outlets.’
As for the Take That movie, Greatest Days, it’s an adaptation of the jukebox musical The Band from 2017. ‘It’s actually centred around this group of girls who are fans of this boy band and how they grow up, so it’s all about friendship.’
And it’s a whole new challenge for Drew. ‘I’m an absolute theatre creature so being able to work on a film is very exciting.’ But ask if the boys are actually going to be in it and he laughs and says, ‘Oh, I couldn’t possibly answer that question!’ What a spoilsport!
■ Merlin has its world premiere at Nottingham Theatre Royal tomorrow and runs until October 2, followed by a national tour, northernballet.com