Ian Andrew - Top Gun: The Musical
Madeline Pratt & Ian Andrew in Top Gun: The Musical.
So far the biggest movie of 2022 has been Top Gun: Maverick & of the back off this hype Australia was about to get a brand new theatrical production in the Top Gun universe. Melbourne's Salty Theatre was set to premiere their production of Top Gun: The Musical in September with Ian Andrew taking on the iconic role of Maverick. Chatting to Pario recently Ian spoke about the mixed feelings of pressure & excitement ahead of the premiere.
Sarcastically Ian said "oh no pressure" when asked about taking on the iconic role of Maverick. Ultimately though Ian explained that the feeling of pressure is fare outweighed by the pure excitement to perform this show for a live audience, particularly following the success of Top Gun: Maverick.
"That movie was fantastic & has brought things back to life. It really reminded people what they loved about Top Gun so it's a really good time for us to be taking it into a musical context... the timing just lines up beautifully."
When you first think about Top Gun you probably think of a hyper-masculine, testosterone fuelled film but upon rewatching recently for The Commentary Booth podcast we noticed the vast array of musical elements. For this reason Top Gun is perhaps not as unlikely a candidate for a musical adaptation than you otherwise might think. Ian reiterated this sentiment during our chat when he said, "The reality is is that the actual movie itself is amazing & we all love it, but there's a lot of sweaty masculinity & over the top elements that we look back on now & kind of laugh at. It's little bit homoerotic or cheesy at times & the beautiful thing about musical theatre is that we can take all of those moments & heighten them with music & song."
This was another key moment in our conversation with Ian as we wondered how the film had been adapted for a musical theatre setting.
"The writers have set the show as if it were being workshopped to be performed on stage, so it's kind of a show within a show," explained Ian. "The writers have absolutely pulled the movie apart essentially looking at it thinking 'if this was to be adapted into a musical what could go wrong?' Then they've taken everything that could go wrong & thrown it at this show."
Obviously there are number of iconic moments in the original Top Gun film, namely the beach volleyball scene. So we had to ask Ian how he felt about that scene in particular & how he was physical preparing for the role.
"I'm currently in the processes of getting into shape so the volleyball scene is definitely on the table," answered Ian before continuing. "My understanding though is that we don't get the full volleyball scene because the actor playing Goose in the show is a woman, so everything comes to halt when she's not sure whether she is going to be required to take her top off for the scene or not & things spiral from there."
Ian was then quick to assure Pario though that audiences "can expect to see some of the best moments played out."
Given that Top Gun is such a beloved film for generations of men & women Ian & the producers of Top Gun: The Musical hope this show can act as a gateway into musical theatre for people who otherwise wouldn't normally attend this type of show.
"You definitely don't have to have a great love of musicals to see this one, it's much more of a contemporary modern rock score," Ian explained excitedly. "Also you don't even have to have seen Top Gun to be able to follow the show. There are characters in the show who have no idea what is going on, mostly myself, so we get to see it through their eyes as well."
Should Top Gun: The Musical be a rousing success Ian hopes it will be able to take flight & soar into other theatres around the country.
"This show has huge scope for being toured. Production & set wise it's quite small & portable so I don't see any reason why we couldn't take it elsewhere if it does well here. Sydney, Brisbane & Adelaide might want to keep their eyes & ears out for it near them if everything goes well."
Follow Ian's Creative Journey on Social Media @_Ian_Andrew
Follow Salty Theatre’s Creative Journey on Social Media @SaltyTheatre
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