When you hear Matthew Verhelst saw 105 shows in 12 months in London, you might safely assume he likes the theatre.
And if you know the 27-year-old, you’ll see his nasty Nazi role in The Sound of Music last year was a serious case of bluff – affable as he is in person.
‘’You could say I was slightly addicted to the theatre while I was there,’’ Matthew said of a time when he snagged selfies with entertainment giants such as Ian McKellen, Tim Minchin, George Takei and David Tennant. “I pretty much became a professional at sitting in dark rooms for hours on end, but someone had to do it, right? The craziest part is I still didn’t manage to see all the shows London had to offer that year.’’
Matthew has turned his passion to producing, with sister Victoria Hamilton in the director’s chair for this month’s production of Oliver! with the Arcadians. It’s the culmination of a childhood immersed in live theatre, along with improvised backyard renditions that fired their imaginations.
And it closes a loop that formed when the pair starred in a version of the same show produced by the late Gordon Streek 15 years ago when Matthew was a Wollongong High School whippersnapper.
Now the siblings are corralling a dedicated bunch, many of them children, to present Oliver! creator Lionel Bart’s singalong specials at Corrimal. The show was fully blocked nearly two months before opening night, and full-run rehearsals have since added further finesse.
They’re in good hands – Victoria has studied at NIDA, stage-managed So Popera productions at the IPAC and WEC, and joined the crew for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in Melbourne. Matthew has worked on Schools Spectacular and Southern Stars and various local productions. When he returned from the UK, both leapt at the chance to be part of last year’s The Sound of Music.
A glance at the cast list hints that the siblings theme has continued, with Rohan Green and Belle Green sharing the role of the orphan-made-good – but they are not related and just happen to share a surname.
Oliver!, June 20-July 6, Miner’s Lamp Theatre. Tickets: Trybooking
Jungle Book opens at Roo Theatre
Ayaan Panju stars as “man cub” Mowgli when Roo Theatre takes a swing through the vines with its production of The Jungle Book from June 6-21 in Shellharbour. Tickets: Trybooking.