Musical theatre star Zoy Frangos’ upbringing was, in many ways, typically Australian.
Growing up in country Victoria on a farm outside Ballarat, the son of a Greek migrant father and a mother with Indigenous heritage and convict roots, Frangos engaged in school plays, movie-making and athletics.
But the boy from Ballarat turned out to be anything but typical; Frangos has performed onstage in Australia and overseas with the world’s best.
An original cast member of the world’s first Indigenous opera, Pecan Summer, he was selected by Andrew Lloyd Webber to play Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar and has toured with Les Misérables and Evita.
In 2019 Frangos was named the American Australian Association’s Rising Star, performing to a standing ovation in New York at the organisation’s Arts Awards.
This month Frangos comes to Geelong bringing his own show Variations, a work that chronicles his personal version of the ‘typical’ Australian story.
Joined on stage by his wife and fellow music theatre star Elisa Colla (Wicked, My Fair Lady, A Little Night Music) and accompanied by a cast of talented musicians, Frangos will deliver his own take songs from a range of genres.
The tunes of Lloyd Webber, Elvis and Morricone will be interspersed with traditional Greek songs and his Wemba Wemba language version of Anthem (Chess: the Musical) as Frangos delves into the story of his childhood, family and career.
“(As a performer), you have this constant urge to be in character,” Frangos said.
“But the great thing about doing your own stuff is that you are you on stage; I think that’s one of the hardest things to be, and be comfortable with.
“It’s vulnerable, it’s cathartic, it’s fun, it’s absolutely joyous.”
Zoy Frangos’ Variations is at the Story House, Geelong Arts Centre on Wednesday, August 16.
