Carmel Dean's Emotional Return to WAAPA with Musical Renascence
Perth-raised, New York-based theatre musician Carmel Dean is experiencing a profound homecoming at the WA Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA), where the Australian premiere of her musical Renascence is being staged by third-year music theatre students. This month-long return to her alma mater has been described by Dean as "beyond her wildest dreams," marking a full-circle moment in her illustrious career.
Early Influences and Path to Theatre
Growing up in Bateman during the 1980s and 1990s, Dean was immersed in music from an early age, thanks to arts-loving parents who took her to WA Symphony Orchestra concerts and WA Ballet performances. Despite piano lessons starting at age three and attending Perth Modern School for her first three years of high school, it was not until her final year at Penrhos College that she discovered her passion for theatre.
"Music was a big part of my upbringing, but it wasn't until Year 12 when Penrhos did a production of The Boyfriend, which was the show Heath Ledger was in," Dean recalls. "We did it with Guildford Grammar. It was the first musical that I was ever in, and I was just sold. I was like, 'I've always loved music, but wait, there's this whole other world of collaboration, performing and entertaining.'"
WAAPA Education and Move to New York
Dean pursued a Bachelor of Music in piano performance at WAAPA, where she also gained invaluable experience by sitting in on music theatre classes, thanks to the support of then-head of music theatre Denis Follington. "By Denis Follington saying 'yes' and wanting to help me out, it just absolutely changed my life," says the 1999 graduate. She moved to New York in 2001 to study in New York University's graduate musical theatre writing program, crediting WAAPA as a "breeding ground for exceptional talent and community."
Since then, Dean has worked as a musical director for Broadway shows like If/Then and American Idiot, and now focuses on her own compositions as a composer, lyricist, arranger, and educator.
Renascence: A Unique Musical Journey
Renascence is a non-traditional musical that tells the story of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Edna St Vincent Millay, using her poetry as lyrics. Dean first encountered Millay's work when applying to NYU, setting the poem "Time Does Not Bring Relief" to music. Over the next 10-15 years, she amassed a collection of 16 songs based on Millay's poetry.
"I was telling my friend and collaborator, Dick Scanlan, about it, and he said, 'Oh, I think there's a story here. I think we can connect these songs,'" Dean explains. Scanlan used Millay's epic poem Renascence, written at age 19, as a narrative thread to tie the songs together, depicting the poet's life growing up in rural Maine in the early 20th century.
Emotional Homecoming and Legacy
Dean's return to WAAPA's new ECU City Campus has been an emotional experience. "On the first day, I was so teary because I was listening to the cast read through the script and sing through the songs . . . and having this sort of meta experience of coming back to the place where I was trained to be an artist," she admits. Reflecting on her time as a student, she adds, "When I was their age, my final year at WAAPA was when I dreamt of going to New York and sort of set the wheels in motion . . . Time has just gone so quickly."
This homecoming allows Dean to reconnect with her roots and inspire a new generation of Australian theatre makers. "This is one of the absolute highs, to have this reconnection with my home and connect with this new generation of Australian theatre makers. To have my family see what I've done and have them be proud of me . . . the full circle of it all is just incredible," she says.
Although Dean will return to New York before Renascence's opening night, her impact on the production and the students is profound. The musical runs at Studio Underground, State Theatre Centre of WA, from March 27 to April 1, showcasing the talent nurtured at WAAPA and celebrating Dean's artistic journey from Perth to Broadway.
