Matthew tunes in for divine romance

It was a groundbreaking TV series. Now, 25 years on, it's a lively musical. Lizz Brain trembles again at the passionate priest in The Thorn Birds.

A n epic story spanning 60 years and three generations is never an easy piece to edit, write songs for and then place on stage. but they did it with Les Miserables so why not The Thorn Birds?

As any thirty-something female can tell you, Richard Chamberlain's passion for young Rachel Ward in the TV version set many a heart fluttering. There was just something about a man dedicated to God, fighting his forbidden desire for a young woman ... but, I digress.

The resulting new musical, with lyrics and libretto by original novelist Colleen McCullough, has had mixed reviews from critics – but then so did the aforementioned Les Mis.

For Matthew Goodgame, winner of Channel 4 show Musicality, it was a tall order stepping into Richard Chamberlain's shoes as Father Ralph de Bricassart.

"It is hard to live up to'' he admits.

"In the TV series we see Ralph go from priest to Father to Cardinal, all the time untouchable for Meggie, but I had to stop myself watching the TV version in the end because I found myself trying to copy it.

"He is a man of God, but he is still a human being, fighting human passions, although the women seem to find that kind of forbidden love very appealing!''

The music is by German soprano Gloria Bruni, and some aspects are quite operatic.

"We worked hard with the arranger and musical director to make it more musical theatre-orientated and more accessible'' says Matthew.

"And although it's not an Andrew Lloyd Webber, it's fresh and new and exciting. We've had fantastic audience reactions.

"I reckon we get a standing ovation about 70 per cent of the time, and people are always asking afterwards if there is a CD available.''

Those reviews may have been mixed, but there was universal praise for Matthew, who won Musicality just four years ago after no musical theatre training and a full-time job as a primary school teacher.

"I had a friend with an amazing voice who asked me to go with her to an audition for West Side Story, a local amateur production.

"I ended up getting the part of Bernardo. I got the buzz then, and did a few classes here and there in singing and dancing, then a friend heard about Musicality so I sent off an audition tape.

"After the show I went back to teaching, but kept getting phone calls for auditions and realised that I wasn't committing myself either to teaching or performing properly.

"It wasn't fair to the children or to myself, so I decided to go for it.''

Since then, Matthew's performed with a cruise line, spent a year in the West End in Dirty Dancing the musical, then played Munkustrap in the German tour of Cats for 10 weeks, before getting the call from renowned director Michael Bogdanov about starring in The Thorn Birds.

"I still have a hard job convincing myself I can do this, but I'm getting the jobs.

"I just try my best and never feel like I'm doing a job of work. It's a nice place to be in.

Information

The Thorn Birds musical is at Birmingham Alexandra Theatre until Saturday, July 4. 0870 607 7533.