Laugh out, out loud

BRENDAN CRABB


RICK Miller said the decision to essentially make a stage show “mash-up” of Shakespeare’s Macbeth and The Simpsons was an idea that came about because during his “struggling actor” days he had too much time on his hands.

“I was playing Murderer Number Two in a production of Macbeth in my home town of Montreal and I came up with the idea as a joke,” he explained. “It just kept growing and growing and it’s now been seen by half a million people.”

So why didn’t he combine, say, The Jetsons and Hamlet instead?

“It was very particular to the time too; The Simpsons was just beginning to penetrate pop culture in 1995.”

Miller’s one-man show MacHomer was first performed 15 years ago and transplants Shakespeare into Springfield, home of dysfunctional television family The Simpsons. With Homer in the lead and Marge as Lady

MacHomer, Miller recreates the voices of more than 50 characters from the iconic television series.

“The kids’ (voices) are some of the hardest ones to nail down and maintain beyond one or two sentences, especially because they are voiced by women,” he said while demonstrating the various voices over the phone.

“I have a baritone voice as well, so Krusty The Clown is hard to maintain, while ones like Mr Burns are a lot easier.”

His favourite Simpsons character to channel however is alcoholic Barney Gumble, who he said has the hardest voice to maintain, “because he’s so all over the place and such an idiot, yet he’s so tragic”.

“He’s also a flawed poet deep down and that actually fits Macbeth quite well,” Miller said.

Miller also credited The Simpsons creator Matt Groening for allowing him to continue performing the show.

“He’s been great. It’s thanks to him that I’m allowed to keep doing it. When the show got bigger I had to approach (the show’s US network) Fox and the creators were very supportive. They more or less told Fox to lay off and let me go.

“Matt likes the show I do. He wishes people could do what they want with his characters, but lawyers tend to think differently.”

The show has been performed extensively throughout North America, but this will be Miller’s first full-scale Australian tour.

“It’s probably the most unique production of Macbeth you’ve ever seen,” he said. “It’s short, fast, furious and very funny. You don’t need to be a Simpsons or Macbeth fan to enjoy it – it’s generalized enough… I don’t so much dumb it down as Simpsonize it. Is that a word?” he said, laughing.

MacHomer
February 2-7
Illawarra Performing Arts Centre