“The best possible feedback I could get from audiences watching The Car Man would be that – because it’s a thriller – it had people on the edges of their seats!” Sir Matthew Bourne speaks ahead of the New Adventures extensive UK tour of The Car Man. “It’s a great production to win over anyone to dance theatre. It will surprise them. It’s sexy and it’s exciting!”
Join in the scandal all over the country from Plymouth to Glasgow, as a stranger heads into the American midwestern town of Harmony, throws a spanner in the works at the local garage and upsets all the locals. Loosely based on Bizet’s famous opera, The Car Man’s musical score by Terry Davies features some of the original music by Rodion Shchedrin after Bizet. “It’s my favourite of all the New Adventure shows,” says Tom McEvilly, New Adventures Technical Director. “The music is incredible. It’s sexy, it feels hot, tempers fray, there’s lots of passion and humour. There’s something in it for everyone. You’ll come out buzzing!”
Right now, rehearsals are underway and Will Bozier, in the role of Luca – the Car Man – reveals his favourite part of the show is Luca’s first dance duet with Lana and the love tension between them that collides, like pure passion exploding. “It’s set in a hot place – great for summer!” Bozier shares. “It’s an exciting production as a whole; raw, gritty, raunchy. It’s a fun, fantastic piece of narrative-led dance theatre.”
Looking back on the history of The Car Man, first performed 26 years ago, Bourne recalls wanting to create something completely different. He sought intentionally to contrast with more traditional ballet works such as Swan Lake and Cinderella; and he settled on a thriller!
McEvilly, who began his New Adventures collaboration back in 2021, with a tour of Nutcracker, describes some of the preparations currently going into the upcoming tour. From coordinating with freelance teams on sound, lighting and rigging, checking on the new dance floor that has been made and painted specifically, and making sure this intense preparation period goes as smoothly as possible for everyone. When the tour begins, McEvilly will be working ahead with each new venue, providing technical details, power and crew requirements, and liasing on health and safety aspects.
“We started talking about The Car Man about six months ago,” he says. “And work began about eight weeks ago. It’s a revival – the production is 26 years old, so we are looking at the condition of props and things in storage and talking to designers about whether we need to redo anything, or add new things, and working with budgeting for that as well,” he explains. “The set is integral to the performance so a lot of it is needed in rehearsal, and this needs organisation and preparation. There are constant repairs in the rehearsal room, making sure everything is as robust as possible.” McEvilly offers an example of a recent rehearsal when dancers were working with the original 1950s American cars, and one of the windscreens got cracked! Dancers push the cars (just the front halves of them are used) around the stage and jump on them to dance, so accidents can and do happen!
Cordelia Braithwaite, who will play the female lead Lana, paused rehearsal at lunchtime to discuss her upcoming role. “It’s not your typical dance show,” she says. “It’s the complete opposite of a whimsical ballet.” This will be her third time dancing in The Car Man, and Braithwaite describes it as though the show is in her body. “It’s amazing to revisit. It’s like a film,” she reveals. “The plot, the twists, the storytelling. It’s an absolute joy, like a cinematic vision.”
She continues, “Lana is not a nice character. She’s calculated and manipulative. I first played her over 10 years ago when I was 21. Now I’m older, i can delve into her story a bit more and get her life experience and her evilness across. It’s nice to play someone you are not!”
In rehearsal so far today, Braithwaite has been involved in time-consuming character work, building arguments and developing choreography and physical theatre such as grabbing faces and pushing. The kind of movement that needs a lot of conversation and meticulous concentration and detail to make it safe and effective. Bozier describes rehearsals on a hot day such as today, with the doors open and a nice breeze flowing through. He notes his appreciation of the inspirational presence of Alan Vincent who originated the role of Luca – the Car Man – and who, in this 2026 version, will play Dino. There are three different casts rehearsing, and this takes time to plot and rehearse each section, with dancers swopping around parts, passing information over to one another, resulting in everyone absorbing lots of information fast. Etta Murfitt, who is the Associate Artistic Director of New Adventures, is also in the rehearsal studio, offering a wealth of historical knowledge having originated the role of Rita.
New Adventures is a company where talented dancers who might not fit the norm of a traditional ballet company – perhaps they are too tall – could fit in. Talent comes first, explains Bourne, noting that having the wider community represented onstage is very important for audiences. “It doesn’t feel great when everyone looks the same. Diversity of all sorts (age, race, social background) is needed to make a community and to tell stories.” He can regularly be found in the audience at his shows, acknowledging that that is where he can learn what works and what doesn’t.
What are Bourne’s thoughts of restaging The Car Man with new casts this summer?
“I love the mix of older dancers and new talent,” he says. “I value everyone for what they can bring, but new talent can change your mind about shaping; new ideas and interpretations can come out, and I’m open to that.” He also raises the important notion of moving to reflect the changing times in which we live. By noticing elements of a production that might or might not be relevant for an audience a quarter of a century on. And acknowledging the shift in today’s world which requires clear discussion of the racy nature of choreography before learning it and ensuring everyone’s safety by asking permission of one another to touch in a certain way.
“I find it moving that young people auditioning for these roles in The Car Man are so revered by them,” he continues. “They’ve grown up watching them and are moved by them. That moves me, too.”
It’s a hot sunny day at the time of writing, and the New Adventures company are heading into learning material for Act II this afternoon, having already completed Act I. And so, the legend of the Car Man continues and should hopefully be driving into a theatre near you to make this summer a passionate and memorable one.
For more information, including venues and dates, click here.
By Louise Ryrie of Dance Informa.
