Wit, humour and a little bit of noir
In his writing, Chester focused on Jewish characters, the Jewish experience and embracing what Judaism means to him. He even takes challah to auditions and rehearsals.
Doron Chester has been described as “endearingly shmucky”. It’s a description he loved so much, he put it on the front page of his website. And his Judaism (and by extension, “shmuckiness”) is something he doesn’t shy away from.
“It has taken me a while to really embrace it. But I think our industry and I think society in general has come really far in that different cultures have been way more accepted, especially in our industry” the actor, singer, writer and now teacher told The AJN.
“So I can feel proud of my Jewishness and my Judaism in regards to performing as well.”
Specifically, Chester explained, telling Jewish stories. In his writing, Chester focused on Jewish characters, the Jewish experience and embracing what Judaism means to him. He even takes challah to auditions and rehearsals.
The Moriah College alumnus said he has been performing ever since he was little. While now it’s Iago from Aladdin and his upcoming performance in City of Angels, among others, when he was young, it was always The Wiggles.
“I was always very musical. There are videos of me putting on performances for my family all the time, and that continued in school as well. I was always in the vocal group and in the band,” he recalled.
Chester has also played Weslton in Disney’s Frozen touring Australia and Singapore, toured with Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, and played Bob Hawke and John Howard in Keating! The Musical, which he said, is one of his favourite performances. Keating! was directed by Jordy Shea, a close friend of Chester’s, and was performed in Bankstown.
“I don’t think anyone came to it, but it was the most fun I’ve ever had,” Chester laughed.
His other highlight was Iago. “You just can’t go past Aladdin,” he said. “Playing an evil menace on stage every night was really wonderful.”
Chester’s next project is also incredibly exciting for the performer. He will play one of the Angel City Four and is most excited to showcase the music of the show.
“It’s really an exploration of the creative mind. So, I really hope that audiences feel their own sense of creativity when they leave, and I hope they get inspired by the music because the music is something that we haven’t heard in Sydney,” he explained. “We haven’t seen this show on Sydney stages, professionally, and everyone always talks about the music for City of Angels. So, I’m really excited for audiences to hear that.”
Chester is particularly excited to experience the music alongside the audience, and see how it makes them feel, especially he said, the “noir-esque kind of jazz” from the quartet that he’s part of.
“The scat music is just something that I love. And I really hope audiences will take away and explore that more,” he said.
Winner of six Tony Awards including Best Musical, City of Angels is a comedy that weaves together two plots unfolding at once, the “real” world of New York “hack” novelist Stine and his fictional alter-ego in the “reel” world, private eye Stone.
It makes for a witty and glorious celebration of film noir and includes popular songs, You Can Always Count on Me and I’m Nothing Without You.
City of Angels is at Hayes Theatre from June 23. For more, visit hayestheatre.com.au
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