Jack Dodds Profile

Jack Dodds

Class of 2015

I look back at the musicals as my fondest memories of School. They had a huge influence on what I wanted to do.

- Jack Dodds, KWS Class of 2015

How does a Kinross Wolaroi School alumni end up headlining the 2021 Sydney Comedy Festival with a musical about none other than the infamous Schapelle Corby?

The story is a bit of a comedy in itself. “I’m a big Seinfeld fan,” began former KWS day student Jack Dodds. Jack wrote, produced and performed the roles of a journalist named Raymond and Schapelle Corby’s brother Mick Junior in Schapelle, Schapelle.

“I was watching the Seinfeld episode where Bette Midler plays Rochelle in Rochelle, Rochelle the musical. I can’t remember exactly how I came to the conclusion, but I was around friends and rhymed Rochelle with Schapelle. We decided it would make a great musical,” said Jack.

“Ideas for the musical got out of control and there were a lot of times I thought, ‘Am I actually writing a musical about Schapelle Corby?’

Jack wrote Schapelle, Schapelle in 2018 as his final, major project while studying a Bachelor of Communication (Theatre and Media) at Charles Sturt University. The result was a satirical exploration of Australia’s weakness for media sensationalism, told through the life of Schapelle Corby upon her arrest in Bali. Fictionalised, but featuring real, pivotal events and verbatim elements, Schapelle, Schapelle captures a story of absurdity, opportunism, loneliness and redemption - all spun together with a rollicking down-to-earth musical score.

Jack’s team subsequently won a grant from the Blair Milan Memorial Fund to tour Australia and opened Schapelle, Schapelle in Bathurst that same year. In 2019, a Sydney Comedy Festival producer was among the crowd at their Sydney show and asked if they would like to be a major festival act. “Just to perform at the Sydney Comedy Festival was an incredible experience, let alone headlining the festival. We worked so hard to get to this point with the show, so we were very appreciative of the opportunity,” said Jack.

Schapelle, Schapelle performed 23 times over four weeks, plus two encore performances in the week after the festival. “We were almost selling out every show in the last couple of weeks. The audience was loving it and even coming back again,” said Jack. The final draft of the musical performed at the festival took three years to write, with some songs taking two hours and others two years. “There were a lot of late nights and long days spent meeting deadlines. Being a writer-producer is quite hard. A producer wants deadlines and a writer wants time for creative freedom. It was hard to juggle the two sometimes,” said Jack. One of the best things about performing Schapelle, Schapelle for Jack, was returning to the stage with KWS alumni Alice Litchfield. Jack and Alice performed together many times at KWS and the Orange Theatre Company. “

I knew I had just the role for Alice, so I messaged her to see if she wanted to read the script. She said yes and got into character straightaway,” said Jack. Alice was an assistant choreographer and performed the roles of Lindy Chamberlain and a broadcaster named Dimity. “I’ve always loved performing with Alice. She brings such energy and focus to the stage,” said Jack.

Jack is an emerging writer, actor and producer and has been nominated for two Canberra Area Theatre Awards since graduating from KWS. He also completed a course in Improvisational Acting at the University of Kentucky and started an award-winning, late night comedy skit dubbed the Skitty Kitties.

“Sometimes I’m really busy writing towards a deadline or in production. Other times I’m looking for a new gig. It’s really strange. You can be juggling three projects at once or can have nothing on. That’s the life of an Australian artist,” said Jack. When Jack isn’t centre stage, he’s back on his family’s farm in Cumnock, NSW.

“I have a passion for agriculture. Being situated in Sydney means it’s a bit of a drive, but it’s worth it,” said Jack. Cumnock was home for Jack between Years 7-12 at KWS and he remembers the three hour-round commute well. “I became very familiar with the bus when I was at school!” said Jack. More importantly, Jack remembers the KWS musicals he was part of which defined his career. “I look back at the musicals as my fondest memories of School. They had a huge influence on what I wanted to do. They were very high quality productions,” said Jack. Jack said he’s currently juggling three projects and can’t wait to be back on stage with Alice in the near future. •