Ross Chisari Gets In Sync In “Cruel Intentions: The ’90s Musical”
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Cruel Intentions: The ’90s Musical continues its successful run through Australia and is playing at Melbourne’s Atheneum Theatre. We chat with cast member Ross Chisari about playing an over-the-top gay stereotype and how his character is actually relatable and has his favourite song to perform.
IF SERENA VAN DER WOODSEN COULD SING…
Ross is well-known to DNA readers for his Robbie Williams show Let Me Entertain You! After a string of successful theatre roles, he’s currently playing the gay character Blaine Tuttle in Cruel Intentions: The ’90s Musical. Flamboyant, he steals the show with his antics, one-liners, and a manipulative, yet eventually romantic hookup with local football stud Greg (Joseph Spanti).
“I won’t lie, I was a bit trepidatious about playing an over-the-top stereotype,” says Ross.
“Nowadays you never know who may take offence, but stereotypes are based on real people so it comes from truth. It’s the base of all acting. One reviewer said of me, ‘He camps it up without being offensive,’ and that was lovely and reassuring to hear.”
Based on the original movie starring Ryan Phillippe and Reese Witherspoon (which itself is based on Les Liaisons Dangereuse), the complex story sees two step-siblings, handsome jock Sebastian (Drew Weston) and Kathryn (Kirby Burgess) making a bet on whether Sebastian can take the virginity of the new headmaster’s daughter Annette (Kelsey Halge). It’s all very manipulative and sexual.
As the show’s gay character, Blaine is friends with Sebastian and, while both are conniving in their own way, Blaine fights those usual inner demons before discovering himself.
“Blaine is a misunderstood boy just looking for love in the wrong places,” says Ross.
“He’s got a sharp mind and an even sharper tongue. He’s built a very high wall around himself to protect his heart but slowly learns to let people in. He realises he can be loved for who he is and not how he is.”
Ross, a WAAPA graduate whose theatre credits include West Side Story, Aladdin, The Rocky Horror Show, Jersey Boys and Ghost: The Musical (also with Weston) has found the character complex and one he relates to.
“I love Blaine’s sassy attitude and manipulative nature,” says Chisari.
“He gets what he wants, and he dresses impeccably. I mean, if Serena van der Woodsen from Gossip Girl could sing, that would be Blaine! He has insecurities fitting into society, especially being a teenager in high school and this is something I can personally relate to. We all know growing up sucks and so does high school, but we learn to find ways to navigate through it.”
Ross is married to his partner of seven years, William. At 30, he’s certainly come of age but the struggles of his youth help him tap into Blaine.
“Blaine puts up a wall and I would say during my teenage years I did the same. I definitely drew upon my own teenage struggles to develop his character. But he’s extremely out there and over the top. It’s an energy that I wouldn’t normally sit with all the time, so staying with that for one hundred percent of the show has been taxing. But exploring the light and shade of such a heightened character has been fun.”
The production does well for a jukebox musical, nostalgically bringing back classics such as The Verve, Placebo, Britney Spears and Sixpence None The Richer.
“The song I love the most would have to be Bye Bye Bye,” says Chisari. “Growing up, NSYNC was always playing in my bedroom, so to get a chance to perform one of their songs on the professional stage is a dream come true! Fourteen-year-old Ross starts crying inside every time that music starts playing”.
Cruel Intentions: The ’90s Musical is running at Melbourne’s Atheneum Theatre
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