Willing’s theatrical output spans genres: from hybrid and experimental works to musicals and cabaret. He is an experienced playwright, lyricist, composer, producer, and dramaturge. The intersection of story, song and character is where he thrives.
ON THE UNCERTAINTY OF SIGNS
ON THE UNCERTAINTY OF SIGNS
‘Breathtakingly sweet, achingly sorrowful in parts and acerbic in its wittiness.’
★★★★ - The Age
There’s nothing more cringe to the MSN generation of millenials, who speak to each other in horoscopes, dank memes and therapised parlance, than earnestness. No one knows this more than Willing — gifted musician, performer and admin behind a viral Melbourne meme page. But what’s a jaded cynic to do when the love he seeks is serendipitously found through this very meme page?
On the Uncertainty of Signs is a riposte towards this self-confessed hatred of sincerity and an impressive amalgam of a few different forms: cabaret, stand-up, poetry. It’s a show about love and romance, the narratives we build about ourselves and each other, the self-mythologies we uphold because of our pride and shame. It’s about loneliness, ageing and kinship.
Marrying songs with storytelling, Willing expertly assumes the cadences and mannerisms of five different people before launching into songs about each of them. His vocal range is as expansive as his songwriting nous and the musical influences he embodies in each song — the stylistic flourishes of Elton John, the plaintive intonations of Rufus Wainwright, the jaunty pop synth sounds of eighties bands like the Blow Monkeys.
An homage to love as much as it’s a love letter to this peculiar city companionship is often found in, On the Uncertainty of Signs is breathtakingly sweet, achingly sorrowful in parts and acerbic in its wittiness.- ★★★★ - The Age
What if the inbox of a meme page held the keys to the city? Specifically, how people in it loved?
That’s precisely what Willing discovered upon opening his DMs to the romantics in his orbit. What followed was an erosion of the parasocial, and a disintegration of his microcelebrity in favour of something real.
Over four months Willing dissected his audience, grilling south yarra zaddies, gertrude mums, northside e-girls and queer-adjacent young professionals about their wildest, most romantic experiences.
Their unifying trope: a willingness to see signs in everything. To find magic in the mundane.
Little did he know, this initially cynical research project would lead him to fall in love in the most annoyingly Julie Delpy way possible. (Picture a Linklater rom-com but make it kick-ons at the Heide). And, as is the songwriter’s way, a fountain of new material emerged.
On The Uncertainty of Signs weaves this revelatory musical output with the love stories he scoured his DMs to retrieve. A cabaret for the natural wine generation and their parents who couldn’t stand the stench.
Sonically, it represents a departure from the theatrical pop he’s known for, moving closer to the sort of adult contemporary boomer dads (and their woebegone gay sons) play in their Subaru Outback. Think Pretenders, Peter Gabriel, but mainly, Lana Del Ray.
Joined on stage by a full band, this is a show for anyone who’s navigated the intoxicating contours of love amid the chaos of modern life. A courageously cringe exercise in wholeheartedness as antidote to these nihilistic times.
UNREAL CITY - LIVE AT MEATMARKET.
UNREAL CITY - LIVE AT MEATMARKET.
‘A VEHICLE FOR STORYTELLING IN A GRAND THEATRICAL SENSE… WILLING HAS ADVANCED QUEER MUSIC IN AUSTRALIA.’
- Queer Radio Brisbane, 4ZZZ.
Unreal City is Willing’s debut studio album. He staged the work as piece of theatrical spectacle at Melbourne’s Meat Market in 2022.
Willing has his eyes cast on the future in this expansive opus about the desecration of dreams in the face of cosmopolitan annihilation. This is maximalist power-pop that is cinematic in scope and utterly romantic in conceit.
‘At its heart it’s a songwriter’s album,’ states Willing. ‘Expansive, outrageous, and deeply felt, it finds influence in the world of queercore pop-rock. Think Ssion, the Drums, Christine and the Queens, Perfume Genius, King Princess, and sometimes even Springsteen.'
Its production is eclectic, traversing genres while being firmly grounded in a club-rock idiom. Lyrically, the work deals in monomyth: a bildungsroman of an ageing twink, looking back in love.
Willing directed and starred in the live theatrical staging, which took place on an expansive catwalk, immersing the audience in rock pop sensory overload. Joining him on stage were two contemporary dancers, Ren and Kat, choreographed by the divine Pat O’Luanaigh, plus a four-person band. Original digital art by Sam Hains elevated the vision.
ALIBI
ALIBI
‘A TOUR-DE-FORCE OF WRITING AND PERFORMANCE’
- THE AUSTRALIAN
a new play by the pop artist Willing.
Stars in his eyes, a derelict ageing twink moves to London on a theatrical whim. Chaos ensues, his life becoming an intoxicating vortex of sex, drugs and deceit.
His gateway to this treacherous world is the mysterious PC, an international man of mystery, a money launderer and a fraud. He promises fame but delivers breakdown.
Meanwhile the people are revolting, on a scale we’ve never witnessed before, and it is his relationship with Nick, the young revolutionary, that just might save him.
ALIBI (OR SOMEPLACE ELSE) is a play for a society in crisis. His most confessional piece, it is also Willing’s most dishonest, for the central concern is the magnetism of the theatrical lie in a world that is done with truth.
But at its heart this is a love story. A queer romance that swings from violence to tenderness in moments, dealing with issues of addiction, punishment and ultimately the radical act of forgiveness.
Alibi played two seasons. The first, at Theatre Works as part of their Glasshouse Season, and the second at the Old Fitz as part of the 2021 Red Line Theatre Program. The Theatre Works Season was filmed by James Terry in rehearsal and can be watched in full here.
Credits
Director: Siena Stone
Script, songs and performance: Willing
Sound: Cosmo Renfree
Set: Alexandra McCloud-Gibson
Lighting: Tim Bonser
GAGA V ASSANGE
GAGA V ASSANGE
‘A BRILLIANT MUSICAL FANTASIA’
— THE AUSTRALIAN
A hypothetical romp with songs
'Tragically good.'
Julian Assange
'A brilliant musical fantasia.'
Chris Boyd, The Australian
'William Hannagan's writing is superb...both lyrically and musically, the songs would not feel out of place on a genuine Gaga album.' - ★★★★ ArtsHub
'Hilarious... Ingenious.' - ★★★★★ SameSame
‘GAGA V ASSANGE is a gloriously humorous romp through musical theatre, pop culture and social politics… the script expertly balances fact, fiction and fun… an excellent piece of fringe-style musical comedy, a fun and rollicking experience.’ - Gashe
'A stylish mash-up of morals, media and music…fresh, engaging, intelligent.’ - Theatre Press
Lady Gaga is afraid. After accidently giving an STI to the world’s most famous hacker, Julian Assange, she thinks he might vengefully leak the sex tapes. To make amends, she turns up unannounced to the Ecuadorian Embassy with a plan, a plan to help him escape. But Julian doesn’t want a bar of it. Not even a swath of her best europop anthems will ease his hurt. But as she refuses to leave and he can’t, deadlock ensues. What follows is a romp of epic pure-pop proportions. And when egos clash so do dogmas. The result: pandemonium.
Gaga V Assange went viral after a slew of tweets from Wikileaks and an actual mention by Julian Assange himself in a TV interview. It subsequently play Midsumma and Adelaide Fringe Festivals to rave reviews.
THE GATHERING
THE GATHERING
‘FAST MOVING AND IMPRESSIVE MUSICAL STORYTELLING’
★★★★ THE AGE
a new musical by Belinda Jenkin and Will Hannagan
“A multi-layered and accomplished mix of six-part harmonies, love duets and moving solo ballads... And what a relief to hear such well-made music and lyrics performed with big, bright and agile voices in Australian accents... Fast moving and impressive musical story-telling. ”
— ★★★★ THE AGE
Tom is throwing a housewarming. He’s invited all his old favourites. Friends that now feel like strangers. The plan is to catch up, get wasted and stay up until dawn. Just like they used to. But this is not your typical party. How can it be when you’ve been on the run for five years? There are questions to be answered. Secrets to be spilled. Games to be played.
The heat is on.
The Gathering is a musical by collaborators Belinda Jenkin and Will Hannagan. It started its life at Theatre Works as part of their Musical Works season. It then was redeveloped and taken to the New York Music Theatre Festival with the assistance of Creative Victoria and the Anna Sosenko Trust, in a production which starred MJ Rodriguez. In 2016, The Gathering had its penultimate staging at fortyfivedownstairs presented with the assistance of City of Melbourne.
POP | PRESS
POP | PRESS
‘The camping and mugging are a lot of fun, but you can only send up something well if you're also pretty good at it yourself. Hannagan and crew can sing and they have all the right moves.'
★★★★ The Age
'Fusing candid podcast journalistic expose with corporate crime thriller, POP|PRESS is a hilariously satirical and surprisingly dark exploration of fame, scandal, and the dangers inherent in the corporatisation of Art... Hannagan’s razor sharp wit is perfectly matched by Thibaud Mateos Hernandez’s masterful arrangements to create a score of artfully constructed and wickedly cheeky new pop classics.'
Aussie Theatre
'The cast of Pop|Press is so talented that in some instances the parody pop is actually better than the original it is sending up. Hannagan is wonderful as the Harry Styles-esque Heath Row. He has a versatile voice with which he effortlessly delivers his numbers while performing complex dance routines in sync with his backup dancers.... Hannagan’s seven original 'club bangerz' co-written especially for the show with Thibaud Mateos Hernandez, would rival the most catchy of the pop songs playing on Nova or Fox FM. Hannagan is fluent in pop and knows exactly how to deliver smash hits every time...The story is engaging, the characters are all the more endearing for their flaws and complexity and the musical numbers are not to be missed.'
★★★★Arts Hub
'A cult classic in the making... Will Hannagan brings a low-key, smouldering magnetism to the role of Heath Row.'
Theatre Press
Heath Row is a global pop sensation. After defecting from twinky super group Se7en Moments of Malibu his brand (and infamy) has only continued to grow. But, in the midst of a 200 city world tour and embroiled in an endorsement scandal with some of Silicon Valley's biggest brands, he is becoming disenchanted by his career. He wants to create real art. A legacy.
Over two months, Peabody award winner, Bechtel Beckstein, is following the movements of Row in their new podcast, P.O.P. (People of Power). What starts as a simple exposé on the lives of the rich and the famous soon descends into that murkiest pit of human vices: Homocide. But is he guilty?
Not everything is as it seems in Tinsel Town: sometimes murder isn't simply an act of revenge, Grammy-envy or even the fallout from a failed endorsement deal. Sometimes murder is just scandal, and scandal is art. And art is what Heath wants.
Part Podcast, part musical thriller, POP|PRESS is a dance infused murder mystery of Perez proportions.
POP|PRESS was presented by KIN Collaborative as part of the 2015 Melbourne Fringe. As well as writing the songs and script as well as directing, Willing performed in the show. Production by Thibaud Mateos. Choreography by Charlotte Tooke.
