Sir Matthew Bourne’s acclaimed dance company, New Adventures, returns to Birmingham Hippodrome this month with The Car Man - a sizzling reimagining of Bizet’s Carmen, transplanted from a 17th-century tobacco factory to a 1950s garage in small-town America. 
The award-winning production doesn’t fight shy of sex and violence, ingeniously blending Bizet’s familiar music with lust, longing, and denim-clad mechanics. What’s On spoke to two of the New Adventures company, Ashley Shaw and Serena McCall, to find out more…

New Adventures’ popular production The Car Man returns to Birmingham Hippodrome this month. Steamy and evocative, it tells the story of a beguiling drifter, Luca, whose arrival in a small town causes discord among the residents. As the town’s young men work in the garage and pursue the local women in the diner, Luca makes an impression - particularly on the lives of garage-owner Dino’s wife Lana, outcast Angelo and lovelorn Rita.

“The Car Man is based on The Postman Always Rings Twice,” explains Ashley Shaw, who plays Lana in the production. “Of course, with all Matthew Bourne productions, he takes it in his own direction, adds some twists and turns. But essentially, it's about a small town where there's a diner and a garage and not much else going on. A drifter comes into the town, changes all the relationships and causes chaos.”

As well as taking inspiration from classic noir thriller The Postman Always Rings Twice, The Car Man is also loosely based on Bizet’s opera Carmen. In contrast with the grungy realities of life in 1950s small-town America, the musical score is adapted from The Carmen Suite, a ballet by Alberto Alonso (after Bizet), with further rearrangements by Terry Davis. 

“There's some really well-known bits, which are just fun to dance to,” says Ashley. “For me, it makes so much sense with the music. I know some people come who are big fans of the opera, and it's all in different order, and a little bit jarring… It just informs the story so much, and people love it. It's one of the best scores - it's so powerful.”

“The music really helps push the narrative,” says Serena McCall, who plays multiple ensemble characters in the show. “Dancing to it feels amazing every night. Really powerful - lots of great musicality moments, and especially funny storytelling moments that just work with the music. Matt [Matthew Bourne] has done an amazing job.”

“We add in a lot of stamps and slaps and vocals - we’re not silent!” Ashley adds.

The story transports audiences to Harmony, a fictional small town in the American Midwest, manifested in the show in Sir Matthew Bourne’s signature cinematic and sumptuous style. The setting and costumes, designed by New Adventures Associate Artist Lez Brotherston, help to conjure up the claustrophobic and sizzling atmosphere of the town.

“Lez really nailed it,” says Serena. “Watching it for the first time at the Albert Hall and then wearing the same costumes now, he's really nailed the design of what it was like back in the 1950s. Especially the women - the pointy bras and the cinched waist and the layers of the skirts and the materials and all the floral patterns. The costumes are great and the set is incredible - the way it can transport you into different places. We're in the diner, then we're in the garage, then we're in a cabaret bar… You really feel like you're in those places.”

Ashley and Serena are looking forward to returning to Birmingham; both started their dance training in the city - at the prestigious Elmhurst Ballet School. 

“I actually moved from Australia to Birmingham,” says Ashley. “It was the first city I lived in away from home, to go to Elmhurst, which has such an amazing reputation and has produced such amazing dancers. We went on a lot of trips to the Hippodrome; they took us once a week. So we really saw everything: musicals, contemporary, ballet, a lot of Birmingham Royal Ballet obviously. It was amazing because they really gave us a taste of what was out there. Some things I liked, some things I didn't - and then, when I saw Matthew’s work, I was like, ‘Oh, that's incredible. I want to do that!’ It really was [Elmhurst] taking us to the Hippodrome that laid out the rest of my life.”

“I'm originally from Scotland,” says Serena. “My Royal Associate teacher was like ‘You should try out for Elmhurst.’ I gave it a go, got in, and moved there when I was 14. So whenever I think of Birmingham, I always associate it with my time at Elmhurst with my friends, my training and my teachers. It really was so surreal, because we didn't really have anything like that back home in Falkirk. Going to the Hippodrome - and being introduced to so many different productions, and seeing what was achievable and what we could look forward to being a part of - was really amazing.”

Ashley has been performing with New Adventures since 2009. Her character in The Car Man - Lana - is a femme fatale. 

“She's originally based on Cora from The Postman Always Rings Twice,” explains Ashley. “She’s a bored housewife who dreams of a lot more. She's very flirtatious and seductive - she's a sexy woman - and when this drifter comes into town, he instantly takes her fancy. But as things unfold, you realise that she will do anything to keep him. Morals go out the window, you know? It's a really nice character to delve into, because you get both sides - she’s fun and playful, and then she's really quite dark and manipulative…”

Serena, meanwhile, has made her professional debut with New Adventures this year, taking on several characters in the integral ensemble cast.

“I'm very lucky in the show,” she says. “I play Mercedes, Dolores, and I actually just went on for the track called Monica the other day, which is wild. Being a part of the community that is Harmony, my different characters interact with different guys. Mercedes gets married during the show, so there's a whole engagement party. It's really fun being a part of the community and the ensemble. Lana, Luca, Rita, Angelo and Dino have their whole storyline going on - and then we’re going along with our own thing in the background, but also still involved in bringing that story to life. It's really fun.”

Ashley shares the role of Lana with Cordelia Braithwaite [alternate performances]. Similarly, the other lead characters - who each feature in intense and complex scenes - are played by different dancers across different performances. 

“Most roles have two, sometimes three people playing them,” says Ashley. “The Lucas are Harrison Dowzell and Will Bozier, and they're both incredible partners who I've done many shows with in the past. We're really comfortable, which - if you've seen the show - you kind of need to be. It's very intimate with very complicated lifts, and you've got to seem really together. You can't be fighting each other. They both are really, really incredible, which is rare - sometimes you can have a favourite, or you're better with one than the other. Everyone in the principal cast in particular are so professional that no matter who we dance with, it feels amazing. From my perspective anyway - hopefully they agree!”

The Car Man shows at Birmingham Hippodrome from Tuesday 13 to Saturday 17 October