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Why I Made is a fortnightly feature in which artists and writers share with listener.co.nz the behind-the-scenes stories of their creations. Here, kapa haka and musical theatre exponent Rutene Spooner talks about Be Like Billy?
Entertainer Rutene Spooner (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Ruanui, Ngāti Kahungunu, Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki) describes himself as a “full-time storyteller, part-time mischief maker”, which means he might have something in common with one of his idols, Billy T James.
Spooner, who was 9 years old when he kickstarted his career with an appearance in the film Whale Rider, begins a nationwide tour this weekend of the show Be Like Billy? It’s not an impersonation show, but more homage to Māori showbands and performers with a question at its heart: Can you be like Billy without being the butt of the joke?
Rutene Spooner, why did you make Be Like Billy?
RS: It’s actually a love letter to my daughter, who’s turning 5. I spoke to Billy’s daughter to share my approach and I told her, “I’m a new dad trying to forge a new world for my daughter. A world that I want her to grow in. I want her to have a chance to laugh at herself, but I also want her to have the chance to be proud of herself. I want her to be in a world where she, and the people around her, have a better understanding of mutual respect for each other.”
Yes, there’s a question mark at the end of the title which makes it a bit more ambiguous. Is that intentional?
RS: Yes. It’s basically about my coming-of-age story and journey into becoming a Māori musical entertainer. It’s super nostalgic of the era of the great Māori showbands, the arrival of Billy T James and a celebration of the path he forged, but there is a question mark.
That’s because the show also questions how much of that path do we want to hold on to - and how much of it do we want to “archive” and leave behind. It’s not meant to discredit anything Billy T did because the man was a master at straddling the two worlds he walked in.
Have you come up with any answers to that question?
RS: No, not necessarily, but I think it’s important to ask it and realise that tension is there. I talk about how I came out of drama school [in 2009] and tried to find somebody - and something - that looked like me and who wanted to do musical comedy.
The only person I could reference at the time was someone like Billy. He got called upon to join the Māori Volcanics showband in the 1970s; I got called up to join the Modern Māori Quartet so there were certain things that resonated with me.
I did impersonations of Billy T, and I enjoyed helping people to kind of “throwback” to those days, but I decided to stop because I was doing a lot for corporates and, you know, when a bit of liquor is introduced, things can get a bit a loose – the type of comments that are made. I don’t want to talk too much about that because it’s something I address in Be Like Billy? I will say I felt a real tussle inside myself.
How did you first come across Billy T James?
RS: I’m 35, so he died just before I was born. My generation is from the VHS era; you know, video tapes and, at home, we had stacks of his VHS tapes so, I only know him from watching the tapes and the little colloquialisms of his that my family would say. We bounced between watching The Topp Twins and Billy T and I would end up being the one who stayed up late while everyone else had gone to sleep to keep watching Billy T.
You said you spoke with Billy’s family before doing this show. Why was that important?
RS: It was really important to me to speak to his whānau, to let them know my intentions and what I wanted to write.
How is the show structured?
RS: It’s a cabaret theatre piece, with a four-piece live band called The Tekīra Mutton Birds. There’s my original waiata and the songs from the show bands’ era, Kiwi garage party hits, but the whole thing starts in the 40s and comes all the way through to today. But musically we sit most comfortably and mainly in the 70s and 80s.
And you’ve performed the show before?
RS: Yes, Christchurch’s Court Theatre commissioned it, and we performed it last year, but this is a new version and it has a totally new look with two new musical numbers. I trained at the National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Art in Christchurch and have done many shows at the Court.
I’m now touring Be Like Billy? with Performing Arts Network NZ (PAANZ). I’ve toured my other shows [Super Hugh-man and Thoroughly Modern Māui] with PAANZ. I love getting out and touring because the further from the cities you are, the more honest reactions you get. This might be controversial, but for me, I’m making shows for all of Aotearoa and all of Aotearoa does not live in Auckland!
Were you born and raised in Christchurch?
RS: No, I grew up in Wellington and then, in my teens, went to live with an aunt in Gisborne. I went to Lytton High School and got into kapa haka because the whole place – and the area itself – is so strong in Māori performing arts. I still do kapa haka with Te Kapa Haka o Whāngara-Mai-Tawhiti.
Anyway, I had a fabulous drama teacher who said to me, “I’ve found this musical theatre school and I think you should go there.” She was British and was new to Gisborne, but she drove me to my audition in Wellington. She’d never driven long-distance, so it took us about 13 hours because she drove carefully – yes, that’s the right word – and had to stop often.
I got in and moved to Ōtautahi Christchurch. I’d never even been to the South Island before; never had a singing lesson. I had a bit of catching up to do with everyone who’d been doing this for their entire lives.
Well, you must have caught up pretty well because, as well as all the musical theatre shows you’ve done, including Jersey Boys in Australia, you once sang back-up for Adele. Is that right?
RS: Yes. I had to sign an NDA, so I didn’t really know what I had signed up for until we were on the way to the rehearsal. When I found out, I was like, “Can I get some tickets for friends to come to the concert?” because those tickets had sold out in record time! I only got to say a quick hello to her during the soundcheck, though.
To go from intimate cabaret venues to a huge concert venue… It’s probably far harder to play to a smaller audience, a cabaret one, because you’ve got to be honest and clear with them because it’s just you and them. In bigger situations, there are things you can rely on – screens, lights – but there’s nothing like that when it’s just you and the audience.
Be Like Billy? plays at Aronui Arts Festival, Rotorua (Sir Howard Morrison Centre, September 14) Māoriland, Ōtaki (Māoriland Hub, September 21) Kōanga Festival, Auckland (Te Pou Theatre, September 25-28), Te Tairāwhiti Arts Festival, Gisborne (Lawson Field Theatre, October 4-5) https://www.pannz.org.nz/show/rutene-spooners-be-like-billy/ and Nelson Arts Festival (Theatre Royal, October 24-25) nelsonartsfestival.nz
