Growing Pains transforms your life story into a theatrical experience. At what point did you realise your journey was powerful enough to become a story for the stage rather than simply another chapter in your career?
When I returned to the stage after a long 4 year battle with mental health issues, I wanted to create a show that was real, raw and connected with the audience on a deep level. Through that, I’d weave life stories in amongst my songs only to be told after the show that I should write a book. The notion almost felt self-indulgent until I started to see the idea more of an exchange of experience and knowledge rather than a “boast”. Writing a book still seems a little premature, so I decided to create a story-telling theatre experience that shares first hand the experiences that have shaped me as a human being.
When developing the narrative for Growing Pains, were there moments from your life that were difficult to revisit because they still carried emotional weight?
Absolutely. I had to dig up parts of my past that I had buried – Traumas battling childhood Leukemia along with my darkest mental health episodes. As hard as it is to share these experiences in the first-person, it’s also helped me to understand myself a little more – Not just the tough stuff but the good!
The production covers everything from childhood fame to personal struggles and reinvention. How did you decide which parts of your story absolutely had to be included and which parts were left out?
It all came down to two questions.. “What do I want people to get out of this?” and “How do I want them to feel?” I knew I didn’t want a surface level nostalgic trip – I wanted people to walk away not only feeling entertained, but inspired and maybe a little bit more understood. I also wanted the emotional journey of the show to reflect the magnitude of life lived. As dark as what it has been, I’ve had some incredibly joyous and wonderous experiences and at times, some hilarious ones!!! (Thank you puberty!).
What was it like seeing your life structured as a story with a beginning, middle and end? Did it change the way you view your own journey?
Doing work on yourself can often involve self-reflection but not like this. Seeing, performing, reliving this part of my life had me pausing many times. Sometimes that pause would be to release emotions like sadness or anger and other times it was a simple, “Damn, I can’t believe I lived that experience??!!!”. Many of us “next” our way through life and rarely take time to sit and reflect on the our lived experiences. It’s profound when you do!
Theatre audiences often connect most strongly with vulnerability. Was there a particular scene or chapter in Growing Pains that pushed you furthest outside your comfort zone as a storyteller?
Definitely the traumas of getting a lumbar puncture as a seven year old. That’s a real tough one to relive on stage and that whole segment ties in with a such a magical and popular memory on TV of me. It’s brutal in the way it reveals the duality between being a performer whilst battling a life threatening disease and the sense of purpose and magic that sparks when those two paths come together.
Music has always been the way you’ve communicated with audiences. How different was it telling your story through spoken word and narrative compared to letting the songs do the talking?
I’ve done lots of workshops, keynotes and shared stories in between songs but this is very different. I’m fully re-living them on stage with the songs used as punctuations not as the base of the show. I won’t lie. I feel more exposed up there than what I ever have.
Many people know Nathan Cavaleri the guitarist, but what side of Nathan the person do you hope audiences discover through Growing Pains?
A side that maybe mirrors in some way themselves. Many of our challenges are exacerbated by the false belief that we are alone with them. But really, we all live our own unique lives but fundamentally, we all have so much in common. I get a lot of comfort out of knowing that I’m not the only one struggling at times, and when wins are felt by others who “get it”, it makes it all the more special!
The show explores some incredibly personal themes, including identity, anxiety and resilience. What conversations are you hoping audiences have on the drive home after seeing the production?
That there are many paths “home” and sometimes the most promoted or even socially accepted way, is not the right one. That possibilities are less limited than what we’re told. For people to see their own challenges as puzzles rather than “wrongs” to battle – How much failure teaches us. Even learning how to laugh again at ourselves! Every time I hear someone’s story, I’m able to self-reflect with a new perspective that opens my world up. I’d love this show to be the catalyst for that!
If someone walks into the theatre knowing nothing about your career, what do you hope they take away from Growing Pains beyond the music itself?
Sorry I blended these two questions together.
After turning your life into a theatre production, did you learn anything new about yourself that surprised you during the creative process?
A few things…. That without realising, I saw myself through the eyes of a small minority who used to put me down. For that reason, I didn’t see or feel the love and therefore assumed, everybody had the same negative opinions about me.
It reaffirms how my pains have been my greatest teacher and that very rarely can we make sense of them until they become memories.
And how courageous I must have been when I was 14 years old, to go on stage in front of the same girls who hijacked my privacy to watch me go to the toilet. Yeah. It’s been long enough that I can tell that story publicly and laugh about it!
GROWING PAINS – THE NATHAN CAVALERI STORY
Tickets available from www.nathancavaleri.com
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