Chris Lilley » Articles

Summer Heights High's Mr G gets set for musical stardom
heraldsun.com.au | February 28, 2008

MR G was last seen dramatically exiting the Summer Heights High classroom after "creative differences". Now he's got a single out, and his sights on a Grammy. On top of all that, Mr G was reduced to manually evacuating his dog Celine's bowels after a nasty car accident.

This year has been a better one for Gregson. He's not only back at Summer Heights High -- pleasing his special friend and workmate Rodney no end -- he's about to subvert the pop charts.

EMI -- home to the Beatles -- has signed Mr G, christening his record deal with the release of Naughty Girl, a standout moment from his eponymous musical.

The song -- with remixes by Paul Mac of Silverchair fame -- cleverly uses the same dancefloor beats that lured student "Jessica'' into the nightclub where she took the ecstasy tablet that claimed her life.

Naughty Girl -- a hit on iTunes last year -- is set to storm the charts.

The only person who's not surprised is Mr G himself. Well he is surprised. Surprised his "triple-threat'' talent took so long to cross the record company's radar since the success of the TV documentary Summer Heights High.

"I am surprised,'' Mr G says.

"I've been getting Rodney to ring all the record companies on a daily basis for the past few months. But better late than never.''

With Mr G under the pump he took time out from preparing for pop stardom -- and training the next Cate Blanchett and Bruce Samazan -- to answer Hit's questions.

How are things at Summer Heights High?

It's musical time again and that hideous Head of Drama Meredith is driving me mental. Technically it's my year again to put on a musical so I'm pushing to do another self-devised one, but she's kicking up a stink claiming it's her year. It's a nightmare. On a brighter note the kids are loving me more than ever because of my new-found fame after the show. They always loved me but now it's reached a whole new level. I'm going off.

Which of today's pop stars and musicians do you see a bit of G in?

Timberlake is doing a lot of my moves. We both have a fluid yet very street style of dancing. I also see a lot of me in Chris Brown. Obviously not skin tone-wise, but for attitude and funkiness we're on a par.

You've always set high goals for yourself -- what are your aims for the single?

I'd be lying if I didn't say I wanted a Grammy.

There are always some great surprise collaborations at the ARIAs. If you were invited to perform, who would be your dream duet partner?

I think Darren Hayes and I would sound incredible together. I'd consider Natalie Bassingthwaighte, but she tends to shout a lot, and maybe Anthony Callea with him singing a chorus in Italian.

You worked with Paul Mac on this single. Was he impressed with your musical prowess and vision?

Which one was he? If he was the dark-haired fellow then yes he was noticeably impressed with my studio skills. He said I have a great recording voice, which is what Mark Holden said about Anthony Callea a few years ago and look at him now!

Have you been pumping up the dance mixes of Naughty Girl in your car?

Yes. I've actually blown the left speaker on the Hyundai Accent, but it still sounds good getting pumped out of the right one. The principal said she can hear me arriving every morning at the staff car park.

What does Celine make of it all when you play the song at home at loud levels?

Being a dog her hearing is very sensitive so she tends to howl whenever I play it. Sometimes if she's yelping too much I throw the beanbag over her. It tends to cut out the sound. There's usually an air pocket in under there for her and it's just for the duration of the song.

Now that you have secured the record deal, are you expecting offers to take some of your musicals out of the school and into a theatre?

Yes. I'm standing by for this. I've made a vow to Rodney that I won't say yes to an Off-Broadway show. I want a major theatre in the West End or Broadway or I won't sell. There's a lot of international appeal to my musicals: Ian Thorpe: The Musical will work anywhere, Tsunamarama has a very wide appeal because it uses the music of Bananarama, and IKEA: The Musical will definitely go down well in Sweden.

Is it a dream to be at a club and hear one of your songs and dance to it?

I'm not really a nightclub man these days. If you're a straight man like myself and you're over 30 I feel you should really hang up your clubbing shoes. But if I hear it played in a shopping centre or something I'll definitely let everyone around me know that it's me.

What's your poison when it comes to alcohol?

I'm not a drinker per se. But we do have a staff Christmas party once a year and I'm notorious for my six pack of Watermelon Bacardi Breezers. Rodney and I share them.

How often do you check your My Space page www.myspace.com/greggregson?

I check it in between every period. And sometimes during class. If kids are doing performance pieces and I drift off I usually jump on the laptop and check my comments as a boredom buster.

Naughty Girl (EMI) released digitally on Saturday, in stores March 8.

[source]