Megan Kozak.
Camera IconMegan Kozak. Credit: Supplied/Andrew Ritchie.

Megan takes on Monica in Black Swan’s Clinton: The Musical

Tanya MacNaughtonEastern Reporter

CLASS of 2015 WAAPA music theatre graduate Megan Kozak has many reasons to delight in returning home to Perth to make her Black Swan State Theatre Company debut in Clinton: The Musical.

“It’s such a fun show to be a part of and a good excuse to hang out with Mum, Dad and the cat,” Kozak, who lives in Melbourne, said.

“Everyone in the show is really nice, although it’s a bit bizarre to be working with Simon Burke who I watched on Play School as a kid.”

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Kozak plays Monica Lewinsky in the musical comedy which was written by Brisbane brothers Paul and Michael Hodge and has experienced successful seasons in New York, London and Edinburgh.

It follows Bill Clinton’s turbulent time as the 42nd President of the United States and is based on the premise of there being two sides to Clinton – the mature WJ and reckless Billy – played by two different actors, Simon Burke and Matt Dyktynski, along with Lisa Adam as Hillary Clinton.

“It has this really great take on the disaster that is American politics and elections,” Kozak said.

“The script has been reworked a bit to the off-Broadway production so Donald Trump gets a mention in the show, as does Hillary for president.”

Kozak said she had prepared for her Lewinsky undertaking by doing a lot of research, including reading her biography.

“You see her side of the story because she really was destroyed by the American media and public,” she said.

“In our version of the show, she’s definitely a very naive girl who just falls in love with the President.

“It was definitely consensual and she can’t be too much of a victim, but at the same time she’s a 22/23-year-old girl who has fallen for the most powerful man in America.

“Even now, when I tell people I’m playing Monica Lewinsky in the production I get a lot of laughs and ‘have fun with that’ reactions; her reputation was ruined.

“I think sometimes what Bill Clinton did for the country is often forgotten too; no one remembers all the good, they just remember Monica Lewinsky and the blue dress.”

Kozak will go back to Melbourne when the Black Swan season finishes in September and present her cabaret show Backseat Diamond, which she performed at Fringe World and Adelaide Fringe.

THE ESSENTIALS

What: Clinton: The Musical

Where: Heath Ledger Theatre

When: August 27 to September 11

Tickets: www.ticketek.com.au