Bondi Local | Russell Cheek

Bondi Local | Russell Cheek

Russell Cheek is a lot of things: trainer, teacher, facilitator, actor, musician, director and comic. He was brought up in Newcastle NSW. As mentioned in an earlier post HERE, Remo has known Russell since the early days of The Castanet Club. They met in Newcastle in1983, and their paths have crossed both socially and professionally on many occasions since then.

Russ swims every morning at the Bondi Icebergs Pool … rain, hail or shine.

Melanie caught up with him recently at the Bondi Trattoria.

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Russell, tell us a bit about your back story.

[Russell proceeded to tell Melanie a lot about his journey from Newcastle to Paris and places in between. It’s all fascinating stuff, but not transcribed in this post. Listen to it all on SoundCould in Part 1 of the interview HERE.]

When and why did you end up in Bondi?

I often think, “is this where I would end up?” because I often think about my friends Angie, Samantha [Davis], etc. living down in Bermagui, and I love to go and visit there, but …

To go back a bit, how we all got here: We brought the band [The Castanet Club] down here [from Newcastle] in 1986. Steve [Abbott], Angela [Moore] and I shared an apartment over at Ben Buckler. So Steve and I have been living here since then. It has evolved into being totally my spiritual home.

We used to sit at Ben Buckler and look out the back window, where I’d set up a little bench top for us to sit and look at the view, and we used to look over the ocean and I’d say “look at all that non-descript area over there at South Bondi. What losers would live there when you could live at Ben Buckler!” But then I was fortunate enough 22 years ago to be able to buy my own place and it is on the South Bondi hill.

How did you manage to buy your place in Bondi?

I won a TV quiz show called Sale of the Century! It still astounds me to this day. It was the most harrowing and difficult achievement of my life. It called upon every skill and every resource that I had: the guts, focus and concentration, of performing; and all the general knowledge I’d accumulated since I was a child on my father’s knee.

Now I’ve just committed to doing a one-man show at the new 505 Theatre in Newtown, tentatively called “Who am I? Cheeky Stampedes the Citadel” It’s about my experience on Sale of the Century.

I put all the cash winnings into my apartment on Francis Street. I’m lucky enough to watch the sun rise over the ocean and the moon rise over the ocean. The sun set and the moon set. It’s a joy and I try not to take it for granted. If I ever sell it, which I won’t, I would use the words “swimming in light.” Coz that’s what it is. If I had a lazy $500K I would love to buy something to be with my friends down in Bermagui, but I don’t think I could ever, in my lifetime let my apartment go. I’ve done a lot of work on it and the amenity is second to none. But, as I’ve said, and you and Remo know, the Bondi Icebergs is our spiritual home. I cannot live without that institution, without that pool and without the wonderful people who I’ve met over the years down there, and I’m still meeting. Wonderful people all the time … gradually remembering everyone’s names:

Some names?

When that [poolside] café changed hands over to the The Crabbe Hole, with Andrew [Crabbe], Claudia, Beth, Harry, Wookie and Dan. Andrew has created a place that is so life affirming and edifying. Andrew is a beautiful old school thespian with a plethora of stories going back years and years. They never fail to be entertaining. I cannot live without that culture in my life.

Adrian and Anne from Coo-ee Gallery and beautiful Anna and Chris and Jonny Lewis. And of course Neil Rogers, the Buddha of the Bergs. If Neil goes away to do his swim in Maui or wherever … his absence is felt. It’s like there’s a vacuum when Neil isn’t there. And of course Ronnie the acupuncturist and Dr Phil, Lord of the Ring (the great urologist). And characters like Todd and Lyle and all the women who swim in the squad, Sally and Petra and Kelly and Penoir, Louisa, Margy, Annabelle, Hamish and Andy and Michael and all those people. Just to know all those people and relate to them everyday, it’s such a community. Our spiritual home, with no pretension.

Special Places in the ‘Hood? Besides the Tratt and the Icebergs.

We’re still mourning the loss of Ploy Thai. Nina was hinting that she may be coming back in some form. Maybe spirit form? Maybe she’s like a Japanese Kami, a spirit, one that keeps coming back in some other form. Ah God, we loved that place so much. I also can’t go past Gelbison. That is also an institution. Steve, Angie and I moved to Sydney the same time as Nick [Nicola Sansone] did, in 1986. We’ve known him ever since. He’s now mostly retired and it’s his three boys, Leo, Nello and Luca who run the business. And it’s honestly one of my favourite places to eat in the world. And I say that without hesitation. The mussels are inimitable, always delicious and the quality never varies. The atmosphere at Gelbison, you take a couple of bottles of wine down and have the mussels, or the pizza or the veal meal, it’s just a delight.

What are you reading/watching?

I’m not watching much at the moment but I am reading a remarkable autobiography of a man called Chaim Weizmann. He was a guy. It’s a very particular story I’ve come across about the origins of Israel and I’m hoping – I’m going over to London and Paris in a few weeks – and this is the great thing about the community here, Adrian from Coo-ee is going to an art fair in Paris – and I’m going as his bon vivant traducteur! As his translator. I’m also taking a treatment over to Jodi [Shields] in London of this idea I have for a 2 or 3 part mini series which would have to be made by the British because it’s about the British involvement in the First World War and the origins of Israel. And this amazing man brought up in a Jewish getto in Russia in the late 19th Century who eventually became the first President of Israel. So that’s what I’m reading. I hope to get that to television one day.

I have been watching some of the great series on TV like, Fargo, the wonderful Wolf Hall which was just fabulous, and of course Downton Abbey. But I have to say, being in the show I’m in at the moment, High Society at Hayes Theatre Co, I’m enjoying watching the wattage of these incredibly talented people around me at close quarters every night. People like Amy Lehpamer, Bert LaBonté, Bobby Fox, and Virgina Gay and Scotty Irwin and others, you know, Laurence Coy, Delia Hannah, Jessica Whitfield. To see these people perform in a small space, it’s just a gift. And someone like Amy Lehpalmer is a true world star we have in our midst. And to see what our director, the wonderful Helen Dallimore has done by managing, by not squashing. We’ve put this large musical into a small space and it still has plenty of breathing room. It’s just a beautiful experience.

Being with this cast in the final scene which is so resolvingly beautiful and in our cast bows … it’s the closest I’ve been to the intangible vibe we used to get with The Castanet Club, a lot of love between audience and cast. Completely different kinds of theatre, but it’s an epiphany to perform with these people.

Do you have a motto?

I’m sure I do. I think I do. I often scribble things down. Things that I’m thinking about life. It’s a great question. I’ll get back to you.

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Full interview on SoundCloud below or HERE

Part 1 containing Russell’s back story on SoundCloud below or HERE