'I'm The Greatest Star' - Jill Perryman and Kevan Johnston - Part 2

Meeting in 1953 in J. C. Williamson's Call Me Madam, Jill and Kevan married in 1959. Their two children Todd and Trudy also followed a career in showbusiness. The family 'business' continues with grand-children beginning to make their mark in performance. Between musicals, Jill appeared in a number of Phillip Street Theatre revues, establishing herself as a versatile talent. Musicals continued to be her speciality where she would virtually steal the show, receiving unanimous acclaim from the critics and public alike. Her great break-out performance came in 1966 with Fanny Brice in Funny Girl; a role seemed tailor-made for Perryman's extensive talents. Through her career she has explored other genres, giving us memorable performances in the plays 'Night Mother and Brighton Beach Memoirs, an AFI winning performance in the film Maybe This Time and a moving turn as Kate in the mini-series Changi. Kevan continued to perform in musicals playing Conrad Birdie in Bye Bye Birdie and on to Pippin, Evita, Chicago and Annie and plays with Summer of the Seventeenth Doll and The One day of the Year. He extended his talents to choreography and put together a number of revues for the Phillip Street Theatre including A Cuppa Tea, A Bex and a Good Lie Down. Kevan spent 15 months as a choreographer and producer for TVW-7 in Perth and was the production co-ordinator for the first Australasian tour of Disney on Parade. He has been a guest artist with The West Australian Ballet Company and for many years was on the staff of the Musical Theatre course at WAAPA. It is a partnership that has inspired performers and audiences, on and off the stage, for several decades.