In Granada TV’s 1974’s Starmaker, head Kink Ray Davies proved once again that he’s not like everybody else, producing a rock opera for television that tells the story of an insufferable, vain, egotistical rock star (played by Davies, naturally) who switches places with an “ordinary person” named Norman, working in Norman’s crappy job and living Norman’s crappy life to find inspiration for his next album. (Well, it’s a little more complicated than that…) Davies’ play reveled in breaking the fourth wall: cameras and microphones are visible throughout and the play’s author/star himself even ends up a member of the audience. Starmaker was a dry run for the themes of the Kinks’ 1975 album, The Kinks Present a Soap Opera.
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Cast
8 people
Ray Davies
Star
Known for
Absolute Beginners
June Ritchie
Wife
Known for
A Kind of Loving
Peter Plummer
Dennis Woolf
Dave Davies
Himself
Also in
Restitution
The Kinks In Concert
Anne Chapman
Dancer
Also in
Finders Keepers, Lovers Weepers!
The Young Girls of Rochefort
Richard Gough
Dancer
Chris Hennen
Dancer
Peter Plummer Director · Ray Davies Writer
First release September 4, 1974
Languages
Original language
English
Release dates
United Kingdom · September 4, 1974
TV
No release date listed for United States.
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Some details come from TheTVDB.