{"id":44,"date":"2001-12-03T10:16:31","date_gmt":"2001-12-03T10:16:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/?p=44"},"modified":"2022-10-19T14:19:41","modified_gmt":"2022-10-19T14:19:41","slug":"small-poppy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/small-poppy\/","title":{"rendered":"Small Poppy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nikki Webster aims to silence her critics with The Wizard of Oz<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"Nikki Webster is being swept off her feet. Two weeks into rehearsals of The Wizard of Oz<\/em>, choreographer Kelly Aykers is nutting out a complicated dance number that sees the pocket-size Dorothy spun from partner to partner when one\u2019s hands slip and Webster is flung into the air. She\u2019s caught just before hitting the deck, but everyone gets a fright. \u201cBe very careful with that young girl, please,\u201d shouts Aykers over the piano that plays on in the rehearsal rooms at Gala studios in Sydney. \u201cShe\u2019s very precious.\u201d In fact, that this production is opening at all is due solely to the star power of this 14-year-old schoolgirl. \u201cIf she had said no, we wouldn\u2019t have done it,\u201d says Oz<\/em> co-producer John Frost of the $6 million show, which opens on Nov 24 in Sydney before touring Melbourne and Brisbane early next year. \u201cIt has been done especially for her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such high praise is fuel for the growing band of knockers who delight in making her the butt of public jibes \u2013 The Chaser satirical team has even included a Nikki Webster dartboard in The Chaser Annual<\/em>. \u201cThose of us who saw [the Olympic Opening Ceremony] will never forget her saccharine-sweet delivery, annoyingly precocious poise and overall utter vomituosness,\u201d says co-editor Julian Morrow. But Webster isn\u2019t letting it get to her. \u201cI never thought my dream would come true so early,\u201d marvels the polite and polished performer, who soared to fame as the \u201cHero Girl\u201d of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Sydney 2000 Olympics. \u201cIf there\u2019s pressure there, she\u2019s not showing it,\u201d says Frost, 49. \u201cShe\u2019s a real pro.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Since the age of 5 the youngest of two (brother Scott is 17) has worked towards centre stage with dance classes, TV commercials and parts in stage productions Cinderella<\/em>, Aladdin<\/em>, Les Miserables<\/em> and The Sound of Music<\/em>. In the past year she has become the face of cosmetics company Jager, and her platinum-selling first single \u201cStrawberry Kisses\u201d debuted at No. 2 on the ARIA charts, chased by gold-selling single \u201cDepend On Me\u201d from her album Follow Your Heart<\/em>, which has sold 70,000 copies and counting. All earnings are put in a trust fund. \u201cWe don\u2019t touch that,\u201d says mother Tina. \u201cIt\u2019s hers. It\u2019s nothing to do with us.\u201d So, for now, she says, \u201cMum still has to give me pocket money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frost tips it will be the Oz role that will shoot Year 9 student Webster over the rainbow. \u201cThere are fans out there and there are people who don\u2019t like her,\u201d he acknowledges, but he believes \u201cthe shadowy ones will be very surprised.\u201d The likes of Melbourne journalist Ben Butler, who in 1999 co-founded the \u201cMolly Awards,\u201d an Internet event \u201crewarding the very worst in Australian music,\u201d won\u2019t be easily won over. Butler, 28, says Webster\u2019s stunning sweep of the dubious gongs this year \u2013 worst single, worst video, worst debut and ugliest sex symbol \u2013 was less about music than management. But shouldn\u2019t he pick on someone his own size? Defends Butler: \u201cWhen you put yourself into the public arena, you put yourself into the public arena.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ross Fraser, managing director of Gotham Records, which produced Follow Your Heart<\/em>, sees his young star as \u201ca very soft target,\u201d and notes that her audience is 3-to-10-year-olds, \u201cso she\u2019s probably not going to come into favour with people who review adult records.\u201d Fraser, 50, says Tina and Mark Webster have called the shots on Nikki\u2019s image. \u201cWhen we made the first video, we said, \u2018Nikki. What do you want to wear?\u2019 and her mum said, \u2018She just wears her little hipster jeans and little crop tops.\u2019 That\u2019s what kids wear.\u201d Fraser also points out that although she\u2019s small for her age, she\u2019ll be turning 15 in April. \u201cPeople thought that girl at the Olympics was Nikki, but he was playing a role that [director] Ric Birch invented for her. He wanted her to look 10.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tina, 44, a childcare worker (Mark, 42, is an electrician), airily dismisses her daughter\u2019s critics. \u201cI don\u2019t listen to them because I always know that if they criticise her, they haven\u2019t met her.\u201d Those who have find that \u201cshe\u2019s very unaffected by the whole business,\u201d says Wizard of Oz<\/em> co-star Philip Gould, who plays the Tin Man. \u201cThere\u2019s certainly no need to knock her down a peg or two.\u201d Performer David Campbell, 28, met Webster in 1997 and stays in touch. \u201cShe is going somewhere fast but she\u2019s a good kid who deserves it \u2013 she works her guts out,\u201d he says. And he appeals to the knockers: \u201cShe may not want to be in this industry for the rest of her life, but let\u2019s not make it an unpleasant experience for her so that she\u2019s forced out.\u201d Webster herself sees only rainbows. \u201cI\u2019m so happy and I love what I\u2019m doing,\u201d she says. \u201cSometimes I think if people criticise, maybe they\u2019re a little bit jealous. I want to be around for a long time.\u201d – Jennie Noonan<\/strong><\/p>\n

Source: Who Magazine
\nView scans from this article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nikki Webster aims to silence her critics with The Wizard of Oz Nikki Webster is being swept off her feet. Two weeks into rehearsals of The Wizard of Oz, choreographer Kelly Aykers is nutting out a complicated dance number that sees the pocket-size Dorothy spun from partner to partner when one\u2019s hands slip and Webster … Continue reading<\/a>Small Poppy<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,11,73],"tags":[35,21],"class_list":["post-44","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9","category-featured","category-the-wizard-of-oz","tag-tall-poppy-syndrome","tag-the-wizard-of-oz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":722,"href":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44\/revisions\/722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}