Darren Coggan’s received a few standing ovations at prestigious venues across the country while channelling the genius of Cat Stevens over the past four years.
But the packed houses and all the glory that’s come with fronting Peace Train – The Cat Stevens Story since its debut show in Wagga in 2009. was nothing without the nod of approval from the man who sold more than 60 million albums before turning to religion.
The moment came during a “surreal” day in London, when Coggan was fortunate enough to spend several hours with the man now known as Yusuf Islam, soaking up the stories about touring with Hendrix and others luminaries.
Watching a DVD of Coggan’s performance, Cat turned to the experienced TV and stage actor (All Saints, Grease, Happy Days, Shout) and breathed the words he’ll never forget.
“It was excruciating watching me pretending to be him,” he laughs. “He turned around after a few songs and put his hand on my shoulder and said ‘Darren, that’s pretty close’. I thought that’ll do, it was a gold moment. It was the thing I was most chuffed about was, a huge compliment.
“He was keen to get some lunch so we went down to this little fish n chip shop near where we met up. I was very much the fan (laughs).
“I’m sitting in this shop with Cat Stevens across the table from me. I couldn’t believe it, I thought, it’s gotta be dream, man.”
Flying back from London totally inspired, Coggan made the decision to take the show to the next level: “I thought we’ve got to do this propertly so I invested heavily in the show. It took off from there.”
The catch-up was organised after Coggan had been approached at the merchandise stall after a matinee performance at the Melbourne Athaneum Theatre in 2007, by a man who introduced himself as Steven Georgio.
“I’m thinking ‘Ok, I don’t know what we’ve got here,” he tells The Weekly.
“He said ‘I’m Cat’s newphew’ and was curious about the show. I love it, I loved your interpretation. He said he’d give Cat a call that night and tell him all about it.”
A few weeks later Coggan received an email from Cat’s management asking if he’d like to come to London for a meet and greet.
“He doesn’t endorse the show or other products, he’s not an official part of the show, but that (meeting in London) was a incredible,” he says.
He says Cat’s work has been a big part of his life, ever since he picked up a guitar for the first time at age seven and began strumming tunes like Moon Shadow and Father and Son, so it was a thrill to have him correct a few threads of the show’s overall story, and some of the lyrics.
“I had a great affinity with his songs,” Coggan says. “They were written in the ’70s but they’re messages of peace, tolerance and understanding.
“I expected our target audience to be the original fans, the baby boomers, and they do make up a large portion of the audience. But what surprised me were the people under the age of 30, which I didn’t expect. Obviously these songs are so relevant
“It’s evolved into this piece of theatre. I never wanted it to be another old regular tribute show you see at your local club. His story deserved a great deal more respect than that, away from the stigma the tribute show has. To do justice to him, his fans and his music.
“It’s not an impersonation, I come out as me, Darren. But we dress the show up a bit… and allude what it might have beeen like to have been at a Cat Stevens concert.”
Peace Train – The Cat Stevens Story plays the Wyndham Cultural Centre Werribee on Friday, February 28.
