Australian musicals - an overview and recent developments

What is your favourite of all the new Australian musicals

Of the ones I've seen (most of them), Moulin Rouge is undoubtedly the most grand in scope and polished in execution. That said, despite its many strengths (which I largely attribute to Alex Timbers, who ironically does Baz Luhrman better on stage than Baz Luhrman himself did with his adaptation of Strictly Ballroom - a show I thought was pretty woeful), Moulin Rouge is ultimately not my kind of show (even though I have seen it multiple times). I prefer musicals to have an original score.

The Deb was pretty solid too. Can't remember the specifics now, but I recall thinking the construction, songs and performances were all quite good. Although I undoubtedly had quibbles as well.

I was also predisposed to like Show People (just ignore what I said ten seconds ago about preferring original scores) because I absolutely adored Dean Bryant, Mathew Frank and Christie Whelan-Browne's Britney Spears the Cabaret. I pretty much consider Britney Spears the Cabaret the female version of Hedwig and the Angry Inch (although Hedwig has also been played by women such as Ally Sheedy and Lena Hall of course): both take a seemingly ridiculous premise and extract plenty of laughs from it, but then actually take us on an affecting personal journey underscored by great pain and culminating in a kind of catharsis. It's a shame that Britney Spears the Cabaret never had a production without Whelan-Browne (who, don't get me wrong, is amazing), because I think the material is certainly strong enough.

I also rate Muriel's Wedding very highly (weirdly, the original production also had Christie Whelan-Browne in a supporting role, although - dare I say - I think she was miscast). While not perfect (eg I think the show is a little overstuffed with plot) I think Global Creatures could have a hit with Muriel's Wedding in London. Heathers - another show with an acerbic sensibility centred around high school girls - successfully played in the massive Theatre Royal Haymarket there, and I think London audiences would respond well to the daggy, dark tone of Muriel's Wedding. Carmen Pavlovic probably sees Broadway as a more lucrative market, but I'm not sure if American audiences would connect with Muriel's Wedding.

Of the new Australian musicals coming up, I'm looking forward to The Dismissal the most. I had a ticket to the 2019 showcase in Sydney but couldn't make it at the last minute. I was then looking forward to seeing the show as part of my STC subscription, but that didn't work out. (Interesting that Squabbalogic are now mounting it themselves rather than being rescheduled into another STC season.) Squabbalogic really is "the little company that could" with a solid track record going back well over a decade now. And they're focusing more and more on new work development, which I find really commendable. The Dismissal is their big work in progress of course, but they also got rights to do an adaptation of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's Good Omens - for which they had a development reading in Wollongong in 2019.

I'm hoping to make it to Melbourne to see Midnight, but not sure if I will. I saw Life's a Circus some years ago, and Anthony Costanza has a gift for a catchy tune. And Kate Miller-Heidke, who contributed a song (and who did Muriel's Wedding), has a unique voice.

And what is needed from the general public to support and nurture the Australian musical scene

Hmm. Great question.

I'm not sure the responsibility rests on the general public to be honest.

I think it's up to the creators (writers, composers, designers, musicians etc) to develop shows that people will connect to, and for producers to have the wherewithal (capacity and courage) to back good material.

I also think that there is definitely a role for government and industry bodies. If only there was an Australian equivalent of NYU's Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program (although one that doesn't cost hundreds of thousands of dollars like that NYU program does), or a local version of the BMI Musical Theatre Workshop, or if there was more federal and state government funding to sustain a long-term pipeline of creative development activity.

So governments have to support new Australian musicals by providing money to educational institutions and funding bodies. (And government investment can pay off - Australia spent millions funding the Australian Institute of Sport in the lead up to the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and the medal tally reflected that investment.) Producers - both commercial and subsidised theatre companies - have to take chances on new work. And writers have to write good shows of course.

And there has to be a recognition that the pay-off for such investments may not come for a decade or two, because 5-10 years is how long it takes to develop a musical these days (and that's in countries like the US where there is so much more infrastructure to support such development). You need a large pipeline - dozens (preferably hundreds!) of new works being developed at the same time because the nature of the artform and the business is that you need dozens or hundreds of new works in order to produce one bona fide hit. Because most shows are not that great. (That's not an indictment of Australian talent - it's Sturgeon's law.) And even if a show is great, it doesn't always find its audience. Look at Australian plays for instance. There's at least ten times as many new Australian plays produced as new Australian musicals, but I can think of only one Australian play that's been a big international hit in recent years - Suzie Miller's Prima Facie.

One might argue that you don't need to be a hit on Broadway or the West End to be considered successful. And that's a valid point of course. But it's certainly a convenient indicator that you're playing in the big leagues.

But enough about my blatherings on. How about you @BlondieBuff - what are the best Australian musicals you've seen, and how would you like the local scene to develop?