While Australia punches well above its weight when it comes to performers, there have been comparatively few locally written and developed shows that have become successful. This may be changing. Over the past 18 months (since the start of 2022) there have been at least thirteen Australian musicals that been either produced (including presentations of public development showcase readings) or announced.
Not all of these will become successful (realistically, only a few - or fewer - will), but the amount of work in development reaching point where it can be presented to the public (either in showcase or full form) is encouraging.
Australian musicals that have had a showing since 2022 include:
- Moulin Rouge
- Midnight - the Cinderella Musical
- Bananaland
- Bloom
- The Dismissal
- Driftwood
- Rabbits on a Red Planet
- The Lucky Country
- Metropolis
- Show People
- Mount Hopeless
- Work of Art
- Dubbo Championship Wrestling
- The Deb
- Songs of the Unseen
- Wonderfully Terrible Things
- Roller Coaster
- Forgetting Tim Minchin
- The Hero Leaves One Tooth
- The Marvellous Elephant Man
- Villainy
- My Brilliant Career
If you know of more, please chime in.
More details in the posts below.
Note: this post is about musicals written (or otherwise created by) Australians. It is not about international musicals produced in Australia, such as Australian productions of Hamilton, Wicked, Mamma Mia, Into the Woods, The Great Comet etc.
To my shame, I’ve not seen one! Only started going to musicals in earnest recently, when I finally had the disposable income for tickets and travel. Moulin Rouge was on my radar peripherally, however I didn’t like the movie much and, like you, prefer an original score so I never went.
Matilda was incredible, and I think Tim Minchin did an amazing job, but I suppose one guy doesn’t make a whole musical Australian.
Other than that, either I’ve been too late to see the big ones, or too out of touch with theatre news to see the recent ones.
I suppose that’s why I’d like to see a bigger and more celebrated theatre industry of our own. I simply never hear about any musicals created here, and I’d like to! Maybe if Aussie musicals got to the point where they are being advertised as much as Hamilton or Wicked were, it would be easier for people like me, people who only skim the surface of what’s available, to better support our own.
I think we have some of the best on-stage talent in the industry right now, so I’m glad that home grown talent on the production side is picking up as well.
The high cost of going to the theatre gets me down from time to time. Increasingly it’s becoming an artform for the rich (or the very devoted). And Australia is actually cheap compared to Broadway, where for most shows the top-tier ticket prices are around the USD 300 mark (that’s about $500 Australian!), and for some shows even higher.
The expense is probably one reason why audiences tend to stick with the tried and true - either revivals of shows they’ve seen before (or at least heard of), or jukebox and bio-musicals, with songs they’re familiar with. It makes it difficult for new original work to break through.
Hoping this is only the start of a trend for more local shows, not a temporary blip. 🤞
Wow, I had no idea Broadway was so expensive! I feel lucky now lol
I definitely have passed on shows before because I didn’t know whether the price was worth the level of enjoyment I was expecting. And that’s as someone who is only paying for one to two tickets. I can’t imagine how a family or other large group could justify that kind of cost.