Top Six Aussie Musicals
Love a good musical?
We've got a rich history of fabulous musicals and musical theatre stars coming out of Australia.
With the all-singing all-dancing Panawathi Girl from Yirra Yaakin making it's way to Perth Festival 2022 catch up on your musical history with this list of six musicals we can't stop singing about.
1. Priscilla Queen of the Desert
We will survive! Priscilla Queen of the Desert could not be more iconic if it tried.
This incredible adaption of the 1994 Oscar winning movie is a lavish production that became an international sensation. Featuring 500 award-winning costumes, 200 headdresses and a non-stop parade of dance-floor classics, the show follows three drag queens and explores the difference between the family we’re born into and the family we make for ourselves, on one massive road trip.
2. Muriel’s Wedding
Who wouldn’t want to escape Porpoise Spit? This musical is far from terrible with original music by Kate Miller-Heidke and Keir Nuttall plus all your favourite ABBA hits. Another successful adaption from the 1994 hit film about a girl who wanted the perfect wedding.
3. Panawathi Girl
Saddle up for the next big Black musical. Set in a small town in the northwest of Western Australia in the 1960s, Panawathi Girl overflows with wild joy as hippies and cowboys, politicians and protesters fuel an all-singing, all-dancing night of entertainment.
Written by David Milroy, the much loved playwright behind Waltzing the Wilarra, and featuring an all-star cast of WA talent, this music-filled journey is brimming with heart and humour. Follow our heroine Molly Chubb from the big smoke back to the small country town of her birth as she searches for her place in the world.
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4. Bran Nue Dae
We’re not biased, seriously - this really is a truly great musical!
An absolute classic, Bran Nue Dae is the first Indigenous musical and premiered as part of the Perth Festival in 1990 at the Octagon Theatre and now it’s back for its 30th anniversary.
Set out on the road trip of a lifetime with runaway teenager, Young Willie, who hitchhikes his way from mission school back to Broome, determined to win the heart of the girl he left behind. Trust us, this is a powerful production you won’t want to miss.
Presented by West Australian Opera in association with Perth Festival 2019.
5. Keating! The Musical
It’s irreverent, satirical and all about our Prime Minister who loved an Italian suit. This show saw 10 sold-out seasons and was a part of our 2007 Perth Festival program. The musical follows Keating from his ascent to leadership through to his eventual electoral defeat by John Howard. It began as a low-budget comedy show in the 2005 Melbourne International Comedy Festival and was then developed into a full length two-act musical and took Australia by storm!
6. The Boy From Oz
When my baby smiles at me I go to Rio! Known as "the great Australian musical" for its depiction of one of Down Under's most treasured stars, the legendary Peter Allen, this musical celebrates his life and is famous for giving our boy, Hugh Jackman, his first Tony Award.