The Boy from Oz hits The Q Theatre
25 September 2024This article was originally published in Her Canberra on 25 Sept 2024.
“My songs are my biography” – Peter Allen
A local Canberra production of the hit musical ‘The Boy from Oz’ will be hitting the stage at The Q next month (1 – 20 October), showing audiences Australia’s most successful musical ever, and the first to make it to Broadway.
The musical biography/tribute to the late great Peter Allen is based on the book by Nick Enright with music and Lyrics by Martin Sherman.
Presented by Free-Rain Theatre Company, the Q’s performance is guided by director and choreographer Kristy Griffin, choreographer James Tolhurst-Close and musical director Callum Tolhurst-Close.
Peter Allen would have been 80 this year and there is a huge amount of Australian culture and nostalgia that has been woven into the show, through the costumes and props, script and songs. The whole ensemble are playing people from the eras of their parents and grandparents, and it has prompted them to think about what their older relatives’ lives were like back in the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s in Australia, and globally.
Kristy also noted “the way we’ve directed the show has been about sharing his story in a way that will reach into the hearts of people from regional communities like his own. Peter Allen was born in the outback Australian town of Tenterfield in 1944 and grew up in Armidale NSW.
“To me his story is about the duality of where he came from and where he found success. The show explores the adversities he faced as a child and the amazing women in his life (especially his mum) who supported and encouraged him to conquer the world. The vision for the show was to refresh it and serve up something that audiences haven’t seen before in this story.”
The cast is made up of talented locals including Jared Newall who has enjoyed a globe-trotting career with The Ten Tenors, touring more than 20 countries and delivering over 1,200 shows in venues worldwide.
Young Peter is played by both Mitchell Clement and Blake Wilkins who are being reunited after both performing in Billy Elliot earlier this year.
Judy Garland is played by award-winning musical theatre performer Meaghan Stewart who earlier this year peformed in A Streetcar Named Desire, also presented by the Free-Rain Theatre Company, while Stephanie Bailey is playing Liza Minnelli, having previously performed as Bobbi in Canberra REP’s Last Of The Red Hot Lovers.
For those unfamiliar with Peter Allen, he made his entertainment debut at the age of 5 impersonating Al Jolson. As a teenager, he became a pop star and then toured Asia. There he met Judy Garland who took him to London where he met and became engaged to her daughter Liza Minnelli.
In the US, Peter enjoyed the highs of success by winning an Oscar, selling out performances in Radio City Music Hall, and receiving adulation when he returned to Australia. There were also plenty of lows … breaking up with his wife, staging a Broadway flop, the death of his partner from AIDS, and his own battle with the illness. Peter Allen had an extraordinary life which producer Ben Gannon realised had the potential to become a magnificent musical, and with Robert Fox they turned it into the smash hit it became.