Dead Kookaburra

[TheKryptoniteKid]

Posted: 3/5/09 at 8:08am

Okay, here is what I know.

1. Cousens chose PIPPIN to launch the company because he loved the song, 'Corner Of The Sky'.

2. Several PIPPIN shows were cancelled because there were no understudies.

3. There were no understudies for COMPANY. Some shows were cancelled before Cousens decided to play one performance with all of April's scenes cut. Sondheim found out and nearly terminated the show's run. Cousens was forced to play a charity peformance of the show.

4. FLOYD COLLINS was cancelled due to poor tickets sales.

5. SIDESHOW ALLEY (a new Australian musical), TELL ME ON A SUNDAY and LITTLE WOMEN announced for 2008. SIDESHOW ALLEY cancelled before the season even starts.

6. Cousens associates Kookaburra with a new Australian musical starring Caroline O’Connor – HATPIN – even though the show has no involvement with Kookaburra.

7. TELL ME ON A SUNDAY does okay (what do you expect with a one-woman show with a mimimal set?)

8. LITTLE WOMEN performs poorly and Cousens releases 800 seats at $2 a pop.

9. 2009: ONE DEAD KOOKABURRA which had nothing to do with the Victorian bushfires.


It doesn’t take a genius to know that if you’re starting a new musical company, you need to get the money rolling in, and to do that, you aim at the demographic who loves musicals – 40+. Put on shows for the first few years that the older folk love: the Rodgers & Hammersteins, the Rodgers & Harts, the Lerner & Loewes, etc… you get the picture. After a few successful years, and with lots of money in your coffer, THEN you start being a bit more adventurous and introduce ONE non-mainstream musical along with your two or three stock standards.

I’ve seen Peter Cousens perform in The Mikado (1986) and ShowBoat (1999). He was nothing special to me.

I was so excited about Kookaburra. Thanks for nothing, Cousens. Now you’re no longer just a mediocre performer. You’re the man who killed an art form I love.