Muriel's Wedding the Musical - Sydney Theatre Company

[222disneyland]

Posted: 11/4/17 at 4:06am

It starting soon in Sydney anyone going to see it ?

[Younger Brother]

Posted: 11/4/17 at 8:08am

A few previews of the music. The more I listen to them, the more I like them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzU0Ggllu6Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUHT8X4mUm4

[Posull783]

Posted: 11/4/17 at 5:22pm

Seeing a preview tomorrow week. The cast is good and early buzz from rehearsals is good also.

[Alessio2]

Posted: 11/4/17 at 8:57pm

is this all original music or is some ABBA music also used?

[mamaleh]

Posted: 11/5/17 at 12:38am

MURIEL'S WEDDING is one of my favorite movies.  Hope this show eventually comes to Broadway.  

 

[Javi]

Posted: 11/5/17 at 1:07am

The Sydney Theatre Company had a subscribers talk with the creatives from the show about a month ago and I went.  Basically, the director, some cast members, the composers, lighting, choreographer, etc. The music is going to be the ABBA stuff plus original music by Kate Miller-Heidke  and Keir Nuttall.  The musical director said the new music is from different genres of music.  Playing Muriel is Maggie McKenna who's the daughter of Australian performer Gina Riley (from TV's Kath and Kim, plus several musical theatre performances).  It's her first professional role.  My tickets are for December 23, so I still have several weeks to go before I see it.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 11/6/17 at 3:35am

^^^^ The use of other genres is consistent with the film, which includes songs such as Blondie's "The Tide Is High."

Personally, I think this project is a terrible idea. The film is perfect. How can the stage version be anything but a disappointment?

Will love to be proved wrong, though.

[Javi]

Posted: 11/6/17 at 3:57am

Check out Stephen Madsen who plays the swimmer in Muriel's Wedding:

http://www.imgrum.org/media/1641900177786482589_38925234

[Ado Annie D'Ysquith]

Posted: 11/6/17 at 12:21pm

Now see, I had the opposite assumption from Alessio2...I thought it was going to use all ABBA music and get itself confused with Mamma Mia. I'm actually relieved to hear that there will be an original score.

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 11/6/17 at 12:50pm

The show was slated to play Toronto in the spring of 2018 as a North American Premier, but has since been delayed for another year. Who knows if it will make it out of Sydney.

http://www.playbill.com/article/muriels-wedding-musical-delays-north-american-premiere

[222disneyland]

Posted: 11/6/17 at 10:32pm

What on earth is this https://www.instagram.com/p/BbJmZ_RF1Kw/?tagged=murielsweddingthemusical

[222disneyland]

Posted: 11/9/17 at 11:00pm

https://www.instagram.com/p/BbRhkG5Fc4J/?hl=en&taken-by=marylvmode

[222disneyland]

Posted: 11/10/17 at 4:28pm

bump

[binau]

Posted: 11/10/17 at 4:34pm

I’m going in December will report back.

[SweetLips]

Posted: 11/10/17 at 9:39pm

Javi said: "Check out Stephen Madsen who plays the swimmer in Muriel's Wedding:

http://www.imgrum.org/media/1641900177786482589_38925234"

Forget the free style I'm taking up the breaststroke.

[evic]

Posted: 11/11/17 at 12:53am

Beware of musicals that originate in Australia....have you seen the clips of "Georgy Girl The Seekers Musical"?  or King Kong?  Or The Boy From Oz?

[Dolly80]

Posted: 11/11/17 at 3:38am

222disneyland said: "What on earth is thishttps://www.instagram.com/p/BbJmZ_RF1Kw/?tagged=murielsweddingthemusical"

 

What does it look like?

[222disneyland]

Posted: 11/14/17 at 10:08pm

so what is like ?

[Fan123]

Posted: 11/23/17 at 8:34pm

There's a documentary on the making of the musical airing on Australian TV soon. Also to be available to stream, though it will be geo-blocked.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2017/11/14/from-screen-to-stage-a-new-documentary-explores-how-muriels-wedding-became-a-musical_a_23276321/

http://iview.abc.net.au/programs/making-muriel/MP1747H047C00DS1

[samcd3]

Posted: 11/23/17 at 8:49pm

222disneyland said: "What on earth is thishttps://www.instagram.com/p/BbJmZ_RF1Kw/?tagged=murielsweddingthemusical"

Thats obviously the scene (which is a highlight of the film) where the girls enter a Karaoke contest on Hibiscus island and perform Waterloo. 

Updated On: 11/23/17 at 08:49 PM

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 11/25/17 at 5:05am

samcd3 said: "222disneyland said: "What on earth is thishttps://www.instagram.com/p/BbJmZ_RF1Kw/?tagged=murielsweddingthemusical"

Thats obviously the scene (which is a highlight of the film) where the girls enter a Karaoke contest on Hibiscus island and perform Waterloo."

And it's a BRILLIANT highlight at that! BUT IT'S FILMED ALMOST ENTIRELY IN CLOSE UP (either on Muriel or Rhonda or on one of the Mean Girls in the audience).

What do they plan to substitute for the amazingly shot and acted close ups?

"Barbie's Outback ABBA Dream House" as shown in the photo ain't gonna cut it. (IMO, of course. Haven't been within 3,000 miles of a production.)

[ukpuppetboy]

Posted: 11/25/17 at 12:36pm

Just had a message from a friend who saw the show today and she, by all accounts LOVED it. "Absolutely Bloody Marvellous!" Her exact words. And she's what I would describe as a 'not easily impressed South African former stage manager' - not someone that would think Aladdin has any creative merit or that just because it's Aussie homegrown it should get a free pass.

What I'm trying to say is - I trust her judgement and I'm excited to go check it out myself when I'm in that hemisphere myself again after new years'. ??

[binau]

Posted: 12/8/17 at 3:12pm

I’ve seen some awful Australian theatre recently but I’m happy to report Muriel’s Wedding is not one of them. I’ve never seen the film and I hate jukebox musicals so I was a little skeptical at first but rest assured this show, although not perfect, is great *SPOILER ALERT*:

 

* The tone is somewhere a cross between Legally Blonde, Dear Evan Hansen, Matilda and what I imagine a Mean Girls musical would look like. It is genuinely funny at points and has great comedic and occasionally dark dramatic  moments satirizing low class Australian culture, social media, shallow friendships, bullying, family relationships etc. As well as the central theme about an average-looking (ugly), quirky girl fitting in our shallow, cliquey society. 

 

* The lead role can potentially thrust an unknown into stardom - giving an unconventional, quirky, non-traditional looking girl who has a great voice and a sense of humour a vehicle to show off their talents.The lead girl here has this personality and quirkiness to pull it off. You really feel and root for her and this show will hook a fan base of audiences in who think "I'm Muriel". If I were to be slightly critical, I wish this actress' voice was either more quirky or more powerful. Right now we have the typical pop girl sound that is good and sweet, but not particularly special or interesting.

 

* The score has a very interesting balance between new, original songs and 'jukebox' Abba songs:

 

The new songs are quirky, catchy pop/rock style-songs with sometimes clever and funny lyrics (albeit can be clunky and not quite as sharp as Tim Minchin) that very much suit the characters and stories. Some highlights: Muriel's duet after meeting her 'best friend' will melt your heart; Muriel has a couple of Carrie-esque moment where she gets to show vulnerability after bullying; a song where the 'mean girls' tell Muriel she can't hang with them anymore - which manages to be both hilarious while also making us feel so much sympathy for Muriel on stage; a catchy as hell song about the joys of moving to "Sydney"; an interesting duet where Muriel and a man she just met are singing about loving a 'stranger' but the man is singing about Muriel and Muriel is singing about her unrealistic/fanciful dream of finding a man that looks like the actor Stephen Madsen; a heartfelt 11'o'clock-type number when Muriel's mother dies (I personally think they do a good job to feature the mother enough - as well as us being able to relate to our own mothers enough - for this to feel 'earned'.

If I were to criticise I'd suggest the score could still be tweaked. I'm not sold on a song about "Progress", which kind of stops the show and lame choreography (when you try to have a funny "oh he can dance" moment you better be sure he actually can dance and show off some choreography that actually looks impressive to pull off). I wish Muriel had a "greatest star" type song where she gets to show off her truly quirky personality through song. I also wish they would add an extra verse or two to the Carrie-esque vulnerability moments I described earlier. They feel too short - and I thought it was intentional and we'd get an 11 o'clock pay-off but we don't really as that attention is given to her Mother's death instead.

The ABBA songs for the most part actually serve the story so well. The idea being that Muriel is imaging the songs/ABBA to help her overcome adverse moments because its her favourite band. Needless to say the audience absolutely loved these moments. Sometimes I did feel it was slightly tenuous or the scenes were going longer than they should have to pander to the Audience, but for the most part, it was fine.

The book has a few twists and turns, although it's the type of show where most people will predict some of them from a mile away (e.g., the arc of the main character) - but that's ok. What's interesting is seeing how they execute some of these ideas in this story rather than present entirely new ideas. I think the show might benefit from having an experienced veteran come in and help out with some of the transitions and pacing. In particular, I found a transition from when Muriel has somewhat conflict with her friend about her illness to suddenly meeting someone for a sham marriage (which is a pivotal plot device/turn in the story) a little odd and quick.

 

The physical production is a little tacky at times and probably won't win any awards but serves the purpose.

 

Will this move to Broadway? I think there is so much potential - a catchy score, an interesting story, humour, so much 'heart' - and I can't wait for the cast recording. I personally think the show needs a little bit of work before moving to Broadway. Also, it's selling very well in Australia but I wonder if this show could ever suit a Broadway audience. It is just so Australian - the jokes and humour may be lost on an American audience who might not get the references.

 

Updated On: 12/8/17 at 03:12 PM

[Truly Taboo]

Posted: 1/20/18 at 9:24am

I got the cast album earlier this week. The film is probably my favorite of all time so I was a bit skeptical at first and though it took me a few listens, Im enjoying the album! Ive had "Cant Hang" stuck in my head the last few days. Has anyone else listened to it?

[binau]

Posted: 1/20/18 at 9:37am

Yes. I don't think it's quite as enjoyable as it was seeing the show live - and the shortness of some of the songs seem even more obvious. But I'm enjoying it. My favourite songs:

Sunshine State of Mind
The Bouquet
The first 25 seconds of "Meet the Heslops" (that little interlude was quite funny in the theatre)
Can't Hang
Lucky Last
Girls Like Us
Amazing
Sydney
Strangely Perfect Stranger
My Mother (Eulogy)

I love that they have kept many of the jokes - "Get off me" "Yeah, get me off" LOL.