After a sold-out season in Sydney and a current run in Melbourne, Muriel's Wedding the Musical is coming to Brisbane in 2019. A co-production between Sydney Theatre Company and Global Creatures, the musical adaptation of Muriel's Wedding is like a perfect high school reunion — maximum 80s nostalgia without having to tell any of your old friends you're in HR now.
When Muriel Heslop realises that the small town of Porpoise Spit has nothing in store but grim futures, she decides to take off, with only her parents' chequebook, a couple of ABBA albums memorised note for note and a vague sense that the wider world has something that she is hungry for.
PJ Hogan, who wrote and directed Muriel's cinematic adventure, has adapted and updated the script for the stage, while Kate Miller-Heidke and Keir Nuttall have built the music around ABBA's towering back catalogue. There's a real buzz around Muriel. Sure, it's a chance to re-immerse yourself in the unadulterated joy of Muriel's hijinks, but it's also because Muriel hasn't stopped holding the mirror up to our desperate, fame-hungry society since she first hit the screen. As director Simon Phillips points out: "Muriel's governing delusion is becoming a celebrity and becoming famously married. The world has caught up with Muriel."
Running at QPAC's Lyric Theatre from September 19 to October 26, the Brisbane season comes after the show won a slew of awards at last year's Helpmann Awards, Australia's annual awards for live entertainment and performing arts. Muriel's Wedding the Musical picked up five gongs across the two nights of awards, including Best Original Score, Best Music Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Sound Design and Best Choreography in a Musical.
Image: Christine Messinesi.