The Boy from Oz, the most successful Australian musical and the first to make it to Broadway is coming to Canberra this October. Image: Free Rain Theatre Company
“My songs are my biography” – Peter Allen
The Boy from Oz is the most successful Australian musical ever, and the first to make it to Broadway.
It is a musical biography/tribute to the late great Peter Allen. Free-Rain’s 2024 production stars Jared Newall (of ‘The Ten Tenors’ fame) in the lead role.
About Peter Allen
Peter Allen was born in the outback Australian town of Tenterfield in 1944. 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, and his own battle with 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.
About the show
The Boy from Oz is a class above all other ‘jukebox’ musicals. The late Nick Enright skilfully weaved his plot around the life and complexities of Peter Allen. The songs and lyrics sit easily with the rhythm of the piece and with the characters as they enter and re-enter his life, be they dead or alive. It leaps, as does Peter himself, from past to present and back to past, all within the familiar context of one of his energy-packed concerts.
- Book by Nick Enright
- Music and Lyrics by Martin Sherman
- US Edition Book by Peter Allen
- Director & Choreographer: Kristy Griffin
- Associate Director: Emily Appleton
- Musical Director: Callum Tolhurst-Close
- Conductor: Ian McLean AM CSC
- Choreographer: James Tolhurst-Close
The details
What: The Boy from Oz
When: 1 October to 20 October, at various times of the day
Where: The Q – Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre, 253 Crawford St, Queanbeyan
Cost: Ticket prices ranging from $52 to $70, available here
Loading ...
