Following its recent critically acclaimed season at the Sydney Opera House, the brand new production of Nick Enright and Max Lambert’s celebrated Australian musical Miracle City is heading to Brisbane for a limited season in January 2018.
Set in the late 80s, at the height of televangelism, Miracle City tells the story of the Truswells, a family with a dream to build a religious theme park, and the extreme lengths the patriarch, Ricky Truswell, will go to in order to make their dream a reality.
The outstanding cast includes ARIA award-winner Missy Higgins – making her theatrical debut, Lara Mulcahy (Les Miserables, Mamma Mia!, Moulin Rouge!, Strictly Ballroom) and Josie Lane (Little Shop of Horrors, Jerry’s Girls, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Miracle City) as the Citadel Singers.
They are joined by Gus Murray (The Great Gatsby, McLeod’s Daughters, Packed to the Rafters) as the Reverend Ricky Truswell; Kellie Rode (Mamma Mia!, Rocky Horror Show, Mother & Son) as his wife Lora Lee; Jessica Vickers (Light in the Piazza, Fiddler on the Roof) as their apple-pie-fresh daughter Loretta; Liam Nunan (Away, The Golden Age) as Loretta’s love interest, and Anthony Phelan (Seven Types of Ambiguity, The Kettering Incident, The Wild Duck) as evangelist Pastor Millard Sizemore.
“Miracle City is a unique, powerful and exhilarating Australian musical written by one of our finest musical theatre partnerships,” said Producers Lisa Freshwater and Alistair Thomson of The Theatre Division. “We are delighted to bring this show to a wider audience with a stellar cast to a venue perfectly suited to this contemporary work.”
The late great Australian dramatist Nick Enright (The Boy From Oz, Lorenzo’s Oil, Cloudstreet) wrote the book and lyrics for Miracle City, based on a concept by Max Lambert (Hairspray, King Kong, Strictly Ballroom), who also wrote the music. It premiered at the Sydney Theatre Company in 1996 to universal acclaim, and was resurrected at the Hayes Theatre Co in 2014, earning five Sydney Theatre Award nominations and a slew of rave reviews.
This new production is directed by Darren Yap (Diving For Pearls, Letters To Lindy, A Murder Is Announced, Miracle City – 2014) with Michael Tyack (The Boy From Oz, Mary Poppins) taking the reigns as musical director, conducting from the piano, and choreography by the award-winning Kelley Abbey (Fame The Musical, Footloose, Grease: The Arena Spectacular and Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour – Carmen).
Miracle City
Powerhouse Theatre – Brisbane Powerhouse, 119 Lamington Street, New Farm
Season: 24 January – 3 February 2018
Bookings: www.ticketek.com.au
For more information, visit: www.brisbanepowerhouse.org for details.
Image: Josie Lane, Lara Mulcahy and Missy Higgins in Miracle City – photo by Branco Gaica