Better Than Broadway (NSW)

Music by Ray Cook
Lyrics and Book by David Mitchell and Melvyn Morrow
Debuted OzMade Musicals 2008

A laugh-out-loud spoof on the politics of community groups and the ‘serious business’ of amateur theatre.

SYNOPSIS In a mockumentary reminiscent of ABC’s 'We Can Be Heroes' and 'Waiting for Guffman', we follow a country-town amateur theatre society as they rehearse and present a full-scale musical, with all the hilarity, disasters, and romance captured on the way. With characters that everyone ever involved in community theatre can recognise, BETTER THAN BROADWAY is a hilarious insight in to what it really takes for‘the show to go on’.

DEVELOPMENT HISTORY: BETTER THAN BROADWAY began its journey as a musical entitled That Mrs Langtry, which was presented at a music theatre forum attended by Stephen Sondheim, Hal Prince and Alan Jay Lerner. It went on to be part of the Short, Sweet, & Song festival in 2007. The authors then rewrote the book, inspired by their experiences working on their other shows Shout! and Dusty: The Original Pop Diva. Through this revision, the original musical became the ‘show within the show’: Look! It’s Lillie!, and the completed work emerged as BETTER THAN BROADWAY. Prior to OzMade Musicals 2008, Magnormos hosted a workshop of Better Than Broadway at Theatreworks, featuring tonight’s cast.

CONTACT Jean Mostyn: HLA Management: 02 9310 4948