Le monde des musicals

Acte I
A Peter Allen concert with flashbacks to come: Peter Allen, the flamboyant entertainer, hits the spotlight at pretty near full flight, pounding the piano and informing the audience about himself.
Flashback to 1950s bush town Australia: Peter, the pre-adolescent entertainer, not yet a teenager, is working in a local pub. Already earning his living by singing, dancing and playing piano, he's a tap dancing kid determined to escape small town life and an abusive, alcoholic father.
By age 16, Peter has formed a singing duo with a fellow journeyman performing on local TV. Peter is the sexual adventurer of the pair, sleeping with a TV producer - then talking about it when he should be more discreet - later finding it advisable to take up what he calls "foreign" bookings. This leads Peter to Hong Kong, where he finds himself singing one night at the Hilton Hotel to the touring Judy Garland, her career in a tailspin following a disastrous Australian concert. Peter talks her into singing. Following this, Judy finds Peter's saucy, non-deferential attitude rather refreshing. Hired as Garland's opening act, Peter achieves his show biz dream of getting to NewYork, where he clicks with Judy's daughter, Liza Minnelli.
Peter and Liza fall in love, then decide to marry. With her own history of sexually ambiguous husbands, Judy has her reservations. An angry Judy gives voice to her doubts, but Peter and Liza will not be deterred.
Peter and Liza enter the decadent, hedonistic New York of the period. As a husband, Peter turns out to be the perfect professional companion to accompany Liza on her heady road to full-blown stardom. However, Peter's ego is being crushed in the process, his own career in limbo as Judy's career declines. Then comes the shock of Judy's death, and with it, the end of an era.
Now much more her own woman, Liza finally confronts Peter's sexual confusion and announces she is leaving him. Peter, then, is finally out on his own.

Acte II
Now a downtown cabaret star, Peter has his own flamboyant and sexually playful persona. And he has also met the love of his life, the very challenging Greg, who will only accept a lifetime commitment.
Life is good. Then Peter's career really takes off after he meets tough, powerful manager Dee Anthony. Peter goes from the Copacabana nightclub to the mighty stage of Manhattan's Radio City Music Hall, becoming, in the process, the toast of the town. With that, Peter is at the top of his game. However, the sweet life turns out to be short-lived when Greg becomes ill, a victim of the New York AIDS epidemic. Then, when Greg dies, Peter attempts to stifle his grief, throwing himself into the Broadway musical Legs Diamond, but still haunted by memories of his lost companion.
The Broadway musical bombs, but Peter's friendship with Liza has endured. With Peter himself now ill, it is Liza who encourages him to give one last great performance "down under". Here, Peter finally confronts one of his own major demons, specifically the long-ago suicide of his drunken father - the subsequent scandal it brought to the family - creating a compulsion in Peter to hide his emotions.
However, it is Peter's experiences, good and bad, that have ultimately become his art, the stories he writes and sings from the heart. Ready to die if he has to, Peter is determined to go out on a splendiferous note.

1 Boy from Oz (The) peut-être considéré comme un juke-box musical autour de la musique de Peter Allen

1998, création australienne)
The production had its world premiere, directed by Gale Edwards, at Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney, Australia, on 5 March 1998 and toured Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, playing to over 1.2 million theatre patrons. It ran for a total 766 performances over two years. The production starred showman Todd McKenney as Peter Allen and The Divinyls lead singer Chrissy Amphlett as Judy Garland.

2003, Broadway
The Boy from Oz was the first Australian musical to reach Broadway. It started previews at the Imperial Theatre on 16 September 2003, opened on 16 October 2003 and closed on 12 September 2004, at the end of Hugh Jackman's contract. It was adapted for the American audience by playwright Martin Sherman, who removed some of the Australianisms (such as 'jackaroo') and expanded the role of U.S. characters Garland and Minnelli. The show played 32 previews and 365 performances. Directed by Philip William McKinley, with choreography by Joey McKneely, it starred Jackman as Peter Allen, Isabel Keating as Judy Garland, Stephanie J. Block as Liza Minnelli, Beth Fowler as Marion Woolnough, Jarrod Emick as Peter's AIDS-stricken lover Greg Connell, and John Hill as Mark Herron (Judy's husband). Jackman won the 2004 Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical, and Keating won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical. The show also received nominations for four other Tony Awards, including Best Musical.
Despite the accolades, Ben Brantley of The New York Times panned the show, calling it an "indisputably bogus show"

2006, Australian arena tour
The Boy from Oz returned to Australia from 3 August 2006 to 10 September 2006 in a new production especially designed for the arena stage (audiences of over 10,000 people), called Boy from Oz Arena Spectacular. Directed by Kenny Ortega, Hugh Jackman reprised his New York role as Peter Allen. He was joined by Australian actresses Chrissy Amphlett and Angela Toohey, reprising their roles as Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli. Shardyn Fahey-Leigh played the role of Young Peter Allen with Dylan Speedy. Rarmian Newton and Joshua Waiss Gates, both of whom later starred in Billy Elliot the Musical, were understudies in the Australian production. Peter's mother, Marion, was played by Colleen Hewett. The show had a support cast of 40 singer-dancers and a 25-piece orchestra.

Acte I
The Lives of Me - Peter Allen
When I Get My Name in Lights - Boy and Ensemble
When I Get My Name in Lights (Reprise) - Peter
Love Crazy - Chris Bell, Peter and Ensemble (Allen & Adrienne Anderson)
Waltzing Matilda - Peter and Chris (in Mandarin)
All I Wanted Was the Dream - Judy Garland
Only an Older Woman - Judy, Peter, Chris and Mark Herron
Best That You Can Do - Peter and Liza Minnelli (by Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager, Allen & Christopher Cross)
Don't Wish Too Hard - Judy (music by Allen, lyrics by Sager)
Come Save Me - Liza and Peter
Continental American - Peter and Ensemble (music by Allen, lyrics by Sager)
She Loves to Hear the Music - Liza and Ensemble (music by Allen, lyrics by Sager)
Quiet Please, There's a Lady On Stage - Peter and Judy (music by Allen, lyrics by Sager)
I'd Rather Leave While I'm in Love - Liza and Peter (music by Allen, lyrics by Sager)
Not the Boy Next Door - Peter and Marion Woolnough (music by Allen, lyrics by Dean Pitchford)

Acte II
Bi-Coastal - Peter and Trio (written by Allen, David Foster & Tom Keane)
If You Were Wondering - Peter and Greg Connell
Sure Thing Baby - Dee Anthony, Greg, Peter, Trio and Male Ensemble
Everything Old is New Again - Peter and The Rockettes (music by Allen, lyrics by Sager)
Everything Old is New Again (Reprise) - Marion, Dee and Greg (music by Allen, lyrics by Sager)
Love Don't Need a Reason [2] - Peter and Greg (by Allen, Michael Callen & Marsha Malamet)
I Honestly Love You - Greg (by Allen & Jeff Barry)
You and Me - Liza and Peter (music by Allen, lyrics by Sager)
I Still Call Australia Home - Peter and Ensemble
Don't Cry Out Loud - Marion (music by Allen, lyrics by Sager)
Once Before I Go - Peter
I Go to Rio - Peter and Company (by Allen & Anderson)

Aucun dossier informatif complémentaire concernant Boy from Oz (The)

Aucun dossier informatif complémentaire concernant Boy from Oz (The)